The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be
by Forever United Never We Fall
Summary: What if Ash was chosen by the God Pokémon Arceus herself to be the 'Chosen One', the savior and champion of the world, the one true master of all Pokémon? Follow this retelling of Ash's entire journey from the very beginning. Ash will encounter and overcome great challenges to become the greatest Pokémon Master there ever was...or ever will be. Powerful,smart,mature Ash
1. The Birth of The Chosen One

**A/N: Hey everybody! I have been a big time fan of Fanfiction (no pun intended;) for a long time now. I have read stories all the way from Naruto, Harry Potter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper, Percy Jackson and my all-time favorite: Pokémon. In my opinion, the best and most talented writers I have come across have been Pokémon fan writers. In fact it was these very writers and their stories that have inspired me to finally start my own fiction... Well that and my very supportive Mother who talked me into "Just doing it". Love ya mom!  
**

**Also, I would like to thank the following authors who have inspired me to step up and try writing myself: 'Sabor364' the writer of one of the best Pokémon stories out there 'Chronicles of The Chosen One: Pokémon Master', 'Shadow10503' writer of 'Ash's Master Quest' and the biggest thank you of all goes to 'MidnightFedora' the author of one of my favorite Pokémon stories 'Like No Other'. This writer is very talented ladies and Gentlemen and I encourage you all to read her story. I was nervous when I offered some of my ideas to her for her story but she was very accepting and gracious to me and made a point to encourage my ideas. Needless to say, she really got me thinking about writing so if you're reading this miss, thank you very much for the inspiration and I hope you like this story!**

**I'm going to be utilizing a lot of different ideas from many different stories as well as combining them with many of my own ideas to make one awesome Pokémon fic!**

**One thing I want everyone to understand right here and now about me and my fic is this: I'm a big time 'out of the box thinker and live outside of what is considered the norm', type of person. This means my fic, (much like my favorite band Shinedown) will be very bold and fearless. SO EVERYONE KNOWS! There will be MANY AU moments in this story. Sometimes big ones. Ash will also be OOC in several occasions throughout this story. I really wanted to show an Ash that constantly evolves, gets better and matures throughout the course of his adventure, both in Pokémon and in life. Don't worry though people, he will still have his funny moments!**

**I'm also a HUGE fitness and workout freak, so expect Ash and his Pokémon to train. HARD. I will be also be cameo'ing my favorite workout program somewhere in this story later on, so if any fellow fans of this particular program notice this cameo, please, don't hesitant to make a shout out to me!**

**Now before I go on I want to explain some important information about a few things here and now so I don't have to explain SOOO much about the direction of the story later on in the A/N's of the future chapters. So, here are some things you will see:**

**1: Ash will be smart, mature, and very, very strong as a trainer. (For any who wonder this, his growth as a trainer and person will happen at a good, even pace throughout the course of the story.) However! There are going to be special 'reasons and exceptions' that will set Ash apart from any other trainer. I will explain some of them here and the rest... well you will just have to wait and see until later;) So don't be surprised if Ash does something that leaves you shocked. Because that's what I aim to do! Surprise and amaze! Just trust me when I say that he will work very hard in this story.**

**2: Ash will have Psychic and Aura powers. He will unlock these powers at different times and in crucial moments in the story but he won't learn how to control them completely until he meets the mentors that are going to teach him how to control his powers, which will be later on. (Warning: when this happens, bad-ass Ash alert, lol!) He may end up with other abilities, but I'm not sure yet. If anyone has an ideas please PM!**

**3: Ash will catch A LOT of Pokémon. (Don't worry people he will definitely be able to make all of them very strong so no worries about him having too many Pokémon and not being able to train them all. I have his Pokémon's training already planned out! (Evil Grin)**

**4: Ash will age! By the time of the Unova Arc he will be a grown man.**

**5: Ash will have ALL his canon captures. So don't worry about him losing those Pokémon. However there will be a twist or two when it comes to said Pokémon!**

**6: Ash WILL catch legendaries! There will be a whole process behind it so it won't be goofy. Basically he will be the only trainer worthy of them... Don't worry you'll find out;)**

**7: I WILL be taking this story into every region the anime follows and there will be mega-evolutions. No I will not make any up. The mega forms will all be canon.**

**8: I'm a big time romantic so Ash will NOT be romantically dense! Some people are natural born romantics. Ash will be one. I mean come on, how can you fault him? He was raised by his mother. A WOMAN! Ash knows how to treat a lady from his mother always instructing him on how to be a perfect gentlemen. So in short, he will notice the finer sex and he WILL get romantically involved! I'm sure many of you will love who all I have picked;)**

**9: Ash will have MANY titles that he will earn throughout the course of the story. And the whole 'Chosen One' thing will be a BIG DEAL in this story.**

**10: There will be no 'levels' for Pokémon in this story. I will just categorize them into the different strength groups with the lowest being 'Baby and Young Pokémon with no battle experience at all' (New trainers) and the highest being 'Champion Level Pokémon' (Like Cynthia's Pokémon). There will be a few other levels in between the lowest and highest level but I will explain them later. (Spoiler Alert!) Ash's Pokémon will be able to reach a level above the 'Champion' level.**

**So that's it! I have laid out everything you all will need to know about this story and what direction it's heading in. The rest you will just have to wait to find out!**

**I am more than happy to receive ideas and editing for this story, just PM me. Please remember though! This is MY take on how I wanted to see Ash's Pokémon journey go. If one of you doesn't like what I'm doing then please, do me and everybody else who may like this story a favor and go find another story that suits you or write your own. That's the beauty of Fanfiction! Anybody can write a story about a particular movie, book or game that suits them and offers what THEY want to read. Fanfiction doesn't have to follow canon, that's why it's called FAN...FICTION...!**

**By the way, to all flamers out there I have one thing to say to you. Go ahead. Flaming does nothing to help anybody. All it does is show people how pathetic you are by not being able to do something as simple as just leaving the story. If you don't like, don't read. Simple, easy to remember. Don't complain because guess what? All it does is fall on deaf ears and give me a few good laughs. There are THOUSANDS of Pokémon fics out there, pick one you DO like.**

**Now. To the rest of you beautiful and handsome readers! I truly do apologize for this LONNNGGGG... pre-story A/N, the rest WILL NOT be like this. I just wanted to let everyone know where I was going so there were less questions about my plans for the story. I hope you enjoy the beginning of what I'm sure will become a revolution in Pokémon Fanfiction!**

**THE GREATEST THERE WAS...OR EVER WILL BE**

**Until the Prologue: To quote Journey, "I'm Forever Yours... Faithfully"**

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**A/N: Hello dear readers! As promised here is chapter one of my very first story!**

**Please read the pre-story A/N I posted earlier and get an understanding for what is going to be seen and done in this story. Ohhh and by the way people! I know I said in the end of the introduction A/N that this would be a prologue but the chapter got so big on me that I'm officially naming this chapter one of the actual story. So without further ado and no more long A/N's (Thank God!) here is the first official chapter of this story! Please enjoy!**

**Oh and hey future readers! As you may or may not know, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon or anything else that I may mention in this story that has been previously copyrighted.**

**This is purely for fun and enjoyment, I am making NOTHING off of this story!**

THE GREATEST THERE EVER WAS OR EVER WILL BE

Chapter 1: Birth Of The Chosen-One

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She didn't know what it was about this particular day but recently turned twenty-one year old Delia Ketchum knew that today was going to be something very special, she just knew it! She really couldn't explain it, but from the moment she woke up everything just seemed to be going right. And not just with her either. When Delia was watching early morning TV there were broadcasts on all the channels about very odd Pokémon behavior happening around the world.

Apparently different species of Pokémon had been performing unnaturally, (even for Pokémon), kind feats and not just for each other either, but for people as well.

One story was on how a large amount of fighting type Pokémon surrounded a construction crew that was working on building a new community center in Saffron City. All of the workers according to news reports, froze when they were surrounded by the fighting types. The next thing that happened surprised them all. The Pokémon began filling onto the job site and started finishing the construction on the new building completely unbidden. A young worker said on quote in an interview: "Those Pokémon went to work on our construction site and started working on that community center we were building. It took us awhile to get over the shock...but after we did, we started helping em'. And it actually got finished! Good thing too cause' we were behind the deadline. All I can say to those Pokémon is thanks".

But that was just one circumstance. Pokémon had been reportedly performing amazingly kind and generous deeds for humans all over the world.

...

Another story was about a woman in the Johto region that owned her own greenhouses and flower gardens and was in the business of growing and selling rare and unique types of flowers and plants that usually only came from other regions. That was until a hurricane that had hit Olivine City and had torn up through the coastline ended up hitting her "Green Farm," destroying everything. She was distraught and believed her business was ruined...but just when everything seemed lost, a large amount of Grass Type Pokémon that lived in the nearby area all came to her farm and began using their abilities and moves like Sunny Day combined with Synthesis on her plants and flowers, giving them life and healing them back to their previous vitality.

A reporter for "Johto Times" caught up with the woman in question and asked for her views on what happened and how she was feeling about it.

"I was astounded!" exclaimed the greenhouse owner. "I thought my business was ruined...but when those Pokémon came and saved my plants I felt... I can't even begin to exclaim how I felt! I had been hearing the stories on the news about Pokémon around the world doing things completely out of their behavior and helping people, but I never thought that they would do anything like that for me...All I can say to those wonderful Pokémon who helped me is thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart."

...

And if all of that wasn't enough, behavior between different types of Pokémon who had long histories of fighting with one another were suddenly getting along perfectly like there had never been any feuds between their warring species! One report that had come in from the Hoenn region, which was witnessed by Professor Birch himself, told how he actually witnessed a Zangoose and Seviper getting along; not so much as a single fight breaking out.

Needless to say, after hearing all of these reports, Delia was shocked.

She wouldn't question it though, she was just happy that Arceus had decided to bless humans and Pokémon alike on this rare day of peace and cooperation. After all, today was June 21 and the Summer Solstice, if she recalled correctly, was today. Maybe that was the cause of all of this. Of course, another reason Delia might have to be happy today could be due to the fact that she was supposed to give birth any day now, which was a very good thing because after nearly nine months of being pregnant she was anxious to finally see her baby.

...

Delia had decided early that morning that she would be going to visit the world famous Professor Oak at his renowned Pokémon Research Laboratory and Ranch. Samuel Oak had always been a good friend to Delia ever since she had known him, and was in some ways a father figure to her since her own parents had long since passed when she was young.

So after getting dressed in a simple pair of jean bib overalls with a pink T-shirt underneath, Delia tied her hair back into a pony tail, slipped on some comfortable white tennis shoes and stepped out of her quaint little two level house into the morning sun. She was greeted when she entered the outside world by what she was sure was to become a very beautiful day. After walking down the little path from her house and through the gate that separated her yard and the road, she began the trek to Professor Oak's lab at a slow and comfortable pace. The lab was only up the road a short way, but in Delia's near nine month pregnant condition, she was more than happy to take it slow. Plus, it was turning out to be such a beautiful day that she didn't mind the extra time it would take her.

Yet again while walking, Delia was pulled into noticing just how special of a day it seemed to be. The breeze was blowing just enough to usher in the warmth that came with those early summer mornings, and being that it was June, the weather fit the time perfectly. Delia marveled at how the trees, flowers, and grass seemed to dance with the breeze that was lightly flowing through the area. A flock of Pidgey went flying overhead, just riding on smooth air currents that seemed almost like Rayquaza or Tornadus themselves tamed the wild winds just for this day. A few Rattata went scurrying into the nearby brush in a field, playing with each other and also enjoying the great day.

As she continued to walk, Delia couldn't help but also think of her husband and father to her unborn child...Richard Ketchum.

Richard was always a "Go with the flow" type of man, very rarely ever taking anything serious. He had a stubbornness in him and such a compulsion for rash, (and sometimes stupid) decisions, he drove her mad! Not to mention the bottomless pit he called a stomach. Delia swore that after living with Richard for all those years, she could probably have had an award made for herself due to all of the food she constantly made for him and that he always seemed to inhale!

A little known secret that very few people knew except for Richard and Professor Oak was that she was not always the world class cook she is now. Ohhhh no...there was a time she couldn't even make ice! But after marrying Richard she quickly realized that she would have to learn how to cook. And fast! So she ended up learning how to cook through a home video course. The instructor was a woman named Lisa Stone, who was apparently a world renowned chef and had worked at some of the most prestigious restaurants in the world. After a few months of learning from her video course Delia became a cooking genius, she was able to make anything! Not to mention a few dishes she herself invented, that, not to brag, she believed would rival Lisa Stone's own. Of course, Richard praised her new found culinary skills with vigor! And if not for the fact that he was a very active man, he would probably have gotten fat the first year into their marriage! He even went so far as to give her the nickname "His little Jirachi".

At first Delia was furious that he would compare her to a Pokémon no matter if it was a Legendary or not. The only thing that saved Richard from her infamous wooden spoon was when he told her that the only reason he compared her to Jirachi was because, like the wish granting Pokémon itself, Delia always seemed to answer all of his hopes, dreams and wishes with how amazing she was. Delia smiled at remembering how he would say things like that. Aside from all of his petty little quirks that sometimes drove her crazy, Richard was a good man with a heart of gold that always put others before himself. Especially Delia.

She remembered when she first met Richard...It was at Professor Oak's lab.

Flashback: Two Years Ago

A nineteen year-old Delia was on her way to visit her good friend Professor Samuel Oak, world renowned Pokémon Researcher, at his Pokémon Laboratory/Ranch. Upon entering said establishment Delia's sight was greeted by, instead of a greying haired Professor, a handsome looking man standing in the center of the lab looking at some of the equipment of the Professor's. As soon as Delia came in, the man turned around to look at who just arrived. Upon the man turning around Delia got a good look at him. He was about 5'11 she guessed, not too short and not too tall. He had raven-black hair that was cut short, except for at the top of his head, which was longer and spiked up with a single strand of hair coming down over his forehead. He had a chiseled face with three scar-like lines on both cheeks. He was wearing a black T-shirt that fit his well-muscled upper body, a maroon colored full sleeve leather jacket that had black pockets on both sides of the chest, as well as identical black colored pockets on the sides of the jacket. On his lower body he wore tan, almost sandy colored, form fitting cargo pants that was littered with pockets, a black belt across his waist that had a set of six Pokeballs attached to it, leading Delia to assume that he must have been a trainer. He also had a pair of black combat boots adorning his feet that the bottom of his cargo pants was tucked into. He looked too be in his early twenties. Delia could feel her face heat up as she took in the man before her. One thought crossed her mind, 'This guy is so handsome!'

At the same time Richard was looking at Delia and loving everything that he was seeing. From her long hair that fell past her shoulders, her beautiful face that donned the faintest pinkish color of a blush across her cheeks that signified her innocence. She was wearing a short sleeve white shirt with a purple Pokeball across the chest that was just tight enough to show her impressive bust, and tight blue jeans covering her curvy lower body. After getting over his stupor, Richard had one thing go through his mind, 'I have been to so many places and I have never seen someone so beautiful!'

Their staring session was broken when Richard finally said something. "Ummm...hi I'm Richard," he greeted while sticking his hand out to shake hers. Delia came out of her trance when she noticed that he was addressing her and shook her head to clear it before taking the offered hand and shaking it with her own. "Hi!" She said enthusiastically, "I'm Delia! I was just coming to visit Professor Oak, what about you?"

After they stopped shaking hands Richard replied back to Delia's question. "I'm actually here for the same reason. I just got back to Kanto today and I was hoping to catch up with Professor Oak and my Pokémon... I think he's out in the corral right now though finishing up with some research or something."

"That's Professor Oak; always researching anything to do with Pokémon... I take it you are a Pokémon Trainer, right?" Delia confirmed.

Richard seemed surprised. "How did you know I was a trainer?" He inquired.

Delia giggled. "Well you just admitted you had Pokémon here at the Ranch...and I saw the Pokeballs on your belt"

Richard suddenly looked sheepish and started rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Yeah I didn't think about that, sorry..." He laughed.

Delia also laughed and then asked, "How do you know the Professor anyway if you don't mind me asking?"

Richard stopped laughing, "I don't mind at all Delia." Richard smiled brightly at her which made her blush even more before he continued on. "Professor Oak was actually the one who gave me my first Pokémon way back when and he has watched my other Pokémon for me ever since I started my journey."

"Oh? How long have you been traveling?" Delia asked.

Richard got a happy and proud smile on his face. "9 years, I started when I was 13"

Delia looked impressed. "Wow that's amazing! I bet you and your Pokémon have been on a lot of adventures, huh?"

"Yeah..." Richard replied back, still smiling fondly. "Me and my pals have been through a lot together... What about you?"

Delia just shook her head still smiling. "No, I never had the urge to go on a journey. Pallet Town is such a wonderful place, so I've always been content staying here"

Richard smiled back at her. "Well there is certainly nothing wrong with that Delia. Pallet Town is a very wonderful place to live. In fact, out of all of the places I've been to, I always find myself ready to see this place again at some point."

"Really?" Delia asked.

"Absolutely!" Richard exclaimed. "Every time I come home something happens that makes me glad I did." Richard smiled shyly while looking at Delia. "Kind of like right now..."

Delia smiled warmly and responded back to him. "Well I'm kind of glad that Professor Oak wasn't around when I got here...otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the chance to talk to someone as interesting and sweet as you." Delia blushed a little as she said that last part more to herself than anyone else. However Richard heard and smiled even wider and blushed a little himself.

There was a comfortable silence between the two until Delia asked another question. "So since you've traveled so much and been so many places, have you ever won a League Tournament?"

"No." Richard shook his head. "Me and my Pokémon have never won a League before. We have come close... but never actually won yet..." Richard looked a little crestfallen for a second, but quickly bounced back and said, "But we will never stop trying! We're going to keep training to get stronger, and one day, we will win a league!"

Delia just smiled at Richard's enthusiasm. She was finding this man even more interesting by the second. Not only was he attractive, funny and had a great personality, but he was also so passionate when it came to his dream and talking about his Pokémon.

Richard suddenly looked very nervous and started fidgeting. "You know Delia..." Richard began, looking like he would start sweating any second, "Maybe you and I could get together sometime... I could tell you some more about my adventures if you'd like..."

Delia stood shocked. She thought, 'Is he asking me on a date?!'

Before she could even reply or ponder on what he just said, a loud "BOOM!" Sounded from somewhere out in the fields around the Oak Ranch, shaking the Lab.

"What was that?!" Delia shouted.

"I don't know..." Richard replied already running for the door that lead into the Poke'corral. "But I'm gonna find out!"

"Then I'm coming too!" Delia stated already running after Richard.

"No Delia, this could be dangerous!" Richard said firmly. "It could be a rampaging Pokémon for all we know!"

"Richard, Professor Oak could be in trouble! And if that's the case, then I'm coming to help in any way I can. He is like a father to me and I won't just sit here while he could be in danger!"

Richard looked impressed with her determination and spirit and just gave her a small smile before he replied back, "Okay Delia, just stay close to me, got it?"

Delia nodded firmly. "Yes"

"Okay then, let's go!" Richard shouted.

And with that, the pair took off into the fields looking for the source of the explosion.

...

Richard and Delia didn't have to search long. They ran into a wide open section of one of the many fields that surrounded the Poke'ranch and found what was causing the commotion.

Two Pokémon, a Tyranitar and a Hydreigon were in the middle of the field, or what was once a field, that now looked more like a war-zone, grappling each other in a duel of strength while roaring at one another. The two Pokémon looked battered and bruised, like they had been fighting for quite a while now. The ground had large scorch marks and craters everywhere, large boulders lay smashed into rubble, undoubtedly from the two enraged Pokémon's attacks, and partially buried in some of the nearby rubble was a torn up looking Professor Oak.

As soon as Delia caught sight of Professor Oak she made to try and run to him but Richard held her back.

"Hey what are you doing?! Professor Oak needs help!" Delia shouted at Richard.

"And we will Delia," Richard soothed, "But first we need to distract those two..." Richard said pointing at the two Pokémon locked in combat.

"How?" Asked Delia.

"I'll break them up and calm them down with my Pokémon." Richard explained. "While I do that, you grab the Professor and then get to safety. Understand?"

Delia nodded her head in affirmative.

"Good, then get ready!" Richard said.

Delia did as told and then looked back at Richard.

"Be careful." She said with a worried look on her face.

Richard gave a thumbs up. "You got it!" He assured her with a smile.

Delia smiled back and got ready.

Richard took off and got nearer to the two battling Pokémon while he pulled two Pokeballs of his own from his belt and threw them into the air.

"Blastoise! Flygon! I choose you!" Richard shouted.

The two fully evolved Pokémon appeared with shouts of their names. "Blast!" "Fly!"

"Okay you two," Richard addressed his Pokémon, "We have to stop those two from fighting." Richard said pointing at Tyranitar and Hydreigon. "You ready?"

Richard's Pokémon nodded their heads, ready for battle.

"Okay, let's start this off! Blastoise, use Hydro Pump, Flygon, Dragonbreath!"

"Blas...toise!" Blastoise shouted as he launched the powerful water attack from the two cannons on its back.

"Fly!" Flygon yelled as it unleashed a powerful, purplish beam of energy from its mouth. Both attacks hit their marks and sent the two enraged Pokémon crashing back into some nearby trees.

Richard didn't celebrate. He knew it wasn't over... and after a moment, he was right.

Both Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon came bursting out from the tree line completely forgetting their feud for now, and instead opting to find who dared attack them and interrupt their battle. Once they set their eyes on Blastoise and Flygon waiting for them in the center of the field, they shouted their names in rage and started to charge.

"Guys, be careful and get ready to dodge!" Richard warned. His Pokémon just nodded their heads showing they understood.

Tyranitar quickly closed the gap in-between it and Blastoise with its fist glowing white.

Richard recognizing the signs of a Focus Punch yelled, "Blastoise dodge to the side to avoid that Focus Punch and then follow up with an Aqua Tail!"

Just as Tyranitar was about to connect with its target, Blastoise jumped to the side, avoiding the attack thrown its way. Tyranitar stumbled when its attack missed just as Blastoise's tail started making the shape of a twister of water. Before it could react, Blastoise smashed its Aqua Tail right into Tyranitar's side making it cry out in pain while sailing into a nearby rock.

Richard only had enough time to turn his attention to his other Pokemon before he saw Hydreigon charging at Flygon shrouded in the familiar purple cloak of energy that signaled a Giga Impact. "Flygon use Agility and then fly into the air to avoid that Giga Impact!" Richard shouted.

Just as Hydreigon was about to hit Flygon, it shot into the air in a blur using its already impressive speed combined with Agility. Hydreigon missed its mark, passing right under Flygon. "Good Flygon! Now, while Hydreigon is recovering from that Giga Impact, get in close and use Dragon Claw followed up by Seismic Toss!"

Flygon flew down in a blur of speed and got right in front of Hydreigon with its claws glowing white and slashed them down the rampaging Pokémon's face, making it bellow in pain and fall back. Flygon didn't stop there and grabbed a hold of Hydreigon and flew up into the air. Once it got so high, Flygon went plummeting back to the earth and once it was getting close to the ground it let go, sending Hydreigon smashing into the earth.

Blastoise and Flygon stood there close to one another while Richard looked at where the two enraged Pokémon were currently at, getting back up to their feet slowly and growling in rage, getting ready to attack again.

Richard looked back at where Delia was at and was pleased to see that while his Pokémon were battling the angry Pokémon, Delia had retrieved Professor Oak and was currently tending to his wounds. He didn't seem to be too badly hurt, just a little beat up, so hopefully that meant he would be okay. Yet again Richard was surprised by Delia. She was brave enough to run onto the field of a raging battle to save a friend that was in trouble. It was safe to say that Richard was definitely taken with Delia. She was a courageous and strong woman and he would be lying if he said that didn't attract him.

He didn't have any more time to think because he suddenly heard two loud shouts of obvious rage coming from the battle behind him. When he turned around he saw both Tyranitar and Hydreigon standing up again and looking furious. Richard warned his Pokémon to be careful and they just nodded their heads ready to go. At that moment something strange happened. Both rivaling Pokémon shared a look between the two and then nodded to one another before they both took off at Richards Pokémon.

"Get ready guys here they come!" Richard shouted. Blastoise and Flygon crouched into position. "Alright Blastoise, Ice Beam and Flygon, use Air Cutter!"

The two Pokémon launched their attacks at the charging Pseudo-Legendaries. Just as the attacks were about to hit the two Pokémon, something happened that shocked Richard. Tyranitar jumped in front of the Ice Beam heading for Hydreigon and deflected it with a Mud Shot attack. At the same time, Hydreigon got in the way of the Air Cutter attack heading for Tyranitar and used its Dragon Pulse attack to destroy the blades of wind. Keeping their momentum going after stopping the attacks that were heading for them, the two temporary allies closed in on Richards Pokémon. Before he could utter a single command Tyranitar got right in front of Blastoise and began using Close Combat on the Turtle Pokémon. At the same time, Hydreigon got in front of Flygon and used its Dragon Tail attack to smash Flygon in the face, followed by another Dragon Pulse that sent Flygon soaring back towards Blastoise, smashing into him.

Tyranitar and Hydreigon immediately started charging orange balls of energy in their mouths. Knowing exactly what those attacks were, Richard called to his downed Pokémon to stand up and get out of the way. It wasn't meant to be though, because at that second both of the opposing Pokémon fired their respective Hyper Beams right at Blastoise and Flygon. There was nothing Richard could do but watch in horror as the double Hyper Beam hit his Pokémon, causing a large explosion and kicking up a huge smoke cloud.

Richard, Delia, and the now conscience Professor Oak watched anxiously as the dust cloud cleared to show the results of the powerful combined attack. What they saw shocked them all. Even Richard.

Blastoise was laying over top of Flygon retracted into its shell. There were bad scorch marks atop its shell from where the dual attack struck, but aside from that, both Blastoise and Flygon were fine and they both stood up. Richard was both dumbfounded that his Pokémon were able to do such a thing without his commands and proud that he had raised them well enough that they instinctively protected one another even without a command from their trainer.

Richard smiled at this turn of events in the battle and felt re-energized! One look at his Pokémon and he could tell they felt the same way. The same could not be said, however, for their opponents. Both Tyranitar and Hydreigon looked exhausted from the battle with each other and Richards Pokémon. Not to mention the powerful Hyper Beams that they both launched in an attempt to defeat their opponents. But even still, though, their anger and pride would not allow them to give up, and with another bellow of rage they began to charge.

"Okay my friends" Richard said confidently. "Are you ready to end this?!"

Both Blastoise and Flygon shouted to the sky signaling they were ready to go.

"Okay then! Let's stop that charge before they can get any momentum. Blastoise, use Earthquake to knock them off balance! Flygon, whip up a powerful Twister attack so they can't root themselves and ride out the Earthquake!"

With shouts of their names they launched their attacks. Blastoise unleashed a massive tremor that started to knock the charging Pokémon off balance, but true to Richard's concern, their battle worn opponents began to root themselves deeper in the ground as they ran, but still slowing down considerably. Their attempt at staying on their feet however didn't work though because as soon as Flygon's Twister hit the rapidly slowing down Pokémon, it knocked them completely off balance and they fell to their knees. Taking advantage of the situation, Richard commanded his Pokémon further by yelling, "Flygon hit Hydreigon with your Extremespeed, use the momentum to hit it with a Dragon Tail and finish the combo with an Air Slash and Blastoise, blind Tyranitar with your strongest Blizzard then get in close and hit it with a Rapid Hydro Spin, (Combination of Rapid Spin and Hydro Pump), and then send it flying with a Mega-Punch!"

Richards Pokémon obeyed him perfectly and began their attack. Flygon vanished in a blur of speed and then hit Hydreigon using its Extremespeed attack. Carrying forward with the momentum of Hydreigon falling backward, Flygon brought a powerful Dragon Tail attack up over its head in a circular motion and slammed it down on Hydreigon's heads. From there, Flygon flew back a bit, and while Hydreigon was still falling forward from the Dragon Tail attack, Flygon pulled its wings into its body and then whipped them out fast, unleashing a devastating Air Slash that hit Hydreigon and launched it back several feet where it hit the ground and stayed down.

On the other side of the field, Blastoise released a powerful Blizzard from its mouth that all but covered the whole field and blinded Tyranitar that was still on its kness. From there, Blastoise retracted into its shell and took off spinning like a razor blade at Tyranitar while at the same time spouting powerful Hydro Pumps from its shell, the combination looking like a spinning water wheel. As soon as Blastoise collided with Tyranitar, the dual Ground-Dark type Pokémon cried out in pain as it stumbled back falling again to its knees. Blastoise then popped out of its shell, and with a glowing fist signifying a fully charged Mega-Punch and a cry of its name, he punched Tyranitar as hard as he could in the face, lifting the massive Pokémon off of its feet and sending it soaring several feet back where it crash landed next to Hydreigon, also not getting up.

Richard raised his fist in the air and yelled out the final two attacks of the battle. "Blastoise, Hydro Cannon! Flygon, Dragon Rage!"

Blastoise growled loudly while he began charging the most powerful attack a Water-Type can learn, while Flygon's eyes began glowing blue as it started forming a light-blue sphere of energy in its mouth.

With loud cries of "BLAST!" and "FLY!" The two Pokémon sent their fully charged attacks at the downed Tyranitar and Hydreigon. As soon as the attacks hit, an earth shattering explosion was heard and felt, as a huge smoke cloud filled the air.

Richard, his Pokémon, Delia, and Professor Oak just stood there waiting to see what happened. As the smoke cleared it showed two badly beaten up and clearly unconscious Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon laying on the battle torn field.

Richard let out a yell of triumph and ran to his exhausted Pokémon and congratulated them, hugging and thanking them profusely. Professor Oak and Delia smiled at the scene and went to join the celebrating bunch. After Richard returned his trusted Pokémon he turned around just in time to see Delia running at him and flinging her arms around him in a tight hug. After separating from one another Delia just looked at Richard and excitedly proclaimed, "That was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! You and your Pokémon were so brave and strong throughout that entire battle, I have never seen a trainer and his Pokémon so in-sync with each other before!

Richard just looked embarrassed and replied back, "You were also very impressive Delia! I don't know many people who would run onto the middle of a battlefield just to save a friend. That was incredibly brave of you!"

Delia just blushed under Richards praise and then with no real reason why, kissed his cheek. Richard blushed tomato berry red and smiled in a goofy way. Professor Oak, who had been silently observing this exchange with a small and knowing grin, decided to make himself known for the first time.

"I have to agree with Richard, Delia. Saving an old man like me was a very brave thing to do."

Delia and Richard both parted quickly from their close embrace, forgetting that the Professor was there and blushing up a storm as they did so.

"Professor!" exclaimed Delia. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine Delia my dear! Just a few scrapes and bruises is all. Nothing that won't heal with time." The Professor said with a smile. "Of course if it wasn't for you and Richard here it could have been much, much worse for not just me, but all of the Pokémon here at the lab as well." Professor Oak finished.

Richard took this time to enter the conversation. "Professor Oak," Richard began, "What caused those two Pokémon to go crazy like that?" He gestured to the unconscious Tyranitar and Hydreigon while he spoke.

Professor Oak just sighed sadly and walked up to the two Pokémon that had taken quite a beating in the battle. Kneeling down, Professor Oak drew two Pokeballs from his lab coat and returned the two of them. Standing back up, Professor Oak turned to Richard and said solemnly, "Trainer negligence is what happened my boy... trainer negligence."

Richard and Delia both looked confused and asked at the same time, "What do you mean Professor?"

Professor Oak just chuckled at the two of them, who then promptly blushed, before answering their question. "You see, there is a particular trainer that I sponsor that has... how shall I say this... an obsession with obtaining powerful Pokémon like Tyranitar and Hydreigon here, but of course as we all know, it takes a very skilled and talented trainer to be able to handle raising Pokémon like Pseudo-Legendaries such as these two and-"

"Yeah I know all about that all right" Richard interrupted quietly.

Delia looked quizzically at Richard, while Professor Oak just got quiet and formed a sad and pitying look on his face that he looked at Richard with. "What do you mean?" She asked him.

Richard looked down. "I used to have a Dragonite before. I caught it as a Dratini and it always listened to me fine as both a Dratini and a Dragonair, but when it evolved into a Dragonite it just wouldn't obey me anymore. I didn't know why that was either, I was an experienced trainer and had fought and defeated many strong opponents before, but for some reason Dragonite just wouldn't listen to me. So one day..." Richard swallowed hard here. "I released it."

Delia looked shocked. "Why Richard?"

Richard looked up sadly and gave an equally sad smile. "It was what it wanted... Dragonite wasn't a bad Pokémon, just the opposite actually... but when a Pokémon like a Pseudo-Legendary is either caught in its final form or is evolved to its final form by a trainer, then it needs to feel like that trainer is strong and worthy enough to be able to call them their Pokémon trainers. Apparently Dragonite knew I was not that trainer and so...I released him."

Delia was shocked. A Pokémon not obeying Richard? She couldn't believe that after seeing the way Richard and his Pokémon just battled together. She was even more surprised that Richard actually gave up on his Dragonite and just let him go. Then again, she could understand why. Richard just wanted his Pokémon to be happy, and if he couldn't achieve that... then he wanted Dragonite to able to get it from somewhere. Even if it was with another trainer. Delia felt herself grow even stronger feelings for Richard in that sudden realization of how selfless he was.

She smiled at him. "I'm sure that Dragonite is very happy wherever he is now. You did the right thing, something very few people could do. Feel proud of that." She told him.

Richard smiled back at her. "Thank you Delia; that means a lot coming from you, and actually, I know he is happy now."

"You know where he is?" Asked Delia.

Richard nodded. "He ended up joining Lance, the Kanto and Johto Pokémon League Champion."

Delia went wide eyed. "Really?" She asked.

"Yep" Richard said. "He's actually Lance's strongest Pokémon."

"Wow." Delia exclaimed.

Professor Oak finally rejoined the conversation. "That is pretty much the same problem that we had here today."

When Delia and Richard turned to face Oak again he finished his explanation from earlier. "As I was saying before, this Tyranitar and Hydreigon doesn't respect their trainer and so they never do anything he asks of them. I imagine he got tired of dealing with them and so he sent them to me for a while. However, he never told me that these two can't stand one another and that any time they are out of their Pokeballs they fight. So we have what we did today. When I tried to stop it...well you saw the results of that."

"So what will happen to these two Pokémon now Professor?" Delia asked.

"Most likely I will have to isolate them in completely different areas of the Ranch so they never see each other. Otherwise, we could have a repeat of today."

Delia looked sad and mad at the fact that those two Pokémon would have to suffer in isolation because of an irresponsible trainer. Richard was just mad at that trainer's carelessness in general.

"It is a shame..." Professor Oak said. "But I'm sure everything will work out. Now if you two will excuse me, I have some accommodations that I have to make for these two Pokémon here and I believe they could do with a nice long rest under the PRM, (Pokémon Recovery Machine), so I will see you later on... and thank you again for your help, both of you. You make a great couple."

Delia and Richard both went red at that comment, but before either could say anything Professor Oak continued on. "You know... I believe a nice new restaurant just opened up nearby. Why don't you two check it out this evening? I hear it's very nice." Professor Oak just winked at the young pair and then walked back up to the Lab before either of them could say anything.

Richard and Delia stood in silence for a few moments before Richard finally spoke. "You know...that offer for us to get together and discuss my travels still stands...if you would want to that is..."

Delia for a moment was speechless, before a big smile came over her face. "I would love to!" She chirped happily.

Now it was Richards turn to be shocked for a moment before he cracked a huge goofy grin. "Great! How about we go now? I just need to stop by Professor Oak's lab for a minute so I can drop off my Pokémon and get Blastoise and Flygon healed up."

"Sounds good to me!" Said Delia excitedly.

After that the two walked up to the Professors Lab chatting non-stop about everything, and if you looked closely enough, with their hands intertwined.

Flashback End

And they did go out that evening, and many other evenings after that. Very soon after meeting, Delia and Richard became romantically involved. Richard was supposed to head back out on another journey, but his relationship with Delia was just more important to him, so he stayed. After a time, they got married and bought the house that Delia lives in now, situated comfortably in the tiny little valley of Pallet Town, just ten minutes from Professor Oaks Lab. Delia and Richard loved each other fiercely and lived, for the most part, happily together for the better part of two years. Over time however, Richard began to miss traveling around the world with his Pokémon and Delia could see this. She loved Richard very much and the last thing she wanted was to see him unhappy. As a result, Delia told Richard one day that she wanted him to go on another journey with his Pokémon so that he could do what made him truly happy. As much as she knew he loved her, being caged in one place, even a place as wonderful as Pallet Town, was just not meant for Richard. He had a wild spirit, and she didn't want to break that in him.

Richard was at first reluctant and denied the offer, telling Delia that he truly was happy being married to her and that he loved her very much. Delia told him that she knew he was happy being her husband and she especially knew how much he loved her, but being tied down was something that didn't make him happy and she asked him to admit this. After thinking on it for a long time, he admitted she was right and that he did miss traveling the world with his Pokémon. At first Richard asked Delia to go with him, but they both knew that she couldn't. She loved Pallet Town too much and couldn't leave it behind.

So in the end, Richard decided to begin traveling with his Pokémon again. He and Delia agreed that since they loved each other so much, they would remain married. Richard knew that he wouldn't be traveling forever. Eventually, he and his Pokémon were going to get tired of the constant journeying everywhere and when that day came, Delia said she would welcome Richard back home with open arms and they would then spend the rest of their lives together. After all, they were both still very young. With her being just 21 and him being only 24 they had plenty of time to achieve their goals in life. And right now, Richards dream was to become the winner of at least one League while Delia's dream was to support Richard in his journey and wait for the day that they could be together permanently.

So on very good and loving terms, Delia and Richard parted ways for the first time in two years, not knowing when they would see each other again... However, not before sharing one last night together.

That night was now just about nine months ago and it would seem that Richard had left Delia with a special parting gift that only he could give her. Delia hoped deeply that at some point in the not so distant future, Richard would be able to see their child since he didn't even know she was pregnant before he left. All she could do was hope.

...

Delia was broken from her memories when she realized she had finally made it to the pathway that lead up the stairs to the Labs front doors. As soon as she made it to the top of the steps, a little out of breath from her current condition, she knocked on the door and let herself in, remembering the words Professor Oak said when he told her she needn't knock when she came visiting.

Upon entering the Lab, she was greeted by the usual sight of Pokémon research machinery and equipment everywhere. After calling for the Professor and not getting an answer, she opted to go check the one place she always found him when he wasn't working with his research equipment or out studying the Pokémon in the ranch. Making her way to the second floor, she made it to the top of the stairs and there she found the Professor sitting at his desk having a conversation with someone undoubtedly important on the video phone. Not wanting to disturb the Professor, Delia went to the next room and sat down one of the sofas, resting her back while she waited for Professor Oak to finish his conversation.

Delia knew that being one of the most renowned Pokémon researchers in the world meant that he was always getting calls asking for his help, assistance, or opinion on something or another to do with Pokémon.

When he was finally done with his conversation, Professor Oak came out of the other room and upon seeing Delia offered her a smile.

"Ah, Delia! Good to see you made it today after all. How are things and how are you faring in your condition?"

Delia smiled back and replied while rubbing her stomach.

"I'm doing very well today, thank you. Though I am ready to have this baby"

"Yes I'm sure you are my dear." Oak replied back chuckling.

"So who were you talking with Professor?" Delia inquired.

Professor Oak sat down on the other couch across from Delia, crossing his arms before replying.

"That was my old friend Professor Rowan, the Sinnoh regions leading authority on Pokémon. He had called to tell me about one of his sponsored trainers who just recently became the Sinnoh League Champion. Apparently she is the talk of the whole region right now, being the youngest person to ever become a League Champion at just sixteen. The way that Rowan talks about her makes it sound like that young woman and her Garchomp are practically unbeatable."

Delia was very impressed with this young woman's supposed skill at being a Pokémon Trainer and commented on it. "That is a very impressive accomplishment indeed. To think, one so young already at the top..." Delia couldn't but think of Richard here and hoped he was okay.

"Yes, that is my dear... that it is..." Professor Oak could tell Delia was thinking of Richard and let her have her moment before continuing.

"We were also discussing the strange behavior of the world's Pokémon lately" Professor Oak admitted.

"Yes, I have been wondering about that myself." Delia commented coming out of her musings. "Do you or any of the other Professors have any idea what's causing it?"

Professor Oak just shook his head in the negative.

"I'm afraid we don't actually. This is completely out of the ordinary for Pokémon behavior. While it's not unheard of for certain species of Pokémon to get rather out of character at certain times during events like breeding or migratory patterns..."

He scratched his chin for a moment before finishing his explanation.

"...It's just unheard of for all of the world's Pokémon to start helping humans and each other randomly like this for no reason... It's a mystery, plain and simple." Oak finished.

"You know though..." He added an as afterthought, "The whole time you have been pregnant, Pokémon have been doing strange and bizarre things around you Delia."

Delia looked at him puzzled. "What do you mean Professor?"

"I'm sure you remember what happened to you when you came to the Lab a few weeks ago and you were almost injured when you were helping me with the Pokémon out in the corral?" Oak asked.

Delia shivered a little when she thought of the memory, but recalled it non-the less.

Flashback: 3 weeks ago

Delia was outside in the Pokémon corral at the Lab, feeding some of the Pokémon for the Professor while he was looking into some very important research papers he had just received from of the Kalos region on Mega-Evolution from Professor Sycamore. She had been helping Professor Oak here at the Lab ever since Richard left and continued to help out even after she found out she was pregnant. Over the past few months however, Delia's ability of being able to do much at all drastically decreased. She was now pretty much limited to feeding, grooming, or watching over the Pokémon per direct orders from Professor Oak. Ever since Delia had become pregnant and Richard was not here to help her, Professor Oak stepped in and played the helping hand for her, always letting her know what she could and couldn't do and just generally watching out for her.

Delia and Professor Oak had always had a kind of surrogate father/daughter relationship since the Professor knew Delia since she was a little girl. After Delia got a little older and her parents died, Professor Oak just sort of took her under his wing. Delia knew that, in a way, Professor Oak looked at the child growing within her as his surrogate grandchild and just wanted to make sure that she and her child would both stay safe. Not to mention the fact that Richard was always Professor Oak's favorite trainer that he sponsored, so this was something that the Professor could do for him as well.

Professor Oak had a daughter, seven year old grand-daughter, as well as a one week old grandson of his own, but that still didn't stop the Professor from caring for Delia the same as he did his own family. That was just the kind of person that Professor Oak was, always caring and watching out for those precious to him. Delia knew Professor Oak's family well, and was actually good friends with his daughter Amelia. Delia and Amelia had known each other for a long time and always got along great. Amelia was a few years older than Delia and sort of played the role of an older sister to her. Even though Delia and Amelia had both been pregnant at the same time together, Amelia was still the more experienced of the two since she already had her seven year old daughter Daisy. So needless to say, Delia felt as though she never would have been able to make it these past nine months if it wasn't for Amelia helping her through all of the pregnancy issues. Amelia ended up giving birth to her son Gary a week ago, so Delia felt sure that she should follow suit soon...hopefully.

Delia was currently finishing up feeding a group of Ponyta in one of the fields that was close to the Lab. She was getting ready to head back up to the lab when she heard what sounded like a call of distress mixed in amongst the sounds of a battle being waged. Delia being the caring and curious person she was, took off as fast as her pregnant body could safely take her. As she past a few of the other fields full of Pokémon Delia finally stopped in a large grassy plain where many of the bigger Pokémon congregated. In front of her about ten yards away was the sight of a large Beartic hovering over the downed and beat up form of a mother Ursaring shielding her young cub. The Beartic had its claws extended in the tell-tale sign of a Slash attack getting ready to harm the mother and child.

Delia didn't know what to do. Richard wasn't here to quill this situation with his Pokémon like last time, and Delia didn't have a Pokémon to so much as even think about fighting that Beartic off with. She was torn, on one hand she wanted to help the mother Ursaring risking her life to shield her young right now, much like Delia herself would do if her own child's life was at risk. Then on the other hand, Delia didn't want to risk the life of her child by getting in the way of a large and dangerous Pokémon ready to attack... Delia knew she couldn't risk it, so instead she decided that she would run back to the Lab as fast as possible and then get Professor Oak, he would know what to do. Just as she was about to take off running however, something stopped her.

Delia felt as though her feet were rooted to the earth and she couldn't move a muscle. She suddenly felt a strong compulsion to just run in and stand in front of the enraged Beartic and stop that attack however necessary. She didn't know what made her think such crazy thoughts. She knew that if she stood in the way of that Slash attack she would be seriously injured and very possible lose her baby.

Delia tried to break the invisible hold on her body, but no matter what she did she couldn't free herself from whatever this force was holding her in place. The compulsion just seemed to get even stronger and Delia kept feeling a strange sensation coming from within her stomach where her baby lay safely inside of her. Before Delia knew what she was doing, she was running towards the downed Ursaring and attacking Beartic. She tried to stop and turn herself around and run the other way but she just couldn't.

The next thing Delia knew, she had thrown herself in between the Beartic and his intended target with her arms shot out to the sides. Looking up at the towering form of the enraged Ice-Type Pokémon Delia was frozen again in place. The Beartic just growled at this obstacle standing in the way of its intended target and reared it's arm back, claws extended and glowing bright white signaling the incoming Slash attack. Delia just closed her eyes, preparing for the unavoidable direct attack that she was about to take. A silent tear rolled down her eye as she silently apologized to her unborn child for this act of extreme foolishness that was about to end its life, and very possibly hers as well.

'I'm sorry my angel for doing this and ending your life before it even began... I just can't control my own body for some reason... Richard my love... forgive me…'

At that very moment, Delia suddenly felt a hot, burning pain from within her stomach that made her eyes fly open immediately. She was certain that the pain had come from Beartic slashing her with its claws, but as soon as she opened her eyes Delia was stunned to see that the Pokémon towering over her had not moved a muscle. In fact, the large bear Pokémon seemed frozen in place with its arm still raised above its head, but not only that, the attack Beartic was building up completely dissipated.

Delia just stared at the large Pokémon in confusion. Beartic was staring at Delia with a look of complete awe, amazement and a little of what looked like fear on its face. She was confused on why that this giant powerhouse of a Pokémon would be awed or afraid of her in any way, shape or form. That was until she realized that Beartic wasn't looking at her, it was looking down, at her stomach. Delia instantly thought something was wrong and looked down at her stomach as well. What she saw was something she would never have expected to see in her wildest dreams. Her stomach, or more precisely the INSIDE of her stomach, was glowing a bright blue color. It almost looked like Delia had swallowed a star it was so bright.

Delia hesitantly put her hand to her stomach and instantly felt a very warm pulsing sensation meet her palm. It felt like a hundred little heartbeats pulsing into Delia's hand and the pure energy that the blue glow was giving off made Delia feel completely warm and at ease, like she would never know the feeling of stress or pain again. She was so mesmerized staring at her stomach and feeling the warmth that the radiate bright blue energy gave off, that it took her a while to register the fact that a much bigger and hairier hand had lain itself on top of her stomach as well. Delia suddenly looked up at the owner of the hand and was surprised to see that it belonged to Beartic. Instead of getting scared, Delia just looked at Beartic trying to figure out what it was doing.

The Ice-Type Pokémon had an amazed look in its eyes. Staring so intently that Delia was afraid the Pokémon would stare a hole through her stomach. The bear Pokémon looked as though it understood something in that moment that was of such great importance that Delia would never be able to comprehend it herself. Slowly the Pokémon withdrew its hand and then turned around and started walking away. Delia watched it go until the Pokémon disappeared over the crest of the hill to somewhere else in the ranch. As soon as it vanished Delia started swaying back and forth until she just fell backward. Before she could hit the ground, however, she was caught in a pair of large, strong arms that just cradled her gently. Looking up Delia saw the mother Ursaring that was in danger just moments before, looking down at her with the same expression on its face that Beartic had. Before Delia could say or do anything, she slowly slipped from consciousness and then passed out from exhaustion, not noticing the fact that her stomach was still glowing in that strange blue color.

...

When Delia awoke the first thing she saw was a ceiling above her head. As she slowly sat up and looked around she realized that she was in the main living area of Professor Oak's lab upstairs, lying on the green sofa. (Imagine the episode near the end of the first season when Ash and his friends were talking to Professor Oak and Gary about where the Indigo Conference was being held that year. It's that room; and for future reference it will be called the "living area").

Delia heard footsteps and looked towards the door to see Professor Oak coming into the room. When he saw her he immediately rushed over to her.

"Delia! Are you okay?!" Professor Oak asked feeling worried.

Delia cleared her throat before answering him. "Yes Professor I'm fine... but what happened and how did I get here?"

Professor Oak sat beside her before he answered her. "I don't know Delia, an Ursaring brought you up here to the lab with its cub about thirty minutes ago. You were unconscious and the Pokémon looked extremely flustered while it was cradling you in its arms."

"Was the Ursaring okay?! What about her cub?!" Delia started firing questions at Professor Oak.

Professor Oak started gesturing for Delia to calm down. Once she did he answered her questions. "Yes Delia they were both fine, the mother was a little banged up, but after I sprayed some Super Potion on her she was just fine. Now tell me, what happened to you?"

Delia was relieved to know that the mother and cub were fine so she started to relax. She took a few deep breaths and then explained everything that happened to Professor Oak. From the Beartic attacking, her body being seemingly controlled and making her stand in the way of the attack, to the extremely strange phenomenon with her stomach and the Beartic acting very strange afterwards and then leaving, up to her passing out.

Professor Oak listened in rapt attention. Even with all his years of studying Pokémon and very strange events, he had never heard of something like this happening before.

"What do you think about it Professor?" Delia asked as soon as she finished her story.

The Professor broke from his thoughts and looked right at her. "I don't know what happened Delia. In all my years as a researcher nothing like that has ever happened before to my knowledge."

Delia looked worried. "Then what do I do about it Professor? What if this weird energy is harmful to my baby?!"

Professor Oak just shook his head. "I don't believe that is the case Delia. The way you described the feel of the energy and the way the Pokémon reacted to it, I don't think it's dangerous. We will keep a close eye on it, okay? For now just try and take it easy." Professor Oak finished with a smile.

Delia still felt a little unsure about the strange energy that seemed to surround her child, but with Professor Oak's reassurance she was able to relax a little more and smiled back at the Pokémon Professor. "Okay Professor Oak, thank you..."

End Of Flashback

The more Delia thought about it, Professor Oak had a good point. The whole time she had been pregnant very strange things had been happening to her when it came to Pokémon. Sometimes when she would be out in the fields of the Pokémon Ranch, different types of Pokémon would just come up to her and either stare at her stomach intently, or sometimes they would actually come up and touch or rub up against her stomach if she was sitting down resting.

Also, the conditions of her pregnancy had been anything but normal. She would sometimes feel these very strange sensations in her stomach. The exact same sensations that she experienced that day during the incident with Beartic. Her doctors also told her when she went to get checkups done that her ultrasounds were always showing strange levels of energy coming from her womb that completely perplexed them. Delia had no idea what had been going on, but it did seem weird that all of these strange things had been happening since she became pregnant.

"I don't know Professor, it's all just so strange. Nothing about my pregnancy has been normal in comparison to what Amelia has told me it should be like..." Delia said exasperated.

"Well I'm sure that whatever is going on will be made clear once you have that little one." Professor Oak said with a smile.

Delia smiled back a little. "I hope so Professor, I hope so..."

Professor Oak decided to take Delia's mind off of the subject. "I'll tell you what my dear, let's go for a walk in the fields around the Lab and check on some of the Pokémon. That always clears my mind when I'm troubled with something I can't seem to understand."

Delia brightened up considerably and smiled at the Pokémon Professor. "Sure Professor, let's go!"

...

Delia and Professor Oak had been walking through the fields of the Pokémon Corral for some time now and Delia began to notice that many of the Pokémon around them seemed agitated.

"Professor?" Delia asked.

"Yes Delia?" Professor Oak replied.

"The Pokémon seem to be getting very restless." Delia observed.

Professor Oak looked around and saw that Delia was right. Almost all of the Pokémon at the ranch were very fidgety, and even stranger, they all seemed to be following he and Delia. "You're right Delia, they are. Very odd indeed..."

The two stopped walking by this time and were taking in the strange sight all around them. Suddenly Delia gasped and fell to her knees.

"Delia!" Professor Oak yelled as he knelt down beside of her concerned. "What is it?!"

Delia couldn't even speak she was in so much pain. It felt just like the incident with Beartic, but instead of the calming warm sensation that the energy gave off then, this was like a thousand knives piercing into her stomach. But even for all of the pain she was feeling right now, Delia had a feeling that she knew exactly what was going on. Her instincts screamed at her about what was happening and she knew they were right. She could only utter one word to Professor Oak through the intense pain that she was feeling right now.

"Baby..." She gasped.

Professor Oak seemed confused for a moment before realization dawned on him. The baby was coming.

"Okay Delia, let me help you up." The Professor said gently as he slowly helped her to her feet. Delia gasped in pain again and looked at Professor Oak pleadingly.

"Please...hospital..." She begged him.

Professor Oak nodded his head and put his arm around Delia, already guiding her back to the Lab. "Just hold my dear, we'll get you some help." Professor Oak said soothingly.

(Pokémon Ranger Memorial Hospital)

Two hours later we find Delia Ketchum at the "Pokémon Rangers Memorial Hospital" located just outside of Pallet Town. She had long since been checked into her room and was currently hold...err...crushing Professor Oaks hand while suffering through the first agonizing contraction of many to come, the poor Professor's hand feeling like mush right now.

"AHHH it hurts so bad!" Delia yelled out.

"I know my dear, just keep breathing, it'll pass" Professor Oak said reassuringly.

After a few moments went by the pain finally subsided and Delia took a much needed breather. At the same time there was a knock on the door of Delia's room and after a "Come in" by Professor Oak, the door opened and in came Amelia holding her infant son Gary in her arms and her almost eight year old daughter Daisy following her.

Amelia was a rather attractive young woman. She stood at Delia's height of about 5'5", had dark brown wavy hair that she let fall down her shoulders and had an attractively lean face. She wore a white floral pattern long skirt, a yellow blouse and a white cotton jacket that she wore over the blouse. She had a silver chain around her neck that had a small sapphire on the end and a matching bracelet on her right wrist.

Daisy was almost an exact copy of her mother, just with lighter brown hair that she kept pulled away from her forehead with a tan hairband. She wore a pair of red jeans with a black belt, a white blouse and a black over shirt that looked like a vest that she wore over top of the blouse. Unlike her mother, Daisy didn't wear any jewelry.

"Ah Amelia I'm glad you got my message! Did you have any trouble getting here?" Professor Oak asked his daughter.

Amelia walked up and hugged first her father and then Delia before replying to his question. "No, we didn't have any problems getting here, but there is something incredible that is happening outside and if you turn on the TV to channel 8 then you should see what I'm talking about. There are news crews everywhere outside."

Professor Oak, anxious to find out what was happening outside got up from his position near Delia's bedside and then went to turn on the TV suspended on the wall opposite from Delia's bed. Amelia pulled up a chair and sat down by her friend, after adjusting her son into a more comfortable position on her lap and watching her daughter take a seat by the window. Amelia looked at Delia and asked, "How are you doing so far Delia? Do you need anything?"

Delia shook her head tiredly. "No thank you Amelia, I just want to have my baby and get this over with." Delia looked away for a second before looking back at her friend. "How... how is it giving birth?" Delia asked her friend nervously. Amelia could see the apprehension on her friends face and just gave her a warm smile. "It's not bad if you just keep reminding yourself why you're doing what you're doing. Keep imagining that you will be holding your child in your arms soon and you'll be fine!" Amelia assured.

Delia looked visibly calmer after her friend's short speech and got a new determination about her. "Thanks Amelia. I really appreciate you being here."

Amelia hugged her friend again, which Delia returned in kind. "Anytime Delia, anytime."

At that moment, Professor Oak had found the correct channel and came back to sit in a chair on the other side of Delia's bed. Together they all watched the news channel that was currently flashing "Breaking News!" At the bottom of the screen. An attractive looking blonde woman wearing glasses and dressed in business women's attire appeared on the screen.

"Hello Kanto and welcome back to channel 8-news! I'm Diana Ringold and this our story:

A very strange phenomenon has Pokémon experts baffled all across the Kanto region, and in addition... the whole world today.

Just hours ago, Pokémon of all types and variety's began mobilizing from several different locations all across the region and started moving as one large group, all heading in a single direction. Experts were able to track where exactly the Pokémon seemed to be headed and were surprised to find the migrating Pokémon's intended destination: A small town hours away from Viridian City called Pallet Town, home of the world renowned Pokémon Researcher Professor Samuel Oak.

For some reason, this small town has seemed to catch the interest of almost every Pokémon in the Kanto region and now the mass of Pokémon have decided to congregate in this one small location. Even more surprising is that the Pokémon apparently have a specific destination within Pallet Town that they are headed to.

(Scene changes to an aerial view of just outside of the Pokémon Ranger Memorial Hospital)

As you can all clearly see, Pokémon in numbers well into the hundreds have all surrounded this building known as the "Pokémon Ranger Memorial Hospital". From land bound, to flying, just about every species of Pokémon is present at this time. The only species not currently gathered at this mass congregation would be the marine life Pokémon. This particular group of Pokémon have compensated for their absence by coming as close to shore as they possibly can and staring off into the exact direction of the aforementioned hospital.

No one has been able to offer any kind of explanation as to why the Pokémon are behaving in this manner. The strangest thing, one expert on Pokémon behaviors stated, is that these Pokémon all seem to have a much focused interest on this particular hospital. What the reason could be is anybody's guess, however there is no denying that for the past nine months approximately, Pokémon around the world have been acting extremely strange and with no particular reason for their behavior.

Could all of these strange occurrences be connected? What could be the reason for the Pokémon's very out of character behavior? This reporter wishes she had the answer. We will be keeping you all informed and updated on this very puzzling and mysterious series of events.

Again, I am Diana Ringold and this has been channel 8-news, thank you for watching.

Everyone in Delia's room who was watching the news broadcast was stock still as the program ended. No one could believe that just outside of the hospital they were in, hundreds of Pokémon were gathered in a large mass. Even Professor Oak was apparently shocked as he hadn't said a word since the end of the broadcast. And for Professor Oak to be shocked or surprised about anything to do with Pokémon must have meant that this was a VERY unusual situation.

Amelia looked at her father. "What do you think is causing this dad?"

Professor Oak still looked shocked as he turned around to answer his daughter. "I honestly have no idea Amelia... Never in all my years as a Pokémon Researcher have I seen something like this take place." Professor Oak turned to Delia who also seemed shocked about what they just saw on TV and they both shared a look with each other that reminded them yet again how all of this seemed eerily linked to her pregnancy.

Before anything else could be said amongst the group, the door to Delia's room flew open and in marched a news crew shouting for Professor Oak, followed closely by a few nurses who were trying to get them to leave. "Professor Oak!" A tall and lanky male reporter shouted running up to the surprised Professor. "Do you have any comments on what is causing the worlds Pokémon to behave in such a fashion?!"

Professor Oak began to reply to the reporters hurried question, "No, I have no idea what is causing this phenomenon. I am just as baffled by this as everyone else is..."

"Professor Oak, could you please come with us outside and at least give us a formal interview and explain your theories on why this could be happening?" The reporter kept pressing, not accepting no for an answer.

Before Professor Oak could say anything else Delia suddenly gasped in pain as another contraction hit her hard. The Professor's face grew stern in that moment and he looked right at the news crew before speaking firmly and with no room to argue. "I have already stated that I have no idea what is causing this and that is my final word on the subject. Now if you will please excuse me, my friend here is in labor and she is the one that needs my presence the most right now. Good day to you."

With that, Professor Oak turned to Delia and sat back down on his chair to offer his support to her when she needed it. The news crew just stood there, dumbfounded at Professor Oak's firm rejection to their insistent request for an interview. The nurses took this opportunity and shooed the reporters away, muttering an apology to Delia, Professor Oak and Amelia before exiting the room themselves.

Delia let out another cry of pain as the contraction worsened. Amelia automatically took one of Delia's hands, while Professor Oak grabbed the other one. After a few minutes the pain finally went away and Delia relaxed a little. She smiled a thank you to Amelia, which she returned to Delia happily. Delia then turned to Professor Oak. "Thank you for what you did a minute ago Professor, you didn't have to stay here..."

Professor Oak just smiled warmly. "Of course I did Delia, you are like another daughter to me. Even though I would like to see this massive gathering of Pokémon for myself, you are much more important." Amelia took that moment to chime in, "That's right Delia, you and that little one inside of you are like family to us. We wouldn't rather be anywhere else right now."

Delia looked at her surrogate family for a second and got a little teary before she spoke. "Thank you so much you guys, I don't know what I would do without you..."

"You're most welcome my dear." Professor Oak said.

"Yeah, any time Del! Now let's hear some of those names that you have been thinking of for the baby!" Amelia exclaimed. Delia got an excited look on her face and then the two women began happily discussing potential names for the future little Ketchum. Professor Oak just looked on and smiled fondly at the two young women he called his daughters.

Unbeknownst to people and Pokémon alike... a great council was about to be held. One that hadn't been called for in a thousand years...

(The Hall of Origins)

In a dimension in-between space and time was a place known only to humans through legends and storybooks. The cradle where all life began... the Hall of Origins. The realm that Arceus, the great God Pokémon and creator of all things called her home. It was in this great and magnificent Hall where all of the Legendary Pokémon from Kanto, to Kalos, were gathered, and at the very front of the Hall, standing before all of her Legendary children, was Arceus herself. As she gazed upon all of her council, Arceus was contemplating many things all at once. After today everything was going to change forever, and not just for the humans and Pokémon on Earth, but for all of the Legendary Pokémon, herself included. She was left to wonder if the world was truly ready yet for the birth of the one she had chosen...

No. She was done contemplating and wondering. The decision had been made long ago and she was just going to have to have faith that the world truly was ready for the coming of the Chosen-One. Arceus was broken from her pondering when Dialga, the Ruler of Time addressed her. "Mother Arceus," He spoke in a deep voice, "What has caused you to summon us all here like this?"

"Yes, I wonder the same thing Mother. A meeting like this hasn't been called for in over a thousand years; since the time of Sir Aaron to be precise." Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon spoke up. Many of the other Legendaries nodded their heads in agreement.

Arceus finally spoke. "My children... the world is changing. Things are not as they were a thousand years ago at the time of Sir Aaron. The land is no longer torn by war and ravaged by death. There are still problems yes... but the humans have grown in the thousand years that we have remained mostly absent from the affairs of the world. In the time we have been in our self-imposed isolation, many of us have all but passed into the myths and legends of humans stories."

"And fine by me too!" The low, guttural voice of Groudon, the Continent Pokémon, spoke up. "The last thing I remember of humans was them killing each other in droves. I'm glad to be nothing more than a memory in their pathetic minds!"

"I agree with Groudon!" Cobalion spoke up. "They tried on more than one occasion to kill myself and the other Swords of Justice. The humans lost our trust long ago!" Virizion and Terrakion just nodded their heads in agreement.

The youngest of the Swords of Justice, Keldeo, spoke up. "Come on Cobalion, the humans can't be that bad!"

Cobalian glared at Keldeo. "You have no idea what humans are capable of, Keldeo! You weren't around to see the humans' evil deeds like we did a thousand years ago!"

"Yeah!" Terrakion intervened. "You aren't even a full Sword of Justice yet either so hold your tongue! You were lucky to even be invited to this meeting!"

"Now that's not fair Terrakion." Verizion intervened. She turned to face Keldeo who seemed dejected at Terrakion's last comment and was hanging his head in shame. "Keldeo, don't listen to Terrakion. You will make a great Sword of Justice someday, I know you will. You just need more practice and time is all. However, both Cobalion and Terrakion are right about the humans. You were not there to see the evil acts they performed so long ago..."

Keldeo raised his head and looked at Virizion. "Thanks Virizion, you're right. I do need to just be patient and keep training, then someday I'll be a great Sword of Justice just like you three!" Keldeo paused for a second before he continued. "And I do apologize... I wasn't around to see what you, Terrakion and Cobalion saw a thousand years ago... forgive me."

Virizion smiled and nodded her head, accepting the young Sword-to-be's apology. Suddenly Rayquaza spoke up. "Mother Arceus, you say the humans are different and have changed? Well, what about those devices called Pokeballs that they put our fellow kind inside of, huh?! I have seen the humans capture more of our kind than I can count over the many years I have watched from my post as Guardian of The Skies."

"And what about how the humans force our kind to do battle with each other on their behalf for nothing more than sport!" Palkia, the Ruler of Space, shouted.

"Or how about all of the other meaningless acts of servitude that the humans force on our kind..." The Darkness Pokémon, Darkrai, chimed in with his usual emotionless voice. "Or even the ones who call themselves Pokémon Trainers. Many of these so-called "Trainers" have spent years pursuing us few Legendaries that have remained active in the world. And for nothing more than to use us and our power in what they call "Pokémon battles". I for one have a particular human that has been pursuing me for years trying to capture me and then use me for his own selfish deeds!" Darkrai continued to rant in its monotonous tone of voice.

"Come now everyone," Jirachi spoke in his mellow voice, "I believe you are all over reacting about the issues with the humans."

"Easy for you to say!" Thunderus piped in. "You are only awake and around the humans for a week at a time and then you go back to sleep for a thousand years! You have not even seen half of what the humans are capable of, so you have no room to talk!"

"That's right!" Tornadus joined in. "It's easy for many of you to talk. Almost all of you have been in your own states of hibernation or seclusion for the past thousand years while only a few of us have remained awake and active in the world. The few of us that has remained have had a thousand years to see the evil of humanity firsthand for ourselves! If it wasn't for Mother Arceus summoning all of us here today in spirit form, then most of you would still be sleeping peacefully or remaining in hiding while the rest of us suffered!"

As soon as this was said, a loud argument broke out amongst all of the Legendaries. Shouting and yelling was the only thing heard in the Hall of Origin until Arceus finally broke her long silence and bellowed in rage, "ENOUGH!" Everyone stopped fighting at once and the Hall grew still. "I am ashamed of all of you! How dare you fight in this most sacred of places! You are each supposed to be the Guardians of not just the other Pokémon, but the world as well, and that includes the humans!"

Arceus took a second to calm herself before continuing on. "Now I know that the Great War from Sir Aaron's time has ruined many of your views on the humans, and yes it was a horrible and dark time, but did you all forget the brave men and women that stood up and defended both people AND Pokémon alike from those evil humans?! Or how about how Sir Aaron gave his life to save the Tree of Beginning?!"

Arceus continued to look at her children sternly as she spoke, "Humans and Pokémon alike worked together back then to save the world! That is the way it has been ever since the first human and Pokémon met one another. You say that humans control Pokémon and make them do their bidding against the Pokémon's will? Humans and Pokémon live and work alongside each other in harmony, helping each other to achieve their goals and making the world a better place in the process! Rather it be Trainers and their Pokémon fighting alongside one another to get stronger and bring the best out in each other, or just working together in general to achieve simple goals. Pokémon and people need one another, it's the balance of the world! Yes there are bad humans, we all know that. And yes they can be evil and deceitful... but for as many bad humans as there are in the world, there are just as many good humans out there who stand up and fight those who do wrong. Just like that organization of humans who call themselves Pokémon Rangers. They fight for the good of everyone, people and Pokémon alike." Arceus looked away from the other Legendaries for a second before speaking again.

"When I saved the Earth all of those years ago from a meteor striking Earth and then used some of my own life Aura to create the Jewel of Life in order to restore the land of Michina to its once beautiful state, I was terribly exhausted and had to return here to the Hall of Origin to rest and recover my strength. Before I did however, I entrusted the Jewel of Life to the leader of Michina, Damos, as a sign of good faith. However when I came back to retrieve the Jewel of Life some years later, Damos betrayed and nearly killed me and then kept the Jewel for himself. In my still weakened state I was forced to flee and come here. I was angry for many years with not just Damos, but with all of humanity for betraying me. After hundreds of years passed, however, and the Jewel of Life became lost in time, I had to accept what had happened. It wasn't all of humanity who betrayed me, just one man."

Every single one of the Legendaries was as silent as death while listening to Arceus. Reshiram finally was the first one to speak. "But why did you forgive the humans so easily Mother Arceus? How could you possibly forgive them?"

Arceus merely smiled at her child. "Because my dear, you cannot hold the actions of one human against the millions of others. We all have light and dark inside of us. It's which side we choose to act on that defines who we are. The humans are just as much my children and creations as you and all of the other Pokémon are."

The many other Legendary Pokémon had by this point calmed down and were now taking in what their Creator had just told them. Giratina was the first to speak in his chilling and low voice. "Mother Arceus... you said that the world was changing. What did you mean by that?" The other Legendaries looked at Arceus expectantly; curious now as to what she meant by that earlier.

Arceus knew that the time had come for her to divulge everything to her children. She looked off into the distance for a time before beginning her revelation. Arceus took a deep breath. "The time is soon upon us when we will have to make ourselves known to the world again. All of us." Every Legendary Pokémon's eyes widen considerably before any of them spoke. Zekrom finally came out of his own shock. "What do you mean make ourselves known Mother Arceus? Why and how are we even supposed to awaken? Some of us Legendaries have been trapped in energy containing prisons or locked away in different parts of the world for hundreds of years, preventing us from taking physical form. Reshiram and I are currently sealed away inside of the Dark and Light stones respectively. How can we be free?"

Arceus answered Zekrom's question directly to him. "While it is true that ever since the Great War and passing of Sir Aaron, most of us have been locked away in isolation, like yourself and Reshiram, or even Groudon and Kyogre... there will be a series of events in the near future that will release you from your prisons.

"How though Mother Arceus, and when will these events take place?" Little Mew asked in her childlike and innocent voice.

Arceus looked down at her inquisitive daughter who was the Ancestor of all Pokémon and smiled fondly at her before replying back to her question. "These events themselves will start taking place just four years before Jirachi is supposed to wake up again." Jirachi perked up at hearing his name and getting reminded of being able to wake up in just fourteen years, after sleeping for a thousand. "As for how you will become free of your imprisonment... that will be much less desirable." Arceus spoke sadly and also with a hint of anger in her proud and regal voice.

The Legendaries all seemed confused at this statement while Arceus continued on. "In just a few years' time, several criminal organizations that will each be fighting for its own evil agendas will rise in each region and seek to control your legendary powers and use them for their own selfish needs."

There was an uproar from many of the indignant and proud Legendary Pokémon who refused to be controlled by anyone, especially humans. "SILENCE!" Arceus shouted loudly. Once the outrage calmed down she spoke again. "You did not let me finish. You see, none of you will face these threats alone. And these evil organizations will not prevail in their diabolical plans. The world will not face these dark times to come alone."

"Does this mean that you will fight to help us and the world when the times call for it, Mother?" Ho-Oh asked curiously.

Arceus shook her head. "No it will not be me. In fact, I will face my own great challenge that I will need help myself to face." Arceus looked off into the distance for a moment. "You see my children... a human will become our savior, and not just ours either, but the whole world's savior for both people and Pokémon alike."

Many of the Legendaries looked disbelieving. "And who would this human be Mother Arceus?" The Time Travel Pokémon, Celebi, asked perplexed. Every other Legendary was fixated on what Arceus would say next.

She took another deep breath and said the words that made every single Legendary Pokémon in the Hall become as still as stone. "The one mentioned in the oldest Prophecies... the one who has been foretold to usher in the dawn of a new age... the one we have waited thousands of years for... The Chosen-One."

If there were pins in the Hall of Origins and one fell, then everyone would have heard it hit the ground like a Thunder attack. Did they just hear right? Mother Arceus just told them that the fabled and Legendary Chosen-One was going to finally rise... after they had all waited for centuries. It couldn't be so, it just couldn't be. "Mother Arceus... this can't be... can it? Has the time finally come?" Lugia questioned still in utter shock.

Arceus looked upon all of her council and nodded her head. "Yes my children, it's true. The coming of the Chosen-One is nearly upon us... This is actually the real reason why I summoned you all here today."

The rest of the council continued to listen with rapt attention as their Creator continued. "The Chosen-One is being born into the world at this very moment in a small human hospital just outside of a small community known as Pallet Town. Hundreds of Pokémon are already gathered at this one location awaiting the child's birth. The world's Pokémon have known of the child since his conception and have eagerly been awaiting his arrival."

"So that is the reason behind the Pokémon's crazy behavior!" Landorus loudly exclaimed. "All of the Pokémon within the Unova Region have been doing unusually kind things for each other and humans."

"The same can be said for Johto." Announced Suicune.

"And Hoenn." Continued Rayquaza.

"Sinnoh as well." Added Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf all at once.

"The Kalos region Pokémon have been in a strange state as well." Xerneas and Yveltal also proclaimed.

"And don't forget the Kanto region. Because it is the home region of the Chosen-One, Pokémon in Kanto have been behaving the most out of character." Mew piped up.

"Yes, the Pokémon of the world have known of his coming. They are very excited because even without the knowledge that we possess, they still sense that the Chosen-One's arrival means great and positive change is on the horizon. They have been performing these extreme acts of kindness as a sign of good faith towards the Chosen-One." Arceus announced.

"Mother Arceus... what can you tell us of this Chosen-One? What is his role and how do we fit into all of this?" Meloetta asked curiously. Arceus looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke loudly and clearly, almost as though she were reciting from a scroll or tablet, taking pauses every so often as she did so.

"He will be the greatest human with the purest heart to ever walk this Earth, even more so than Sir Aaron... He will change opinions and views currently held by many throughout this world and turn them for the better... Many of the opinions that each of you have about humans will also change greatly once you meet and get to know him... He will be a Pokémon Trainer with a love for Pokémon some would say is impossible... His skills as a Trainer will be unprecedented and never before seen. Given time he will rise to be the greatest Pokémon Champion of all time... He will also shine in many other aspects of the human and Pokémon world, claiming many titles for himself that others will be amazed one person can attain... Many, many Pokémon will also join him on his quests, several of them being outcasts of their own kind, but also incredibly powerful and very unique. With enough time and training alongside of the Chosen-One, these Pokémon will come to be seen as the most powerful of all of their species... he will come to possess many gifts and abilities that will be bestowed upon him by myself and also many of you. I believe that you will all eventually come to open your hearts to him for the great deeds and kindness he will perform for each of you... He will become the greatest Aura Guardian there has ever been, even surpassing Sir Aaron himself... As he grows older and meets the woman whom he will fall in love with, he will eventually become a father himself to a new generation of Aura Guardians and other special children... And the most important of all, he will stand as a beacon of inspiration and hope for all of those who look to him. He will be a symbol of strength and light for all those who live in the shadows... In many ways he will be my human incarnate."

Arceus stopped her long winded explanation of her Chosen-One for a few moments and then looked at her assembled legendary children. "The human beings are a young and foolish race in many ways, but they also carry the potential for great and amazing things. They need someone to guide them on their way to achieving that potential, so that is why I give them my Chosen-One. They will struggle and fall behind him... But eventually, they will join him in the sunlight."

As Arceus stopped her speech and gazed upon her children, all was silent. You could tell that many of the Legendaries were going through what they just heard in their heads, trying to process everything. Cresselia broke the silence. "But what is our roles in this matter, Mother? How do we fit into place with the Chosen-One's destiny?"

Arceus knew that this was not going to be accepted well. At all. "Being the Chosen-One will mean many things for this child and have many variations... he will for instance, be the Chosen Trainer for many Pokémon... We as the Legendary Pokémon of this world are going to be no exception."

For a time, every Pokémon in the Hall seemed confused at Arceus's last statement until realization suddenly dawned on Kyurem. "You don't mean that..."

Arceus just nodded her head. "Yes Kyurem, eventually we shall all join the Chosen-One... as his Pokémon."

Immediately Groudon yelled loudly. "I will not be forced into one of those little balls and be forced to do what some... HUMAN, commands of me! No matter how special he is!"

Several of the Legendaries began protesting, while others who were not as opposed to the idea of becoming the Chosen-One's Pokémon just stayed silent. Arceus became furious and shouted loudly. "QUIET!"

The Hall fell silently still. "None of you have even met the Chosen-One yet and you are already condemning the very idea of becoming his friends and Pokémon. I was referring to ALL of us, not a select few! Even I shall join the Chosen-One eventually."

At hearing that, all of the Legendaries almost passed out. "Mother Arceus! You would become a HUMAN'S Pokémon?!"

Arceus nodded her head. "I would and I am. When the proper time comes and the Chosen-One is ready to handle my power then yes... I will join him. He will become my Trainer."

No one had anything to say to this. They were all shocked to hear that their Creator, the Creator of EVERYTHING, would allow herself to become the Pokémon of a HUMAN!

Arceus spoke again. "I will give you all the choice though. After the Chosen-One risks his life over and over again to save each of you in the future, you can then decide if he is WORTHY enough to be your Trainer. How does that sound?"

None of the Legendaries said a word, showing that they were in agreement with Arceus's proposition. Even though some of them just stubbornly concluded to themselves that no matter what this Chosen One did, he would never be worthy enough to become their Trainer. Groudon began to say something about 'never being the Pokémon to a pathetic human,' but one look from Arceus shut him up.

"Now." Arceus said authoritatively. "From the time the child is born I will watch over and guide him. When he needs help or a push in the right direction, I will be there for him. So if you will all excuse me, the time of his birth is nearly here and I wish to be there to witness it. This council has ended!"

With that, many of the Pokémon began leaving to go back to their bodies on Earth to contemplate everything that had just been revealed to them. As Arceus was preparing to go to Earth two little forms appeared behind here. "Yes Meloetta, Mew, what can I do for you?" Arceus asked her little daughters kindly, all traces of anger with some of the other Legendaries forgotten as she looked at the two sweet little Legendaries.

"Ummm, Mother Arceus..." Mew started, "We were just wondering..." Meloetta continued, "If we..." They both looked at each other and then back at Arceus, speaking at the same time, "Can we please come with you and witness the Chosen-One being born?!"

Arceus just looked at her innocent little children who looked so nervous and excited, with the cutest looks on their little faces. She couldn't say no to those faces. "Of course my dears, you can most certainly come with me." Both of the small Legendaries smiled wide and began celebrating and cheering loudly. "But!" Arceus interrupted their celebrating. "We can't be seen, okay? So stay invisible, understand?" Both of the happy legendaries gave a happy nod showing they understood. "Good." Arceus said with a smile. "Then let's go."

After she said that, Arceus opened a portal leading to Earth and shaped the portal until instead of it showing a view of just the Earth, it now showed the scene of a hospital building with the words "Pokémon Ranger Memorial Hospital" on its roof and was currently surrounded by a large mass of Pokémon. On the ground behind a large wall of barriers separating the Pokémon from the hospital, was a bunch of policemen and Officer Jenney's keeping the situation as controlled as possible. All over the lawns of the hospital were news crews and reporters giving the coverage and updates on the event currently taking place.

Arceus stepped through the portal, followed by Meloetta and Mew. They were instantly transported from standing in the Hall of Origins, to floating directly above the hospital, invisible so that no one would see them. The Pokémon on the ground seemed to notice the three Legendary Pokémon's presence and immediately looked up in the sky in their direction. The news crews and everyone else on the ground also looked up to see what had suddenly broken the Pokémon's concentration on the hospital and obviously couldn't see anything since the legendaries were invisible.

Once Arceus asked the Pokémon to please ignore their presence, the mass of Pokémon obeyed Arceus's command and looked back towards the hospital. Effectively taking the humans attention off of where Arceus and the other two legendaries were. Arceus looked to the hospital as well and after picking up the rapidly growing energy signature that signaled the birth of the Chosen-One as being close, she began descending towards the hospital followed by her two legendary children.

'This is it.' Arceus thought. 'The birth of the one who will change the world is upon us.'

(Delivery Room)

The delivery room was absolutely chaotic. Delia had been at it now for eight hours and was finally about to give birth to her child. Professor Oak was with Amelia and her children outside in the waiting room. He had long since been forced out after things started to get very intense and VERY unusual. As soon as Delia was taken to the delivery room and began the slow, exhausting and PAINFUL process of having her baby, the entire atmosphere in the room changed drastically!

The air in the room began to feel thick and gravity seemed to get denser the longer Delia was giving birth. An almost visible energy that was radiating power started to course throughout the room. The doctors and nurses working with Delia began to get short of breath and their bodies started to feel like they had fifty pound weights strapped to their person, weighing them down. Professor Oak himself became so affected that when he started showing signs of passing out, he was forced to leave the room. The medical staff in Delia's room began needing to shift out with other doctors and nurses waiting outside the room so that they could rest and recover the strength in their bodies.

No one could stay in the room for too long or risk being seriously injured from the powerful energy that just kept rolling off of Delia in waves. Really, the energy was coming from the child struggling to get free from Delia's body, but no one knew that except for Delia and Professor Oak. The strangest thing, though, was Delia not being affected by the energy radiating from the child in her womb at all. It was possible that she had developed a resistance to the energy after dealing with its affects for the past nine months... but nothing was sure.

...

Arceus, Meloetta and Mew were in the far corner of the room just watching everything play out. "Mother, what is this powerful energy coursing through the room?" Meloetta inquired.

Arceus looked to her daughter and answered her. "This my child, is but a small taste of the power of the Chosen-One. It's truly amazing... even as an unborn infant he still has this much power inside of him. I can't imagine what it will be like when he gets older... incredible!"

"This is all his power we are feeling?!" Mew asked shocked.

Arceus nodded her head and then suddenly looked very excited. "It's time. He is almost here, look!"

All three legendaries looked in front of them just as a massive surge of energy shook the delivery room, knocking some of the doctors and nurses off of their feet and making the two smaller legendary Pokémon tremble a little. Arceus just stood there unfazed and with a look of pure excitement and anxiousness on her face.

...

After the surge of energy that literally rocked the delivery room and shook the hospital was gone and all of the doctors and nurses had gotten back to their feet, the sight that found their eyes left them all dumbfounded. Delia was laying there, still writhing in pain, but now her whole body was surrounded by a bright, electric blue energy field that just kept getting brighter.

One of the doctors knew that the baby was about ready to come out and after summoning up all of his courage he ran straight at Delia and got into position to deliver the baby. As soon as he got into position the doctor looked up at Delia and had to shout over the buzzing of the energy field that was surrounding her.

"Mrs. Ketchum!" The doctor shouted at her with his eyes closed, the light from the energy so bright he couldn't look straight at her. "I need you to push when I say to, okay?!"

Delia in her extreme state of pain could only nod her head to show that she understood. After the doctor gave her the signal she began to push, screaming in agonizing pain the whole time.

This process repeated a few times with Delia screaming as loud as she could every time... She began to feel the energy coursing through her body for the very first time during this whole intense process. It felt just like fire burning and lightning striking her body all at once as she gritted her teeth so hard that her gums bled.

At last, once the energy in the room was so intense and so bright that everyone, even the Pokémon in the corner of the room, had to close their eyes, the doctor told Delia to give one last push. As she pushed for the very last time Delia gave the most blood curdling scream yet.

"AHHHHHH!"

And with that last scream a loud cry was heard throughout the room as the doctor near Delia's legs stood up cradling something in his arms. "Congratulations Mrs. Ketchum, it's a boy." The doctor said as he let Delia see her child, still clearly shaken up from the events of the otherworldly birthing he had just witnessed. Delia tiredly smiled at her baby before falling asleep.

All three legendary Pokémon just looked at the now arrived infant with undisguised awe and absolute mirth, especially Arceus. They knew that they would have to wait until later to get a good look at the newborn Chosen-One, so they left for the moment and agreed to come back later on.

Instantly the heavy energy in the room lifted and everyone felt lighter as the atmosphere turned back to normal. The doctor then turned to a nurse who took the newborn from his arms and exited the room to go and clean him up. Later on, every doctor and nurse who was involved with this extremely... for lack of a better word... unorthodox delivery, would all agree amongst themselves to never mention what happened in that room ever again.

...

Ten minutes later Delia was resting comfortably in her room, with Professor Oak and Amelia sitting by her bedside on either side of her. Amelia had taken her children home earlier and left them with a friend so that she could be here for Delia's delivery. At that moment, a nurse poked her head inside of the door and after being cleared for entry, walked in holding a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket. Delia looked anxiously at the baby cuddled in the nurse's arms as she walked closer. Almost on instinct Delia put her arms out so she could retrieve her child. The nurse smiled at Delia brightly as she handed her the infant, "Here you go mommy, he's a very healthy 9.5 lbs baby boy!"

Delia cradled the baby boy that was her son in her arms and yet again on instincts, began rocking him back and forth gently. She smiled warmly and took in the sight that was her son with eyes full of love.

He was definitely a healthy looking baby for sure. In fact, Delia could swear her son was glowing, he looked so healthy. He was big for an infant, which added to his almost glowing form. He had raven-black hair just like Richard, as well as three scar like marks on both of his small cheeks. This made Delia smile as she saw this and also made her think of the man that she loved so much. Oh how she wished he could be here to see their son.

The Professor and Amelia looked on fondly at the sight while at the same time the nurse turned to leave. Before she made it out the door however she turned around again realizing she had forgotten to tell the small family something. "Oh and I just thought you all should know that when I said your little boy was healthy, I meant it. The doctor who checked him out said he had never seen a healthier baby in all of his years in medicine, and he's one of the best in the whole Kanto region. That's one special baby you have there!" With that, the nurse left the room.

Delia looked back at her son who was now looking around curiously at everything with wide, brown eyes. The same color as Delia's. She said lovingly while looking at him, "He is very special... Aren't you my little one?" Delia cooed softly to her son.

Professor Oak took this time to ask, "So Delia, what is this future Pokémon Masters name?"

Delia gave the professor a funny look. "You don't even know if he will like Pokémon Professor, let alone grow up to become a Pokémon Trainer!"

Professor Oak just smiled sagely and shook his head while looking at the currently unnamed little Ketchum who currently had his eyes wandering everywhere, trying to take in everything he could see. "Trust me Delia, with a father like Richard this little guy will grow up with the traveler's spirit and will most likely adore Pokémon just like his dad."

Delia knew that most likely Professor Oak would be right. He almost always was, but she didn't want to think about her son growing up to leave on an adventure of any kind right now. That was something she would take in stride if it ever came to be. Not now though. For now she just wanted to enjoy him the way he was, cradled in her arms.

"Soooo?" Amelia pressed impatiently. "What's his name?!"

Delia looked at her son for a few moments before she smiled and then spoke clearly and confidently. "His name will be Ashton Richard Ketchum."

Amelia and Professor Oak smiled at the great choice of name and nodded their heads approvingly. "So Ash Ketchum, huh?" Professor Oak said. "A great name indeed. It really rolls off of the tongue nicely."

"Ooooh I can't take it anymore Delia! Can I please hold little Ash?!" Amelia whined loudly.

Delia and Professor Oak just laughed at Amelia's impatience as Delia carefully handed over her son to Amelia, who promptly began cooing all over him.

(Hospital Nursery)

A few hours after the birth of Ash Ketchum it was late at night and the nurses had come to tell Professor Oak and Amelia they had to leave for the night since visiting hours had passed. After they said their goodbyes to Delia and went home for the night with the promise of coming back tomorrow, the nurse took Ash from Delia so she could get a good night's rest. After assuring Delia that she would see her son again first thing in the morning, she walked out of the room so Delia could fall asleep, and then made her way to the hospital's nursery to deposit the sleeping infant in her arms, smiling the whole way while thinking about how overprotective new mothers always were.

After tucking the newborn Ketchum safely into his little crib in the nursery, she smiled down at the little angel while stroking his cheek for a few moments. She didn't understand what it was, but this child just seemed so... perfectly at one with everything. He had such a warm aura around him that you almost didn't want to leave him. The nurse could say that with all of her years as a nurse, she had never come across a baby as seemingly special as this one. It was just one of those feelings that told her that this child was going to grow up to become something special. Oh if only she knew...

After smiling once more at the infant the nurse took her leave. It was no more than ten minutes after the nurse left that something happened. In the corner of the nursery three figures materialized seemingly out of nowhere. When the figures came into view it showed none other than the Goddess of all Pokémon herself Arceus, who had shrunken herself down to a smaller size so she could fit into the hospital. She was flanked by two smaller legendary Pokémon on both sides of her. On her right side was the Ancestor of all Pokémon, Mew. On Arceus's other side was none other than the Melody Pokémon in all of her grace, Meloetta.

As the three Pokémon of Legends that had not been seen by humans in over a thousand years walked, (And floated respectively), through the quiet nursery, they suddenly stopped at a crib that held none other than the infant, Ashton Richard Ketchum.

Arceus smiled down warmly at the one she had chosen to someday lead this world into a new age of love and understanding and along the way... enrich everyone's lives that he met.

"Greetings my dear Chosen-One." Arceus spoke down to the little infant quietly so as not to wake him. "I have waited on your arrival for many, many centuries now. You my dear child are going to be destined for great things in this life... At times you may feel as though the weight of your destiny is too much, or that you are not strong enough to shoulder such burdens... but that will never be the case. In times when you may feel low and can't seem to find your way, just look to your family and the many friends both human and Pokémon that you will someday make. They will be a source of light brighter than any light you could carry... and when even that is not enough, remember that I shall always be watching over you my little Chosen-One and anytime you need me I'll be there for you... Someday, when you have grown strong and powerful, you and I shall join forces and I will become your Pokémon. I look forward to that day, for when it does come you and I will make a team the likes of which this world has never seen... Until then however, I leave you with the first of many gifts and abilities to come. This is to help you along the way in your destiny."

With those words said, Arceus knelt her down and touched her nose to the infant's forehead. As soon as the contact was made, a bright light formed around the Divine Pokémon and then flowed from Arceus into the sleeping infant, encompassing him in the same bright light that had shrouded Arceus. When the light had faded away the baby still lay sleeping away in his crib as though nothing had happened. The only thing different now was the small mark that was now imprinted on the infants right hand palm. The mark shone a brilliant white and the pattern of it looked like a shining star and a beating heart wrapped around one another inside of a circle.

No sooner did the mark appear on the baby's palm and it was gone. Arceus spoke again, "I have bestowed upon you the gift of "Heart Speak", with this ability you will be able to communicate with Pokémon through their hearts. Whenever a Pokémon is agitated, in pain, does not understand your feelings or is in a rage, you need only touch the palm of your hand that holds the "Star Mark" I have given you, to a Pokémon's body and then you can speak to that Pokémon's heart with your inner feelings and emotions. This is a powerful gift and one that can only be used when your mark is in contact with whatever Pokémon you are communicating with. In addition, when you're not using this ability the mark on your hand will not be visible. You will not be able to understand Poke'speech, but as long as you are in contact with the Pokémon that you are trying to reach, then you will be able to make it understand your feelings. Very few people have this ability and I'm sure that someday you will meet some of these people on your travels."

The whole time this exchange between Arceus and the newborn infant was happening, Meloetta and Mew were transfixed on the baby who was meant to do so much in this world. They didn't know why, but they felt drawn to this child... as though his pure heart was calling out to them and they felt calmed by it. In that moment, they grew attached to the small infant and they wanted to do something to help him as well. When Arceus was done bestowing her gift upon Ash, Meloetta asked her a question. "Mother I was wondering something... would it be alright if I also bestowed a gift upon the Chosen-One?"

"I would like to do the same as well, Mother." Mew joined in.

Arceus was surprised at these requests. She knew that out of all of the Legendaries, Meloetta and Mew were two of the most kind and understanding... but she still never saw both of them wanting to give the infant something like this a possibility. She was proud of her two children and smiled at the both of them, "Of course you can my dears."

Meloetta and Mew smiled widely and then Meloetta got up close to the crib that held the sleeping baby. She placed her hands on the baby's face and then a bright green and red light poured from Meloetta into the infant.

When she was done she spoke, "I have given you the gift of "Soothing Words". Anytime there is ever an argument or fight happening between people, including yourself, you will always know exactly the words to say that will end that disagreement and soothe the pain that was caused from it. This gift comes from my own ability of being able to calm any situation and any fighting that may be happening with my "Song of Soothing", as some people call it. I wish you well Chosen-One. Until next we meet!"

After Meloetta was finished with her gift and backed away, Mew floated down and rested her forehead upon the brow of the small infants. A glowing pink light surrounded Mew and the child both as she pulsed this pink energy into him.

When she was done she said to the little Ketchum in her usual chipper voice, "I have awoken the Physic powers that lay dormant within you. Because every person has either an affinity to Physic or Aura abilities, one or the other is always selected if that person is meant to have an ability of some kind. Whichever power is chosen for you at birth is the one that you will be able to use in your life. The other remains dormant within you forever. So you're pretty much a Psychic or an Aura user if you have an ability. No one has ever had both before. Until now little one. You are naturally meant to be an Aura Guardian since you carry the blood of Sir Aaron in your veins. But now you can be both! Over time you will unlock these abilities and when you do you will find the right teachers to mentor you, I'm sure of it!"

Once her children were done giving their own gifts to the infant who slept peacefully through it all, Arceus looked at her Chosen-One for a final time. "I know that you did not hear or understand anything we have said about your newly received blessings dear one, but when you are older and you begin to unlock these powers, we will be here to help you understand them. We shall see you again in time little one, for now sleep well... Farewell my Chosen-One, I will always be right here when you need me."

With that said the three Legends bid each other farewell, Mew disappearing back into the world to have fun somewhere, the way it has for centuries and Meloetta heading back to the Unova region. Arceus watched her children leave and then took one last glance at the small baby asleep in its crib. "Until next we meet little one."

After that Arceus opened the portal leading back to the Hall of Origins and stepped through, leaving the nursery empty once more except for the sleeping infants that were getting acquainted with their dreams for the first time. In his crib Ash Ketchum continued to sleep soundly, blissfully unaware of the great destiny laid before his feet...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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**Chapter One End:  
**

**Post Chapter A/N: Wow that was a long chapter huh?! I would like to start by stating for the record that yes, I know this chapter had no Ash until the end and was almost entirely Delia and Arceus's POV. But don't worry though people, next chapter begins Ash's story. I will pretty much be focusing from the time Ash is five until he turns ten and starts his journey. The next chapter will really focus on just how unique and special Ash is and all of the training and things he does to prepare for his journey. The action will really start to pick up more around chapters three and four.**

**Now, as I have already stated before, Ash is going to be achieving A LOT in this story. So for anybody who thinks he is "over gifted" or something like that, just stop reading this story and find another one. There isn't going to be any such thing as Ash and his Pokémon being overpowered. That whole "Overpowered" thing is only true when the character of a story is just super powerful or in the case of Pokémon, has really strong Pokémon with no reason or explanation on how they became so strong.**

**It doesn't matter if Ash and his Pokémon wipe the floor with some of the opponents they face as long as two general rules are followed:**

**1: It has to be a good battle that at least keeps you interested.**

**2: Training. I can't stress that enough! If Ash and his Pokémon are training like dogs then it doesn't matter how strong they are! As long as the reason for their strength is explained then that's all that matters. If you train hard then there is no such thing as "Overpowered". You all feel me so far?**

**Also, I apologize for my writing style. I know it's not the best but I try hard to proof-read everything I write both during and after I finish a chapter. Sometimes I just get so caught up with seeing the story in my head while I'm writing it that I get lost and then I structure sentences and subjects the wrong way. At the time you are reading this I am currently working on chapter nine of this story and I am happy to say that my grammar has improved dramatically. Hopefully you will all notice a difference. My chapters are very long so mistakes may still be seen, just remember that.**

**So everyone knows! Ash WILL catch groups of the same kind of Pokémon but only when I think it fits.**

**Thank you all very much for reading this stand I hope you enjoy chapter two when it gets here as well. Until next time!**


	2. The Training Years

A/N: **Hey what's up dear readers! I'm back with another installment of my first ever story. Now I'm going to start off by saying thank you to everyone who is R&amp;R this story. I never really understood why writers constantly begged for reviews. Now I do. Your reviews and opinions decide more often than not if a story is either going to continue, or stop dead. So thank you to all who is following this story.**

** I'm going to go head ahead and let everyone know that this chapter will be the last one before Ash actually starts out on his journey. This chapter will be all about introducing Ash and showing just how special he really is, as well as all of the training that he undertakes to prepare himself for his journey. He will be five years old at the beginning of this chapter and by the end of it he will be ten and fully prepared for the start of his adventure. **

**By chapter three the story will catch up with the show and officially begin the Kanto arc of my story. Be warned though! Ash's journey will start much differently than the way it did in Canon, (Yes he will still start with Pikachu), in my story Ash is MUCH smarter and much more mature then he was in the show. Not to mention all of the knowledge he will obtain in this chapter will really pay off for him in chapter three. Ash won't be an old man trapped in a kids body or** **anything**** like that, but because he is the Chosen-One, things will be very different for him and thus, is the reason for his "Older than he really is" mindset.**

**Now I would like too give a big thank you to each and every person who has given me great ideas for this story and gave me inspiration to keep rockin! The people I really want to thank is "pmc1621" for a great idea that he was generous enough to share with me, (you all will know what it is soon!). Thanks again man!**

**The second person up to thank is my loyal reader and best damn Private a General could ask for: "xdragoon55" This guy here has been keeping me high in moral and also high in laughs! Seriously man, your a trip! Thanks again! Now get shining them shoes Private! Lol**

**This third person gets a very special thank you. She has giving me without a doubt the most inspiration to keep pushing forward and not to mention, she is a literal JOY to talk to! Everyone please put your hands together for 'Advancedforeverandafter' Don't be shy, take a bow you brilliant muse you!**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**Now without any further ado! Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls!... WELCOME TO THE FREAK SHOW! (Minions maniacal laughter as the cannons shoot off and the curtain is dropped while Shinedown's "Sound of Madness" plays in the background)**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave". Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**...**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon or anything else mentioned in this story that is copyrighted by anyone.**

_The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be_

_Chapter Two: The Training Years_

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise over the small town of Pallet and people and Pokemon were just beginning to stir. However, in a small house situated right in the center of the little valley that cradled Pallet Town, in a bedroom on the second floor, sitting at his desk reading a book titled "_The Legendaries of The Pokemon World" _under a small reading lamp, was a young boy who looked to be no older than five years old. He had his attention focused entirely on what he was reading until the suns early morning rays of light began to illuminate his bedroom.

As soon as it did so the young boy looked towards his window and got a huge smile on his face. Instantly turning off his lamp light and closing the book he was reading, the young boy ran to his window with the book held tightly in his hands. Opening the window, he climbed out onto the overhang under his window and grabbed on to a nearby drain spout and began climbing up to the top of the roof.

Once on the roof the young boy plopped down on the edge with his legs dangling off of the end and proceeded to stare at the still rising sun making it's way over the distant ocean that resided out past the Pallet Town Harbor. As the boy watched the sun continue to rise with that same smile on his face, he felt absolutely calm and at peace. Watching the sun rise was something that he almost always did and was a kind of morning ritual for him. He turned his head around and as he looked over the hill at the Pokemon Research Laboratory run by Professor Oak the child noticed the lights in the lab suddenly come on signaling that the Professor had just awoken and was getting ready to begin his day caring for and studying all of the many Pokemon at the Oak Ranch.

After the sun had finally risen the boy just sat there and opened back up the book he had been reading earlier. Once he had found the place he had left off he began reading again.

_Chapter 28: Higher Legendaries, or "God Legendaries"_

_The Creator: Arceus_

_Arceus is often referred to as the "Creator of All" or "God of All Pokemon". _

_Not much is known about this supposedly all powerful Pokemon except what has been told in the myths and legends of ancient people. Much like many of the other "Higher Legendaries", Arceus's very existence is more often than not questioned by the scientific community and most of the general populace as a whole. The reason for such skepticism is owed purely to the fact that nothing is known about this Pokemon. No evidence of it's existence has ever been found and the only sightings that have ever been recorded are from ancient times. Legends tell us that Arceus was a Pokemon of incredible and potentially dangerous power. Being that it is the "God of All Pokemon" Arceus was said to also be the most powerful of all Pokemon._

_Arceus's appearance is merely guessed at, but from ancient scrolls and texts most can deduce that Arceus was a Pokemon of immense size. However it was said to be able to change it's overall size to whatever it so chose. Arceus was also said to glow with a radiant and powerful light that was said to equal the very heavens themselves in beauty and luster. Arceus supposedly had one thousand arms that was each endowed with a different power or ability that it could bestow upon those lucky enough to be deemed worthy. Many legends say that this is how humans and Pokemon became able to use hidden powers and abilities in the first place._

_ It is also said that Arceus was able to change it's type and the kind of power it could use completely at random by using the power of mystical "Elemental Plates" that Arceus was able to absorb into itself. According to legend, Arceus was able to use an attack that was so powerful it could level mountains and decimate landscapes to absolutely nothing if it was used at full power. The type of Elemental Plate that Arceus was merged with at the time also effected the type of this all powerful attack according to tales._

_Arceus was said to be able to perform feats of pure amazement. It could create anything it so desired with merely a force of will. This was how the Legendary Creation Trio and Lake Guardians of Sinnoh were said to have been created. It could also bend the very threads of reality and create whole new dimensions if it so chose._

_ It is also said that their is a link between Arceus and the Aura Guardians of old... the only known evidence that has been found to support this theory was found amongst the ruins at Celestic Town in the Sinnoh Region. An image engraved into a particular set of ruins shows Arceus floating high in the sky with the Creation Trio and Lake Guardians directly below it, with humans and Pokemon looking up at them from down upon the Earth. However what many find the most puzzling is the image of a figure that looks remarkably like a human floating beside Arceus on a pair of celestial blue colored wings, shrouded in a blue energy. The figure is looking down at the rest of the world along with Arceus, leading some to think that this being and Arceus were equals. The only reason that this figure is linked to the fabled and long passed Aura Guardian race of humans is because of the blue Aura like energy surrounding the figure. Still, much like Arceus itself, this figure's existence is heavily debated. _

_Arceus's gender is also unknown as well as many other secrets that surround this Pokemon of myth. Unless more evidence of this supposed "Creator" is found, then it's likely that the mysteries and questions surrounding it will remain forever unanswered. For now this Pokemon remains as most likely nothing more than a child's bedtime story._

* * *

As the young boy finished reading the chapter on Arceus his head was swimming with everything he had just read about it. He was so excited! He would give anything to be able to meet that Pokemon. And it wasn't just because of how cool Arceus sounded either. This Pokemon seemed like one he could learn about forever and never get bored. Which was a problem he encountered regularly.

The boy was just about to start reading the next chapter when he heard his mother call him from in the house. If it wouldn't have been for his unnaturally good hearing then he probably would not have heard her from up on the roof. As he climbed back down to his window and stepped back into his room the boy put his book away with all of his others and then ran downstairs, still in his sleep wear which consisted of a pair of black shorts and shirt.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the living room he could instantly smell breakfast coming from the kitchen. He smiled wide and his stomach started growling in hunger as he made his way towards the smell as fast as he could. Upon entering the kitchen the boy spotted his mother at the stove busily cooking breakfast. "Morning mommy" The boy greeted chirpily to his mother.

His mother turned around and gave him a big smile before she left the stove and came over to give him a big hug. "Good morning my sweet little Ashy, Happy Birthday!"

The boy now identified as none other than Ash Ketchum smiled back at his mom. "Thanks mommy! Is breakfast ready yet?!" He asked excitedly.

His mother, Delia, laughed at her sons one track mind for food. "Almost dear, why don't you go and sit down at the table while I finish making up your special Birthday Breakfast!"

The young boy got an even bigger smile on his face. "Okay mommy!"

Ash ran to the table and sat down, looking so eager for his special breakfast he looked like he might fall from his seat. Delia smiled at her son's anxiousness and then went back to the stove and finished the food. Five minutes later she sat Ash's breakfast down in front of him. It consisted of Eggs, toast, fruit assortment, organic sausage and bacon, a blueberry muffin and a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal.

Ash's eyes shimmered with excitement as he looked at his food. "Thanks mommy!" Ash gratefully said as he began to eat his big breakfast. Delia went and poured herself a cup of coffee and then came back and sat at the table and watched as her son happily eat his breakfast without a care in the world. As she watched Ash eat with such enjoyment she was reminded of Richard. He would always eat the same way when it came to Delia's cooking. The only difference between the way Richard and Ash ate was that when Richard ate it was with the table manners of a wild Mankey and the appetite of a ravenous Snorlax.

When Ash ate, it was still with the appetite of a Snorlax, (Which is why Delia was so glad that Richard continued to send money in large sums to her every month), but Ash's table manners were MUCH better than his father's. Delia had drilled into Ash ever since he was old enough to lift a spoon all about proper table etiquette and not to behave like an animal when eating. Even though he had never met his father, Ash took after Richard in a lot of ways. Delia was fine with Ash taking up the positive qualities of Richard, but when it came to the not so great traits of his father, like his horrible table manners, Delia was determined not to let that happen. She had made it a personal goal to make sure Ash had learned all about proper table manners, being very polite and also how to be a gentleman by the time Ash turned ten years old and was ready to begin his own Pokemon journey.

Professor Oak had turned out to be right all those years ago after all. Ash did want to go on his own Pokemon journey when he got old enough after all. Actually, it was literally ALL that Ash could ever talk about. That boy had a motive for everything that he did and EVERYTHING that he did had something to do with preparing for the journey that he wouldn't even be able to go on for another five years. Professor Oak was also right when he said that Ash would end up loving Pokemon just like Richard. However Delia could say that Professor Oak was wrong about one thing, and that was when he said Ash would love Pokemon just as much as his father.

The truth was, Ash adored Pokemon even more than Richard did. And that was something that Delia never even thought possible! The second word that came out of his mouth after "Momma" was "Pokemon" if that was anything to go by. Ash was literally obsessed with everything to do with Pokemon. He lived, ate and breathed nothing but them. Sometimes Delia got a little worried with Ash's constant obsession, but every time she would see the joy in her son's eyes when Pokemon came up in subject, she couldn't possibly believe that something that brought him so much happiness could ever be bad for him.

The only thing stranger than Ash's absolute love for Pokemon was how all Pokemon just seemed to adore him. When Ash was just a baby and then as a toddler Delia would always have to be very careful when she took him to Professor's Oak Lab to see the Pokemon. Which was something that he ALWAYS wanted to do! Every time she ever took Ash out into the Poke'fields of the Ranch with Professor Oak she would always need to keep Ash with her at all times and could barely ever let him out of her sight. If Delia sat Ash down for one second to do something and then turned back around to grab him again, Ash would be surrounded by Pokemon from the Ranch, all of them trying to get near him.

Of course, this would always make Ash squeal out of excitement for being so close to the Pokemon. For Delia however, it would scare her a little bit thinking that her son might get hurt around all of the Pokemon who were much bigger than him and so she would pick Ash back up and hold him, which was where she felt he was safest. Either way one thing was for certain: Ash definitely had a very close connection with Pokemon that even Professor Oak couldn't explain.

Delia continued to watch her son fondly as he finished his food and she kept thinking about just how special her son truly was. For being five years old Ash truly was very mature for his age. He knew he wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer and he was willing to do whatever it took to make that dream a reality. Unlike most kids his age, (like Gary for instance who was Delia's best friend Amelia's son and was older than Ash by a month,) Ash had very different interests. Gary also wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer and was also excited for the day that he himself would receive his first Pokemon from his grandfather Professor Oak, Just like many trainers who were just starting out did. However Ash was by far the one who was taking it the most seriously. While most kids were out playing around everywhere and pretty much just being kids, Ash was always studying and reading new things about Pokemon. Not to say that Ash didn't play though, he did quite often... when he was playing with the Pokemon at Professor Oak's Lab that is.

Ash didn't even watch TV like normal kids or people in general for that matter did! The only time Delia ever recalled seeing Ash watch TV was when the Pokemon League Championships were being held and since it was obviously all about Trainers and their Pokemon battling it out in the biggest Pokemon tournament that could be held in a region, Ash was obviously glued to the TV screen watching the whole thing. Delia chalked that up as at least ONE thing her child did that was normal for a kid his age. That was until she saw him watching a League battle that was taking place with a notepad in his hand. When she questioned her son on why he had a notepad with him he simply replied by telling her that he was analyzing Pokemon battle strategies that he hoped would help him develop his own.

Delia really couldn't say she was surprised. That was just the way her son was. Another thing that constantly surprised her was just how gifted and extremely intelligent Ash was. By three months old he had already said his first word. At six months he was already walking and by one and half years old he could read. By three years old he was reading professional grade Pokemon research magazines and very advanced books on Pokemon theory and then here at five years old, which was how old Ash actually turned today, he was analyzing Pokemon battle strategies and studying Pokemon behavior.

Delia was dragged from her thoughts by her son who had just finished eating and was trying to get her attention. "Mommy? Mommy are listening?"

Delia shook her head and looked at her son. "What Ash? I'm sorry I was just thinking..."

Ash suddenly looked concern at his mother's facial expression which looked like she was still thinking about something. "Is it about daddy?"

Delia looked surprised. "What do you mean sweetheart? Why do you think I was thinking about daddy?"

Ash got a very sad look on his face. "Because it's another one of my birthday's that he's not here for..." Ash started to tear up, "Maybe he doesn't want to see me... maybe daddy doesn't like me... did I do something wrong mommy?" By this point tears began falling down Ash's face. Delia automatically ran to her crying son and engulfed him in a warm hug. By this point Ash was sobbing into his mother's chest. "Ash..." Delia said softly trying to console the distraught child. "Ash please look at mommy." Ash lifted his head and looked at his mother, tear tracks running down his cheeks and his eyes red from crying.

Delia took Ash's face into her hands. "Ash, daddy doesn't not like you. He left to continue his Pokemon journey before he even knew that I was pregnant with you. (Since Ash was so mature and intelligent for his age, Delia never tried to hide things from him and tell the usual "white lies" that most parents did with their children. Like when they came asking questions about where babies came from. Besides, she had tried that already with Ash and he just stared at her with such a disbelieving and...knowing face, it freaked Delia out a little. She decided right then and there that she would never try something like that with Ash again. With a child like Ash, honesty was ALWAYS the best policy.) I know that if he knew about you then he would come rushing home from where ever he is right now so he could see you. If he only knew about how he has missed five years of your life it would break his heart. Your daddy is a very good man and if he were to meet you then I know that he would love you just as much as I do."

By this point Ash's tears had stopped and he was no longer crying. "Do you really think so mommy?" He asked while looking straight at her.

"I know so" Delia told him kindly as she pulled apart from her son and held him at arms length. Ash had another tear fall down his eye. "Will I... Will I ever get to see daddy?" Ash asked downcast.

Delia engulfed her son in another tight hug while a silent tear fell down her own eye. "I hope so sweetheart... I hope so."

...

After Ash had fully calmed down and looked a little better Delia asked Ash the one thing that would make him forget about his father... for now at least. "Ash, how would you like to go and spend the day at the Pokemon Laboratory and see Professor Oak and the Pokemon?"

Ash instantly brightened up tremendously. "Really mommy?! Can we?!"

Delia smiled brightly right back at him. "Of course we can! It's your birthday silly! Now hurry up and go and get ready, we'll leave at 10:00!"

Ash smiled so bright that Delia thought she might go blind. He instantly left the kitchen and took off for his room so he could be ready to go. Delia laughed at her son's eagerness and felt glad that he was back to normal. As Delia herself went to go and get ready she looked out the window and sighed, "Stay safe Richard. Me... and your son miss you very much." With that said Delia went to get herself ready for a day at the Lab.

...

Two hours later we find Ash and his mother Delia at the doors of the Pokemon Lab. Delia was dressed in her usual outfit, (the same one she always wore in the show), and Ash was dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts, black T-shirt with a red Pokemon emblem and black and red striped tennis shoes. After they had knocked on the door and waited for a minute Professor Oak answered the door dressed in his usual Lab outfit. After opening the door and seeing who it was Professor Oak smiled at the two and greeted them brightly. "Ah Delia good to see you again my dear!... And who is with you? Could it be the birthday boy himself?" Professor Oak greeted Delia and then knelt down to Ash's level now addressing him.

Ash smiled happily at the Professor. "Hi Professor Oak! How are you today?" Ash greeted the Professor politely.

"I'm doing very well thank you for asking Ash. But more importantly I think that today is someones birthday. Am I right?" Professor Oak asked the young boy kindly.

Ash continued to grin broadly and started rubbing the back of his head with his hand in perfect imitation of Richard. One that both Professor Oak and Delia noticed and softly smiled at. "That's right Professor I'm five years old today. Which means I'm only five years away from being able to start my Pokemon journey!" Ash excitedly pumped his hand in the air as he said this. Professor Oak grinned back at the boy. "Well happy birthday Ash and your right. Only five more years and you'll be ready to start your own adventure with your very own Pokemon." Professor Oak scratched his chin and then got a sly grin on his face as he continued, "Which means that you need to keep spending as much time with Pokemon as you can. And as it just so happens there are many Pokemon out in the Poke'Corral... I think you should go and and "Observe" the Pokemon for yourself. Don't you think so Ash?" Professor Oak continued to smile slyly while knowing that Ash would get the hint.

And get the hint he did because Ash smiled even wider! "Really Professor can I? By myself?!"

Professor Oak looked at Delia who nodded her head in confirmation that it was alright. "As long as you don't go to far and be careful then yes you can." Professor Oak said.

Ash got jittery with excitement and jumped at Professor Oak tackling him in a big hug. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you Professor Oak!" Ash kept yelling excitedly while hugging the Professor tightly. Oak just smiled and hugged the boy back. "Your very welcome my boy. Now go on!"

With that Ash let Professor Oak go and then hugged his mother before running out the back door of the Lab and running as fast as he could to the Poke'fields. Professor Oak chuckled at the boys excitement and then turned to Delia. "Well Delia what do you say we have a cup of tea while we let Ash have his fun hmm?"

Delia nodded her head. "Sure Professor I'll go warm up the kettle!"

While the two adults prepared to spend their day relaxing and making conversation, neither of them could have known the events about to take place that would forever change young Ash Ketchum and start him off on the path that would lead to him becoming the greatest Pokemon Master this world would ever see...

...

As Ash finally made his way out to the Corral where all of the Pokemon that Professor Oak watched over resided, he got a huge burst of excitement at seeing all of the Pokemon spread out across the wide open fields of the Oak Ranch. Ash went running down the hill he was standing on top of at full speeds and once he reached the bottom and hopped the fence to enter the first field he stopped and looked around him. Pokemon were literally everywhere, all different species of Pokemon from so many different places all gathered at one place. Ash suddenly felt so at home here amongst all of the many Pokemon, he couldn't explain it, but it just felt right for him to be around Pokemon like this.

All of the Pokemon suddenly noticed Ash had just arrived and many of the them began running at him. Before he could even react a Growlithe suddenly knocked Ash over and began smothering him with licks and happy barks. Ash just rolled around on the ground with the Puppy Pokemon and laughed like crazy. Other Pokemon soon joined the two as well. A Snubbell, Vulpix, Ponyta, Pachirisu and Poochyena all swarmed Ash at the same time and also smothered him with affection. By the time they were done and Ash stood back up he had a huge smile on his face.

"Hey guys how have you been?!" Ash asked excitedly. He got several different calls and sounds for replies from the happy Pokemon gathered around him.

"Great I'm glad you are all doing well! Do you guys want to play with me?" Ash asked. Again he got several different calls from the Pokemon that sounded like anxious yes's, which made Ash even happier to say the least. After that Ash and the Pokemon began running around the fields together playing and having fun everywhere they went as they unknowingly started to head near the forest that bordered Professor Oak's property. Before Ash knew it he and the Pokemon were standing right near the fence that divided the Oak Ranch from the wild forest on the other side.

Ash had been warned to never go near the forest before or even think about stepping foot inside of it. Professor Oak had told Ash how wild Pokemon is all he would find in the forest and that since they were wild and untamed the forest dwelling Pokemon could potentially harm Ash. If there was one thing that Ash had plenty of it was intelligence and common sense. He knew how much possible danger he could run into if he went into the forest and had no desire at all to tempt fate and end his life before he even got a chance to become a Pokemon Trainer.

Just as Ash and his Pokemon friends were about to turn around and head back up to the Lab they heard a loud cry of a Pokemon coming from in the forest. As soon as he heard this Ash stopped dead and turned back around to look into the forest where the cry had came from. He heard it again and the Pokemon, whatever it was, sounded in pain. Ash didn't know what to do. He wanted to go and help the distressed Pokemon but he knew that he had been told to never go into the forest before. He was completely torn in two and had no idea what to do... another cry from the forest made Ash's heart ache and feel like he was going to break if he didn't help the potentially injured Pokemon. As the Pokemon called out one last time Ash finally had enough.

He took off at the fence separating him from the forest and slid underneath of it. Once he was on the other side he turned to his Pokemon friends on the other side of the fence. "Don't worry you guys I'll be fine!" Ash called to the clearly worried Pokemon. "I'm going to go help this Pokemon and then I'll be right back okay!?" The Pokemon reluctantly nodded their heads and then Ash took off into the forest. As he ran as fast as his small five year old legs could take him Ash jumped over fallen trees, ducked under branches and pushed through the heavy foliage following the cries of despair until he finally burst through the thick treeline and onto the edge of a large ravine. The ravine itself was huge and separated the forest on each side of it by at least forty yards. The sides were so steep that nothing could climb back up if it fell into the ravine. At the very bottom of this huge gorge was a rushing river so powerful that it almost seemed to be powered by hundreds of Hydro Cannons.

As Ash scanned the area looking for the Pokemon making the distress calls he found it. Hanging on to the edge of the ravine by it's paws was none other than what Ash recognized, as a Pichu. When Ash saw this small electric type Pokemon holding on for dear life, suspended above a perilous cliff with raging rapids below, Ash's instincts kicked in and he took off as fast as he could for Pichu. Just as the small Electric Pokemon was about to lose it's grip and fall Ash dove for the edge of the cliff and managed to grab Pichu's paw as it fell. Pichu, who was surprised by the sudden contact couldn't help but let loose an electrical charge that went straight into Ash through their connected hands and shocked him.

"Ahhhh!" Ash yelled as he was electrocuted. Still Ash held onto Pichu, even through the intense pain of being zapped by an electrical attack, he wouldn't let go. After the sudden shock was over Ash pulled Pichu back up and onto the top of the ledge where he then sat the Pokemon back down and looked at it. Pichu looked at Ash with wide eyes, not believing how a human just risked his life to save that of Pichu's own. As it looked at Ash and Ash looked right back at it, nothing was said for a while. Ash noticed that this Pichu was male from the non-cleft in it's small lightning bolt shaped black tail. Ash remembered how he read about the Pikachu evolutionary line in a book and how it mentioned that females of this particular rodent species of Pokemon always had a cleft in the tail, where as the males did not.

As Ash took in the Pichu before him he was impressed with what he saw. Pichu was looking at Ash with a spark of will and determination in it's eyes that shone brightly, even after the terror it just experienced. Ash could tell that this Pichu had spirit. He was also impressed with Pichu's Thundershock attack from earlier. Ash had read about how Pichu's could never control their electricity until they evolved into Pikachu and that when they did use electric attacks it would always rebound and hurt them as well since they didn't know how to control their power and their body's weren't strong enough to handle such electrical energy yet. This Pichu however, broke all of the rules on what was considered "Normal" for his current evolution, age and size. The Thundershock attack it executed was not only perfectly controlled but also, Pichu took no damage what so ever like it should have.

Ash could definitely tell that this Pichu was without a doubt special. He really couldn't help but wish that Pichu could be his starter Pokemon... but he knew better. All Pokemon given to Trainers by Professor Oak was either the Grass-Type Bulbasaur, the Water-Type Squirtle or the Fire-Type Charmander. This Pichu could never be his starter Pokemon as sad as it was.

Before any more could be said or done between the silent pair the ground all of a sudden began to give way again under where the Pichu was standing. Without thinking Ash jumped to where the little Electric Mouse Pokemon was and then pushed it out of the way of the crumbling earth. Before Ash could react he began falling with the broken ground and tumbled over the side. As Ash was free falling the last thing he saw and heard before hitting the water far below was Pichu's horrified look it had on it's face and the shrill cries of "Picha!" it was making. After that, Ash hit the water.

After Ash hit the raging current of water he was instantly shocked by the coldness of the water and the force at which it began to thrash him around. Every time he would try and rise back to the surface the current would pull him right back under the water. Ash felt the air being sucked from his lungs as he continued to thrash around and fight to stay above the water. As he fought to survive he could only think of one thing: 'I'm going to die!' Ash thought horrified. 'I'm never going to see mommy, auntie Amelia, Professor Oak or the Pokemon at the Lab ever again... I'm never going to get to meet daddy or become a Pokemon Master..."

As these thoughts ran through the young boy's mind he never saw the rock he was heading straight towards until it was too late. Before Ash could even process a thought he slammed into the rock head first, instantly losing consciousness and sinking under the water where the current continued to wash him away...

* * *

(_Unknown Location...)_

Ash opened his eyes to see clear open skies above him. He slowly sat up, groaning as he did so and looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Ash was shocked to find himself in a large open meadow that stretched as far as the eye could see. The grass he was sitting on felt like feathers beneath him and it was greener than any he had ever seen before. The sky was totally cloudless and the sun was bright, yet not hot.

As Ash stood up and continued to look around he suddenly heard a voice that almost sounded like it was the wind itself talking to him. "Ash..."

Ash spun around in place looking for who called his name. After finding no one around in the meadow besides himself Ash thought that maybe he hit his head so hard he was hearing voices and then reached up to rub his head where he had hit it. As soon as he touched the spot where the bruise was supposed to be he gasped in shock. It wasn't there!

Before Ash could even wonder about what was going on he heard the voice again, this time louder. He started to get scared as the voice continued getting louder and seemed to come from everywhere around him at once. He began running through the meadow trying to escape the disembodied voice.

Ash kept running, looking back behind him to see what or who was calling his name and to see if they were following him. When Ash turned his head around to face front again he saw a bright light directly in front of him, he shut his eyes from the blinding light and while doing so tripped and fell face forward into the ground.

When Ash looked back up he saw a truly massive figure step forth from the light. It was so big, the sun was blocked out from the form of the huge creature. Once it had fully emerged from the bright light, the portal of sorts that it came from disappeared and now the giant behemoth was shrouded in it's own bright and heavenly glowing light.

Ash's first instinct was fear from seeing something like this and promptly curled himself up on the ground and shivered in fear. Ash may have been very mature and intelligent for his age, not to mention brave! After all he did fall from a shear cliff face into a torrent of raging water to save the life of a Pokemon, but still... He was only five years old.

The glow around the majestic creature slowly dissipated a little bit, giving away the identity of this new arrival as none other than the Creator of the Universe and Goddess of All Pokemon... Arceus

The Goddess Pokemon looked around after finally emerging from the portal she had made to get her here from the Hall of Origins. She was looking for the one that she had brought here to this place of sanctity, the destined Chosen-One.

When she saw the young boy laying before her on the ground, trembling in fear, she knew that this was her Chosen-One. She hadn't seen him since he was a new borne but she knew it was him. Her eyes softened at the sight of the scared young child and she then spoke in a voice so soft and mellow it sounded as though her voice were made of silk.

"Do not fear me my dear one, I am not here to hurt you."

Ash finally stopped shaking and slowly looked up at the soft and comforting voice that reminded him so much of his mother. When he finally got a good look at the being in front of him, all fear and desperation went away in a second.

He was greeted by the most awe inspiring sight he had ever seen. Standing before him was a creature that he could only assume was a Pokemon by it's appearance. Although completely unlike any Pokemon he had EVER seen. If Pokemon had royalty then this would be it he thought.

The giant creature was just that, giant! It looked like it had a faint golden glow of some kind radiating around it, and the Pokemon looked like something out of a fantasy story. What captivated Ash the most about this great Pokemon was the incredibly warm, caring and yet powerful aura it had around it. Ash wandered if that was the golden energy he thought he saw around the Pokemon earlier.

Ash had stood up by now and was staring up at the royal Pokemon with wide eyes. Once he had finally found his voice Ash spoke up, "Who are you?!"

Arceus smiled again at the boy before answering his question. "I am the one you have read about many times before in your books... the Being that almost all humans in the world say does not exist, the one that you said on this very day in fact you would give anything thing to meet... I my child... Am Arceus."

Ash almost had his mouth on the ground in shock. He couldn't believe that standing right in front of him was none other than THE Arceus herself! The Goddess of all Pokemon, Creator of... EVERYTHING! Ash couldn't believe that the very Pokemon he had been reading about today, the same one that pretty much every Pokemon Researcher and scientific community in the world had said was nothing more than a myth, with the exception of Professor Oak who believed anything in the world of Pokemon was possible, was standing right here! In front of HIM of all people! And he had managed to answer a question that no Pokemon Researcher ever could. Arceus IS real and to top it all off, the Creator of everything was a female! This was amazing!

Whatever Arceus was expecting the child to do, it was nothing compared to what happened next. Ash began jumping around in the air in excitement yelling loudly, "I can't believe I'm actually here with THE Arceus! This is the best birthday ever!"

Arceus was dumbfounded. This young boy had just been through a trauma, falling off a cliff face one hundred feet down into a deathly tide of rapids and then was knocked unconscious by a large rock and nearly drowned. If it had not been for Arceus intervening and pulling the boy from the rapids and transporting him here with her power, healing his injuries as well as his head, he WOULD be dead right now. To top it all off, this boy had just encountered the most powerful powerful Pokemon in the world and creator of the very planet that he lived on. And here he was dancing around like he had just been told he had been named the next Pokemon Master! Arceus smiled and shook her head. If what she was seeing now and all of the times she had watched this young boy from the Hall of Origins was true, then this child was truly going to do amazing things in this life and bring many smiles and much joy to other people's lives as well.

Ash stopped dancing around suddenly and looked straight at Arceus with no fear in his eyes whatsoever now. "Ummm... Miss Arceus if you don't mind me asking... Where are we exactly? This doesn't look like anything back home... Everything just seems to perfect here. Ash said curiously.

Arceus smiled at the boy's curiosity and was also impressed with his intelligent observation. "We, my child, are in a dimension in between dimensions. A cross between your world and mine blended together. I brought you here after I saved you from that raging current and then I healed your injuries with my power. You have been asleep for nearly six hours now."

Ash's eyes suddenly got very wide at that last statement. "SIX HOURS?! My mommy and everyone else are probably going crazy right now! There going to be so mad at me..." Ash looked like he might fall unconscious again so Arceus put his mind at ease. "Dear one, time here on on this plane and time in your dimension are in complete contrast with one another. What has been six hours here in this dimension have really only been six minutes in the normal world."

Ash looked like he visibly relaxed much more at that last statement. Arceus decided to comfort him further, "In fact, I can show you what your mother and that Pokemon Researcher are doing right now if you wish." Ash looked surprised. "You can do that?! From here?!"

Arceus chuckled at his question. "Of course I can young one. I am the most powerful Being in the universe you know."

Ash looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head. "Er... yeah. Sorry I kind of forgot...hehe"

Arceus just chuckled again in amusement. "That's quite alright youngling I understand. Now stand back please."

Ash did as told and once he was a good ways back, Arceus focused her energy and then opened a portal out of thin air that shifted and formed a little until it showed a crystal clear image of Delia and Professor Oak sitting in the living area of the Oak Lab, talking and drinking tea. Ash looked at the image in amazement. There his family was, clear as day, right in front of him. Arceus closed the portal and the image of the two conversing adults disappeared. Ash still seemed shocked.

"Now. Better?" Arceus asked the still stunned child. Ash lamely shook his head yes. "Good, because we have many things to discuss. Very important matters concerning yourself and...your destiny." Arceus said seriously.

Ash's face took on a look of confusion. "What do you mean Arceus? My destiny?" The boy asked, very curious.

Arceus settled herself for a rather long explanation before she began. "Yes my child, your destiny. You are very, very special and very important to the whole world. Your very existence was predetermined long, long before you were ever born. You were prophisised from the very beginning of the human/Pokemon world that I created long ago. You are destined for greatness. The likes of which has never been seen before. You will bring peace and balance to the world, as well as fight and defeat many great evils who will rise to take the world for themselves. You will accomplish feats of such magnitude that many, many people will come to revere you greatly. In the world of Pokemon, you will become a Trainer of such greatness that your abilities in battle with your partner Pokemon will dwarf that of even the greatest of Pokemon Champions who stand tall today. Pokemon will flock to you and love you like no one has ever experienced before you. You my young one... are the Chosen-One."

Ash was speechless. First he has a near death experience, then he meets the Goddess of All Pokemon, now the great Creator herself was telling Ash, a five year old boy, he was destined to save the world many times over, accomplish feats of such greatness he would be revered by practically everyone and become a Pokemon Master so great, none of the current Pokemon Regional Champions could match up to him. It was safe to say, Ash was on overload. Arceus saw this and continued, "You will face great challenges and many obstacles on your way to greatness young one. So many in fact, any other person could never hope to overcome these tasks and challenges."

The young boy looked even more stupefied at the information he was getting blasted by continuously. Arceus decided to use this time to get down to business. "Ash, answer me a question." Ash looked up at Arceus and nodded his head showing he understood and for her to continue. "Do you want to be the greatest Pokemon Master there has ever been?" Arceus asked him.

Ash's face turned to one of dead seriousness. "Yes. More than anything! One day I WILL be the greatest Pokemon Master there ever has been!" Ash answered with passion.

Arceus looked at Ash with pride. She had chosen a truly great human to be the Chosen-One. "Alright Ash, that is exactly what I wanted to hear from you! Your path is going to be a long and difficult one this is true... But that is why I'm here. I will be watching over you always. At anytime you need me I shall be here for you. Now, Ash are you ready the take the first steps in becoming the greatest Pokemon Master there has been or ever will be?"

Ash firmly nodded his head. "Yes Arceus! I'm ready! Anything to achieve my dream! And as for saving the world... I don't know if I can... But everyone I love and care about are all a part of the world, and if saving them means saving the world no matter how many times I need to put my life on the line... I'll do it!"

Arceus felt even more pride in her young Chosen-One after he said those words. "Then to be the best Pokemon Master there has ever been, you are going to have to train harder than any before you ever has." Arceus stated.

Ash looked thoughtful for a moment before he replied back, "What kind of training Arceus? I've already been reading and studying hard on everything to do with Pokemon to prepare myself for my journey."

Arceus stared down at Ash intently. "I know you have young one and I am proud of you for all you have done to prepare yourself so far. However you will need to do much, much more training and preparation to be ready for your journey in five years time. You will need to learn everything you can about Pokemon behavior, battling strategies, breeding cycles, migratory patterns, type matchup's, along with many other subjects on Pokemon. You will also have to learn much about many other things. Survival, culinary arts so you can feed yourself as well as your Pokemon, self defense, hard physical training so you can be in the best shape you can be in before your journey... There are many things you must learn between now and then to fully prepare yourself for the great destiny ahead of you young one."

Ash remained pensive for a long time. Just staring off into space. Arceus began to think that maybe this was to much to soon. Just as she was about to say something Ash lifted his gaze to meet her's with a seriousness and fire in his eyes that shocked Arceus. He then spoke in a voice that sounded like it belonged to someone much older than himself.

"I'll do it." He stated firmly. "If that is what it takes to become the greatest Pokemon Master ever and also to defend my family, the ones I love, from any evil that ever tries to take over the world... I'll train harder than anyone before me ever has and I won't stop! I'll never stop training to get stronger and better alongside of my future Pokemon! I promise you that Arceus!"

Arceus was takenaback for a second by the young boy's heart felt and serious speech. In the course of the ten minutes that Ash was completely silent it was almost as if he had come to terms with something inside of himself and now stood before the Divine Pokemon totally changed. Arceus was only shocked for a minute and then felt that same rush of pride for the young boy come over her. She responded back to the boy's intense proclamation with her own. "I know that you will become the greatest Pokemon Master this world has ever seen Ash. With determination, always training to get better and improve yourself and your Pokemon, never giving up on your dream and keeping the support of your loved ones close to you, there is nothing that you can't do. Face the challenges you will face in the future with courage and strength and you will ALWAYS overcome. Never stop having faith in yourself my child and someday... you will stand above all others and be recognized for the greatness that you have achieved."

Ash merely smiled and nodded his head resolutely at Arceus. "Thank you Arceus. Thank you for having faith in me."

Arceus smiled at the child's acknowledgement and then spoke. "You are most welcome young one. Now, I believe you have been here for long enough don't you? I believe it's time you return to the world and show them just who Ash Ketchum really is."

After saying that, Arceus began to glow and was then surrounded by the same bright shroud of light that she was cloaked in when she first arrived on this plain. Suddenly a bright beam shot out from Arceus and struck the air in front of Ash forming a large portal that had the image of the Pokemon Lab on the other side. Arceus then turned to Ash, still glowing brightly and causing him to squint his eyes while he looked at her. "It's time to go now Ash. Go and show the world what the Chosen-One can really do. Always remember this as well my child, whenever you need me I shall come to your aid."

Ash gave Arceus a thumbs up. "You got it! I promise Arceus, I WILL become the best!" With that said, Ash stepped through the portal to go back home. Right before he disappeared Arceus heard him say, "I'll make you proud!"

Arceus smiled. 'I know you will my child, I know you will.'

...

As soon as Ash stepped through the portal he found himself right on the very edge of the Pokemon Ranch. Upon closer inspection Ash realized that this was the exact same spot that he had exited from earlier when he went into the forest to save Pichu. Ash didn't get a chance to do anything else because he was then tackled to the ground by several Pokemon. Ash was assaulted by licks and barks, whinnies and chirps as he lay there on the ground. When he finally got back to his feet Ash recognized the Pokemon that tackled him as the same ones that he had been playing with earlier before he went running off in search of the distressed Pokemon in the forest.

Ash got back to his feet and looked at all of the Pokemon who were so happy to see him. "Hey guys did you miss me that bad?" Ash asked the Pokemon gathered around him. They all called out in excitement meaning that they did. Ash laughed a little and started stroking each one of them comfortingly while talking to them. "I'm sorry if I worried you guys at all... but you'll be happy to know that I was able to help that Pokemon that was in trouble! It was actually a Pichu. And a very special one at that!"

Ash then went on to explain to his Poke'friends all about what happened to him while he was gone. The Pokemon were all shocked when he got to the part about Arceus, but they quickly recovered and then looked at Ash with even more reverence then they did before. If their Creator Arceus was even taking a special interest in Ash then they knew he was even more special then they thought he was.

Once Ash was done with his explanation he then started making his way back up to the Oak Laboratory to talk to his mother and Professor Oak. Ash had been thinking about what Arceus had told him a lot and she was right, he was going to have to train extremely hard if he wanted to be stronger than any other Trainer out there. Especially the Champions, since they were the strongest of the strong. Ash knew that if he trained himself into the ground like a Diglett then by the end of five years he would be more than ready to to start his Pokemon Journey. First however, He needed his mom and Professor Oak. They were instrumental to the training regimen that he already had cooking up in his mind.

After Ash made it the gate separating the Lab from the Poke'fields he bid his friends good-bye and walked up to the back door of the Lab and went inside. Ash walked through the Lab and up the stairs to the second floor to the living area where he remembered Arceus showing him in the portal was where his mom and Professor Oak were. After making it to the open door of the living area Ash walked in and saw his mom on one sofa and Professor Oak on the other sofa across from him. They were both in conversation and didn't notice Ash until he walked around the backside of the Professors chair and made himself known to them.

"Hi honey!" Ash's mom cheerfully greeted him.

"Ah Ash! Good to see your back my boy!" Professor Oak also greeted him in that kind, grandfatherly way that only he could.

"Hi mom, Professor Oak, did you guys have a good day?"

Delia, who was a little surprised at Ash calling her "Mom" instead of his usual "Mommy", answered for the two. "Yes we did thank you for asking. What about you sweetie did you have a good day playing with the Pokemon?"

Ash nodded his head yes and then sat in the armchair between Delia and Professor Oak. "I actually need to talk to you guys about something very important." Ash said seriously as he looked at both of them in turn. Delia spoke up again, "Of course Ash what is it?"

Ash took a deep breath before beginning. "As you guys know I can't wait to start my own Pokemon Journey in five years once I'm old enough. I've also been working hard at preparing myself for then... reading all about Pokemon and studying the many different Pokemon Types here at the Lab."

Professor Oak and Delia nodded their heads showing they were following him. "Yes Ash we know." Professor Oak said. "You are really taking this seriously and I for one, am proud of you for that. If only my grandson or half of the other Trainers who come to me seeking their first Pokemon prepared beforehand like you are doing now, I daresay there would be many more Trainers who had much more success starting out."

Delia also piped in. "Yes sweetie I know how much this means to you and I am also very proud of how you are approaching this."

Ash just shook his and crossed his arms. "I appreciate that, really I do, but still... it's not enough."

Both adults looked confused. "What do you mean Ash?" His mother asked him.

Ash just sighed in his chair. "The fact is... yeah I may be studying hard and finding out more about Pokemon from watching them when mom and I come to the lab but still... the more I think about it, it's just not enough. At this point, with the knowledge I have now I could probably make a good start on my journey when it's finally time but that's not good enough for me! I want to be the greatest Pokemon Master that has ever lived and I can only do that if I train harder than anyone else ever has before. I want to take the world by storm! Not just make a good start and then fall in beside all of the other Pokemon Trainers in the world and be just another good or even great Trainer like dad. I want to conquer all of the Pokemon Leagues, I want to defeat the Elite Four and Champion of each region! I want to be known for being the best and most powerful Pokemon Master there has ever been. I want to have a stronger bond with my Pokemon then any other Trainer has ever had! I want to be known for also having the strongest and most unique Pokemon in the world! But I can't achieve these things unless I train extremely hard and keep learning everything there is to know about Pokemon all of the time!"

Professor Oak and Delia were shocked and amazed by Ash. They knew he was passionate about his dream... but not THIS passionate! Professor Oak took this time to speak his thoughts. "So what does this have to do with your mother and I Ash?"

Delia also looked at her son wanting an answer. "Because..." Ash continued. "You Professor Oak are the greatest Pokemon Researcher in the world and you know countless amounts of information on Pokemon! Years worth of it! And mom..." Ash said as he turned to her. "You know so many things about proper nutrition, cooking, sewing, survival, medical knowledge, how to make food for every type of Pokemon!"

Ash turned back to both of them. "I want you both to please teach me everything you know about all of this stuff! With your knowledge of Pokemon, Professor... and your general knowledge about everything mom! Including all of the things that dad taught you while he was still here! Not to mention all of the books I'm going to double up on reading... I will be prepared for anything that comes my way when the day comes for me to start my journey. So will you please do it mom? Professor Oak?"

Professor Oak and Delia looked at one another in complete awe. This five year old boy was seeking to learn things that most adults would never have the patience or capacity to learn. They always knew Ash was very mature and intelligent for his age but this was just unreal. A child so young thinking so far ahead. They both nodded their heads at each other and then turned to face Ash. Professor Oak got up from his chair and came to stand in front of Ash who was also up and out of his chair by now. The old Professor looked straight at Ash. "Are you sure this is what you want Ash?" Professor Oak asked seriously.

Ash nodded his head vigorously. "Yes Professor I am absolutely sure!"

The Professor just looked at Ash for a moment and then smiled when he saw the seriousness on the boy's face. "Alright then my boy! I will take you as my unofficial assistant and between now and the time you turn ten, I will teach you everything I know about Pokemon and then some!"

Ash smiled wide and then got a confused look on his face. "Why unofficial assistant Professor? Why not official?"

"In order to become my official assistant I would have to register you in the Pokemon Researcher International Database. And your just to young right now." Oak said simply.

"Ohhh okay that makes sense." Ash said understandingly. Professor Oak made his mind up though and so he spoke again, "I'll tell what though Ash. If you succeed in training under me for the next five years, which is something no one has ever done and is the reason why I don't have an assistant like most other of the other Professor's, I will make you my official Assistant Pokemon Researcher. Sound good to you?"

Ash smiled brightly again. "Yes sir Professor!" Oak just chuckled and then Delia stepped up. "Ash..." She said, getting his attention. "I am so proud of you for wanting to achieve your dreams so badly your willing to do anything to achieve it. Your father would be very proud of you!"

At this Ash smiled softly. Delia continued, "I will make sure that I also teach you everything you will need to know about taking care of yourself and your Pokemon on your journey. I promise!"

Ash smiled again. "Thanks you guys... this means a lot to me. I'll work very hard, I promise!"

Both adults smiled and then Delia spoke again. "Well Ash, let's head home then. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow!"

Ash agreed and then he and his mom both said their good-byes to the Professor before heading home. On the way home Ash couldn't help but think about how his new training program would be starting tomorrow and it excited him! Right as he and his mom were getting ready to walk in the front door of their house, Ash stopped and looked up at the night sky and spoke to the stars silently. "Tomorrow I began the first steps on the road of my destiny. Arceus... I hope your watching me. I'll make you proud."

After he said that Ash headed inside. He never saw the stars give a slight twinkle in response to his statement.

...

The next morning at 5:00 A.M. sharp, Ash's alarm clock went off. He jumped up out of bed and turned off his Voltorb shaped alarm clock and then went to his closet and pulled out a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants. After going to the bathroom and getting ready for the day, Ash climbed out his window and climbed to the top of the roof where he began running through many upper and lower body stretches to warm himself up while he waited for the sun to come up. Once Ash saw the sun make it's first appearance he smiled outwardly and stopped stretching for a split-second so he could admire the beautiful sun rise. He couldn't wait until he was on his journey and was then going to be able to see the sun rise from many different places.

After he was done watching the sun rise and finished stretching, Ash climbed back down to the overhang under his window using his regular drain spout/climbing rope and then kept climbing down using another drain spout until he was on the ground. He then ran to the front gate of the yard and made his out onto the main path in front of his house.

Ash took the path to the right that lead away from Professor Oak's Lab and made a circle around Pallet Town. He began jogging at a light pace down the road to warm his leg muscles up a little bit and then began increasing his pace. The whole point of his exercise program was to work his cardio, endurance, speed, agility, power, strength, everything. He was going to work every muscle group as a whole throughout the course of each exercise but he was also going to have targeted exercises that focused on really working each muscle separately as well. He was going to make sure that with every exercise performed and with each different form of training he engaged in, he worked his cardiovascular system constantly. An increase in cardio would mean an increase in endurance and stamina all in one, which in the long run would mean that Ash could run longer, faster, and be much better off if he suddenly had to take off running for any reason at all on his journey.

Strength and power would be great because if Ash had ever to lift his, a person's, or a Pokemon's body weight, he could do so much easier if his muscles were stronger. Stronger muscles would make everything much easier. Lifting, pushing, pulling, dragging... anything! Power would allow him to perform all of these feats much more explosively and with much more effectiveness than he ever could before.

Speed, agility and flexibility were very important also. If you have proper training, cardio, speed and agility go hand in hand. Agility is good for many reasons. The more "light on his toes" Ash is, the more nimble he will be in getting away from threats quicker and more efficiently. And Flexibility is always something good in case he is in a tight spot and needs to maneuver his way around in situations that may call for an increased ROM (Rang of Motion or Flexibility). Speed coincides with cardio and agility. The faster Ash is on his feet will then be added to by increased cardio, which will allow him to go longer without getting as tired. Agility works with speed to increase reaction time, meaning Ash will be able to make much faster and more effective decisions at a moments notice. Ash had been reading books on fitness and even though it took him awhile, he was pretty certain he had created a perfect exercise routine he could follow six days a week. He would work his Cardio everyday as well as work on his flexibility. He would then alternate Power and Strength training with Speed and Agility training every other day.

Ash began picking up the pace more until he was at a full on fast jog. Every fifty yards he would stop in a runners crouch and then sprint as fast as he could for another fifty yards and then slow back down and continue his fast jog before repeating the process. Ash would stop by the road every so often and then drop to the ground and do a variety of different Push-Ups, as well as different types of Sit-Up drills. After that Ash would continue running his circle through Pallet Town, occasionally stopping by a tree and doing Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups on low hanging branches. Once Ash got back from his run he entered his yard and then went to the lawn and began doing different types of Aerobic and Calisthenic exercises to work on toning his muscles. After fifteen minutes Ash was done with his workout finally and began his Cool-Down, which consisted of different breathing and stretching exercises. Finally, after two and half hours of exercising Ash was done and then went inside to shower so he could start working with his mom on everything that she agreed to teach him.

When Ash finally came down stairs from his shower dressed in a pair of red cotton shorts and black T-shirt he found his mom already in the kitchen waiting for him. "Hello student are you ready for your classes?" Ash's mom asked jokingly.

Ash laughed at his mom's joke. "Yeah mom I'm ready. Let's go!"

Delia nodded her head and they began working on that day's lessons. They worked on how to cook different types of food that Ash could make easily on the road for all six meals of his day. Ash had explained to his mother that because of the new exercise program he was taking on he would need to feed himself a balanced diet of six small meals a day so he could fuel himself with the proper nutrients that he would need to build his body to become healthier and stronger. Ash knew from studying his books that he would need to have a diet consisting of even parts protein, (to build and keep his muscles strong), carbohydrates, (to give his body energy), and minimal amounts of fat, (so in a time of desperation or food deprivation Ash's body could burn the fat stores first as nourishment instead of his muscles).

Luckily his mom was able to teach him many cheap and affordable ways to make the food he would need while also telling him what foods to use that were travel friendly, would last a long time and were easier to carry around on his journey. A fact that Ash was immensely grateful for. Once that was finished they began working on how to cook many different foods for every known type of Pokemon there was. As well as specific kinds of food that each individual Pokemon would need for all kinds of different training regimes. They also worked on how to make Poke'blocks and Poffins which were great for enhancing a Pokemon's appearance, vitality, strength, power and pretty much any kind of enhancement to a Pokemon's attributes a Trainer could think of. The aforementioned "Poke'enhancers" were also very popular in the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions where Pokemon Contests were famously held. Pokemon Coordinators would almost always use these vitamin like supplements on their Pokemon before contests to make them more appealing in appearance to the judges. Ash however could think of MANY uses that these enhancers could have on his Pokemon and who knows... maybe Ash would decide to compete in Contests himself at some point?

After they were done in the kitchen for the day Delia worked with Ash on everything from sewing, medical training on dummies that she had borrowed from the local Pallet Town Health Center, to survival tips and gear he would need to use on his journey. Needless to say, by the end of Ash's training session with his mom his head was spinning and slightly hurt. He couldn't be happier though, he had learned so much in one day and he still had five years of training to learn even more and practice everything that he learned today.

By the time Ash was done working with his mom it was 10:00 A.M. so he left for Professor Oak's Lab excited for his training with the Professor. As Ash made his to the Lab he broke out into a run so he could get some more exercise and before he knew it he was at the front door of the Oak Laboratory. A few seconds after Ash knocked on the door Professor Oak opened the door. "Good morning Professor!" Ash said happily. After realizing who it was Professor Oak smiled and greeted the young boy.

"Ash my boy! Your here early. That's good we can begin right away, Follow me." Ash obediently followed the Professor into the Lab. Once inside Professor Oak turned to Ash. "Now Ash, were going to be learning many things today. First we will go through some of my own research papers on Pokemon theory, type advantages and disadvantages, migratory patterns, breeding habits and behavior, as well as many other topics. After that we will go out to the Poke'fields and study the Pokemon first hand and I will tell you all about the many secrets and techniques I have learned over the years that you can use for all of the many different Pokemon that you will encounter on your journey."

Ash looked very anxious and excited at Professor Oak's lessons he had planned for the day. "Alright Professor, I'm ready to start training and learning everything you can teach me! I'll be the best student ever!"

Professor Oak grinned and ruffled Ash's hair. "I'm sure you will be my boy. Now let's get to work!"

Ash spent the rest of the day pouring over many of Professor Oak's research papers, books on every subject to do with Pokemon and he also looked up many different bits of information on individual Pokemon using Professor Oaks PDS, (Pokemon Database System). After that at around 4:00 P.M. Ash went out into the Poke'fields to watch and study the Fighting Types on Professor Oak's instruction.

As Ash made his way to the rocky plains of the Poke'Corral where the fighting type Pokemon were always gathered at, he found several of the Fighting Pokemon spread all around the rocky training area sparring. Ash sat down on a rock nearby and pulled out his notebook and began taking notes on the many different styles and techniques that the fighting Pokemon implemented when they fought.

While Ash watched the Pokemon fight he began remembering how Arceus told him that learning martial arts and self defense would greatly benefit him on his journey. The more he thought about it actually, the more he realized that there would be no one better to teach him how to fight than Fighting Type Pokemon themselves, since even world champion human fighters couldn't so much as hope to match up to the might of a well trained Fighting Pokemon. Ash scanned the many sparring Pokemon in the area, looking for the best Fighting Type of all them that would make the best teacher for him. He finally caught sight of three Pokemon: a Machamp, a Hitmonchan and a Hitmonlee. All three of them were fighting a group of four opponents each and showing the most amazing fighting styles and techniques Ash had ever seen. He knew in that moment that he had found not one possible teacher, but three.

After the three expert Fighting Types defeated their opponents and started cooling down, Ash walked up to them. The Pokemon noticed Ash's appearance and turned to face him. Once he had their attention Ash spoke, "Hey there my name is Ash, I saw you guys fight and that was incredible! I have never seen any Fighting Pokemon with as much skill and fighting ability as you three have. You really are strong, no doubt!" All three Pokemon just raised their heads proudly and began flexing their muscles. Ash turned serious and then addressed them again. "I actually wanted to ask you three something... In five years time I'm going to be going on my own Pokemon Journey. I'm going to be spending all of my time until then training and preparing myself so I am ready to start my journey. I'm going to be the greatest Pokemon there has ever been one day, but in order to get there I have to train hard! So what I want to know is... will you three please train me how to fight and defend myself so I can be better protected on my journey? Please!"

The three Fighting Pokemon just shared at look with each other for a while and then nodded their heads before turning back to Ash. They gave him a smile and a thumbs up showing that they would train him. Ash got a huge grin on his face and began thanking them profusely. "Thank you guys so much, I really appreciate this! I won't disappoint you!" The Pokemon nodded their heads and smiled at the young boy's determination. Ash stepped back from them and spoke again. "How will training everyday after I'm done learning from Professor Oak work for you three?" The Pokemon all grunted their approval and Ash gave his own thumbs up. "Awesome guys! Then I'll see you tomorrow okay?" The fighting experts nodded their heads in understanding and Ash smiled again for before picking back up his notebook and then began running back for the Lab, waving his hand behind his head as he went. The whole way back to the Lab Ash kept thinking in his mind, 'Everything is coming together perfectly! I'm going to be so ready for my Pokemon Journey when I finally am old enough!'

These were Ash's thoughts the whole back to Professor Oak's. The only thing for absolute certain was that these next five years were going to very hard, but also very interesting and VERY rewarding.

* * *

(_Five Years Later...)_

In a grassy and wide open clearing, surrounded by trees, in the Poke'Corral at Professor Oak's Laboratory, a near ten-year old Ash Ketchum dodged under a kick thrown at him by Hitmonlee. Ash jumped back and did a front handspring, kicking Hitmonlee in the chest and knocking him back. No more than Ash landed on his feet a punch was thrown right at his head. Ash turned his head to the left just in time to dodge the fast moving punch that was just about to make contact with his face. He stepped back into a regular fighting stance and then proceeded to block several lightning fast punches that kept being thrown his way by Hitmonchan. Punch after punch Hitmonchan kept throwing Ash's way with grunts of it's name each time. "Hit mon chan chan! Hit Mon! Hit mon mon!" It kept grunting as it through more punches towards Ash's head and body. Ash kept dodging, spinning and blocking each punch thrown his way with practiced ease as he continued to evade Hitmonchan's non-stop barrage of relentless attacks. Finally, Ash saw an opening and acted on it. Right as Hitmonchan lowered his guard on his right side preparing for another punch, Ash blocked Hitmonchan's left hook with an outside block and then wrapped it up, Ash then pulled Hitmonchan in by that same arm he had a hold of and stepped inside of Hitmonchan's guard. He through an upward elbow, hitting Hitmonchan under his chin and lifting him a little bit off balance. Ash then brought up both palms and hit Hitmonchan in the sides of the head with open palms, while Hitmonchan was disoriented from the double head blow Ash slid his left foot in between it's legs and elbowed the Pokemon in the stomach. While Hitmonchan was doubled over, Ash stepped behind it and delivered another elbow to it's back. Right before Hitmonchan fell to the ground, Ash brought a knee into it's lowered face, knocking Hitmonchan into the air and sailing back a couple of feet where it landed painfully on the ground.

Ash didn't relax though because at that time he heard two thundering footsteps making their way for him. Ash turned just in time to see Machamp closing in on him and bringing one of it's arms down in a karate chop. Ash slid to the side just as Machamp's three other arms began swinging at him, each with a different Fighting Type move. Ash swerved and weaved through every blow until Machamp finally stopped and brought two of it's massive arms up above it's head and then brought them down. Ash jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the crushing double hammer fist, but Machamp wasn't done. From where it's arms were, buried in the ground, it strained hard and finally ripped a large chunk of earth out of the ground and hurled it at Ash. The boy jumped out of the way just in time to see the speeding projectile zoom right by where he was standing.

In only a split second Ash saw out of the corner of his eye a foot come flying at him at incredible speeds. He turned from where he was on the ground and blocked Hitmonlee's powerful kick with his forearms. After being pushed back a bit from the strong kick Ash found himself blocking and dodging a barrage of lightning fast kicks from Hitmonlee, every bit as fast as Hitmonchan's punches. Ash kept dodging until he found himself backed up near a tree. Right as Hitmonlee was about to deliver the final kick, Ash stepped behind the tree and let the Pokemon's kick make contact with the tree. In a millisecond Ash grabbed Hitmonlee's foot that was still implanted on the tree and pulled it to the side hard so that Hitmonlee fell off balance and rammed his head into the tree. Ash used that time to grab onto a low hanging branch and then swung both feet around the tree hard, smacking Hitmonlee in the side of the body hard and sending it tumbling.

Right then Ash felt four powerful arms squeeze around his body, picking him up off of the ground and crushing him in the hold. Ash looked behind him and saw Machamp with it's arms wrapped tightly around him, squeezing him into submission. Ash quickly reared his head back and smashed Machamp in the face. The move worked and Machamp stumbled back a little bit, releasing his hold on Ash just enough for him to plant both feet on the Pokemon's thighs and then push up hard, swinging himself up into the air in a full turn until his two feet connected with Machamp's face, making it totally release the boy and stumble back even further. While the huge Fighting Pokemon was still stumbling back Ash rolled in near it's legs and reached behind Machamp's knee. He manipulated the pressure points in the Pokemon's right knee using his impressive knowledge of the human body and pressure point manipulation. The Pokemon cried out in pain as Ash cut off the mobility in Machamp's leg from the knee down and then fell to the ground on one knee. Machamp was still swinging it's arms wildly while on one knee so the young boy moved quick and moved under one punch. He manipulated the pressure points just above Machamp's top most right arm, leaving it immobilized. He then jumped through the gap of Machamp's left side arms and got behind the Pokemon. He reach up behind the multi-armed Pokemon and immobilized it's top most left arm. Since Ash was already behind Machamp and the Pokemon couldn't move due to it's left knee being immobilized Ash simply repeated the process on Machamp's lower arms while he was still behind it.

With Machamp now completely immobilized and only able to use it's right leg, Ash bowed to the knelt Pokemon and then jumped out of the way as a powerful fist connected to the ground where he once stood. As soon as Ash registered it was Hitmonchan he heard a cry of "Hitmon..." Ash looked up and saw Hitmonlee coming down from the air above him with a flying knee. Ash knelt and back-handspring-ed away just as Hitmonlee impacted the earth, "Lee!" The Pokemon yelled loudly. Ash jumped back from the two remaining fighting Pokemon and got back into a wide fighting stance. His body was turned sideways to face them, one arm was near his face and the other was dropped down in front of his body. It was one of the many fighting stances and forms young Ash Ketchum had learned over the years. Ash squared off with Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee as the two Fighting-Types got back to their feet from their earlier failed assaults on the boy. They each shared a look and began charging at the boy at the same time. Ash took a deep breath and calmed himself, deepening his fighting stance but still remaining loose. The Pokemon were then on him, punching and kicking at a rapid and well timed pace. Ash continued to block and dodge at lightning speeds, however he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long and he needed a plan.

Suddenly, it hit him. He moved out of the way of one of Hitmonchan's punches and then positioned himself around while in mid-turn so he was then right in the middle of the two Pokemon. At the same moment when Ash moved to stand in-between the two Fighting Pokemon and Hitmonchan's punch missed it's mark, Hitmonlee's leg came around in a spinning round house kick. Ash smirked and simply ducked under the kick. Since Ash was right in the middle of the Pokemon, Hitmonlee's attack passed harmlessly over Ash's head. The same could not be said for poor Hitmonchan. With wide eyes, Hitmonlee kicked it's partner square in the face with all of the power that was behind the kick and sent the Punching Pokemon flying back through the air where it then landed on the ground hard and grunted loudly in pain. With Hitmonlee's leg still in the air where the Pokemon had frozen in shock from kicking it's own teammate, Ash sprung into action. From where he was on the ground he brought his foot in and then kicked the inner thigh of the leg that Hitmonlee still had on the ground. The kick connected and instantly smashed and bruised Hitmonlee's inner thigh muscles, causing the Pokemon to bellow in pain and then drop unceremoniously onto the ground. Ash placed one foot on Hitmonlee's chest and pushed the Pokemon the rest of the way onto it's back.

Seeing the Kicking Pokemon was unable to continue, with one of it's legs now completely out of commission for the remainder of the fight, Ash bowed to his other teacher and then turned to face Hitmonchan who was getting back on it's feet. Since it was Ash's last opponent he decided to be extra careful and not let his head get in the way. Ash knew that only a calm and level minded person would come out the victor in anything, so he calmed himself again with a few deep breaths and then focused back on Hitmonchan with determination on his face. He turned his body to the side again so he was standing a shoulder width apart and brought both hands up into open palms in front of his body, one hand close to his chest and the other further out in front of him, facing Hitmonchan. Yet another fighting technique he had perfected over the last five years. Hitmonchan wasted no time and took off at Ash with incredible speeds. Ash was ready for the Pokemon and stood his ground... Hitmonchan closed the gap with a sliding right hook and Ash ducked under it. Hitmonchan then followed up with a left 'Sky Uppercut' that Ash jumped to the side to avoid. The Pokemon then began rapidly punching at Ash with extreme speeds. The Fighting-Type may have been tired and bruised up, but it wasn't going to let that stop it from winning.

Ash had already cooked up a plan and began leading Hitmonchan to a nearby rock outcropping in the field, while continuing to dodge the many punches raining down at him. Thank Arceus for his great conditioning, otherwise Ash would have been winded and done for a long time ago. Ash and Hitmonlee finally reached the outcropping and then Ash let himself get pushed up against two very large boulders that had a smaller boulder resting atop the crack that the two larger ones formed. Ash got lined up perfectly with the crack and let himself get pushed totally flush against the split in the two boulders. Hitmonchan finally backed away from Ash and began charging a glowing fist. Ash knew what he was seeing was one of Hitmonchan's favorite moves... 'Mega Punch'. The Fighting Pokemon reared back and then with a loud and triumphant yell of "CHAN!" it brought the extremely powerful punch forward, directly at Ash's face.

Seconds before the punch connected, Ash ducked his head a little and the punch smashed into the crack that the two boulders formed. The small crack became a huge chasm between the two boulders after Hitmonchan's 'Mega Punch' connected. Ash knew what was about to happen next, since it was all apart of his plan, and then smirked again before rolling to the side of a very confused Hitmonchan. Ash just stood there to the side of Hitmonchan calmly and waited for phase two of his master plan to take effect. Sure enough, Hitmonchan didn't disappoint and began withdrawing it's hand from the boulders that it was impacted with.

However, as the Pokemon began drawing it's hand away, the smaller boulder that was resting on top of the two bigger boulders came totally loose and fell straight down until it collided with Hitmonchan's arm, pinning the Pokemon's arm down onto the ground. Hitmonchan's eyes got wide as it tried to free it's arm, but it was all in vain. While the Pokemon tried getting free Ash grew another serious look on his face, (that had become quite common actually for the boy), he resumed a simple fighting stance and then got in close to Hitmonchan with his legs wider than shoulder width, something that Ash dubbed his 'Power Stance', brought his guards up... and then began raining his own straight jabs and power punches, hooks and uppercuts, to Hitmonchan's body. With moderate power obviously, since he didn't want to hurt one of his teachers and good friends. Hitmonchan gasped and wheezed in pain from the multitude of punches that it was being pelted relentlessly with. Finally, the Pokemon could take no more and dropped to it's knees in surrender.

Ash immediately stopped his onslaught and then helped remove the rock from Hitmonchan's arm. After doing that Ash bowed to his teacher, which the Pokemon returned respectfully and then he helped to hoist the Pokemon's arm over his shoulder and began walking the two of them back to the center of the clearing where the other Fighting Pokemon were at. After getting back to the clearing where Ash's other two Poke'friends and 'teachers' were at, he was surprised to find Professor Oak already there, tending to Machamp and Hitmonlee's wounds, cuts and bruises. When the kind old Professor saw Ash come back with his grey sweat pants and T-shirt ripped up and an exhausted Hitmonchan being supported by the boy, Professor Oak chuckled and spoke to him. "Ash my boy, I take it you had a good training session with your teachers yes?"

Ash smiled at the Professor and replied, "Sure did Professor. Since today was the last of day of training I had with them, you and mom, I really wanted to test myself and see how far I have come in the last five years... after all, my journey finally starts tomorrow... the very day I turn ten and become of age to get my first Pokemon."

Professor Oak took one look at the beat up and exhausted Fighting-Types and shook his head in amazement. That boy never ceased to amaze him. Ash had said five years ago that he was going to receive defensive training training from three fighting types here at the Ranch, and not just any Fighting Pokemon either, but Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan of all Pokemon. The STRONGEST fighting types at the Lab. He and Delia both thought it was a good idea for Ash to learn self defense and how to fight before he went on his journey, so they were very supportive of his learning from three master Fighting-Types. After all, they didn't know what Ash could encounter on the road so they just wanted him to be as prepared as possible.

After five years of training with these three powerhouse Pokemon, he had no doubts that Ash had learned a lot. But when he told Delia and himself that he was planning on actually fighting his 'teachers' the next day in a full on, three on one no-holds-bar fight... he and Delia were more than a little worried about him. That's when he told Ash about the history of his three 'teachers'. Their trainers were all world champion fighters that trained up Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan respectively to also be very good fighters. However, since they were Pokemon and Fighting-Types at that, they were naturally extremely good and eventually... became better fighters, MUCH better fighters, than their world champion trainers. Naturally he and Delia were very worried for Ash, especially if it really was going to be all out. Ash said that it was something he needed to do though to test himself before his journey started in two days time so he could know if he was ready or not.

Of course, Ash had been being tested by both Delia and himself on everything that they had taught him in the last five years... And were they shocked when they did! In the five years that Ash had started his training he became very adapt at sewing his own clothes, very learned in anything to do with survival and medical tactics, a very good cook of both human and Pokemon food, as well as very accomplished at making the many different types of Poke'blocks and Poffins. And that was just on Delia's end!

He could honestly say that when it came to Pokemon, the boy was a through and through genius! Ash learned everything that he could teach him in five years. Every subject on Pokemon imaginable that boy was a natural at. That included taking care of the Pokemon in the Corral. It was even safe to say that they all loved Ash just as much as their own Trainers! When he couldn't teach Ash anything more, which happened about a year ago, Ash began doing his own research on Pokemon. He was basically a walking PokeDex when it came to being able to rattle off anything about Pokemon. No matter what type, what kind, what region... it didn't matter!

Heck, the only reason he would need a PokeDex is to be officially recognized by all as a registered Pokemon Trainer and be able to enter into things like the Pokemon League Gym Challenges and Conferences and any other official Pokemon event, as well as get information on what sex a wild Pokemon is and also what ability it possess. Truth be told, if he was honest with himself... he was a little bit jealous of the boy. To know such an incredibly large amount about Pokemon and to be such a prodigy at such a young age... well it would be hard not to be jealous! Still though, he was very proud of young Ash Ketchum and wished on more that one occasion that his own grandson would be so dedicated. Not to say that his grandson wasn't going to be successful or that he was stupid... no not all! Gary was intelligent and was going to make a very good Pokemon Trainer! But still... If Ash was anything on his actual journey with his own Pokemon like he was here at the Lab with all of the other Pokemon that weren't even his and yet obeyed him so well, even in mock battles with one another to get Ash some hands on training with actual battling... Then Ash was going places. Big places.

And to top it all off, Ash not only had made a point to show how well rounded he was and in just how many different areas of life that he shone in... but he had also proven today that he was not just VERY intelligent and very intellectual... he also excelled at anything physical! And after seeing how young Ash not only fought, but DEFEATED, three world class-level Fighting-Type powerhouses... Well let's just say that he wasn't worried about Ash's safety one little bit when he went on his journey. Especially once he got a good strong team of Pokemon on his side. Which lead him to wonder just what Pokemon Ash would choose for his starter Pokemon. Unlike every other trainer, even Gary, Ash did not express any interest at all in divulging what Pokemon he was going to choose. He said something about, 'Keeping everything a surprise'.

Professor Oak was broke from his thoughts by Ash trying to get his attention. "Professor? Hey Professor are you there?"

Oak just shook his head and got his usual smile on his face. "Yes my boy I'm here alright. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Ash sat Hitmonchan down beside the other two Pokemon who were resting from the spar they just had before speaking. "I was wondering if you would mind returning these guys before you head back up to the Lab and then give them a nice long rest under the PRM, (Pokemon Recovery Machine)? It's getting late and I need to head home, get cleaned up and then get to bed so I can be fully rested for tomorrow. Would you mind Professor?"

Professor Oak shook his head and waved the question off with his hand. "Not at all my boy! I'm glad your thinking ahead... as usual! I'll take care of these three and by morning they will be good as new and ready to see you off!"

Ash smiled at the Professor. "Thanks Professor Oak I really appreciate it!

Oak waved it off again. "Not a problem Ash. Now go home and get some rest!"

Ash nodded at the Professor and then turned back to his Poke'teachers of the last five years and spoke to them. "Hey guys I just wanted to thank you again for everything that you've done for me these past five years... without you guys I wouldn't be nearly as prepared as I am now because of all of your training that you put me through..."

And that was true, over the past five years Ash had grown very athletic. He had increased his morning workouts intensity ten fold. Running not just the circle of Pallet Town but also further than that. He now ran about 8-10 a miles a day. His aerobic and calisthenic workouts increased in time from 10-15 minutes five years ago, to a full hour now. He could do around forty Push-Ups, forty frontal abdominal and oblique (side) Crunches and thirty Sit-Ups of the same abdominal muscle groups, he could also now do around twelve Pull-Ups and sixteen Chin-Ups... and that was all because Ash's Pokemon fight coaches taught him ALL about how to really train and get down to business. They drilled him into the dirt on everything he did for all five years. Cardio, Endurance, Stamina, Speed, Strength, Agility... you name it they made him drill it. Needless to say, now that the five year training session was up, Ash wasn't just smart, mature and knew how to fight, along with many other things... he was also really fit and felt completely ready for his journey. He didn't feel a bit of nervousness for it like he did when he was five... Ash was ready now and he felt certain that Arceus herself would agree with him on that as well.

Back to what Ash was saying to his three 'teachers' earlier was that... without them, his mom and Professor Oak, he wouldn't be where he was now... ready to confront the world and face his destiny! He knew exactly who he had to thank which proved that the boy also had humility.

The three Pokemon looked at Ash and then rose to their feet slowly, still a little sore from the beating they took. One by one each of them placed their hands on Ash's shoulders and nodded to him, showing that they were proud of all he had learned and that he had their respect. Ash smiled back at them and then bowed to each of them in turn. They bowed back and then Ash turned back to Professor Oak. "Take care of them please Professor. I'll talk to you tomorrow morning alright?!" Ash was already running up the Poke'fields back to his house as he said those last words, waving behind his head as he ran. Professor Oak chuckled fondly at the boy's endless supply of energy, reminisced his own youth for a second, and then returned the three Fighting Pokemon back to their Pokeballs before making his way up through the fields to the Lab. Albeit at a much slower pace than Ash.

...

Ash made it home in a record time of ten minutes. He briefly reflected on just how truly fast he had become over the past five years and then walked into his house. It was almost 10:00 P.M. when Ash walked in the door. His Mother was up watching the finals of this years Indigo League Conference. Ash knew why she always did. She was hoping for a glimpse of his father Richard in the Pokemon League tournaments that came on the TV annually. He was never seen by them though, much to Ash's disappointment. Even though the Indigo Conference native to Kanto and the Silver Conference native to Johto were always held in the same place, which was the Indigo Plateau, Richard was never in either of them. Leading Ash to believe that his father must have been traveling in one of the overseas regions like Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova or Kalos. Or he could have even been in the Orange Islands.

Either way, Ash learned to bury the pain of not knowing his father by keeping himself focused on his own journey and all of the training that he was constantly doing. It still hurt, but the pain was bearable for Ash now that he had gotten older. Ash knew it still hurt his mom with how his dad had been gone for close to ten years now and that's another reason why Ash was so mature for his age. With his dad being gone he was the man of the family and since that was the case, he never let his mother see his own pain and instead focused on helping her with her own.

Ash's mom had not yet seen Ash because her attention was locked on the TV screen. Ash slowly made his way to the back of the couch and looked at the battle that was currently under way. It was against two trainers who looked to be in their early twenties, a guy and a girl. The guy was using a Nidorina and the girl was using a Gengar. Both Pokemon looked worn down, but Ash could already tell that this match was over and he spoke on it. "The girl with the Gengar is the winner of this match and in about one minute will be named the new Indigo League Conference Champion."

Delia turned around noticing her son for the first time since he got home. "Ohhh hi sweetie! I didn't even hear you come in. Did you have a good last day of training with Professor Oak and your coaches? You look a little battered, but aside from that you seem all right."

Ash nodded his head to his mother. "Yeah it was great, I had a very good day of training. I know now that I'm definitely ready for my journey, all of the training has really been showing. I can't wait to see what it does for me on the road and tomorrow... I'll find out."

Ash's mother looked happy for her son and yet sad at the same time. "Yes honey, tomorrow you will finally start your own journey. You have been training so hard and I'm so proud of you, I know your ready for it and you are going to do such amazing things. You remind me so much of your father Ash, just please... Stay safe and every once and awhile please remember to come home and visit your mom okay?"

Ash saw a few tears begin to escape from his mother's eyes and he instantly wrapped her in hug. "Don't worry mom I will be safe I promise. And you know that I'll come home and visit before each new adventure I go on."

Delia smiled tearfully at her son. "I know that dear, you just need to ignore your silly mother. I know this is something that you have had your heart set on ever since you were old enough to talk and your second word was 'Pokemon'."

Ash smiled fondly at that. Delia continued, "It's just that... ever since your father left to continue his journey, the only time you weren't with me was when you were in my stomach for nine months... besides that you have always been with me and now here you are, getting ready to leave on your very own Pokemon Journey tomorrow. Your just growing up so fast and it's never easy for a mother to let her child fly from the nest and set out on their own. However, I know that this is something that you have to do and just like I have done with your father all these years, I will be rooting for you and supporting you every step of the way on your travels."

Ash smiled at his mom and hugged her again, which she returned this time happily. "Thanks mom... I'll make you, Amelia, Professor Oak, all of Pallet Town... and even dad proud of me. I promise."

Delia continued to smile at her son. "I know you will sweetie, I know you will."

Mother and son both turned their attention to the battle currently being held on the TV. "Now why don't you tell me how you know that girl's Gengar is going to win? And in under a minute no less?" Delia curiously asked her son.

Ash smiled and began to explain. "That Nidorina is extremely tired. Exhaustion has set in big time and plus, it's favoring it's left hind leg, which means that it won't be able to move as fast now. Which is a really big problem because it's already at a huge type disadvantage against that Gengar. The whole battle it has had to rely on it's speed to keep itself in the fight. Unless that Pokemon knows some special moves that can be somewhat effective against a Ghost-Type like Gengar then Nidorina doesn't have a bunch of really effective moves to use in this battle. Most likely that Nidorina knows one effective move that it has been using against Gengar this whole fight. Gengar and Nidorina are probably close to the same strength level and Gengar has most likely been having a very tough time dealing with Nidorina because of it's speed. If not for those two reasons, Gengar would probably have won the fight a long time ago. The only reason Gengar looks tired is most likely because it has been expending a lot of energy trying to attack Nidorina this whole fight and it's just been missing it's mark and wasting it's strength because of it's opponents continued evasion. It doesn't help that Gengar doesn't look that well versed in conditioning training either.

Also, if I had to guess I would say that the trainer using Nidorina never meant to use it in this fight against this particular Pokemon. He probably had a Pokemon all set and ready to fight that Gengar, but it got knocked out earlier in the match in a tight spot. Now he is just relying on his Pokemon's fighting spirit to win the match. That's very admirable and show's the great trust and affection he has for his Nidorina but still... that won't win this fight and now that Nidorina is injured it's only a matter of time and the next attack."

Delia stared at her son in awe while he gave his explanation. Professor Oak was right when he told her that Ash was a genius when it came to Pokemon and everything about them. She couldn't wait to see just how incredible of a Pokemon Trainer he was going to become one day. And he was HER son! To think, she gave birth to a literal prodigy. She was so proud of him and got so caught up in her motherly pride she almost missed out on seeing Ash's prediction for the battle come true.

Back on the battlefield of the Indigo Stadium on the TV, Nidorina had just been ordered to perform a Zen Headbutt attack on Gengar. This confirmed Ash's suspicion about Nidorina knowing at least one move that was effective against a Ghost-Type and since Zen Headbutt was a Psychic-Type attack and Physic attacks very effective against Poison-Type Pokemon like part of Gengar's type matchup was, it was no wonder the Ghost Pokemon looked so beat up. As Nidorina became cloaked in the bluish light signaling the incoming Zen Headbutt, it began to charge at Gengar with impressive speeds. True to Ash's prediction yet again, the Poison-Type Pokemon had a limp in it's left hind leg as it ran for Gengar. The opposite trainer must have sensed a desperate attack and ordered Gengar to stand it's ground, obviously forming some type of strategy. All the while, Nidorina got closer to it's target..."

Delia was on the edge of her seat and Ash was sitting back, completely relaxed with his arms crossed. "Here it comes..." He said calmly.

At the very moment Nidorina was about to hit Gengar, the Ghost-Type Pokemon's trainer ordered Gengar to jump in the air to avoid the attack and then use Confuse Ray. The Ghost Pokemon did as told and jumped over the attacking Nidorina not a moment to soon. While still in the air Gengar's eyes glowed red as it sent Confuse Ray towards Nidorina. The attack worked, and before the opposing trainer could say or do anything, the attack hit it's target, instantly confusing Nidorina and causing the Pokemon to go crazy in confusion. The soon-to-be winner of the Indigo Conference ordered Gengar to launch a full power Shadow Ball at Nidorina. The confused Pokemon never had a chance and all it's trainer could do was watch helplessly as the Shadow Ball connected with Nidorina causing a large ball of dirt and dust to shoot up into the air where the attack impacted. When the smoke cleared it showed Nidorina unconscious and unable to battle, giving the female trainer and her Gengar the win.

Delia turned from the TV that was now loud with applause in the Indigo Stadium to look at her son who was watching the clock. "And... 1:00 minute exactly! Pretty good huh mom?" Ash said with a cheesy grin on his face.

Delia just shook her head, amazed again with her son and replied back. "Yes Ash that was truly something. You are going to be a great trainer some day. I know it!"

Ash just smiled and got up from the couch, looking at the clock that now read 10:30. "Thanks mom! I'm gonna head to bed now, I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow and I don't want to be tired!"

Delia nodded her head agreeing with her son and then hugged him goodnight. Before Ash made it to the stairs Delia called after him remembering something. "By the way Ash I laid out your new outfit and supplies for your journey, it's on the dresser. And I also got you a new alarm clock. That old Voltorb one you had was unreliable and needed to be thrown out. Goodnight sweetie!"

Ash thanked his mother and told her goodnight again before heading upstairs. After brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed Ash walked over to his night stand and checked out the new outfit his mom had got him. It was an all black with red stripes spandex and polyester track suite. The sleeves of the jacket and the legs of the pants were both interchangeable and could be turned into a more comfortable and cooler outfit for hotter weather and any conditions that called for a 'Shorts and T-shirt' occasion. There were red lines running down the sleeves, around the cuffs, up on the color, the hem and the front of the jacket, where the zipper pulled down. There were also red lines going down the sides and along the waistband of the pants. The lower part of the tracksuit also functioned as swim trunks so Ash could go 'swimming' for Pokemon anytime. To complete the outfit was a pair of cross trainers that was also all black except for red coloring on the sides of the shoes.

All in all, Ash was very impressed with the outfit and knew it would suit him perfectly for his soon-to-be life on the road, where he was always going to be doing something physical. Ash looked down and noticed his survival and camping gear, complete with sleeping bag, tent and food that his mom packed for him, all rolled up neatly in the corner along with a new traveling pack. The pack was quite large with many different pouches and pockets everywhere, it was even black and red like his tracksuit. Ash was very impressed and very grateful with the supplies that his mom got for him and made a mental note to thank her again for everything. Ash then went over to his desk and checked out the new alarm clock his mom got for him. It was a simple alarm clock that had no designs of any kind on it, just what Ash would need since after tonight he wouldn't even be back in his room for a long time.

Ash set the clock and then went and got in bed. Before he fell asleep the only thing that he could think of was tomorrow. His last thought before sleep took him was '_Tomorrow... my Pokemon Journey finally begins.'_

_ (End Chapter Two)_

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Post Chapter A/N:** Well my dear readers that was another long a** chapter! Whew!** **I just want too say thank you again to everyone who is follow****ing this story and R&amp;R it. To all of you who are PM'ing me and offering your great ideas and your irreplaceable support... A HUGE thank you! Also, for all who caught the whole, 'figure that might have been an Aura Guardian of some sort and was floating high above the world with Arceus as equals' thing... rest assured. That will become a big part of one of the story lines for this fic. As for who gave me the idea, thank you again to 'pmc1621'. Great idea! **

**And yes people, Ash's journey will began next chapter! So that means that the official Pokemon timeline will begin. With A LOT of non-canon moments! I am going to be doing SO MANY things with Pokemon that has never been seen in a story before it's got me excited to write it all! I hope you all continue to read this story and love reading it as much as I love writing it. Again, all of your support... no, YOU guys actually are irreplaceable! Thank you so much to any and all loyal fans I have! Continue to be awesome, stay safe, guys keep rockin' and ladies... you keep being genuinely amazing! I'm going to go and listen to 'The Script' so keep rockin'!  
**

**Keep looking for the next chapter of '_The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be... Chapter Three: The Chosen One Begins_**

**Until next time my dear re****aders... Peace Out!**_  
_


	3. The Chosen One Begins!

A/N: **Hey dear readers what's going on? 'Forever United, Never We Fall' here with the next exciting installment of _'The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be' _To everyone who is still faithfully reading this story and has been waiting for the action to start, guess what? It's here! Ash's Pokemon Journey officially starts right now! The action will start picking up about... mid-way through this chapter. Once chapter four get's here though, that's when the REAL action starts and then STAYS! The Pokemon timeline will be followed starting in this chapter and continue following the show's timeline through each chapter after this one. There WILL be many non-canon moments and Ash WILL be OOC many times throughout this story. If ANYONE who is reading this story doesn't like what I'm doing then please... go away and leave those of us who DO enjoy this story alone!****  
**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**Another huge thank you to all of my loyal readers. Your all awesome and I appreciate each and every one of you! Now without further ado let's enjoy chapter three of this soon to be great story!**

**...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, anything affiliated with it, or anything else mentioned in this story that may be copyrighted.**

** _The Greatest There Was Or Ever Will Be_**

**_Chapter Three: The Chosen-One Begins_**

* * *

_'Beep... beep... beep...!'  
_

An alarm clock was blaring through the room of one Ash Ketchum as the clock struck 5:00 A.M.

In the corner of the room a bed was rested against the wall and all was still under the covers. Not for long though... as soon as the alarm clock went off Ash Ketchum himself sprung up so fast it looked like he kipped out of bed. As soon as he landed his feet on the bedroom floor the now ten year old Ash went and turned off his alarm clock. Almost on the spot the boy cracked his neck a few times and then came up on his toes before falling straight to the floor and began doing a set of Push-Ups to wake himself up. Once he was done Ash went to his closet and got on a grey sweatsuit outfit to do his morning workout in and then went to assume his usual position on the roof while he stretched and watched the sun rise.

After he was done on the roof Ash climbed back down and took off for his morning run and exercise routine. The whole way on his run through the chilly morning air the boy only had one thought run through his mind, '_Today is the day that I finally start my journey_!_ All of the years of training are finally about to pay off... in just a few hours I will have my first Pokemon and then I'll be on my way!'_ Ash thought excitedly. He ran up onto a hill overlooking most of Pallet Town and began doing his many Calisthenic exercises, starting with jumping jacks. As Ash continued to exercise atop the hill he was on he began thinking about his starter Pokemon. He had really given it a lot of thought and the more he did the more he realized something: He was trying to compare every aspect of what he wanted in a starter to that Pichu he had met in the woods five years earlier. That little Mouse Pokemon had so much fire, determination... and raw power in it's little heart that Ash just couldn't stop thinking about it! He seriously considered going back into those woods and looking for Pichu but every time common sense would win out.

He knew that he didn't have any business catching a Pokemon yet since he wasn't a registered trainer and besides... that Pichu was probably long gone by now. Ash finished up his exercising on the hill and then made his way back home. After getting back to the house and then cooking breakfast (which consisted of eggs, toast, oatmeal, banana and yogurt), for himself and also his mom for when she got up, Ash went upstairs and showered up before getting all of his stuff together so he would be ready to head out today. Once he was done showering and had everything packed up and ready to go Ash put on his tracksuit. Instantly he loved the feel of it on his body. The outfit was form fitting which meant that it fit his body and every contour of his muscles perfectly. Even though he was still only a kid and just ten years old, all of those years of training with Machamp, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee really payed off and now he was sporting rock hard muscle all over his ten year old frame. The tracksuit itself was soft and loose feeling on his body and he came to the conclusion that it would work perfectly for his sure to be very physical lifestyle on the road. He would have no problems moving around in this thing at all!

After he laced up his cross trainers and swung his bag that had his camping gear attached to the top of it over his shoulders, Ash instantly felt the weight. However he had prepared... or his 'coaches' had prepared Ash for the whole 'heavy gear scenario' and so they made him run up steep hills over and over again with a large rock strapped to his back so he could get used to the weight that he would have on his back when carrying a heavy pack on his travels. Ash was happy to say it worked to. After carrying a massive rock around on his back, a pack and camping gear was nothing. Ash looked around his room one last time and then walked out, shutting the door behind him. Ash made his way downstairs where his mother was now up and waiting for him. She still had her pink morning robe on and she held a gift wrapped box in her hands. When she saw her son she smiled widely. "Happy birthday sweetie!" Delia happily greeted her son. Ash grinned and sat his pack down before walking up to his mother and giving her a hug. "Thanks mom." Ash told her as he separated from her.

Delia handed him his gift and then looked at him while still holding Ash at arms length. "You look so handsome in your new outfit sweetie, just like your father! You look ready to conquer the world!" Ash laughed at that and then remembered something. "I feel like I'm ready to conquer the world! And thanks again for getting me all of this stuff for my journey mom, I really appreciate it. Delia nodded her head at her son's gratitude and then looked at the box in his hands while she spoke. "Your welcome sweetie, now open up your gift before you go!" Ash did as told and unwrapped the box. What he pulled out of it made his heart jump into his throat. It was a small, framed picture of his father Richard, standing outside of their house holding Delia in his arms. Both of them were smiling brightly at the camera that was being held by either Amelia or Professor Oak. Both of his parents looked younger, which meant that this picture must have been taken sometime after they had gotten married and bought the house.

Ash felt hot tears come to his eyes and he blinked them away. He ran his hand over the image of his father and smiled sadly. He then looked back up at his mother, "Thanks mom... I love it" He said smiling sadly. Delia looked at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I thought this would be a good way to have both me and dad with you on your journey." Ash smiled again and then took the picture and put it carefully in one of the pockets of his pack. Delia then addressed her son again. "Professor Oak also has a gift he wants to give you that is from both of us. I think you will really like it to!" Ash nodded his head and then picked his pack back up, slinging it over his shoulders. "Thanks mom I will! I'm going to go ahead and head up to the Lab early so I can visit Professor Oak a little while before I leave."

Delia nodded her head as tears began filling up her eyes. She glomped her son in a bone crushing hug and then Delia began swinging him side to side while she started sobbing at him. "Now Ashton Richard Ketchum you be careful out there! Make sure to brush your teeth and eat regularly, don't forget to take showers as often as you can, you don't want to smell rancid for any young ladies you may come into contact with! Always remember to be a gentleman and never eat like a rabid Poochyena! And ALWAYS remember to change your-"

Ash broke free of his mother's bone breaking hug and gasped for air while spluttering out "YES mom don't worry I will remember ALL of that okay? Don't you worry I'll be fine. Besides... I had a great teacher!" he said while looking at his mom confidently. Delia just smiled again and pulled her son into another hug, this time softer. "Just be careful Ash..."

He returned the hug and then pulled away from his mother, throwing his pack on his shoulders again after he had dropped it when his mother began crushing him in her monster hug. He gave her a thumbs up "You got it mom! I'll stay safe and I'll make you and everybody else here in Pallet proud of me! I promise!" Delia smiled at her son trying to hold back another wave of tears. "I know you will Ash. Now go get em'!" She said enthusiastically. Ash nodded and then started to walk out the door, pausing for a moment to take his house in one more time. Once he was done he walked out the door and then stopped and turned around. "Hey mom I made breakfast! It's in the oven keeping warm!" Delia smiled. "I'm looking forward to eating your amazing cooking sweetie, you have really grown an aptitude for making great breakfast!"

Ash laughed at that and then walked towards the front gate of the yard and stepped through so he was standing on the main path. He looked at his mom one last time before waving at her and then began walking up the road heading towards Professor Oak's Lab. "Bye mom I love you!" He said looking back at her while he waved. Delia was standing on the front porch with tears now falling down her face again, waving at her son desperately. "Bye-bye Ash I love you very much! Come home the next Indigo League Champion okay?!" Ash gave her another thumbs up and then flashed a bright smile at her that looked like a mirror image of Richard. In fact, Ash waving at her like that was the same thing Richard did before he left to resume his own journey. In that moment Delia realized more than ever that this was what Ash was meant to do. Travel the world and train Pokemon just like his father. Ash had that same adventurous and wild spirit that Richard did and Delia could never keep two people who she loved so much away from they were meant to do. Delia waved at Ash frantically as she saw him break out into a run and take off up the road towards the Lab. She continued this until he was out of sight and then she lowered her hand slowly. She kept staring after her son and then said a few simple words, "Ash... be safe... and accomplish all of the great things that I know you are meant to."

Delia then went inside to eat what she was sure would be a fantastic Ash made breakfast.

...

Ash had just arrived at the Oak Lab and was now knocking on the door. Professor Oak answered and greeted Ash mirthfully. "Ash my boy, good morning and happy birthday!" Ash stepped inside the Lab and then turned to face the Professor. "Thanks Professor Oak! I hope I'm not to early..." Ash asked.

"Not all Ash! Being early is always a good thing. The other three are going to be here at around 8:30 and it's only just now 7:00. That gives us plenty of time to get you all set up and registered as a Trainer before you leave. In fact, since your here early and I'm sure your anxious to get going we can just go ahead and do everything for you right now!"

Ash looked excited. "Really Professor? We can do it all now? We don't have to wait for the others?"

Professor Oak chuckled and nodded his head. "Of course we can my boy! I never said that no one could come early, just be here by 8:30. You got here an hour and a half early and in my opinion, such dedication and commitment deserves rewards. Besides, it is your birthday today... Which reminds me! Stay here for a second Ash, I'll be right back."

Ash nodded his head showing he understood. Professor Oak disappeared back into the Lab somewhere and then came back a few minutes later with a parcel in his hands. He handed it to Ash and stepped back. The boy looked at the package in confusion before Professor Oak spoke up. "That is mine and your mothers gift to you Ash. Go on and open it up!"

Ash did so and then gasped at what he saw. Inside was a blue wristwatch looking device with a large square screen on it and several buttons on it's sides. Professor Oak answered to the boy's shocked face. "That Ash, is an Xtransceiver. It is a communication device that allows you to have four way calls with four people at one time. It's all in video feature so you can see the persons face. It also has a built-in GPS so you never get lost, tells you where all of the best routes to travel are and also show's you where all of the towns and cities are in every region, no matter how big or small. It also show's the location of places like Pokemon Centers, Poke'Marts, Hotels, Pokemon Gyms and nearby attractions, along with many more. It also has a search feature that you can use to find a particular destination. As long as the establishment in question is registered with the Xtransceiver's satellite mainframe then you will always be able to find the location you want to head to. This device us the Unova region's answer to Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh's Poke'Gear, Poke'Nav and Poke'Tech respectively. It is also the most high tech of them all. In fact, it's not even going to be available in Unova itself yet for quite some time. I had to pull a few strings with Unova's leading Pokemon Researcher Professor Juniper to get me this. I told her I had a special Trainer in the wings who needed one and she managed to get her hands on this one. So don't be surprised when no one knows what this device is."

Ash nodded dumbly at Professor Oak's explanation and then began thanking him profusely for it. Professor Oak just waved it off as no big deal and then addressed the boy again. "No need to thank me dear boy it was my pleasure. And your mother had a large hand in it as well. Now, come back into the main research area of the Lab with me. I want to give you two more gifts from me."

Ash nodded and followed Professor Oak to the main research room of the Lab, located all the way in the very back of the building. Of course, Ash knew this building like the back of his hand since he had been here everyday training with Professor Oak for five years. As they made their way to the room in question Ash slipped the Xtransceiver on his left wrist and marveled at the fit. He slid the sleeve of his jacket down over the device to save anyone's annoying questions of what was on his wrist. They finally made it to the main research room, which basically consisted of a bunch of equipment, tables and chairs, papers everywhere and computer monitors set up all over the place. Professor Oak lead Ash to the biggest computer monitor in the room and stopped in front of it.

"Uhh Professor Oak... why are we here?" Ash asked confused.

The Professor got a smile on his face and began explaining to the boy his reason for bringing him here. "Ash my boy, you have been learning under me for five years now and I promised you all those years back that if you worked hard for me and I was impressed by you then I would make you my official assistant. Do you remember that Ash?" Oak already knew the answer but he just had to ask.

"Yes Professor of course I remember! I always thought it would be great being your assistant!"

Professor chuckled and then continued. "I'm glad to here you say that Ash. Because in these five years of training you I have been amazed by how fast you learn and how much of a natural you are at studying and researching Pokemon. I know I told you that if you impressed me enough then I would make you my official assistant... however, you have already learned everything I can teach you, much to my surprise. I never thought that in just five years you would have learned so much. That is why I don't wan't to take you as my assistant. Pokemon Research Assistants are basically apprentices to Pokemon Researchers. They are there to learn everything that Professor can teach them. You have already been like my apprentice for the last five years, just unofficially. So it would be pointless taking you as my assistant just now."

Ash looked a little crestfallen at first but quickly recovered and smiled at the Professor. "That's okay Professor. I'm just happy that you took the time to train me the last few years. I really appreciate it!"

That right there sealed the deal for Professor Oak and in that moment, Ash had passed a very crucial test. Instead of getting mad at the Professor for not living up to his promise of making him his assistant, Ash just focused on the positive and thanked the Professor for all he had done for Ash. Professor Oak respected the maturity in Ash and that's what caused him to make his next proposition. "I'm not done Ash." The wizened Professor said to Ash. The boy in question looked at Professor Oak curiously, waiting for him to explain. The Professor continued. "Ash what I'm about to offer you has never been offered to someone your age. I'm only doing this because I believe you can handle it. I am willing to upload you into the Pokemon Researcher Database as a 'Pokemon Researcher In-Training'."

Ash looked stunned. "What do you mean Professor?" Ash asked.

Professor Oak turned on the computer while he spoke. "A Pokemon Researcher In-Training is someone who is studying and working towards the goal of becoming a full fledged Pokemon Researcher like myself or the other regions Professor's. All you have to do is either train under a certain regions Professor for a time or go on your own journey and study Pokemon in all kinds of different situations and environments. When you have learned everything necessary to qualify and become an actual Pokemon Researcher, all you need to do then is find what field of Pokemon you want to specialize in studying and then you get registered to whatever region you want to study out of as a certified Pokemon Researcher. I picked this option for you because I believed that it would fit into your goal of becoming a Pokemon Master perfectly. All you have to do is make sure to chronicle and record events you may encounter in your journey that you deem worthy of researching and compile them into a journal. After you have so much field experience and knowledge of Pokemon under your belt, me or any of the other Professor's can then name you worthy of becoming a full on Pokemon Researcher. So what do you say Ash? Interested?"

Ash was still for a few moments and then excitedly began nodding his head. "Yes Professor Oak! I would love to some day be a Pokemon Researcher like you! Thank you, I promise I will work very hard!"

Professor Oak nodded to Ash's declaration and then turned back to the monitor in front of him. He typed in a few key's and then a picture of Ash popped up on the monitor. Ash seemed confused by this and looked at the Professor, wondering why his picture was already on the computer's database. Professor Oak answered his unspoken question. "I took the liberty of building your Trainer profile already. It's basically a file on all of your information both personnel and professional. All of the information on Pokemon you have seen and obtained, gym badges and tournaments you have won, titles that you have earned and much more information concerning you as a Pokemon Trainer can be found here on the 'International Pokemon Trainer's Database' or the 'I.P.T.D.' for short. From here anyone can view your history as a Trainer. However only your home regions Professor, meaning the one who gave your first Pokemon, can view your personal information. Your personal info is pretty much just data on you personally. Your bodily statistics, height, weight, hair and eye color, etc... and your relations to other people. In general: your friends, family, colleagues, those you have registered into your communication devices and people you know and/or have professional agreements with. One of the reasons why having a Poke'Dex is very important is so your home regions Professor can continue to journal and record your accomplishments and all of the Pokemon you have seen as you travel around on your journey. Are you with me so far Ash?"

Ash nodded his head and then asked a question. "Professor why is my Trainer profile dark?"

Professor looked back at the monitor and saw what Ash was referring to. His whole page was a dark, almost grey looking color. Professor Oak looked back at Ash and then explained to him the reason. "The reason is because you are currently an 'inactive' Pokemon Trainer, meaning you don't have a Poke'Dex yet. As soon as I give you your Poke'Dex and register it to you, this whole page will become colored in with a white backdrop and all of your stats will become visible and ready to start being built onto. Your Poke'Dex will officially recognize you as the Trainer it's certified to and will begin to collect information on your achievements and Pokemon that you've seen and obtained, which is why it's so important you never lose it. Each Trainer's Poke'Dex is one of a kind and can't be replaced.

Now, every time you do something Pokemon related the information will be sent here to the Lab into my computer systems mainframe. Also, anytime you are participating in a competition of any kind, like the Pokemon Leagues for instance, your Poke'Dex and Trainer profile will show that you are currently participating in that particular challenge. That is why all of the Nurse Joy's you come across will sign you up for any sort of Pokemon Challenge you take. The information obtained needs to be recorded into your profile. This is how different skill levels and ranks of Trainers is graded. Through the information recorded on the Database."

After he was done explaining Professor Oak went to a nearby tall, glass cabinet and unlocked it. He pulled from the confines of the cabinet a black and red Poke'Dex. He came over to the computer and placed the Poke'Dex into a nearby slot in the system and began furiously typing keys into the computer. Once he was done Professor Oak pulled the Poke'Dex out of the slot and came back to where Ash was standing. He pushed a button on the side of the device and the Poke'Dex came to life (It looks just like the new Poke'Dexes). It slid out and up on it's own and the top screen became bright. A robotic, male voice spoke from the Poke'Dex.

_My name is Dexter: I was given and reg__istered to Pokemon Trainer Ash Ketchum from Professor Samuel Oak_

_Rank:Beginner Trainer_

_Titles:Pokemon Trainer_

_Tournaments/Competitions Won: None_

_Pokemon Seen:0_

_Pokemon Obtained:0_

_Regions Visited: Kanto_

Ash listened to the Poke'Dex in amazement. It already knew all of that about him! Professor Oak held out his hand again and Ash handed the Poke'Dex to him. The Professor went back over to the computer and reinserted the Poke'Dex into the system. He pulled up Ash's profile page that was now bright and active and then pulled up a second page on the monitor. One showed Ash's profile page and the other showed the Pokemon Researcher's Database. Professor Oak did a few things with Ash's profile and then stopped again and pulled out Ash's Poke'Dex for the second time. He brought it back over to Ash and placed it in his hand. Ash pressed the same button Professor Oak did earlier and the Poke'Dex slid open. Ash went to his information and there under 'titles' was something different. It now read:

_Trainer Name: Ash Ketchum_

_Titles: Pokemon Trainer, Pokemon Researcher In-Training_

Ash smiled big at that and then looked back at Professor Oak. "Thanks Professor this is great! And the color of the Poke'Dex matches my pack and tracksuit!" Professor Oak chuckled and smiled. "Yes my boy your welcome. Your mother thought you would like if your Poke'Dex was custom painted to match your outfit." Now, come with me again Ash were done here." Ash obliged and was getting ready to pocket his Poke'Dex when Professor Oak gave him two more items. The first was a brown journal that had the words 'Pokemon Research Notes' on the front. The second was a case of some kind that looked the same size as the Poke'Dex. Ash took both, thanking the Professor again, putting the journal into his pack and the Poke'Dex into it's case that he then attached to his side. Professor smiled and then began walking out of the room they were in. When they were nearly out the Professor stopped and turned around to face Ash again.

"By the way Ash before I forget, your Poke'Dex and Xtransceiver are travel resistant, which means that very few things will destroy them. Water and falls from high places are guaranteed not to damage them. I think your mother also said something about your pack being water resistant as well am I right?"

Ash nodded his head. "Yeah it is. No moisture can get in here except for what's inside."

Professor Oak nodded his head in understanding and then they resumed their way through the Lab. The next room they went into was one that Ash knew about pretty well. It was the Lab's workshop area where Professor Oak worked on new projects when he wasn't studying or researching Pokemon. The Professor walked over to a big table that was covered with strange looking items that all looked similar, like they were used for the same purpose but were slightly different from one another.

Ash walked closer for a better look and realized something... They were all miniature weights! Dumbbells, Barbells, weights that strapped to the body, and even weights that he had never seen the design of before. Professor Oak sensed the boy's confusion and spoke up. "What you see here Ash are all weights used to train Pokemon with. They are a special kind of weights that can be shrunk down to miniature sizes, reducing not only the size of the weights, but also the mass of them as well. They were created exclusively for Pokemon Trainers and I just got these shipped here to the Lab from Professor Sycamore in the Kalos region. He and his assistants were the ones that created this ingenious creation."

Ash looked at Professor Oak. "But Professor how does it work? The shrinking process I mean and what about some of these weird looking weights that I have never seen before?"

The Professor picked one up that looked like it was a dumbbell. He put it on the ground and pressed a button on the side of the weight. Instantly the weight grew in size until it looked like a regular, albeit space age and metallic looking, twenty-five pound dumbbell. Ash reached down and lifted the dumbbell up. He was amazed to find that it literally felt just like a normal dumbbell! Professor Oak had been right when he said there were no differences between a regular weight and these 'collapsible weights'.

Ash put it down and then asked Professor Oak a question. "How many weight sizes do these come in and why are there some types of weights here I've never seen before Professor?"

Professor Oak walked over and enlarged several of the unusual weights after setting them on the ground. He then stepped back and answered Ash. "Actually my boy, the weight sizes here on this table range from ten pounds for the smaller Pokemon to ten thousand pounds for really heavy Pokemon, like Snorlax for instance. As for all of these strange weights you see here..." Professor Oak said while getting down to lift up the odd looking body weights and show Ash, "Several of these body weights are for different types of Pokemon who can't train with weights the normal way. Some examples here are body weights for Flying-Type Pokemon. These weights are perfect for increasing a flying types speed, agility and endurance. There are also body weights for Water-Type Pokemon to wear while swimming. It increases resistance and adds more difficulty when a Water Pokemon is training in the water with these on. It makes the Pokemon much stronger and much more powerful not just in the water, but out as well. There is a type of weight set here for any training need and with any Pokemon... Which is why I'm giving them to you Ash."

Ash's jaw almost dropped to the ground. "What?! Professor Oak I can't let you do that! These training weights are very valuable, especially if they came from the Kalos region! And if their anything like my Xtransceiver from Unova then this type of training weight won't even be seen in the Kanto region for who know's how long! Besides, how am I going to carry THOUSANDS of pounds of weight in my backpack?! I've gotten a lot stronger in five years but not THAT strong! Not even close!"

Ash continued fretting until Professor Oak held up a hand to silence him. Ash got quite and Professor Oak spoke again. "Ash, these training weights were given to me to do with what I wish. You didn't just learn from me in the past five years, you helped me tremendously with many things here while you were my 'assistant'. This is my way of thanking you for everything you did here. Plus, you want to be the greatest Pokemon master ever don't you? Well this is a good way to get started. You will need to train hard and these training weights will help you and your Pokemon reach your full potential. So please take them! And as for the weight of them all remember, in their shrunken form thousands of pounds will feel like just a few pounds."

Ash looked at Professor Oak for a moment and then nodded his head, accepting the gift graciously. The Professor smiled approvingly and then went over to a nearby table and picked up a silver looking, travel sized, metallic case. It had the symbol of weights on the front which led Ash to believe that this was what he would keep his new training weights in. Professor Oak began putting all of the many training weights into the metal case and then once he was finished he gave the case to Ash. The boy took the weights cautiously at first, afraid the whole thing would weigh a literal couple tons and would fall from his hands as soon as he took it, taking him with it. To his great surprise however, the whole box felt light as a feather! Ten pounds at most, which amazed Ash considering that there were thousands of pounds in that little case.

Ash stowed the case away in his pack for safe keeping and then turned back to Professor Oak. "Thanks again Professor I really appreciate this." Professor Oak nodded to the boy's gratitude and then began walking to the door. He turned around and looked back at Ash. "Now what do you say we go and pick out that starter eh Ash m'boy?"

Ash got a big grin on his face and nodded his head excitedly. The Professor just chuckled at Ash's response and then led him back into the main area of the Lab where he kept all of the starter Pokemon he brought out for these special days. He led Ash up to a counter that had three Pokeballs on it. He stood to the side of the counter and let Ash stand in front of the Pokeballs. He cleared his throat and then spoke to Ash. "Here you are m'boy. Choose whichever one you want. The middle Pokeball with the water drop emblem on the top holds the Water-Type Squirtle. The Pokeball on the left that has the leaf emblem holds the Grass-Type Bulbasaur. The one on the right with the flame emblem holds the Fire-Type Charmander. Choose wisely."

Ash looked at the Pokeballs seriously, contemplating which Pokemon was best to take with him as his starter. The more he kept trying to decide the more images of that little Pichu from five years earlier kept going through his mind. He tried to shake his head to clear it but it wouldn't work. He couldn't stop thinking about that little Electric Mouse Pokemon. It's bravery, determination, spirit, raw power and potential kept coming right back to the forefront of Ash's mind. He tried to tell himself that it was impossible to have that Pichu as his starter and focus on the choices in front of him but it was just impossible for him to do so.

Finally, Ash just stepped down from the counter and looked at Professor Oak. "I'm sorry Professor... None of these Pokemon feel right for me. Five years ago I saved a Pichu in the woods outside of the Ranch... That little Pokemon was full of such fire and determination I just... I really wished it could have been my starter Pokemon. Now nothing else seems right to me when I think about other Pokemon being my starter... I'm sorry Professor." Ash hung his head in sadness thinking about the little Pichu.

Professor Oak was stunned. He never knew of this Pichu that Ash was talking about right now. It was clear to the Professor that Ash had formed a bond with this Pokemon and now he was having a tough time letting that bond go. Professor Oak suddenly had an idea. He couldn't give Ash this Pichu that he was talking about, but he could give him a Pokemon very close to Pichu. Maybe it could even help Ash get over his bond with the wild Pokemon He had befriended. That is... If this said Pokemon didn't fry Ash first or flat out refuse to be his Pokemon and ignore him. Normally this Pokemon that Professor Oak was thinking about would NEVER go to a beginner Trainer! But... Ash had proven that he was special on more than one occasion so maybe, just maybe he could handle it.

Professor Oak decided that he would let Ash try training this Pokemon. "Ash my boy, wait here for just a minute okay?" Ash nodded his head in understanding and Professor Oak disappeared further into the Lab. He came back a minute later and stood in front of Ash with a Pokeball in his hand. Ash looked confused. "What Pokemon is in there Professor?" Ash asked curiously. "This is actually a Pokemon that I captured just this morning before you got here Ash. It was outside chewing on the power cables for the Lab and I had to catch it in order to stop it. I tell you though, this Pokemon is full of spunk! I had a very hard time capturing it and actually almost wasn't able to. Now Ash, normally I would never try and give a Pokemon like this to a Trainer just starting out, but you have proven that you are a special case in many things so maybe, just maybe, you will able to raise this Pokemon. Are you ready?"

Ash thought about it for a second and then nodded his head yes. Professor Oak raised the Pokeball, which had the emblem of a lightning bolt on the top and released the Pokemon inside of it. What came out from the Pokeball surprised Ash greatly. When the Pokemon materialized it showed a small, yellow mouse looking Pokemon that had two red circles on it's cheeks, black tipped ears, three brown stripes on it's back, and a tail shaped like a thunderbolt. Ash instantly recognized the Pokemon as none other than a Pikachu.

The Pikachu shook it's head when it came out of the Pokeball and huffed it's name at the same time. "Pika!" It said while it got it's bearings. After the Pokemon had registered where it was it looked around and it's eyes landed on Professor Oak. As soon as it did the Pokemon began growling angrily and it's cheeks began sparking with electricity, ready to shock him. The Professor backed up a little from the furious Pokemon with his hands in front of his face, clearly not wanting to be electrocuted. Apparently Pikachu was still not over being captured and wanted to make the Professor pay.

Ash, who by this point had recovered from his stupor of seeing the Electric-Type, noticed the danger that Professor Oak was in and stepped in-between Pikachu and the Professor with his hands raised out to the sides. Ash spoke to the Pokemon while he did so. "Stop! Don't attack the Professor! He didn't capture you to be mean, he did it to stop you from chewing through this Labs power cables and stopping the flow of the electricity! Professor Oak has a lot of Pokemon here at the Lab who depend on it's electricity, Electric-Types just like you who need to absorb the Lab's power when they get hurt or become low on Electricity for some reason! I understand your mad and upset for being captured and if what I saw was true then you hate being inside of a Pokeball. I'm sorry for what happened to you but if you need to shock somebody then shock me! Not the Professor!"

The Pikachu stayed in it's crouched attack position, looking at Ash angrily and with it's cheeks still sparking. Right as it was about to shock Ash the Pokemon looked directly into Ash's eyes. What the Electric Pokemon saw there shocked it to it's very core. This human had the exact same caring and compassionate look in it's eyes that the human who saved him as a Pichu from falling to it's death that day five years ago did! What's more is that when Pikachu really got a good look at the human before him, he began to recognize him. He was older than he was all those years ago but Pikachu could have sworn that this human was the same person! It couldn't have been though because Pikachu had watched that very same human fall to his death after saving him from the cliff side that gave way. If he hadn't pushed Pikachu out of the way then he knew that he would have died that day. He owed that human his life... And even his evolution.

When Pikachu saw Ash fall that day he became so scared for the human who saved him and felt so helpless! He wanted to help him in some way but he knew the only way to do that would be to catch him further down stream. As a Pichu though he wasn't fast enough and those very feelings of desperation is what then caused him to evolve into Pikachu. After he had evolved, Pikachu took off running as fast as he could down stream hoping to catch Ash. He was to late though because by the time he finally got down stream Ash was no where to be seen.

Pikachu had mourned Ash. The human who saved his life. Before that day Pikachu was convinced that all humans were a waste of time and never would have thought that one of them would have risked... And given their life for his. Pikachu was sure that Ash had died on that horrible day but... Here a person that looked... And acted just like him stood! He was willing to get shocked himself to save his friend and that reminded Pikachu so much of the human who saved him. It couldn't be him though!... could it?!

By this point Pikachu had relaxed somewhat and was now just staring at Ash, it's cheeks no longer sparking and it's face no longer angry but... Confused. Ash stared right back at Pikachu with a confused and surprised look on his face. The Pokemon had suddenly stopped being aggressive and was now just staring at him. If Ash was honest, this Pikachu surprised Ash as well. it had that same fire and determination in it's eyes that Pichu had...

Ash suddenly gasped! It couldn't be... This Pikachu could not possibly be that same Pichu from five years earlier!... Could it?! Ash didn't know why but an almost invisible force made him stretch out his hand. He rested his hand on Pikachu's head and instantly a strong rush of energy was felt between the two of them. All of a sudden a bright white energy began forming around Ash's body, surrounding him and Pikachu. The light was so bright that Ash and Pikachu had to cover their eyes from inside of the energy field That was encasing them...

...

Ash opened his eyes when the bright light had finally subsided and looked around him. He was still in the Lab but everything looked... Different. Perfect almost. Everything seemed brighter and shrouded in that same white energy. Ash felt a tingling in his right palm and looked down at his hand. When he turned his palm up to look at it he gasped in shock!

His palm had some kind of weird mark on it. It was totally white in color and had the design of a star wrapped around a beating heart, inside of a circle. Ash looked at the mark in puzzlement because he had never seen it before on his hand. He only guessed that this mark was connected in some way with what was going on right now.

Ash looked looked straight ahead and saw Pikachu standing there in front of him. It was looking at it's surroundings and seemed just as confused as Ash about what was going on. The thing that struck Ash as the most odd though was the yellow energy flickering around Pikachu. It wasn't the same white and calm looking energy that surrounded them and even covered Ash. No this energy seemed wavering, uncertain, flickering and... almost contemplative in a way.

He didn't know where it came from but Ash heard a voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him that this energy surrounding Pikachu was representing it's emotions at the current time. Ash didn't know if the voice was right or not but he knew that he had to do something. They couldn't stay like this forever.

Ash slowly walked up to Pikachu and knelt down to his level. Pikachu looked at him in confusion and slight wariness. Ash just nodded his head showing that everything was going to be alright as he reached out his hand, the one that had the marking on his palm, and touched his palm back onto Pikachu's head. As soon as the connection between the two was made again, images and emotions started to pour into his mind from Pikachu. The images and emotions were of it's life as a Pichu, everything it did to survive in the wild, the feelings of loneliness it felt so often, the mistrust of humans... Ash also felt the desire in Pikachu to become strong and powerful, to stand at he top of it's species, battle fierce opponents and win every time... He saw all of the intense training that Pikachu put itself through on a daily basis as both a Pichu and now as a Pikachu, he saw all of the strong opponents that Pikachu had battled in the wild and shockingly enough to Ash... he won every time.

Ash also saw a particular memory where Pikachu was looking in through the window of a persons house and looking right at the nearby living room TV. The program that was on was all about the Legendary Bird Trio of Kanto. When it got to Zapdos and began explaining all about it's massive electrical power, Ash felt the almost overwhelming desire of want and need to be that powerful coming from Pikachu. Ash had no doubt in his mind that this Pikachu was definitely ambitious and had one hell of an intense spirit!

The last image that played in Ash's mind was one of a Pichu. It was panicking in fear and desperation as it dangled from a cliff holding on for dear life by it's paws. Ash then felt the fear and desperation disappear from Pichu as a hand reached over the edge and pulled him up to safety. He felt the confusion, enjoyment to be alive and gratitude coming from Pichu for who saved it's life. Ash felt in that moment Pichu's negative feelings towards humans slowly dissipate as it looked at it's savior... a small, no older than five year of boy.

Suddenly Ash felt the emotions in Pichu shift into fear once more as it began falling over the edge of the cliff again only to be saved by that same young boy who was now falling over the edge in Pichu's stead. Ash felt the fear and horror that washed over Pichu as he watched the human who saved his life fall over the edge. Ash then felt the fear and desperation rolling off of Pichu in waves until suddenly an explosion of power came from Pichu as it evolved into Pikachu.

Ash saw the newly evolved Pikachu run down stream as fast as it's now more extended legs would take it. The last thing Ash felt from Pikachu was the feeling of getting to the bottom of the ravine only to then be consumed by the feelings of sadness and failure at being to late to help the human who risked their life to save his. The feelings Pikachu had felt that day of mourning and despair almost suffocated Ash as he was suddenly thrown out of Pikachu's thoughts and emotions and back into that same blinding white light...

...

Ash opened his eyes again and found himself standing in Professor Oak's Lab, the way it was supposed to be and look like. He looked down and found that his hand was still on Pikachu's head. The Pokemon was looking at him with wide eyes. Ash could only guess that Pikachu had seen all of Ash's memories and emotions as well and was now trying to process everything it had seen. Ash felt the same way with everything he had just seen and felt. He had no idea what that all was or how it happened but right now Ash didn't care. He had just found out that this Pikachu was the exact same Pichu that he had saved five years ago! He didn't know how it was possible or what forces brought them together again, maybe it was Arceus herself! All Ash cared about was that he had been reunited with that same little Pokemon he had bonded with in those few short moments after Ash saved his life. He had a chance to get the starter Pokemon that he had always wanted and if Pikachu would accept him, Ash could not possibly be happier!

He withdrew his hand from Pikachu's head and then looked at his palm. The mark was gone now and only smooth skin remained. Ash figured that the event that had just occurred and the mark that had appeared on his palm must have truly been connected in some way. The mark must only show itself when that same event happens. Ash decided to ponder this later and instead turned his attention back to Pikachu who was still looking at him with wide eyes. Ash knelt down to Pikachu's level again and looked him right in the eyes. "Wow... I can't believe your the same Pichu from way back then. After that whole thing happened I kept thinking about how awesome of a Pokemon you were. You had such fire and determination, not to mention so much raw power and potential!... I always thought about going back to the forest and finding you again Pikachu but... I knew I couldn't. I wasn't even a Trainer yet and even if you would have wanted to come with me and be my Pokemon I knew that I couldn't have actually captured you... And besides that I thought you would have been long gone."

Ash looked away for a second and then continued. "I'm really sorry that you felt so bad after I fell into that river and didn't come back... You didn't deserve to go so long blaming yourself for what happened to me. I did what I did to save you and I don't regret it one bit! Your an awesome Pokemon Pikachu and I would have saved you a thousand times over!"

Ash looked back at Pikachu. "I am actually starting my own Pokemon Journey today. That's why I'm here, to get my first Pokemon. I have been training really hard for the past five years and my dream is to become the greatest Pokemon Master there has ever been or ever will be and train all of my future Pokemon to be the very best and strongest of there species!... I was supposed to either choose Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Charmander as my starter Pokemon but... While I was supposed to be choosing one of them I kept thinking about how awesome of a Pokemon you were and I kept wishing that you could have been the Pokemon I could have started with today. That's when Professor Oak went and got your Pokeball for me. He said I could choose you as my Pokemon if I wanted to but I... I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to. You have way to much spirit to be held down by any Trainer, no matter how big their dreams may be..."

Ash looked down at the ground while he said the next part. "After seeing everything you have been through I have way to much respect for you to make you come with me if you don't want to... If you promise to not damage anything at the Lab I'm sure Professor Oak will release you if I ask him to. Then you will be free again to do whatever it is you please..."

Ash fell silent and just knelt there looking down at the ground. Pikachu was absolutely shocked! Not only did he just find out that this boy was the same one that saved him all those years ago, but now that same human was putting Pikachu's happiness and well being in front of his own dream that he cared so much about and trained so hard for. Pikachu had seen Ash's memories through the connection that they had shared moments before and saw just how hard Ash had trained! After seeing all of the boy's memories and experiencing his selfless and giving nature, all the times he would put others before himself... Pikachu gained a sense of respect and admiration for Ash that he never thought he could possibly feel for a human. Now this same boy, the one who saved Pikachu's own life and had apparently dreamed these past five years of having him as his starter Pokemon was now telling Pikachu that he would have him set free. Pikachu had never seen a human so selfless before and in that moment he made a decision.

Pikachu ran past Ash and up to Professor Oak and then stopped in front of the Professor. He started pointing at the Pokeball that was in the Professor's hand, gesturing to it while saying "Pika Pika Chu Pika!" Ash looked at Pikachu gesturing towards it's Pokeball and figured that meant he did want to be released after all. Ash sadly nodded his head towards the Professor who had heard and seen everything that had happened and was still in slight shock.

The Professor looked down at Pikachu asking for it's Pokeball and then back up at Ash. Seeing Ash give the okay the Professor looked at Ash sympathetically before nodding his head 'okay'. The Professor felt even more proud of Ash than before. He knew Ash was selfless but to give up the Pokemon that he had wanted to be his starter for five years just for the Pokemon itself's happiness... Professor Oak gained even more respect for Ash in that moment.

The Professor bent down and handed Pikachu it's Pokeball. Both Ash and Professor Oak expected for the Pokemon to throw the Pokeball away in an act of showing that it wanted to be released but instead... Pikachu did something that shocked them both. It picked up it's Pokeball and then ran over to Ash and stood in front of him, pushing the Pokeball towards Ash. The boy looked confused but took the Pokeball out of Pikachu's outstretched paws anyway. After he did Pikachu ran over to Ash and climbed up Ash's body until it was sitting comfortably on Ash's shoulder.

Ash was dumbfounded about what Pikachu wanted for a moment but then realization hit him. Pikachu must have wanted to come with Ash and be his Pokemon after all! Ash looked like he might bust from happiness any moment but he wanted to be sure that this was what Pikachu wanted first. He turned his to head to look at the Pokemon on his shoulder and then asked. "Pikachu, are you sure you want to come with me and be my Pokemon?"

Pikachu nodded and then squeaked happily, "Pi Pikachu!" Ash couldn't hold it anymore and let out a huge "Whoop!" Of excitement. He spun Pikachu around a little in celebration before stopping, putting Pikachu back on his shoulder and looking at the Pokemon dead serious. " I know that you want to the most powerful Pokemon you can be Pikachu and I want to be the greatest Pomemon Master there has ever been. If we are going to be the best then we are going to have to train extremely hard! I intend to make you the strongest Electric-Type Pokemon there has ever been but I need to know if your ready for it! What do you say buddy?!" Ash asked his first Pokemon excitedly."

Pikachu also got a dead serious look on it's face and then put it's paw in the air, a determined look on it's face. "Pika! Pi Pikachu Chu Pi!" Ash saw the fire in Pikachu's eyes and knew that it would be ready to train as hard as possible to achieve their goals. He knew that he couldn't have picked a better starter Pokemon and was glad to have Pikachu by his side.

Professor Oak was watching all of this from the side lines and was amazed yet again at Ash's way with Pokemon. It was truly a sight to see. He stepped up to the new duo and spoke up. "Well Ash my boy it seems you are all ready to head out on your journey now."

Ash looked at Professor Oak and nodded his head. "Yeah, me and Pikachu better head out now so we can get a good start on the day."

Professor Oak nodded his head in agreement. "That's a good plan Ash. Though you still have plenty of time in the day, it's only 8:20 now. Make sure you take time to enjoy the sights with your Pokemon and don't just speed through your travels. The slower you go the more likely you are to see something amazing. Gary is going on his journey in a car. I tried to talk him into walking so he could enjoy the experience with his Pokemon but he won't listen. So just take your time Ash."

Ash nodded his head to the Professor's words of wisdom and decided that he would do just that. Take his time. He wasn't going to rush through his journey and miss anything! He wanted to witness it all. Besides, he would have to stop plenty so he could train his Pokemon so why not enjoy the sights to? Professor Oak spoke again getting Ash's attention. "Before you go Ash, why don't you get used to using that Poke'Dex and scan Pikachu with it?"

Ash thought it was a great idea and reached into the pouch by his side for his Poke'Dex. Pikachu hopped down so Ash could scan him better. The Poke'Dex came to life when Ash pointed it at Pikachu and then it slid out and the screen turned bright. An image of Pikachu showed up on the screen and the device began to give out the Pokemon's information.

* * *

Poke'Dex Entry No.025

Pikachu: The Electric Mouse Pokemon

"Pikachu will occasionally use an electric shock to recharge a fellow Pikachu that is in a weakened state"

"This Pikachu is male and has the abilities Static and Lightning Rod"

"This Pokemon know's the moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Thundershock, Thunder Wave and Thunderbolt"

* * *

Ash whistled in amazement. That was actually a very impressive move set for a Pokemon that hadn't had any prior training with an actual Trainer. And the fact that Pikachu had two abilities instead of the standard one was very impressive. Ash knew that Pikachu was special and the information that Dexter had just given him proved that fact even more so.

Ash put his Poke'Dex away and Pikachu returned to his shoulder as he turned back to face Professor Oak. "Well Professor I guess this is it. Thank you so much for every thing you taught me and all the great gifts you gave me today... I really appreciate it."

Professor Oak smiled at his surrogate grandson. "It was my pleasure Ash. You earned everything that you received today. You learned so much from me these past five years and I'm very proud of you for showing such determination. I know you are going to do great things. Just remember that when you want to come home, Pallet will always be here and your mother and I will be glad to have you back."

Ash smiled back at the kind old Professor and replied back to him. "Thanks Professor and you got it! I'll call you and mom once I get to Viridian City on my Xtransceiver. It probably won't be for about two weeks though. Pikachu and I are probably going to camp out near the forests of Route 1 for awhile and really get to training hard."

Professor Oak nodded his head at that and then walked up to Ash and Pikachu. "Well I wish you both the best of luck on your journey! Take care of yourselves."

Ash simply gave a smile and a thumbs up to the Professor and then left the Lab. He and Pikachu had barely gotten down the steps and started heading to the road that would lead them to Route 1 before Ash heard somebody call his name. "Hey Ashy Boy did you forget where the Lab is? It's back that way!"

Ash turned around and saw his old childhood friend Gary Oak standing there at the steps near the Lab. He had a red convertible parked near the road that was filled to the brim with, what Ash guessed, was Gary's fan girls. Ash greeted his one time friend politely "Hey Gary. You better get up there or else the other two Trainers might show up and take the Pokemon you want."

Gary snorted. "Yeah maybe but it wouldn't matter. No matter what Pokemon I pick I'll still be a great Trainer either way! It's you that should worry Ashy boy. Your going to need as much help as you can get. Maybe if you ask really nicely I'll leave you a decent Pokemon."

Ash just smirked, knowing what Gary was trying to do. "No thanks Gary, I already have my partner, Pikachu."

Pikachu sounded off from Ash's shoulder. "Pika!"

Ash then continued again. "Actually, I already have my Poke'Dex and everything else ready to go. Me and Pikachu were just heading for Route 1 actually. Maybe if you had gotten up earlier you would have gotten your Pokemon and Poke'Dex first instead of me. But ohh well, some people need their sleep right Gary?"

Gary looked irritated but managed to hide it. "Yeah well, your still just a loser Ashy boy and I guess I'll have to remind you of that someday soon when we have our first battle. Of course I recommend that you train that little rodent of yours up a little before you even think about challenging me!"

Ash just shrugged his shoulders, not worried about Gary in the least. "I guess we will find out who is better when we battle the first time won't we? Take care of yourself Gary, choose your Pokemon wisely."

With that said Ash began to walk away. He stopped for a moment and turned back to look at Gary with a serious face. "Oh and Gary... Never. Call. Pikachu. a Rodent. Ever. Again."

Gary looked at Ash's stone cold face and felt a little uneasy. However he just hid his unease with a smirk. "Whatever. Talk to you later... Loser."

Gary walked away and Ash just shook his head at the boy's immaturity. He then turned to Pikachu. "You ready to go buddy?" Pikachu nodded his head excitedly. "Pi Pika Pi!"

Ash nodded his head and then they set off for Route 1 and the first leg of their journey.

...

Ash and Pikachu had been on Route 1 for awhile. Talking back and forth and sharing laughs about anything they could. Eventually they came to a section of Route 1 that was covered in miles of field on both sides of the road. Ash stopped and looked around, taking everything in. He veered off the path and walked into the field on the left side of the road.

Since it was late July the days were hot and there was not a lot of rain at the moment. The grass in the field was pretty brown and parched and Ash nodded his in approvement as he continued walking through the field. Pikachu seemed confused as to why Ash was walking through the field. "Pika pi?" Ash looked up at the Pokemon on his shoulder and answered it's question. "We're looking for a good spot to pitch camp and train for a week or two. I really want you to have a major power advantage over not just other Trainer's Pokemon who are at our level right now, but I want you to be the strongest of all the other Pokemon I end up getting so they have someone to look up to in terms of strength and all out power, that way they can see the results of hard training. This field seemed pretty promising and I wanted to check it out closer. It's wide open, so we have plenty of room to work your speed, now if it just has a few more things I'm looking for that we can use for your training then this field will work out perfectly for us."

Pikachu looked excited at the mention of training and getting stronger and nodded his head eagerly. Ash eventually came to a spot in the field that was about three hundred yards away from the road. The spot he found was perfect. It was right next to a large stream that they could use for drinking water and plus, the current was moving fast enough and was just deep enough that it would allow training in the water perfectly.

There was a small area right near the stream that was shaded by trees and Ash decided to use this for the campsite. Some yards away was a large cluster of rocks and boulders that Ash knew would be perfect for training Pikachu's agility, strength, power, accuracy and physical moves as well as really work on his Electric-Type attacks. Pikachu's 'Volt Power' as Ash liked to call his ability to use electricity, was something that Ash was going to MAJORLY work with Pikachu on.

All in all, Ash liked what he found and decided to stay here and train for awhile. Ash headed back to where the campsite was going to be and then started setting everything up. He pitched the tent, made a small fire pit and gathered a healthy supply of firewood from the nearby forest and once he was done with his campsite Ash stood back and admired his work. He smiled approvingly and then set to work making he and Pikachu lunch. Ash cooked his usual healthy meal for himself which consisted of some dried meat, veggies and some fruit. For Pikachu, he was setting him up on a particular Pokemon food and diet. The food was meant purely for Electric-Types and had several great benefits for them in the food, the most namely of which really helped to increase the Pokemon's electric power. Ash added a few vitamins and herbs to the mix while he was preparing the food that supported growth in strength, power, speed, endurance and many other attributes he felt would really benefit Pikachu's overall health and growth. Ash also made a few Poffins that would really help Pikachu's outer image glow much more in things like the overall feel and texture of his fur.

When they were done with lunch Ash explained to Pikachu their training routine. Pikachu would first work his overall speed by running through the miles long field as fast and for as long as he could. This would help Pikachu learn the move Quick Attack much faster and once he finally learned the move he would run through the field using nothing but Quick Attack for as long and as fast as he could. This method would assure that Pikachu's Quick Attack would keep getting faster and also help his training in three area's: His base speed would greatly improve, his stamina and endurance would also raise drastically and through all of that speed training Pikachu may become able to unlock a move that only the fastest of Pokemon can use... Extremespeed. Ash had read all about the most powerful speed attack a Pokemon could learn. It relied completely on a Pokemon's sheer speed and power. A LOT of speed! Ash knew that Pikachu could learn the move but it would take quite some time and the first thing to learn was Quick Attack. But that would all come in good time and intense training.

Pikachu would then hit the river and work on swimming drills for an hour so it could build it's muscle strength, speed and stamina all at the same time. From there he would go to the "Rock Hollow" as Ash dubbed the really rocky part of the field that had huge boulders and rocks everywhere, and work on several things. Ash would first have him work his agility by running as fast as he could while weaving in and out through the large rocks and boulders, all while Ash stood outside and threw rocks at Pikachu, having him dodge all of the rocks that he could. Pikachu would do this down on the ground and also up on top of the rocks to work both his moves Agility and Double Team.

Pikachu would then work on his physical and fighting moves. Pikachu would do things like smash his head into the large boulders using Tackle as long as he could so he could increase his power in moves like Tackle and Headbutt to name a few. Pikachu would also work on hitting his tail on some of the large boulders trying to break them. This would eventually unlock Iron Tail. He would also work hitting, kicking and fighting drills on the large rocks using a multitude of different attack combinations. This type of training had the dual purpose of hardening and strengthening Pikachu's body, while at the same time helping him to eventually learn Fighting-Type moves like Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Focus Punch and a large variety of others.

Ash would then have Pikachu work on increasing and strengthening his electrical attacks and also work on training to overcome his type disadvantages all at the same time. Pikachu would work on strengthening his "Volt Power" and addressing his type weaknesses by striking some of the many massive boulders and also the very ground itself with attacks like his Thunderbolt. He would strike these huge boulders and the ground using his electric attacks for as long as he possibly could and with as much power as he could muster. Only stopping when he felt like passing out. Ash told Pikachu that since Electric-Types had such big disadvantages against Rock and Ground-Type Pokemon he wanted Pikachu to work on his electric power until he could break apart massive boulders and leave craters in the ground with just his electric attacks.

Ash told Pikachu that this type of training, though very hard, would have the benefits of not only making Pikachu's "Volt Power" much more powerful and keep increasing the more he trained this way, but also it would make his electric attacks strong against his supposed "Type Superiors", making one nasty surprise for any Trainers they faced that used either Rock or Ground-Type Pokemon. Also, training this way could very potentially unlock Pikachu's three strongest Electric-Type moves: Volt Tackle, Electro Ball and Thunder. Granted it may take some time, but Ash knew that Pikachu would eventually learn these moves using this type of training.

When Pikachu seemed confused on how it was supposed to break solid rock and crater the ground with nothing but it's Electric-Type attacks, Ash explained to him a new method he had devised in using electric attacks. Ash told Pikachu that when he was trying to smash boulders and destroy the ground with his electricity, all he needed to do was condense and compact his electricity before releasing it. Focusing all of his power and strength into creating solid mass with his lighting so when it hit a solid object like a boulder or even the ground itself, it would hit with massive force and power, basically overcoming the resistance provided by the boulder or ground. Thus, either shattering the rock or cratering the ground.

Ash called this new form of using an Electric-Pokemon's power 'Focused Lightning'. And the possibilities were literally LIMITLESS! This new type of training that only Pikachu and any other Electric-Type Pokemon Ash obtains will do, could possibly make Electric-Type Pokemon one of the most powerful types in the Pokemon world. If an Electric Pokemon mastered 'Focused Lightning' it could literally give Electric-Types no other type they were weak to since they could just use this new method of electrical power and overcome any defense or superior type Pokemon with just sheer power. Meaning extremely high and condensed voltage. Like an actual thunderbolt dropping from the sky. Natural thunderbolts COULD shatter rock and crater the ground, so Ash figured... Why couldn't Electric-Type Pokemon do the same thing with their own power? The training to master this technique was extremely hard but Ash looked at it as worth it. And he knew that Pikachu could do it.

Of course, Ash explained to Pikachu that when he finally learned how to use this new type of electric power he would have to go easy on ALL Pokemon he used it on, no matter if it was a type Pikachu was strong or 'weak' against, he had to go easy! Otherwise he could seriously hurt his opponents. Pikachu obviously understood and agreed. He wanted to be powerful not hurt other Pokemon.

Ash also told Pikachu that eventually, when he was strong enough, they would take 'Focused Lightning' and take it to the next level by applying the same concept to Steel-Pokemon. However, that would have to come later and once Pikachu got MUCH stronger. If Pikachu was ever going to punch holes through solid steel with nothing but his electric based attacks, then he was going to need an insane amount of Volt Power in his body.

Ash contemplated if this new form of 'Type Overcoming' training he was developing could work with the other types as well? Only time would tell.

One thing that made Pikachu's training that much harder was the fact that Ash had Pikachu wear one of the weighted bodysuits that Professor Oak had given him. The little Electric Mouse would wear this bodysuit his ENTIRE training session, offering much more resistance and difficulty to the training. Ash wasn't lying when he told Pikachu before they began this training regimen that it would be suicide, but Pikachu loved every minute of it because he knew... He could feel himself getting stronger!

Of course, Ash was no slacker. This was training time for EVERYONE, including him. Everyday while Pikachu would do his training Ash would do his and just like Pikachu, he wore one of the weighted body suits that were actually meant for Fighting Pokemon like Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan. Ash would train his cardio, power, strength, speed, agility, flexibility and fighting skills using all of the training drills that Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan taught him. He would run the field as fast as he could in sprints or as far as he could in running for distance. He would practice his fighting drills and techniques on trees and boulders, he would lift weights using the dumbbells and barbells meant for Fighting-Type Pokemon, he would stretch himself hard to further his flexibility and generally worked many other aspects of his own physical abilities. The way Ash saw it, a Trainer should do as he makes his Pokemon do. That includes training just as hard.

Needless to say, the next two weeks were going to be ones of growth and change...

...

One week of training had passed and Pikachu was gaining more and more power and strength everyday. He had managed to learn Quick Attack, Double Team, Agility and Mega Punch in just one week of the intense training program he was on. His strength, power, agility, speed, endurance and his Volt Power had all increased nicely during the past week and Ash was proud of his Pokemon's progress.

Ash himself had also been training hard the whole week and was feeling exceptionally strong himself. He believed one more week of intense training would be all they needed before they set out for Virdian City. Of course, their training would never stop, but the weeks long training sessions would only happen once and awhile when Ash felt that they just needed to take a break from constant traveling.

Ash and Pikachu had just finished another day of tough training and was on the way back to their camp when he heard a loud squawking coming from the north of the wide open field. Ash immediately took off for the sound with Pikachu bouncing on his shoulder the whole way. The duo followed the sound to a spot in the field that had a few scattered trees dispersed here and there and a few shrubs sticking out of the ground. In the middle of this clearing was a flock of angry Spearow attacking a crouching Pokemon who seemed to scared to move.

Ash didn't waste a second and instantly commanded Pikachu who was already on the ground, "Pikachu use a dispersed Thunderbolt to strike all of those Spearow and scare them away!"

Pikachu's cheeks started sparking and then he let loose the attack. "Chu!" Pikachu called out as he unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt at the flock of angry birds. The attack struck them all and they cried out in pain as they were being electrocuted. Once the shock had passed a few of the Spearow turned tail and flew off but a few stayed behind to face their attacker.

Instantly the few remaining Spearow dive bombed Pikachu and tried to hit him with their Peck attacks. Ash just calmly instructed Pikachu to dodge the attacks and then Pikachu began swerving out of the way of the angry and attacking Spearow with practiced ease. Once he was clear of the attacks Ash ordered Pikachu to use Thunder Wave and knock the Spearow out of the sky. Pikachu launched a widespread electric wave that immediately hit the Bird Pokemon and knocked them out of the air, causing them all to hit the ground with a hard 'crash'.

All of the Spearow were now out of the fight except for one who remained standing even though it was beaten up pretty badly and still sparking with the after shocks of Pikachu's Thunder Wave. Ash was impressed with this Spearow's heart and told Pikachu to give it a good fight. The Mouse Pokemon nodded at his trainer and then turned to face the struggling Spearow. The Bird Pokemon suddenly charged at Pikachu with it's beak glowing white. "Dodge it Pikachu, jump to the side to avoid it and then hit it with your tail!"

Pikachu jumped out of the way just as Spearow made to hit Pikachu and struck with it's glowing beak. As Spearow missed and passed by, Pikachu brought it's tail around and hit Spearow hard, sending it skidding in the dirt. Ash raised his hand, "Now Pikachu... end this with Tackle!"

Pikachu charged at the struggling to stand Spearow and smashed into it hard with it's head, sending the Tiny Bird Pokemon flying through the air where it then hit the ground and didn't get back up. "Great job Pikachu come on back!" Ash called to his Pokemon. Pikachu came back to Ash's side and climbed back up to his shoulder, not even breathing hard from the battle it just fought. Ash brought out an empty Pokeball from the belt he kept wrapped around his waist and then pointed it at Spearow. "Time to catch our first new friend buddy." Ash said to Pikachu. The Pokemon chirped his agreement and then Ash threw the Pokeball at Spearow. The ball hit it's mark and the Pokemon was sucked inside of it, where it then commenced to roll back and forth a few times before the Pokeball dinged and went still, signifying a successful capture. Ash walked over and picked the Pokeball up. "We did it buddy, our first new Pokemon." Pikachu pumped it's fist excitedly in the air and high fived Ash.

The young Trainer attached the Pokeball back to his belt then went over to the Pokemon he had just saved. The small Pokemon was laying there on the ground still crouched in a position that showed how terrified it was. Ash bent down next to the Pokemon and was finally able to make out what it was. The identity shocked him but he knew without a doubt that the Pokemon he was looking at... was a Budew. Ash couldn't believe that this Pokemon was actually a Budew! They were Pokemon native to Sinnoh and were never seen in Kanto, so for Ash to see one here was definitely puzzling. The small Grass-Type Pokemon looked at Ash with wide and scared eyes. Ash slowly reached his hand out showing that he meant no harm and touched the side of Budew's face comfortingly. The small Pokemon slowly relaxed into Ash's hand. "Bud... Bud Ew" it said as Ash continued to stroke the side of it's face. "It's alright little buddy I won't hurt you. It does seem like you might be hurt a little though... If you come back to my camp with me I can fix you right up. How does that sound?"

Budew looked at Ash for a second before nodding it's head. Ash smiled softly and picked the Pokemon up, cradling it in his arms as he made his way back to his camp.

...

Once Ash made it back to the campsite he sat Budew down near the tent and went to get his pack and retrieve medical supplies. Upon getting back Ash sprayed some Super Potion on Budews cuts and bruises and then gave it an Oran Berry to recover it's strength. After Budew seemed settled a little Ash released his newly captured Spearow so he could also dress it's wounds. Spearow looked at Ash wearily until the boy began stroking it's feathers softly, making it coo and relax a little. Ash smiled and then sprayed more of the Super Potion on Spearow's wounds, instantly healing it. Ash then gave his new Pokemon an Oran Berry and continued to stroke the little Bird Pokemon as it ate the berry gratefully. Ash then spoke to Spearow, "Hey Spearow, I just wanted you to know that I was very impressed with the way you battled against Pikachu today. Even though you were outmatched you still fought back valiantly. I can help make you the strongest Spearow and eventually Fearow that there has ever been, but only if you are willing to work alongside me and Pikachu as a team and are ready to train harder than you ever have before. What do you say? Are you in?"

The Bird Pokemon didn't have to think about it and instantly cawed happily, "Row Spear Spearow!" Ash grinned. "Alright! We start training tomorrow, so be ready Spearow!" The Pokemon nodded it's head before it turned and began grooming it's feathers. Ash decided to take this time and scan Spearow with the Poke'Dex so he could get some more information on his new Pokemon. He scanned Spearow and listened to what Dexter had to say:

* * *

Poke'Dex Entry No.021

Spearow: The Tiny Bird Pokemon

"It flaps it's small wings busily to fly. Using it's beak, it searches in grass for prey."

"This Spearow is male and has the abilities Keen Eye and Sniper"

This Pokemon knows the moves: Peck, Leer, Fury Attack and Pursuit"

* * *

Ash was impressed with Spearow's moves and abilities. In time he could become a very strong Pokemon given the right training. Of course, with Ash that would be no problem. He didn't bother scanning Budew since it wasn't a native of the Kanto region and no information would be available about it. He didn't need it anyway, Ash knew almost everything he needed to know about every known Pokemon in the regions, thanks to his constant studying and all of Professor Oak's invaluable teachings. The only thing Ash really needed his Poke'Dex for was to tell him what abilities and gender each new Pokemon he captured had and also what move set they currently possessed. Other than that, Ash knew everything else he needed to know already. The only thing that Ash currently knew about Budew was that it was female and that was about it.

All of a sudden Ash felt something at his pants leg and looked down to see Budew standing there looking up at Ash. He turned and knelt down next to Budew and then spoke to it. "What is it Budew?" The Grass-Type looked at the Pokeball's on Ash's belt and began pointing to it with the bud on top of it's head. Ash looked at where Budew was pointing and then looked back at it. "Do you want to be my Pokemon and get stronger as well Budew?" The little Pokemon nodded it's excitedly and started jumping up and down. "Bud Bud Budew!"

Ash smiled widely and then pulled another Pokeball from his belt. "Okay then Budew! Welcome to the team!" With that said he touched the Pokeball to Budew's head and then, just like Spearow, it was sucked inside of the Pokeball and didn't even struggle as the Pokeball dinged, completing the capture. Ash grinned like crazy as he held up Budew's Pokeball to Pikachu. "Alright buddy we got another friend to add to the team!"

Pikachu nodded it's head happily. "Pi Pika Pi!"

Ash released Budew and then he and Pikachu, along with their two new friends, sat and enjoyed the rest of the evening by the campfire. Tomorrow would begin their second week of training and it would be the toughest by far.

...

The second week of training had come and gone and was all together very successful. Pikachu continued to train hard with it's training routine and kept getting stronger everyday. Ash made sure that he kept increasing the intensity on Pikachu so the training never got even remotely easy. Spearow and Budew had also begun their own training that same week and were coming along extremely nicely. Ash had set them up on a strict diet of Pokemon food geared for each of their types just like Pikachu and he also fed each of them Poffins just as he did with Pikachu so they were all getting everything they could possibly need nutrition wise.

Ash decided that he would make every Pokemon of his all go through the exact same kind of extreme physical conditioning program. Every single one of his Pokemon would all work their endurance, stamina, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility and every other physical attribute they had to their absolute max and beyond. Ash didn't want to have a single Pokemon that was better in any area physically than another. He wanted them all to be equal and at the same level. And at a very high level at that!

The only thing that would individualize each of his Pokemon's training programs would be when he got down to type specific training. The training would go like this: All of his Pokemon would work on their moves first, trying to master each one they knew and then learn new ones. Then they would all work on type disadvantage training, which meant constantly subjecting themselves to every kind of move and element they were weak to until they built higher and higher levels of tolerance to those same moves and elements. If he didn't have a certain Pokemon that knew a move that Ash needed the Pokemon he was training to be subjected to, then Ash would try and re-create that element himself some how and then attack his Pokemon with it. All of his Pokemon worked out with either free weights or wore body weights while they trained, and each of his Pokemon (who could that is), would all work fighting and martial arts drills so their reaction time and fighting skills would sharply improve.

Ash would also have his Pokemon drill extremely hard on physical skills that they naturally were not adept at. Such as having Spearow run on the ground with leg weights on so he could become used to running on the ground as easily as he flew in the air.

All in all, Ash trained his Pokemon to the bone in just about every different form of training there was. He wanted his Pokemon to not have a single weakness their opponents could exploit and the only way to do that was to train themselves into the ground hard every day and work every type of training angle they could. Yet again Ash was glad that he had studied so hard for five years, otherwise he would never have known all of these different training routines. The best part was, he continued to learn how to create and develop new types of training all the time by working with his Pokemon one on one and reading new books on training every chance he got. Ash was determined to make himself and his Pokemon the best and the strongest there ever was... and by damn he was going to do it to!

Ash had just finished his own training for the day and was now off to find Pikachu, Spearow and Budew so he could relieve them for the day. Eventually he found them all in the Rock Hollow engaging in the final stretch of their training. Pikachu was practicing Focus Lightning on a nearby boulder and was actually starting to crack the rock. Budew was at a nearby tree panting heavily as she practiced her Absorb attack on it. She was trying to focus on absorbing as much energy from the tree as she could and then she would put it back into the tree by re-directing the flow of the energy. This was how Ash was trying to get her to learn her more powerful absorption moves like Mega and Giga Drain.

Besides the physical training program that Budew underwent with both Pikacha and Spearow, this was how she spent the entirety of her training. Practicing all of her Grass-Types moves and making them as powerful as she could while at the same time trying to learn new moves and then perfect those. She started off knowing Absorb, Growth, Stun Spore and Tackle. She had learned in the past week: Sleep Powder, Sunny Day, Leech Seed and Headbutt. Budew was coming along very nicely in her training and Ash was thoroughly impressed at just how fast she grew in strength, learned new attacks and then mastered them. She also had already shown that she possessed the ability Natural Cure and after watching her train the way she did there was no denying... she was a special Pokemon indeed. Ash didn't know how she ended up in Kanto or how she got into a fight with that flock of Spearow but he didn't care. All he knew was that he got a great Pokemon with amazing potential out of the deal and he was happy.

Ash saw Spearow flying low to the ground and going as fast as it could while weaving in and out of all the big boulders littered everywhere in the Rock Hollow. He was wearing the body weights that were specially made for flying types as he flew, that way he could get stronger through the added resistance on it's wings. Over the past week Spearow had gotten much faster while not just flying but also running on the ground. All of his physical attributes had increased nicely and he had even learned the new moves: Aerial Ace and Agility. Ash could tell that Spearow was going to be very strong and even more so once he evolved into Fearow.

Ash called his Pokemon in and they all came running to meet him happily. After he had greeted them all they made their way back to camp so they could eat supper and then relax. Once they all made it back to camp and had eaten supper they settled around the campfire that Ash had just lit and began to relax. Ash looked at his Pokemon and then spoke. "Alright guys, tomorrow we head out for Virdian City. We've been training hard and we will continue to do so on the road but we need to get going now. I'm very happy with all of your progress so far and I know that you will all keep getting stronger. We will end up getting a lot of new Pokemon friends on our journey and it will be up to you three to help me raise all of the new Pokemon and make them a part of the team. I'm going to make every Pokemon I have the strongest that they can possibly be but I also want us all to be a family and have each others backs. Can I count on you guys?"

Ash got a rousing chorus of calls from his Pokemon and he smiled. "Good I'm glad to hear you all say that! Now let's get some sleep so we can be ready to leave early tomorrow morning what do you say?" The three Pokemon agreed and then Ash returned Spearow and Budew before putting out the fire and then heading to his tent with Pikachu, ready for tomorrow's venture to Viridian City and any new adventure they may end up facing...

_(End Chapter Three)_

* * *

Post Chapter A/N:** Well everybody, there was chapter three! Hope you all liked it! Now, I would like to address a few things in this A/N. **

**1: Ash's Pokemon may seem like that they evolve often in this story but be rest assured, their evolution will definitely fit the speed of this story and all of the many battles that Ash will face. Plus, as you all read in this chapter Ash trains his Pokemon extremely hard! Naturally they will evolve much faster. I also don't like working with pre-evolved Pokemon very long so...**

**2: I will only describe the training program that Ash's Pokemon will follow in short explanations from here on out. I don't want to waste time every chapter going on and on about training. I have given a good explanation of their training regimen in this chapter and I will only further describe training programs when Ash gets a special Pokemon who needs special training. And for everyone who just needs to know: Ash's Pokemon will all follow an extreme physical conditioning program and then branch off into type specific training that each Pokemon will follow for their individual needs. Just know this everyone... Ash and his Pokemon are training EXTREMELY hard and every time I mention that Ash's Pokemon are training in the future chapters, use this chapter and this A/N to know that their training program is very intense! I will still explain things a little when it comes to the training but just not as much.**

**3: I am not going to rush through any of this story or any of the regions. There is a lot of stuff I want to cover and explore so I am taking my time and just gliding through it all!**

**4: There will be no AshxPokemon in this fic. I can't get into reading or writing it. Sorry guys!**

**...**

**So that's it for now everyone! If I think of anything else I'll let you know in the A/N of chapter four. Yet again I want to thank you all so much for your support... I can't thank you enough! Keep your ideas and reviews flowing my dear readers and remember: Just because I may not like one idea you offer me doesn't mean I won't like the next one! Another big thank you to the following: 'xDragoon55', 'ThomasLight' and 'TinkotheWolf' ****You guys... And lady, are amazing and I'm so grateful to have you as readers!**** Last but certainly not least... My muse and inspiration... She is an amazing person and I am so fortunate to have had her come across my story... Ladies and Gentlemen! From your computer monitors... please give a round of applause for none other... Than 'Advanceforeverandafter' herself!**

**So until next time dear readers! Guys, you know what to do, stay cool. And my dear ladies... What can I say to you? You are a mystery surrounded by an enigma... And yet you are truly a beautiful master piece! Always remember that your perfect just the way you are.**

**_Next time!... 'More Pokemon and The Boulder Badge!'_**


	4. More Pokemon and The BoulderBadge!

A/N:**Yo everybody! I'm back yet again with another chapter of this soon to be very popular story! I want to yet again thank everyone who is loyally following my story and waiting for the new chapters to be posted. Your support is my life-blood for writing this story!**

**So that's it... there is really nothing left to say except for this: Expect quite a few changes to the Pokemon storyline once Ash gets the Cascade Badge and then heads out towards Vermillion City. I'm not going to give anything major away except for this little tidbit of info. Go on to Bulbapedia and look up the badges from all of the regions in the show or more specifically... the ones in Kanto. Read that whole section and then anybody who thinks they know what I'm going to do can PM me. Let's just say this... I'm going to be doing something that no other Pokemon writer (to my knowledge) has ever done before.**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**Now without further ado! Let the show begin!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, anything affiliated with it or anything else copyrighted that might be mentioned in this story.**

**...**

_The Greatest There Was Or Ever Will Be_

_ Chapter Four: 'More Pokemon and The Boulderbadge!'_

* * *

Ash got up early in the morning before the had risen, as usual, and then stretched and did a few exercises while he watched the sun rise. He was right when he told himself that sunrises on the road would be different then they were all the years he had watched them from the roof of his house. Even though he wasn't that far away from Pallet Town it was still an angle that he had never before seen the sun rise at before and he wanted to soak up every moment. After the sun came up and he finished his exercises Ash set down by the fire pit and after lighting a fire began cooking for himself and his Pokemon. Even though his Pokemon ate Pokemon food Ash still liked cooking it over the fire so all of the flavor could really take hold and his Pokemon would really enjoy eating it.

No sooner than the food started cooking did Pikachu come out of the tent looking hungry as he ran to Ash's side. "Hungry buddy?" Ash asked his first Pokemon. Pikachu nodded his head furiously in confirmation. "Pika pikachu!" The small Electric-Type Pokemon called out. Ash chuckled and then released his other two Pokemon, Budew and Spearow, so they could eat as well. After Ash had finished making breakfast he and his Pokemon settled down for a nice and relaxing breakfast. At least, they would have if Ash hadn't heard something riffling through his backpack that was sat near his tent.

Ash turned around to see what was going through his pack and saw a Pokemon he recognized all to well. It was a Rattata, picking through Ash's backpack hoping to find some food. Ash had guessed the smell of the cooking Pokemon food had lured it in and now it was trying to find the source of the smell. He grabbed some of the leftover food that he had on his plate and slowly walked over to the foraging Pokemon. When Rattata noticed Ash it went to take off until Ash put the food in front of it. The Pokemon cautiously sniffed the food before it then began to devour it.

While the Pokemon ate away at the morsels of food Ash withdrew his Poke'Dex and scanned the Pokemon.

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.019_

_Rattata:The Mouse Pokemon_

_"It searches for food all all day long. Rattata gnaws on hard objects to wear down its fangs, which grow  
constantly during its lifetime"  
_

_"This Rattata is male and has the abilities Run Away, Guts and Hustle"_

_"This Pokemon know's the moves:Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Focus Energy and Bite"  
_

* * *

Ash looked back at Rattata and thought, '_This Rattata is actually pretty special... to know all of those moves already and have all three abilities that a Rattata can have? Impressive..." _Ash was broken from his thoughts by Pikachu who was bounding over from his place near the fire and over to Rattata where he then sat down and began talking animatedly to his Mouse Pokemon kin about... whatever it was they talked about in Poke'Speech. While they did that, Ash returned Spearow and Budew who had just finished eating to their Pokeball's and then began tearing the campsite down and packing everything up. When he was done Ash went to get Pikachu but found him standing there behind him with Rattata by his side. Ash was confused until Pikachu began explaining everything to Ash that he and Rattata had been discussing.

Apparently, according to Pikachu, Rattata had dreams of becoming as strong as he possibly could and so he went everywhere challenging strong, wild Pokemon to battle. He had recieved plenty of experience and learned the moves he had now by battling the way he had so far, but he wanted to get more powerful and he didn't know how to achieve it. Pikachu had told Rattata all about Ash and his dream, along with how hard he made himself, Budew and Spearow train and how much stronger they had all gotten in just a short amount of time training with Ash.

Rattata came up to Ash after Pikachu finished his explanation and just sat and looked at the young Trainer. Ash bent down and addressed the Pokemon. "Is it true Rattata? Do you want to become the strongest you can be?"

Rattata nodded it's head vigorously."Rat Ta Rattata!"

Ash smiled and then asked. "Do you want to come with me and be my Pokemon? I'll make you the strongest you could ever be and that's a promise."

Rattata nodded again in confirmation. "Rat Ta Ta Rat!"

Ash pulled a Pokeball from his belt and lightly touched Rattata on the head with it. The Pokemon was sucked inside in a beam of red energy and the Pokeball didn't even wobble as it fell still completing the capture.

Ash stood up and grinned happily before attaching the Pokeball to his belt and then taking off for the main path with Pikachu now at his spot on Ash's shoulder.

...

Ash was now walking the path to Viridian City and was coming closer to the section of Route 1 that cut through some woods. He was just beginning to enter the forest until he heard what sounded like a battle being waged off to the right of the path. Ash followed the sounds of fighting and eventually came onto the scene of two Pokemon, a Nidoran (male), and a Nidoran (female) fighting in a little clearing.

Ash pulled out his Poke'Dex and scanned the two fighting Pokemon:

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.029_

_"Nidoran-Female: The Poison Poison Pin Pokemon"_

_"While it does not prefer to fight, even one drop of the poison it secretes from barbs can be fatal"_

_"This Nidoran-Female: Has the abilities Poison Point, Rivalry and Hustle"_

_This Pokemon know's the moves: Tackle, Scratch, Double Kick and Poison Sting"_

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.032_

_"Nidoran-Male: The Poison Pin Pokemon"_

_"It scans its surroundings by raising its ears out of the grass. Its toxic horn is for protection"_

_"This Nidoran-Male: Has the abilities Poison Point, Rivalry and Hustle"_

_This Pokemon know's the moves: Tackle, Peck, Focus Energy, Double Kick and Poison Sting"_

* * *

Ash put his Poke'Dex away and then watched in rapt attention as the two Pokemon battled it out with one another. Each one was battling with higher than usual levels of skill than a wild Pokemon should have, which lead Ash to his next decision. He walked out into the clearing and addressed the two Pokemon who by this point had seen him and stopped fighting.

"Hey you two I see you like battling! I have a proposition for you: I challenge you both to a two on two battle. You guys against my Pokemon. If you win I give you each a week supply of Pokemon food. If you lose, you become my Pokemon and then I'll train you both up and show you what true strength is! What do you say?

Both Pokemon thought about it for a minute and then nodded their heads in agreement. Ash smiled and then pulled two Pokeballs from his belt. "Spearow, Budew show your power!"

The two Pokemon appeared with shouts of their names and then settled on the field, ready for battle. "Are you guys ready?! This is your first battle after all of the training you have been through. You ready to ready rock 'n' roll?!" Ash exclaimed loudly.

Budew and Spearow called again loudly. "ROW! BUD!"

"Alright then let's go!"

At that moment both Nidorans started to charge.

"Dodge those Tackles and then Spearow you use Aerial Ace on the female Nidoran! Budew jump out if the way and then hit the other Nidoran with Absorb!"

Spearow flew out of the way of the incoming Tackle and then followed up with an Aerial Ace that hit Nidoran and sent her skidding through the dirt.

Budew jumped to the side of the male Nidoran and then hit the Poison Pin Pokemon with the tendrils of the energy sucking Absorb attack. Nidoran got weak and started to fall to his side until the other Nidoran came from the side and hit Budew sending her flying away from the Male Nidoran and ending Absorb.

Budew landed near Spearow with a cry of her name. "Budew!"

"You alright Budew?" Ash called to his Pokemon.

Budew nodded her head and stood back up.

Both Nidorans were ready to go again and prepared their attacks. The male Nidoran began using Focus Energy while the other Nidoran launched a Poison Sting at Budew.

"Budew jump to the side and avoid that Poison Sting, follow up then with Stun Spore!'

Budewe dodged the attack and then launched the yellow paralyzing powder that floated towards the female Nidoran.

At the same time, the other Nidoran took of towards Spearow, fully pumped from the focus energy. He began using Peck over and over again trying to hit the Bird Pokemon. "Spearow use Agility to dodge!"

Before Spearow could dodge in time, Nidoran suddenly went into a Double Kick and hit the Flying Pokemon, sending him flying towards the ground where he hit and then grunted in pain.

On the other side of the battle the female Nidoran was about to be hit by the Stun Spore. Suddenly, the male Nidoran appeared and used Double Kick to kick up a bunch of dirt into the air where it then collided with Stun Spore, cancelling the attack.

Ash looked towards Budew and Spearow, who had just gotten back to his feet and spoke to them. "You guys ready to keep going?"

"Bud Bud!" Budew called!

"Row! Spearow!" Spearow echoed back.

"Alright then then you two let's end this!" Ash shouted.

"Spearow pick Budew up, then use Agility and speed toward the Nidorans!"

Spearow did just that and a few seconds later they were flying at high speeds towards the Poison Pin pair of Pokemon.

"Now Spearow let Budew go and use the momentum to hit the Male Nidoran with an Aerial Ace! Budew, use the speed of Spearow letting you go to use Headbutt and smash into the other Nidoran!"

Spearow and Budew obeyed perfectly and then performed their attacks. The Nidoran pair wasn't prepared for the perfect teamwork strategy from their opponents and so they took the full force of the attacks. Spearow let Budew go and the Grass Pokemon smashed into the female Nidoran at full speeds, sending her sailing far backwards. Spearow used the momentum from Agility and instantly turned in mid direction towards the male Nidoran and began rocketing towards the unprepared Pokemon in a high speed Aerial Ace. The Flying-Pokemon hit it's mark and sent Nidoran careening back towards it's partner.

Ash didn't let up. "Budew use Leech Seed on the female Nidoran while she's down! Spearow, get in close to the male and use a rapid Fury Attack!"

Ash's Pokemon attacked their opponents viciously. Budew launched her Leech Seed and implanted onto the female Nidoran, causing her to become wrapped up in energy sucking vines. As the female Nidoran bellowed in pain the male tried to get up and assist his downed comrade, only for Spearow to appear in front of him and began a vicious assault of Fury Attacks.

After Spearow had finished his attack he used one more smack from his wing and sent the male Nidoran flying into his partner who was still struggling inside of the energy stealing vines of Leech Seed. After the male Nidoran slammed into the female both of them fell completely to the ground.

Ash was about to call the final attacks until Budew began glowing green. A second later she made small roots appear out of the ground that headed towards the downed and intertwined Nidoran pair. The roots circled the Poison Pin Pokemon and then began sapping energy from the pair. The stolen energy then started tracing back along the roots until it found Budew again and began nourishing her back to full health.

Ash knew that this new move was Ingrain and was about to comment on it until something else happened. Long, dark green tendrils of energy, much larger than those of Absorb began flowing from Budew. The second new attack struck the downed pair of Pokemon and started draining large amounts of energy from them. The recovered energy then began heading back towards Budew who redirected the energy flow towards Spearow and began restoring her partners health.

Ash was stunned. Budew just learned Ingrain AND Mega Drain all at once. He couldn't believe how fast Budew was growing!

After Spearow regained his health he chirped a thank you to Budew who nodded back in response. Ash, now seeing that his Pokemon were fully recovered, called the final attack of the battle. "Alright guys let's end this! Spearow, pick Budew back up and then head towards both Nidorans a fast as you can! Once you get right on top of them stay intertwined and then start spinning to gain more speed! After that hit them with a double Tackle attack!"

Ash's Pokemon did as commanded and began the attack combination. As they were right on top of the Nidoran pair the only thing that the two downed Pokemon could do was brace for impact. Spearow and Budew smashed right into the two wild Pokemon with their combined Tackle, causing a huge dust cloud to kick up.

Ash's Pokemon returned to his side and then Ash waited for the dust to settle. As it did he saw two unconscious Pokemon laying sprawled out on the ground. Ash smiled and then pulled two empty Pokeballs from his belt. He chucked them at the two Pokemon and after hitting them dead on they were sucked inside. After a few moments of twitching the two Pokeballs lay still and 'dinged' with the sound of two complete captures. Ash walked over and picked up both Pokeballs. He then walked over to Spearow and Budew and began congratulating them.

"That was an awesome battle guys I'm so proud of you! Training is really paying off and I am so happy with how far you've both come in just a week!"

The two Pokemon began cheering happily and embraced Ash. After returning the hug Ash congratulated his Pokemon again before returning them to their Pokeballs. He then turned to Pikachu. "Well buddy, you want to meet the two new additions to our team?" Pikachu nodded his head excitedly. "Pikachu!" Ash then released both Nidorans who appeared from their Pokeballs looking tired and beat up. Ash took off his pack and then went into his medical supply case that was full to the brim with all kinds of medicines, potions, and recovery items. He took a Hyper Potion and two Oran Berries and then went to work healing his two new Pokemon.

When he was done both Nidorans looked good as new and were now sitting down comfortably, staring up at Ash. He looked at them both and spoke: "Look guys I just want you two to know how impressed I was with you in that battle. For wild Pokemon you were very skilled. I can train the both of you to be just as strong as my other Pokemon if you want to. All of my Pokemon are going to eventually stand at the top of thier species and in order to achieve that we train very hard. Are you guys interested?"

Both Nidorans excitedly nodded their heads and called out at the same time, "Nido-ran!"

Ash smiled and then started rubbing each of his new Pokemon on the sides of their cheeks. After that he returned them both and then turned to Pikachu. "Come on buddy let's get going, it looks like we might run onto a storm and I want to get under the shelter of the trees if we do run onto rain. Luckily the remainder of the way between here and Virdian City is all covered by forest so we should be good."

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder. "Pika pi, pi pikachu."

Ash then set out on his way, finding the path again and then heading the rest of the way for Virdian City.

...

Ash had been right about the possibility of running into rain. They had been on the path no longer than ten minutes and then it started pouring the rain. Ash and Pikachu had to take shelter in a nearby hollow of a tree while they waited for the storm to subside. After it did Ash and Pikachu emerged from the tree and looked around at the soaked terrain. Ash made his back to the main path and just before he started walking Pikachu poked him in the side of the head. Ash turned around to see what Pikachu needed and saw the electric mouse pointing up towards the sky.

When Ash looked up his jaw almost dropped. There in the sky was a large rainbow stretching across the sky. What caught their attention though wasn't the rainbow itself but the Pokemon that was flying high in the sky that seemed to be making the rainbow and spreading it further as it flew. Ash knew what the Pokemon was as soon as he looked at it. He recognized it from all of the Pokemon books and teachings from Professor Oak he had over the years. This Pokemon had not been seen by human eyes in hundreds of years... until now at least. The Pokemon was none other than the fabled and legendary Rainbow Pokemon... Ho-Oh.

Ash and Pikachu could only stare in shock and awe of the magnificent and majestic Pokemon that was flying over head. They watched the Pokemon until it began to fly out of sight and then they finally looked at one another. "Wow Pikachu that was amazing huh?! I can't believe we actually just saw the Legendary Ho-Oh!"

Pikachu just nodded. "Pika pikachu pi!"

After Ash got over his shock and prepared to take off again until he felt something land on his head. He reached up and grasped whatever it was and then looked at it. What he saw shocked him all over again. It was Rainbow Wing. A feather from the Legendary Ho-Oh itself! Ash studied it for awhile and admired it's multicolored beauty before wrapping it up in a piece of cloth and sticking it in his pack carefully. With that done Ash and Pikachu set off again with renewed spirits towards Viridian City.

Neither of them knew that high up in the sky Ho-Oh was thinking to herself as she continued to fly, "_Take that as a gift dear Chosen-One and let it bring you good fortune for your adventures ahead. We shall meet again... sooner than you think." _Ho-Oh then disappeared back into the clouds.

...

Ash and Pikachu were now close to Viridian City and was coming towards the end of the forest. Just as they were about to make their way through the last stretch of forest they heard a loud scream coming from down the hill they were on towards the nearby river. Ash and Pikachu took one look at each other, nodded their heads at one another and then made their way down the hill as fast as they could. When they finally made it to the source of the distressed call, which was right by a large river, they saw a young girl who looked to be a little older than Ash, with bright orange hair tied back to the side of her head in a short ponytail, wearing a yellow T-shirt that was cut off at the stomach, jean shorts that had two red straps that came up and attached over her shoulders and wearing white tennis shoes with red designs of some kind on both sides of each shoe, crouching down by the edge of the nearby river with her hands over her head.

Towering over her was a big and fierce looking Gyarados looking down at her enraged and ready to attack. Ash sprung into action, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt that Gyarados and get it away from that young lady!"

Pikachu jumped high in the air. "Pika... pika... CHU!"

The bolt hit Gyarados head on making it bellow in rage and pain. Pikachu landed in a battle stance, ready to keep going.

The enraged Pokemon looked at who shocked it and upon laying it's eyes on Pikachu got even madder. "Gaarroo!" It bellowed loudly.

"Pikachu get ready!" Ash called out.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied back.

The Gyarados opened it's mouth and fired a large torrent of water from it's mouth.

"Pikachu dodge using Agility and then start running for Gyarados!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu dodged the powerful Hydro Pump and then started running for Gyarados using Agility.

The raging Pokemon opened it's mouth again fired a blue wave of energy at Pikachu.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt on the ground. Combine it with your Focus Lightning training and use it to strike the ground hard enough to send you into the air!"

Pikachu did so and missed the Dragon Rage attack just as it contacted with the ground that Pikachu was once standing on. Gyarados didn't stop there and then brought it's tail around out of the water to strike Pikachu.

Ash thought fast. "Pikachu hit the ground!"

Pikachu dropped to the ground just as the Aqua Tail from Gyarados passed over his head. Ash commanded again. "Now get up and use Double Team to throw Gyarados off and then begin forming a Thunder Wave cage around Gyrarados with your doubles! Hurry while Gyarados is readying it's next attack!"

Pikachu concentrated and formed four other duplicates around Gyarados. They all began discharging a Thunder Wave that started to form a connected electric cage around Gyarados. The angry Pokemon was confused and tried to escape the electric prison but every time it touched the electric 'bars' it would get shocked. The Pokemon got even angrier and then opened it's mouth, forming an orange beam of energy in it's mouth.

Ash knew what that was and quickly commanded Pikachu, "Pikachu don't let it loose that Hyper Beam! Use a max power Thunderbolt on Gyarados and finish it off!"

Pikachu nodded his head and then went to stand in front of Gyarados. "Pika... CHU!"

Pikachu let loose a massive Thunderbolt that struck Gyarados from inside of it's electric cage and started electrocuting it. The Pokemon howled in pain but kept charging Hyper Beam. Ash didn't want that Hyper Beam to get loose... suddenly he had an idea!

"Pikachu, aim your Thunderbolt right into it's mouth where the Hyper Beam is charging!"

Pikachu began struggling as he started to direct the current of electricity straight towards Gyarados's mouth. Right before the angry Pokemon could release Hyper Beam, Pikachu hit the mark dead on and began shocking the inside of Gyarado's mouth. The Pokemon roared in terrible pain and the Hyper Beam instantly disappeared.

Once the electrocution was over Gyarados slumped down into the water and began slowly diving back down below the water to escape the beating it was taking.

Pikachu stood his ground panting but smirking all at once. Ash went up and congratulated Pikachu on a battle well fought before making his way toward the orange haired girl. He knelt down beside the girl who was looking at Ash and Pikachu with undisguised shock at what just happened. "Are you okay miss?" Ash asked concerned. The girl looked at Ash. "How did you do that?!"

Ash seemed confused. "Huh... what? The Gyrarados thing you mean?"

The girl stood up. "Of course the Gyarados thing! How did your little Pikachu beat that huge and powerful Pokemon?!"

Ash just scratched Pikachu behind the ears, making him "Chaaa" in happiness. "My buddy is strong that's how. He has been training extremely hard and that battle just proved it."

Ash looked back at the girl and put his hand out. "I'm Ash by the way, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. And of course you know my partner Pikachu."

Pikachu gave the peace sign towards Misty. "Pika Pika Chu!"

The girl got over her shock and then stretched her own hand out and shook Ash's hand. "Nice to meet you Ash and Pikachu my names Misty, Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City. Thanks for saving me by the way!"

Ash continued to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you Misty, and no problem!... If you don't me asking... why did that Gyarados attack you?"

Misty got an ashamed look on her face. "I was actually fishing for Water-Pokemon and I ended up drawing the attention of Gyarados. Their very territorial and it must not have wanted me here. It attacked me and my own Pokemon just weren't strong enough to fend it off..."

Ash put a comforting hand on Misty's shoulder and looked at her. "It wasn't your fault Misty. Gyarados is a very difficult Pokemon to handle and anybody could have made the same mistake. Don't be to hard on yourself." Ash smiled and Misty gave a small smile back. "Thanks Ash I appreciate it. So what, are you and your Pikachu pro level or something to be handle that Gyarados?"

Ash scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly. "Actually... I just started out on my Pokemon Journey two weeks ago. Pikachu here was my starter Pokemon actually... Anyway, we stopped and did some intense training for the first two weeks and now we're heading to Viridian City and then Pewter City so I can compete for my first league badge."

Mist was completely silent. This... Newbie trainer and his Pikachu who he only had for two weeks just stomped a high level Gyarados flat when she, someone who had Pokemon much longer, couldn't even scratch it. How was that possible? He did say that he and his Pokemon trained hard but... They had to have trained EXTREMELY hard to get to this level they were at in only two weeks!

Misty was disturbed from her thoughts by Ash looking at something broken and mangled laying on the ground near the riverbank. She suddenly came to life. "My bike!" Misty yelled as she ran and crouched beside her broken bike. Ash stepped back and he and Pikachu just stayed silent.

"I don't believe it! That Gyarados must have smashed my bike when it was trying to attack me! What am I going to so now..."

Ash took this opportunity to speak up. "I'm really sorry about your bike Misty... If you want you can come with me and Pikachu to Viridian City. I'll carry your bike there on my shoulders and then we can see if someone will fix it in the city. What do you say?"

Misty looked up at Ash in awe just to see him smiling at her. A faint blush adorned her cheeks. "Would you really do that Ash?"

Ash kept smiling. "Of course I would! It wouldn't be honorable to my mothers teachings if I didn't help out a lady when she needs it now would it?"

Misty smiled and got up. "Thanks Ash I really appreciate this!"

Ash just waved it off and then hoisted the broken bike over his strong shoulders. He, Pikachu and Misty then set off for Viridian City together.

...

Ash, Pikachu and Misty had just arrived in Virdian City by the time that the sun began to set and the sky began turning a purplish orange as night began to fall. The whole way there Ash and Misty talked about all kinds of things, namely their dreams. Ash obviously wanting to be a Pokemon Master and Misty telling Ash that she dreamed of becoming the worlds best Water Pokemon Trainer, even better than her idols: Prima of the Kanto and Johto Elite Four who was a literal expert in the field of Water and Ice-Types... And Wallace, the Hoenn region champion and contest genius who was not only a regional champion and Water-Pokemon Master but also had his own Pokemon Contest named after him: The Wallace Cup.

Ash and Misty went to the Pokemon Center nearby and walked in the front doors, up to Nurse Joy who was positioned behind the counter. She saw them and smiled. "Hello young Trainers and welcome to the Virdian City Pokemon Center! How may I help you?"

Ash spoke up while unclipping all of his Pokeballs and laying them in front of the kind nurse. "Can we please have two rooms for the night and can you also please heal up my Pokemon Nurse Joy?"

Misty chimed in while handing over her Pokeballs. "Me too please nurse."

Nurse Joy smiled and then took the Pokeballs and Pikachu, placing them on a wheel-cart for Chansey to take away. She then grabbed two room keys and gave them to the children. "Enjoy your stay! You'll be able to pick your Pokemon up tomorrow morning."

Ash said good-bye to Pikachu and then he turned to Misty. "Hey Misty I have to go call my mom and Professor Oak and let them know I finally made it safe okay?"

Misty just nodded her head. "Okay Ash talk to you tomorrow, goodnight!"

Ash was already walking for the doors of the Pokemon Center as he waved back to her. "Night!"

Ash finally made it out into the cool night air just outside of the Pokemon Center and then called his mom on his Xtransceiver. She picked up after a few rings and after seeing Ash's face a big smile grew on her face. "Hi honey! Are you in Virdian City yet?" Ash's mom asked excitedly.

"Yeah mom I actually just got here. I came here with a girl that me and Pikachu saved from a Gyarados."

"A Gyrarados?!" Ash's mom asked with a fearful expression. "Are you okay?!"

Ash waved his hand nonchalantly to his mom that he was okay. "Yes mom I'm fine don't worry. We chased it off and saved the girl. Misty is her name. Her bike was destroyed by the Gyrarados and so I offered that she could come with us to Viridian and then I would help her find someone who could possibly fix her bike."

Delia smiled at her son's thoughtfulness. "Ohh my boy the gentleman! I'm so proud of you sweetie! Now tell me, did you catch any Pokemon?"

Ash felt happy at his mother's praise and then answered her question. " Thanks mom that means a lot, you taught me after all. So far I've caught a Spearow, Budew, Rattata and both genders of Nidoran."

His mom looked impressed with all of the Pokemon that her son had already captured. "Wow Ash that's great! I'm so proud of you, soon you will be a great Trainer just like your father. Just always remember, each of your Pokemon are unique and has their own personalities. So make sure to treat them all like individuals and with plenty of love!"

Ash nodded his head. "Will do mom thank you for the advice! I have to get going now so I can call the Professor before it get's too late. I love you mom take care!"

Delia smiled and replied back. "I love you to Ash honey be safe and catch plenty of Pokemon!"

After he hung up with his mom Ash called Professor Oak right away. Almost immediately the Professor answered the phone. When he saw Ash he smiled. "Ash my boy good to finally hear from you! I take it your in Viridian now?"

Ash nodded his head and then went on to tell the Professor everything that had happened since he left Pallet. Professor Oak stayed silent, just listening with a small smile on his face as he listened to the excited young boy go on about his recent adventures. When Ash was done Professor Oak spoke. "Well my boy it sounds like you and Pikachu have been having quite the exciting time eh? And good job on already having a full team of Pokemon! Gary and the others only has about three each right now."

Hearing the Professor mention the fact that he now had a full team of Pokemon reminded Ash of something important. "Professor Oak before I forget! Since I now have a full team of six Pokemon all of the other Pokemon I catch will go to your Lab. I don't want any of my Pokemon to fall behind in their training just because their not with me so I'm going to be explaining to every Pokemon I get what their training program is going to be so they can continue to train really hard at the Lab every day and keep getting stronger. I have specific nutrition plans laid out for all of my Pokemon and I don't want them to lose that just because their not with me. It's very important to their training that they maintain the nutrition plan they are following. If I send you continuously updated copies of each of my Pokemon's nutrition plans can you keep it going for them please?"

Porfessor Oak nodded his head. "Of course my boy! I'm very proud that you are so serious when it comes to training your Pokemon! I will help any way I can."

Ash smiled gratefully at the Professor. "Thank you so much Professor Oak! I'll upload all the nutrition information for my current Pokemon to you when we get done here. I'll then send you information on every Pokemon after this so you stay updated and informed."

Professor Oak just nodded his head showing he understood and then Ash got ready to get off the line. "Ohh before I go Professor... You'll never guess what Pokemon I saw on Route 1 just before I came into Viridian."

Professor Oak suddenly turned very much into the Pokemon Researcher he was. "What did you see Ash?" He asked curiously, leaning up closer to the screen of his video phone.

Ash smirked and then smiled widely. "It was just after a storm that me and a Pikachu had to take shelter from. After it passed we got back on Route 1 and just before I got ready to take off Pikachu pointed out something to me in the sky, I looked up and saw a rainbow stretching across the sky... But what was amazing was the Pokemon making the rainbow. Professor Oak... It was Ho-Oh!" Ash then pulled the Rainow Wing out from his pack and held it up to the screen of his Xtransceiver.

Professor Oak looked like he might have a heart attack. "A-Ash... T-t-that's... A..."

Ash nodded his head. "Yeah I know Professor it's a Rainbow Wing. It came off of Ho-Oh went it flew overhead. Pretty amazing huh?"

Professor Oak just shook his head in disbelief. "That is beyond amazing Ash. Ho-Oh has not been seen by human eyes since the incident in Ecruteak City in the Johto region, when the Brass Tower burned to the ground hundreds of years ago. Those who are said to see Ho-Oh are supposedly blessed with great luck and fortune on their ventures in life. That Rainbow Wing you have Ash is very special. Be careful who you show it to and don't lose it!"

Ash smiled and gave a thumbs up. "You got it Professor Oak. Well I gotta get going now, big day tomorrow!"

Professor Oak smiled back and waved. "Okay dear boy be safe and enjoy your journey!"

Ash waved back. "Will do Professor bye!"

After that was said Ash turned off his Xtransceiver and went back into the Pokemon Center, heading off to bed so he could get rested for anything that could come his way the next day.

...

The next morning bright and early Ash and Misty got up and went down to retrieve their Pokemon. Upon seeing Ash again Pikachu called out excitedly and then jumped back onto his position atop Ash's shoulder. "Pika Pi!" Pikachu said happily as he rubbed his cheek on Ash's.

Ash laughed and scratched Pikachu under the chin. "Good to see you to buddy!"

He then turned to Misty. "You ready to go and see about getting your bike fixed Misty?"

Misty nodded her head in confirmation. "Yep, let's go!"

...

Ash, Pikachu and Misty then spent most of the morning looking around Viridian for any bike repair shops there may have been in the city. Sadly, by around 10:00 A.M. they had been around the entire city and didn't find a repair shop, or even a bike store, anywhere in the city.

They went back to the Pokemon Center and took a seat in the lobby. Misty looked a little sad that her bike wouldn't be getting repaired but she had come to terms with it by now. Ash and Pikachu had saved her life from the Gyrardos. If they hadn't come along and saved her then it would have been her laying on the ground broken and mangled instead of her bike. She was happy to be alive and that was that. Ash was nice enough to volunteer his time to find someone to repair her bike for her and for Misty, that spoke volumes about his character and she grew quite a bit of respect for him.

Ash broke the silence. "I'm sorry about not finding anyone to fix your bike Misty..."

The girl just shrugged. "It's okay Ash, you spent all morning trying to help me find someone to fix it when you didn't have to at all. I really appreciate it."

Ash just smiled as he got up from his seat." No problem! Hey I'm going to head out into the forest just outside of town and have my daily training session with my Pokemon okay? I'll be back this evening!

Misty got up also and responded. "That's fine Ash. I have to call home to my sisters in Cerulean and let them know about what happened, then I have to get my bike sent home so I don't have to carry it everywhere with me. Who knows? Maybe someone in my home town will be able to fix it. So I'll see you tonight then!"

Ash gave a thumbs up and then left the Poke'Center, heading for the forests outside of town.

...

Ash had managed to find a small, secluded clearing in the woods outside of Viridian City and had let his Pokemon out to begin their day of training. As Ash did his own vigorous training routine he watched as his Pokemon had just finished the extreme physical conditioning part of their training program and were now moving on to their individual training routines that were type specific for each one.

His three newest Pokemon: Rattata and the Nidoran duo, were currently engaging in rigorous type specific training that was meant to perfect their current moves, learn new ones, drill type-disadvantage training, teach them how to better use their abilities, improve on what each of their respective species were already naturally talented and gifted at, strengthen their weak points and work battle strategies against many different types of Pokemon. Generally, the same thing that Pikachu, Spearow and Budew did.

Ash had already set the three newest Pokemon up on the correct nutrition plan for each of them and now it was just a matter of tough training to make them stronger.

Rattata was rather gifted at speed and brute force when it came to head on attacks like Tackle. Ash greatly encouraged this.

Both Nidorans were very good at strategic and teamwork battling styles. Ash already guessed this with how well the two of them battled against Spearow and Budew together, so naturally Ash worked with them on this a lot. He honestly couldn't wait for the time that they both reached their final evolution stages. They would become a force to be reckoned with in any tag battle.

Pikachu, Spearow and Budew had just continued getting stronger with the heavy training they went through every day and Ash was very proud of them.

Ash finished his own training and then called them to his side. Once they had all gathered Ash addressed them. "First guys I just want to say how proud I am of you. You all train hard every day and I couldn't be happier with your progress. I know that you all are just going to continue getting stronger every day!"

Ash got a loud chorus of cheers from his Pokemon in reply. He let them settle down and then he went on. "Now there is something very important that I want to tell you all. Now that I have a full team of Pokemon any others I catch will be sent directly to Professor Oak's Poke'Ranch unless I decide to rotate them around with you guys. I can't have any more than six Pokemon on me and that's the way it is. I want to able to have time to train with all of my Pokemon so I'm going to have to rotate in and out with you guys a lot. I don't want any of you missing out on your training so that's why when I send you guys back to the Lab I want you to keep training hard every single day! Pushing your limits and doing the same training programs that you would do if you were with me. Professor Oak has agreed to keep all of my Pokemon on the same nutrition plan that your on when you are with me so no worries there. All I want you to focus on is to keep getting stronger every day so when I call to get one of you back your even stronger then when you left. Got it?!"

All of Ash's Pokemon called loudly again. Ash smiled and then finished what he had to tell them. "The last thing is this: You guys are going to become my oldest and strongest Pokemon so that means I want you to keep order and run a tight ship with all of the future Pokemon we add to the family. I'm always going to leave at least one of you at the Lab so you will be able to oversee all of the training and management of the Pokemon I'll have at the Lab. I'll show them how to train when they are with me and then you guys will drill them when their at the Lab. I want constant progress out of all of you and every Pokemon that I eventually catch. So that means establishing the aforementioned hierarchy. Can I count on you guys to help?!"

Another determined yell came from his Pokemon and Ash smiled again. "Thanks guys I knew I could count on you! Now it's getting dark, what do you all say to going back to the Pokemon Center and having some supper?!"

Ash's Pokemon all got very excited and began jumping around. Ash chuckled and then returned them all before heading back to town, Pikachu on his shoulder.

...

Ash was close to the Pokemon Center when all of a sudden he heard an explosion coming from that very direction. Ash took off for the Center and arrived to see it covered in thick black smoke. Ash ran inside and started calling for Nurse Joy and Misty, all the while coughing from the gas.

"*cough* Misty... *cough* Nurse Joy! Where are you?!"

"Here Ash! *cough*" Misty strangled out from somewhere in the thick smoke. Ash got tired of the smoke and grabbed a Pokeball from his side. "*cough* Spearow blow this smoke away with your *cough* wings!"

Out of the Pokeball came the small Flying-Type who instantly began beating it's wing together, blowing the smoke away. Once Ash was able to see clearly again he saw Misty near the counter, looking around and trying to get her bearings back.

Ash ran up to Misty. "Are you alright Misty?" He asked concern.

"Yeah I'm fine Ash thanks." Misty replied back.

All of a sudden Nurse Joy came running out from the back of the Center. "The Pokemon are all gone!" She cried hysterically.

"What?!" Both Misty and Ash said at the same time.

"Yes! After the smoke cleared away all of the Pokemon here at the Center were gone!" Nurse Joy explained.

"Who could have done this?" Misty asked aloud.

All of a sudden laughter was heard by the entrance.

Ash, Misty and Nurse Joy all turned their heads towards the entrance of the Center and saw three figures standing there. One was a woman with long red hair that came down to her lower back. She was wearing thigh high black boots with matching elbow length black gloves, white skirt and a white cutoff vest that was split up the middle of it a little and had a big red 'R' on the front. She also wore a black undershirt that was cut up to her chest underneath her white vest and also had on a pair of earrings with green bobbles on them. To finish she had bright red lipstick on her lips.

The person standing beside her was a man with blue hair that wore an outfit similar to her in color and design. He wore black boots as well, long white pants, a long sleeved white vest that had the same red 'R' on the chest as the woman did and a black undershirt also like the woman with black gloves that went to his elbows as well. He had a large sack slung over his shoulder that everyone could only guess held the missing Pokeballs.

The third and strangest member of the team was a Meowth that was standing on two legs with it's arms crossed standing in between the other two.

Ash instantly spoke up. "Who are you three?!"

The three figures laughed again and then started singing a perfectly rehearsed theme song.

(Team Rocket Motto. Will not write it!)

When the three were done with their weird motto and introducing themselves as members of Team Rocket, Ash instantly saw red. "You... Are members of Team Rocket... The same organization that steals and abuses Pokemon for their own selfish needs?!"

Ash had heard all about Team Rocket while he had been training at Professor Oak's Lab. They were a ruthless criminal organization that was spread all over the Kanto region like a plague and stole any Pokemon they wanted to in an attempt to make their many horrible dreams and plans come to fruition. What they did to Pokemon made Ash sick and he had vowed to someday, somehow... Put an end to Team Rocket so they would never hurt another Pokemon or separate another Trainer from their Pokemon ever again. To see three members of the group right infront of him, even though one was a talking Meowth which was very odd, he still saw red like an angry Tauros and was ready to take them down.

The woman known as Jessie spoke up. "That's right little boy! We've come to steal all of the Pokemon at this Center. And now that we have accomplished that we will be on our way now! But first... I believe that you and that little red-headed stick are Pokemon Trainers yourself. So I think we'll take your Pokemon before we go."

"Yeah so hand them over kid!" The blue haired man James chimed in.

"Or otherwise we'll just take em' by force!" The Meowth finished.

Misty yelled out. "If you think that we are going to give you our Pokemon then you've got another thing coming! Right Ash?!"

Misty looked to Ash who was shaking in visible rage. She could have swore she almost saw a blue energy surrounding him but almost as soon as she saw it, it vanished. Ash spoke. "You will NOT! Steal my or anyone else's Pokemon! And your going to give all of the Pokemon that you took back right now!"

"Ohh really?" Jessie taunted. "We are just going to have to show you why you never defy Team Rocket!"

She raised a Pokeball. "Ekans go, show this twerp never to mess with us!"

James also through a Pokeball. "You to Koffing, teach those brats a lesson!"

Both Pokemon materialized from their Pokeballs trying to look intimidating, but Ash only smirked. "Pikachu... tear these guys apart."

Pikachu nodded and then jumped off of Ash's shoulder so he could stand in front of his opponents. Jessie and James just stared in shock for a moment before busting out in fits of laughter. "You think a small rat like that will beat us? Stupid little boy, we'll you show you just how weak that little runt is!" Jesse taunted again.

She pointed at Pikachu before commanding her Pokemon. "Ekans use Poison Sting!"

James mimicked Jessie. "Koffing Smog attack!"

Ash commanded Pikachu without a moments pause. "Pikachu use Agility and dodge those attacks, then get in close and use Tackle on Ekans. From there just turn your body around and smack Koffing with your tail using the Slam attack you just learned today!"

Pikachu obeyed and dodged the attacks flawlessly. First jumping out of the way of Poison Sting and then twisting in a leap over Smog. Pikachu ran in at lightning speeds and smashed into Ekans with Tackle sending it flying back towards Jessie. Pikachu kept his momentum going and just turned in mid-air where it met Koffing's head with it's tail and used a powerful Slam attack to send the Pokemon careening back towards James.

"Great job Pikachu! Now, start running as fast as you can using Agility and then tuck into a roll, from there surround yourself in electricity and then roll yourself into Koffing and Ekans in a substitute Electro Ball!"

Pikachu did as told and took off running incredibly fast. He tucked himself into a roll, still going very fast and began to shroud himself in electricity. Jessie and James were both to stunned to give any commands and just stood there looking at the small Electric Mouse that was destroying them in battle. Pikachu finally made it to the two downed Pokemon and hit them hard with his improvised Electro Ball, making them fly towards Jessie, James and Meowth where they then collided with them.

Ash pointed his finger towards the fallen group of criminals and shouted: "Now Pikachu, finish them a powerful Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu started sparking. "Pika..."

Jessie, James and Meowth were desperately trying to untangle themselves from each other.

"Get off me James you idiot, before that Pikachu shocks us!" Jessie shouted

"Hey you two's get off me!" Meowth also shouted.

"Don't get mad at me I'm stuck under all of you!" James whined defending himself from underneath the pile-up.

They frantically kept trying to free themselves, but it was too late. Pikachu shouted with a loud "CHUU!" and unleashed a massive thunderbolt towards the arguing trio. They only had time to look at the approaching Thunderbolt and scream in terror, "AHHHH!" before the bolt struck them. It began electrocuting them relentlessly until the bolt finally exploded, sending the would-be thieves soaring out of the Pokemon Center and into the sky. "Team Rocket is blasting off!" Was the last word heard before the trio disappeared into the sky.

Ash ran up and hugged Pikachu. "You did a great job buddy, that was your first time in an actual battle and you did awesome! I'm very proud of you!"

"Chuuu!" Pikachu said happily.

Ash put Pikachu down and then went over to the bag of Pokeballs that James had dropped when Koffing hit him. He picked it up and gave it to Nurse Joy, "Here you are ma'am, these are yours."

Nurse Joy smiled widely and grabbed the bag before hugging Ash. "Thank you so much young man you saved this Center, the Pokemon and my job! We are forever in your debt!"

Ash just blushed after she released him from the hug and started rubbing the back of his head. "No big deal Nurse Joy I just wanted to help."

The kindly nurse just shook her head and replied, "Well it was a big deal to me and I thank you for what you did!"

Ash waved it off and then Nurse Joy smiled once more before picking up the bag of Pokeballs and disappearing back into the medical ward of the Center so she could check all of the Pokemon out and make sure they weren't hurt. Ash turned to Misty who was also smiling. "That was amazing Ash! You and Pikachu were so impressive! It was very brave standing up to Team Rocket like that."

Ash smiled and just shrugged his shoulders. "Ahh... it was nothing but thanks anyway Misty." Ash looked at the clock on the front desk and spoke again. "Me and Pikachu better get to bed, we have to get an early start tomorrow so we can start making our way towards Pewter City."

Misty nodded. "Yeah me too, I'm beat. All that excitement has me tired."

Ash started walking towards his room. "Goodnight Misty see ya tomorrow."

"Night Ash." Misty responded as she too headed towards her own room.

...

Miles away, hanging from a large tree after being blasted off, were the three members of Team Rocket that Ash had just defeated. They were each hanging onto a tree branch as they continued arguing.

"James I told you that we should have just escaped through the ventilation shaft of the Pokemon Center but you just had to whine about the bag being to heavy and insisted on going through the front door as an easy escape!" Jesse shouted at James.

"Well maybe if you had just left that kid alone and hadn't tried to steal his Pokemon then we wouldn't be here hanging from a tree!" James countered.

"How was I supposed to know that he would have had such a powerful Pikachu?! If anyone is to blame it's you and that Koffing of yours! Maybe if you had battled better then we wouldn't have lost all of those Pokemon! How do you think the boss is going to react to finding out that we failed gathering Pokemon for the organization? He's going to fire us!" Jesse screamed.

"Me! What about you and Ekans huh?! You didn't do any better! And maybe if we would have did what I suggested and just stole Pokemon from random Trainers instead of attacking a Pokemon Center then we wouldn't be here in the first place and we wouldn't have to worry about the boss firing us!" James shouted back.

The two continued arguing back and forth until Meowth suddenly shouted, "QUITE!" Both humans looked down at the branch below them that Meowth was hanging onto. "Instead of yous twos arguing about why we lost why don't yous focus on figuring out a way dat we can steal dat Pikachu!" Meowth said to them.

The two criminal wannabe's looked at each other and then back at Meowth. "What do you mean Meowth?" They both asked simultaneously.

Meowth sighed and explained. "Dat Pikachu is a one of a kind powerhouse! If we could still it and then give it to the boss he would forgive us for everything that we've screwed up before!"

Jesse and James looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe if we did steal Pikachu and gave it to the boss then he would forgive us and we could keep our jobs." James wondered aloud.

"And maybe he would even give us a promotion!" Jesse said excitedly.

Both of the bumbling crooks locked hands with each other and said at the exact same time, "It's brilliant!"

Meowth jumped up onto the same branch as Jesse and James. "Now you twos are talking! Let's go and steal dat Pikachu!"

All three Rockets pumped their fists into the air. "YEAH!"

At that very moment the branch they were all sitting on snapped, unable to contain the combined weight. As they fell the three idiot criminals screamed out, "Team Rocket's falling down again!"

...

Ash awoke early the next morning and went to get his Pokemon checked up once more by Nurse Joy before he headed for out for Pewter City. After getting his Pokemon cleared with a clean bill of health and another round of thank you's from Nurse Joy for what Ash did the previous night, he set out from the Pokemon Center, heading for Virdian Forest. He had wanted to tell Misty good-bye but she was no where to be seen that morning, which told Ash she had already left. It was a shame to, he liked Misty and would liked to been able to tell her good bye. But, things happened.

Ash had not gotten very far from the Pokemon Center at all before he heard someone calling his name. He turned around and saw Misty running to catch up with him. He smiled at her and then addressed her when she finally caught up. "Hey Misty! I thought you had already left the city, I was going to tell you good-bye but you weren't around. Me and Pikachu had to get going so we left."

Misty caught her breath from running so fast and then replied back to Ash while still panting. "Yeah... Sorry Ash... I had to... go and get my bike... sent away at the local Pidgeot Delivery service... I told... my sisters yesterday that I would... get it sent back to them today... sorry about... not telling you."

Ash just waved his hand. "No big Misty. Your here now so that means we can say good-bye properly."

Misty straightened up, her breath fully recovered now. "Actually Ash I was wondering..."

"Yeah?" Ash pressed.

Misty shuffled nervously a bit. "I was wondering... since I'm heading to Cerulean City and your heading to Pewter City... and since you have to go to Pewter anyways to get to Cerulean I was thinking maybe we could... travel together."

Ash smiled widely. "I think that's a great idea! I like you Misty and I would enjoy traveling with you. What do you say Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

The small Electric-Type just gave a thumbs up and let out an excited, "Pika pi! Pi pikachu!"

Misty smiled as widely as Ash. "Awesome! Thank you guys so much!"

Ash gave his own thumbs up and then said, "My pleasure Misty! Now let's get going, I want to hopefully make it to Pewter City by Tomorrow afternoon."

Misty nodded and then the two new friends, plus Pikachu, set out for Virdian Forest.

...

Ash, Misty and Pikachu had just entered the Virdian Forest not even an hour ago and were now traversing the dense path through the thick forest. Ash and Misty had been conversing the whole time about everything to do with their lives and were still talking when Ash stopped. Misty wasn't paying attention and bumped into Ash. "Oomfff!" Misty grunted out as she hit his back. "Why did you stop Ash?"

Ash just remained silent and pointed ahead. Misty looked at what he was pointing at and saw a Pidgey pecking at the ground looking for food. She looked at Ash confused. "What is it Ash?"

Ash finally spoke quitely. "This is actually the first time I have seen a Pidgey up close in the wild since I left Pallet Town. I don't why but they have been scarce for some reason. Could be due to breeding patterns or something but I don't know exactly... all I do know is that anytime I see a new Pokemon I don't have I want to catch it! And Pidgey is no exception."

Misty still seemed confused. "But Ash, Pidgey are really common Pokemon and not all that strong to be honest."

Ash just shook his head. "Every Pokemon has the potential to be great Misty, they just need a certain kind of Trainer to bring it out in them. Plus, Pidgeys eventually evolve into Pidgeot. Not only are those Pokemon strong with the right training, but they are also incredibly fast! I have a Spearow right now, so if I get this Pidgey and then later it and Spearow evolve I will have two very strong Flying-Type Pokemon."

Misty seemed very impressed by Ash's foresight and just nodded her head. Ash came out of the brush to stand in the clearing that Pidgey was in. He drew a Pokeball and threw it, "Spearow show your power!" The small Bird Pokemon came from the Pokeball with a loud cry of "Row!"

Pidgey noticed the two opponents now and turned to face them. This impressed Ash since normally Pidgey would run when it sensed danger. "Get ready Spearow!" Ash called to his Pokemon. Spearow nodded and faced his opponent. As soon as the two fellow birds locked eyes with another sparks immediately flew as they glared at each other. Ash began, "Spearow use Agility followed by Tackle to hit Pidgey!"

Spearow disappeared in a flash of speed and reappeared a second later, hitting Pidgey hard with Tackle and sending it skidding back a little. Pidgey instantly recovered and took off at Spearow with impressive speed also. "Spearow fly to the side and then use Fury Attack!"

Spearow flew out of the way of the charging Pidgey and then got back in close and started hitting his opponent with a vicious Fury Attack. Pidgey cried out in pain as Spearow hit it with his wing one last time and sent Pidgey flying back into a tree, "Pidga!" it grunted out as it fell to the ground. Ash knew that Pidgey stood no chance against his trained Spearow but still had to commend it for it's heart. Pidgey got back up on it's feet and started wobbly rising into the air. "Spearow run on the ground towards Pidgey and then jump into the air and hit it with an Aerial Ace!"

Spearow took off on his two legs, much faster than a Flying-Type should have been able to. Spearow had trained to run on his feet so now he could run on the ground very fast. He closed in on Pidgey and jumped into the air when he was right below Pidgey, hitting the Pokemon with an Aerial Ace and sending it flying back into another tree. Pidgey fell to the ground unconscious and Spearow returned to Ash's side.

Ash drew an empty Pokeball from his belt and threw it at Pidgey, hitting it with the ball that sucked the Pokemon inside and then began to wobble a few times before going still and 'dinging' completing the capture. After thanking Spearow Ash returned him and then went over to pick up the Pokeball that now held Pidgey. The button on the front of the ball was glowing red, which meant that Ash needed to either let the Pokeball go to Professor Oak's, or he had to switch out another Pokemon to keep Pidgey. Ash ended up transferring the male Nidoran and kept Pidgey with him.

He let Pidgey out of the ball and then started healing it's wounds with his usual post-capture medical routine which was comprised of a Potion of some degree and an Oran Berry. After he healed Pidgey's wounds and the Pokemon started eating the berry Ash scanned it with the Poke'Dex.

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.016_

_"Pidgey: The Tiny Bird Pokemon"_

_"It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back."_

_"This Pidgey is female and has the abilities: Keen Eye, Tangled Feet and Big Pecks."_

_"This Pokemon know's the moves: Tackle, Gust, Quick Attack and Whirlwind"_

* * *

Ash put his Poke'Dex away and after giving Pidgey his "Get stronger" speech and having Pidgey enthusiastically agree, he returned the Pokemon and then set off again with Misty by his side and Pikachu on his shoulder, as always.

...

Ash and Misty had been trudging through the Virdian Forest for about five hours now and according to Ash's Xtransceiver they were half way through the forest. Along the way Ash had used Rattata and battled and captured two other Pokemon, a Weedle and a Caterpie. Battling the Bug-Types was fun because apparently Misty was terrified of Bug Pokemon so she didn't want either of the two that Ash ended up capturing anywhere near her. Her exact words were, "Ash Ketchum if you get those bugs anywhere near me I will beat you until you look like a Muk!"

Needless to say, Ash found this humorous and laughed like a madman. Which promptly ended with him on the ground, bump on his head and a fuming Misty standing over him with a mallet in her hand.

Ash had switched out his other Nidoran and his Rattata for both bugs since he was very impressed with their progress and told them to keep training hard with the other Nidoran back at Oak's Lab and get even stronger. He checked out his two newest Pokemon's moves and found that they both were very impressive.

Caterpie was male and had the abilities Shield Dust and Run Away and knew the moves: Tackle, String Shot and Bug Bite. The last one surprised Ash since it was rare for a Caterpie to know the move Bug Bite.

Weedle was also a male and had the abilities Shield Dust and Run Away as well. He knew the moves: Tackle, String Shot and Bug Bite. Ash wondered what was with him finding two Bug-Types that both knew the move Bug Bite even though it was rare for Caterpie and Weedle to know them. Ash didn't question his luck though and just went with it.

Ash and Misty had made it to a large clearing and decided that this would be a good place for them to stop and rest.

Misty had started to work on making a simple lunch of sandwiches while Ash trained his Pokemon. He set Pikachu, Spearow and Budew to work and then started Pidgey, Caterpie and Weedle on their own training programs.

After Ash and his Pokemon had trained for about an hour and a half they stopped to rest and eat. The training had went very well and Pidgey had even learned the new move Agility. He was amazed she learned another move already and he was convinced that she was close to evolving. Ash made his Pokemon their food and then started his three newest ones on their own nutrition plans as well.

The great thing about lunch was that Ash finally got to see Misty's Pokemon. She had a Staryu, a Starmie and a Goldeen with her. Ash was overall impressed with the look of her Pokemon and told her, which promptly made her blush and thank Ash.

Once the two Trainers and their Pokemon were done eating they prepared to head out again. They no more than got to the edge of the clearing, heading back for the main path, when they were ambushed from the bushes by a boy wearing a samurai uniform. With a yell of "Kiyaaa!" He brought a sword that he had he had in his hands straight down at Ash.

With all of Ash's years of training with Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan his instincts were sharp. He rolled to the side just as the samurai boy brought his sword down on the ground where Ash once stood. Ash slid right under the boy from where he had rolled to and kicked the kid in the stomach hard, driving the wind out of him with a "oomph!" And making him bend down a little.

Ash took advantage of this and reached up with his other leg and kicked the boy's wrists, making the sword fly out of his hands and up into the air very high. Ash immediately whipped his legs around on the ground and then locked the boys legs with his, bringing the kid down to the ground. Ash instantly kipped up and grabbed the falling sword just as it was about to hit the ground.

He turned around and pinned the kid to the ground with a foot on his chest and the boy's own sword pointed at his neck.

"You have five seconds to start explaining." Ash said deadly calm.

The boy, realizing his predicament spoke up. "I am sorry for attacking you, my name is Samurai and I was just trying to get your attention."

Ash stepped back from the boy and let him stand up. "That was a dangerous way to get someone's attention."

Misty spoke up then. "Yeah what did you think you were doing swinging a sword around like that! You could have really hurt someone!"

Samurai just bowed his head. "Forgive me ma'am and sir, I was only wishing to have a Pokemon battle with the one I attacked. I did not mean any ill will towards either of you."

Ash then spoke. "If you wanted a Pokemon battle all you had to do was ask and I would have gladly complied. You didn't have to attack me."

Samurai bowed lower. "I know and I am sorry. Will you please forgive me and accept my challenge?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah I forgive you Samurai, just don't go doing something stupid like that again. And yes, I accept your challenge."

Samurai stood back to full hight and smiled as well. "Agreed. And thank you for your forgiveness. Now let us battle!"

Ash nodded his head and grinned.

...

Ash and Samurai stood on opposite sides of the clearing facing off. Misty was near the middle of the field and off to the side, acting as referee. She called loudly so both trainers could hear her. "This will be a two on two Pokemon battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Samurai of Virdian Forest. Trainers choose your Pokemon."

Samurai started. "Metapod I choose you!" The Caccoon Pokemon appeared in a flash of light. "Meta-pod"

Ash drew a Pokeball. "Caterpie show them your power!" Caterpie came from his Pokeball calling it's name. "Cater cater pie!"

Ash started things off. "Caterpie use Tackle on Metapod."

Caterpie took off to hit Metapod. Samurai called out, "Metapod Harden!"

Metapod stayed still as it's caccoon shell glowed and hardened, becoming stronger and more resilient. Caterpie hit Metapod's shell and bounced off.

Samurai shouted from across the field. "It is useless, your Caterpie will never get through my Metapod's defenses! Now Metapod use Tackle!"

Metapod launched at Caterpie. "Caterpie dodge it and then use Bug Bite!"

Caterpie jumped out of the way and then lunged at Metapod to deliver the Bug Bite Attack. "Metapod Harden again!" Samurai shouted.

Metapod glowed green again and was given a further layer of protection from Caterpies Bug Bite attack. The attack failed and Caterpie went back to Ash.

Samurai called out again. "Your Caterpie can't possibly win! My Metapod's shell is impenetrable! Your Caterpie's attacks will all fail, meanwhile my Metapod can still use Tackle. Your Caterpie simply isn't strong enough to get past Metapod's defenses!"

Ash smirked. "Let's just see. Caterpie use String Shot and cover Metapod's face up!"

Caterpie launched a sticky Sting Shot that completely covered Metapod's face. Blinding it.

Samurai looked confused. "Why would you do something like that? String Shot won't hurt my Metapod! I don't even have to have it use Harden to defend against that attack. You are a novice!"

Ash continued to smirk. "We'll see. You know Samurai... You made a big mistake."

Samurai looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Ash looked at him dead in the eye. "For not having your Metapod dodge that String Shot."

Samurai still looked confused, so did Misty and Pikachu for that matter. Ash pointed to Metapod's face. "That String Shot I had Caterpie use has covered your Metapod's face completely up. True, Caterpie may not be able to break through Metapod's defenses... But he CAN take away your Pokemon's ability to breath.

Everyone but Ash looked shocked at what he said. "Wh-what do you mean?!" Samurai asked scared.

Ash pointed towards Metapod who was now rolling around the ground in panic. "Metapod!" Samurai shouted. "What did you do to him?!"

Ash calmly responded. "String Shot covered your Pokemon's nose, blocking off it's airway. Metapod can't breath and since it has no appendages to peel off the String Shot with it is beginning to suffocate. "

Samurai ran out onto the field and started pulling the sticky substance off of Metapod's face. When he was done he returned Metapod and went back to his side of the field. He turned and faced Ash. "Clever, quite clever." He pulled out his last Pokeball. "Pinsir go!"

Ash took in the Pokemon before him and then made his next choice of Pokemon. "Caterpie return." He reached for his next Pokeball, "Pidgey come on out!"

The Tiny Bird Pokemon appeared from her Pokeball. "Pidg Pidg Pidgey!"

Samurai started this time, "Pinsir use Tackle!"

Ash was quick to react, "Pidgey fly into the air now!"

The bird flew high letting Pinsir pass under her. "Now Pidgey use Gust!"

Pidgey opened her wings and then started flapping them vigorously creating a strong gale of wind that headed for Pinsir. Samurai countered quickly, "Pinsir root yourself!"

The Bug-Pokemon stood it's ground and managed to withstand the Gust. What neither Samurai or Pinsir was expecting though was to have Pidgey come flying out of the dust caused by Gust and smash into Pinsir hard, knocking it to the ground. Samurai gritted his teeth and waited for his Pokemon to get up. When he did Samurai shouted out, "Pinsir use Vicegrip!"

As Pinsir began charging towards Pidgey Ash smirked. "Pidgey use Agility to get around that Vicegrip and then start circling around Pinsir as fast as you can!"

Pidgey dodged the attack and started spinning around Pinsir so fast, no one could keep up. "Now Pidgey use Quick Attack!"

Pidgey came out of her circle and sped for Pinsir like a bullet. She hit the bug hard in the stomach, lifting it off of its feet and sending it soaring towards Samurai. It hit the ground hard and then slowly got back to its feet, breathing heavily. Samurai knew he was in trouble. "Pinsir start charging at Pidgey and then use Vicegrip!"

The bug did as commanded and charged for Pidgey, albeit much slower. Ash was going to have Pidgey stand it's ground and then duck and fly under Pinsir, coming up and hitting it from behind with another Gust. However just as Pinsir was about to make contact Samurai shouted, "Pinsir use Rage!"

The Pokemon suddenly bulked up a little and turned furious as it reached Pidgey, catching her unaware and then began pummeling her with Rage. With one final hit Pinsir sent Pidgey flying to the ground in front of Ash, beat up and bruised. Ash stood calm. He knew Pidgey could do it and let her know that. "Pidgey I know that you got this! Get up and fight to show your true strength! Dig Deeper!"

Pidgey slowly got up and bellowed to the sky "PIDGEYYYYY!"

All of a sudden Pidgey started to glow a bright white light and then changed before everyone's eyes.

When it was over, in Pidgey's place stood a larger bird with a much larger wing span... Pidgeotto.

The newly evolved Pokemon called out, "Pidgeooo!"

Ash smiled proudly and then pulled his Poke'Dex out and pointed it at his first evolved Pokemon besides Pikachu.

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.017_

_Pidgeotto: The Bird Pokemon_

_"It flies over it's wide territory in search of prey, downing it with its highly developed claws."_

_"This Pokemon know's the moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Gust, Whirlwind, Agility and Twister."_

* * *

Ash looked back up at Pidgeotto and nodded his head. She nodded back. Samurai was standing there slack jawed. Ash pointed his finger at the battle worn Pinsir and commanded his Pokemon, "Pidgeotto use Agility followed by Quick Attack! From there hit it with your new attack... Twister!"

Samurai couldn't even utter a command as Pideotto began her assault. She disappeared in a blur of speed and then reappeared just in time to smash into Pinsir with Quick Attack, kneeling the bug. She then disappeared and reappeared again behind the knelt down Pokemon and flapped her wings powerfully. Whipping up a powerful Twister that caught Pinsir in it's vortex and swirled it around many times before spitting it back out. Pinsir hit the ground in front of Samurai, cratering it. When the dust cleared it showed Pinsir with swirls in it's eyes.

Misty raised her hand and pointed it towards Ash. "Since Samurai has no more Pokemon to battle with that means the win goes to Pidgeotto and Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

Ash ran up to Pidgeotto and hugged her, congratulating her on evolving and thanking her for winning. After he returned her Ash walked up to Samurai who had just returned Pinsir. "That was a great battle Samurai thank you."

Samurai looked at Ash and smiled. "No... thank you Ash. That was truly the best battle I have ever had. I have faced three other Trainers from the town of Pallet but you are without a doubt the best. I wish you well on your journey. May you and your Pokemon prosper wherever you may go my friend." Samurai stuck his hand out and Ash took the invitation, shaking Samurai's outstretched hand with his own. "Thank you Samurai. I wish you well on whatever you do from here as well. Hopefully we can meet again someday."

Samurai smiled and nodded. "Agreed."

...

Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder and Misty by his side stood near the exit of Virdian Forest. Samurai was with them, seeing them off. "Good-bye Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower. I hope our paths meet again."

Ash and Misty both nodded their heads in agreement. "I do to Samurai. You turned out to be an okay guy." Misty said. She then got right up in the boy's face and turned deathly serious. "But don't ever go scaring people with swords again! Got that?!"

Samurai leaned back with his hands in front of him and a large sweat drop falling down his back. "Yes ma'am I understand completely. Those days are behind me!"

Misty nodded her head satisfied and stepped back. Ash stepped forward. "Well... so long Samurai. You were my first official Pokemon Battle and I had great fun. Thank you."

Samurai smiled and the two shook hands.

After that Ash and Misty took the path that exited Viridian Forest, waving back at Samurai as they walked. Samurai waved back until they were out of sight. "Farewell." Samurai said as he turned and made his back into the forest.

...

Ash, Pikachu and Misty had been out of the forest for some time now and were getting close to Pewter City. Night would be falling in about two hours but Ash and Misty believed that they would be able to make it to Pewter if they kept walking in through the night. At their current pace they would be in Pewter City by around midnight and they both thought it worth it to travel through the night if it meant sleeping in a nice, warm bed at the Pokemon Center once they got to the city.

As evening started to fall the duo, plus Pikachu, were walking along and flat stretch of land. They could see the distant peaks of Mt. Moon, which towered above and behind Pewter City like a giant. The mountain actually separated Pewter City from Cerulean City and any travelers who wished to go to either city had to traverse through the mountain itself. Ash and Misty would be taking that same road soon, but for now they just wanted to get to Pewter City so they could sleep.

Right as Ash and Misty passed under a large tree that was on the side of the path Ash suddenly felt a huge weight land on his back, pushing him to the ground. Whatever it was that landed on Ash kept jumping on his back, causing Ash to get annoyed and turn around to face whatever it was. When he stood up and turned around his pack fell of his shoulders and as finally got a look at what he was seeing he couldn't believe it. It was a Mankey. The Monkey Pokemon had a hold of Ash's pack and was slinging it around with glee as it jumped around. "Mank Mank Mankey!" It shouted over and over again.

Ash and Misty just stared in shock. "What is a Mankey doing out here near Pewter City?!" Mist asked aloud.

"I don't know..." Ash answered her. He pulled out his Poke'Dex and scanned the Pokemon.

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.056  
_

_"Mankey: The Pig Monkey Pokemon"_

_It lives in treetop colonies. If one becomes enraged, the whole colony rampages for no reason."_

_"This Mankey is male and has the abilities Vital Spirit, Anger Point and Defiant."_

_This Pokemon know's the moves: Scratch, Low Kick, Focus Energy, Fury Swipes, Karate Chop and Seismic Toss."_

* * *

Ash was amazed, this Mankey knew a lot of Fighting Type moves! A Pokemon like that on Ash's team would really be beneficial, especially after some intense training. Ash knew that he had to catch him. He didn't care where he had come from... he just knew that he was making Mankey his Pokemon!

Ash turned to Misty. "Stay back Misty... Mankey's have really foul tempers so once I start battling him, he is going to get mad. Misty looked like she might protest for a minute but decided to just trust Ash. "Okay Ash... be careful." Ash nodded his head and then put Pikachu into Misty's arms. "Pika pi!" Pikachu protested. Ash just shook his head. "No Pikachu I need you to stay with Misty. If that Mankey goes to attack her then I want you here to defend her okay?"

Pikachu nodded his head reluctantly. "Pikachu..."

Ash rubbed Pikachu's head. "Thanks buddy I appreciate it!"

Ash then went over to the Mankey playing with Ash's bag and faced him. He drew a Pokeball and threw it into the air, "Budew I need you!"

In a flash of light Budew appeared, "Bud Budew!"

Ash looked at his Pokemon. "Are you ready Budew? This won't be easy."

Budew just nodded her head. "Budew!"

Ash smiled proudly, "Okay then let's do it! Budew use Headbutt!"

Budew charged at Mankey and hit him head on, sending the Pig Monkey back against the tree he came from. Almost immediately the Pokemon came charging back, mad as can be and ready to go. He instantly began charging at Budew and raised his hand, preparing to Karate Chop Budew. Ash ordered his Pokemon to jump out of the way and she did, just in the nick of time. At that same moment Mankey performed a Low Kick that swept Budew off of her feet. Mankey then performed a Scratch attack, combined with a follow up Karate Chop that threw Budew down into the ground hard enough to crack.

"Budew are you alright?" Ash called to his down Pokemon. Budew nodded shakily and stood up. Ash then issued a command. "Budew use Growth and then Mega Drain on Mankey!"

Budew rooted itself and started to raise her power level. On the other side of the battle, Mankey started doing the same thing by using Focus Energy.

Budew then shot out tendrils of energy that headed straight for Mankey. However Mankey used his enhanced speed and strength to jump high into the air. He came back down in front of the unprepared Budew and started hitting her with a vicious assault of Fury Swipes. Budew started to buckle and then Mankey picked her up and spun her around and then jumped still holding onto the Grass-Type, before throwing her to the ground in a powerful Seismic Toss. Budew hit the ground again and just lay there... not moving.

Ash stayed calm and called out to Budew. "Listen to me Budew... I know you can do this. You just need to dig deep down inside of yourself and find the strength to keep pushing. I know your strong enough to beat this Mankey so get up and do it!"

Budew heard her Trainer's voice and encouragement and slowly started to get back up. She finally stood on both legs very wobbly and stared down Mankey, fire in her eyes. Ash saw this and smiled. "Okay Budew, start charging in with a Headbutt!"

Budew started running towards Mankey as fast as she could. Mankey prepared to jump out of the way and then hit Budew with another fighting move but Ash was quicker. "Now Budew jump over Mankey and hit him with Leech Seed when you get over top of him!"

Budew launched herself over Mankey and then shot a Leech Seed at the Monkey Pokemon. The seed hit it's mark and began to sap Mankey's strength. The Pokemon cried out, "Mankey!"

Ash further commanded Budew. "Now Budew, hit him with Headbutt and then follow up with Mega Drain!"

Budew charged forward and hit the still Leech Seeded Pokemon, sending it skidding through the dirt. Budew then landed and began using Mega Drain on Mankey. The Fighting-Type completely fell to his knees as the tendrils of Mega Drain worked with Leech Seed to take all of his energy from him.

Ash gave the last command. "Now Budew finish this with Stun Spore!"

Budew acted and began loosing a yellow powder from it's bud that settled over Mankey, effectively paralyzing the Pokemon completely. Ash knew it was over and moved to congratulate Budew for it's win when all of a sudden Budew raised her head to the sky and called out, "BUDEWWW!"

In that moment something happened that Ash was not counting on... Budew began glowing blue, signaling her evolution.

As Ash watched amazed Budew changed before his very eyes until as soon as it was over, a totally different and much taller Pokemon stood where Budew once did. The newly evolved Pokemon raised her flower petaled hands and called out while twirling gracefully on the spot; "Roselia!" The Thorn Pokemon chanted smoothly.

Ash stared in shock for a moment before rushing out and hugging Roselia. "I'm so proud of you Roselia! That was a great job you did battling Mankey."

Roselia happily hugged Ash back. "Rose Rose Roselia!"

Ash returned Roselia and then walked over to the paralyzed Mankey. He bent down and tapped a Pokeball on his head. The Pokemon was captured after just a few seconds. Ash then released Mankey and performed his usual post-capture medical treatment and then returned the Pig Monkey Pokemon before turning to Misty and getting Pikachu back on his shoulder.

"Let's head out Misty."

Misty nodded her head and then the two friends set back out for Pewter City.

...

Ash and Misty made it to Pewter City just as Ash had predicted and were now heading to the Pokemon Center to get themselves rooms for the night.

After making it inside the Center Ash walked up to Nurse Joy. "Excuse me Nurse but can we please get two rooms for the night?"

The kind nurse looked at him and smiled. "Of course Ash, here you go!"

She handed him the room keys and Ash looked at her funny. "Have we met before?" He asked her confused. Nurse Joy giggled and waved her hand at him. "My sister at the Viridian City Pokemon Center told me and my sisters all about you and what you did, saving the Center from Team Rocket. I wanted to thank you so much for doing that for my sister. You saved a lot of Pokemon. She said that you had a young girl with orange hair traveling with you and that you kept a Pikachu on your shoulder, that's how I recognized you when you came in."

Ash just waved his hand passively and responded. "It was no big deal Nurse Joy, I'm just glad I could help."

Nurse Joy joy handed the room keys to Ash, who in turn gave one to Misty. "Well thank you anyway young man you really performed a valuable service. Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything while here in Pewter City okay?"

Ash nodded his head and then remembered something important. "Ohh yes Nurse Joy there is something you can do. I'll be challenging the Pewter Gym later this week for my first badge that I will need to get into the Indigo League, can you please register me?"

Nurse Joy nodded and took Ash's Poke'Dex. She put it into the slot of the computer and typed a few keys. She then took the Poke'Dex back out and handed it to Ash. "There you go Ash, your all signed up for the Indigo League. Just win eight regional badges and your in. The next Conference will be held next June, that means you have a little less than a year to earn eight badges before the competition begins. Good luck!"

Ash nodded and thanked Nurse Joy before taking back his Poke'Dex and then going towards the living quarters area of the Pokemon Center, followed by Misty. Ash would begin training his Pokemon even more fiercely tomorrow and then spend all week training before challenging the gym on Friday.

...

Ash stood at the doors of the Pewter City Gym. He and his Pokemon had trained like Fighting Pokemon champs all week long and were finally ready to face the gym leader. Technically Ash knew that his Pokemon could have defeated this gym the very day after he and Misty had arrived at Pewter, but he wanted to get them all an extra power boost. A BIG power boost. He had rotated all of his Pokemon in and out each day so that every single Pokemon he had could all get the same amount of training. He was very impressed with Rattata and both Nidorans when he got them back from Professor Oak's. They had taken his order to train even while at the Lab very seriously and were much stronger when he got them back and were all close to evolution. Ash didn't care about just evolving his Pokemon, but he knew that in order for them all to reach their ultimate potential they would need to reach their final evolutionary stages.

Every single one of his Pokemon all wanted to evolve except for Pikachu. Ash's starter wanted to get as powerful as he could as Pikachu first so that when he finally evolved into Raichu all of his power as a Pikachu would be transferred over. Some people might say that Ash's Pokemon evolved to fast and to those people he would say that they had never seen how hard his Pokemon trained. They trained themselves to the literal breaking point every day and with training like that, Pokemon WOULD evolve much faster. Their bodies would essentially need to in order to handle the massive strain on their bodies from all of the intense training.

Thinking about Pikachu made Ash think just how special and powerful his first Pokemon really was. When they were all training on the outskirts of Pewter City, near a forest, a strange man with a bushy beard, wearing green pants, yellow T-shirt, a red hat on his head and black boots on his feet came seemingly out of nowhere and told Ash that he had a very powerful Pikachu on his hands. He said he could tell by watching Pikachu train the way he did that he had the potential for incredible power. The strange man gave Ash and Pikachu an offer they couldn't resist... He told them that there was an old abandoned water mill near their position that was originally used for powering up machinery when the water wheel would turn. The man told Ash that if they hooked Pikachu up to this machine inside the water mill and then Ash turned the water wheel outside as fast as he could then the electricity that was fed from the rotating water wheel would feed directly into Pikachu, giving him a massive boost in his Volt Power.

Ash and Pikachu knew that this would greatly benefit Pikachu's 'Focused Lightning' training and agreed to it. When they did the power-up later that week Ash and many of his Pokemon all turned the water wheel together while the man known only as 'Flint' stayed inside with Pikachu and kept the machine stabilized while the process was happening. Apparently Ash and his Pokemon turned the wheel so fast and so much energy was fed into Pikachu the machine inside couldn't take it and exploded. Putting the energy water mill completely out of commission. It was well worth it though, the power boost that Pikachu got from the water mill was absolutely mind blowing. Pikachu already had extremely powerful Volt Power before the power-up, but now... when Ash had Pikachu practice his 'Focused Lightning' he could actually shatter boulders now and leave large craters in the ground with nothing but his electricity. And that was only at approximately fifty percent power!

It was safe to say that Ash almost gushed with excitement when he thought about how powerful Pikachu would be in a few more years after some more intense training and once he finally evolved into Raichu. Honestly speaking, when that time came Pikachu would likely only be able to safely expend twenty-five percent of his Volt Power into any opponent. Otherwise, he could run a real risk of hurting his opponents very badly.

The strangest thing about that guy Flint was that when Ash asked the man why he had helped him the man only responded by saying that Ash had incredible potential as a Pokemon Trainer and that he just wanted to help Ash get closer to realizing that potential. He said that he had the opportunity to help three other trainers from Pallet when they had passed through Pewter City to challenge the gym but he didn't see anything special in them. When he saw how Ash trained himself and his Pokemon Flint knew that Ash was the Trainer he wanted to help.

Ash was extremely grateful to the man and let him know how much he appreciated his help. The man had accepted Ash's thank you and told him to keep reaching for the top.

Ash remembered those very words now as he stood at the doors of the gym, a slight smile on his face. Misty nudged him from the side. "Are you ready to do this Ash?"

He just looked at Misty and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm ready Misty. More than ever. I will conquer this gym just like I will all of the others and then the Indigo League Conference after it."

Misty smiled at Ash's confidence and then they walked into the gym. Immediately the lights came on and they saw a boy, three or four years older than Ash and Misty, wearing brownish colored pants with a belt across his waist and two red carrying pouches on both sides of his waist attached to the belt, a brownish-tan colored T-shirt and a green cargo vest on his upper body and black and white sneakers on his feet. The boy had spiky brown hair and his eyes appeared to be just slants.

The older boy was sitting on a small podium near the front of the gym and upon seeing that he had challengers jumped down. "Which of you are here to challenge my gym?"

Ash spoke calmly and confidently. "I am. My name is Ketchum of Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge you for my first official League Badge."

The gym leader spoke again. "My name is Brock Stone, the leader of the Pewter City Pokemon Gym and I accept your challenge!"

No more than those words left Brock's mouth and the floor opened up and raised onto level ground to reveal a rock type battle field. A young boy who looked like a younger version of Brock, except with black spiky hair instead of brown, wearing a green shirt with a black stripe across the chest, tan shorts and orange sneakers stepped into the referee's box. The boy spoke, "My name is Forrest Stone and I will be the Referee for this match. Will the challenger and the gym leader please step into your respective Trainer's box.

Ash and Brock did as told. Forrest spoke again, "This will be an official Pokemon League Gym Battle between Brock Stone, the leader of the Pewter City Pokemon Gym and the challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. This will be a two on two Pokemon battle with only the challenger being able to substitute Pokemon. The winner will be decided when whichever Trainer either loses all of their Pokemon first, or forfeits the match. Both Trainers please call out your first Pokemon!"

Brock went first. "Geodude I choose you!" Out of the Pokeball came the Rock-Type Geodude. "Geo Geo." It said as it appeared.

Ash smiled and then chose his Pokemon, "Mankey show us your power!" Mankey exploded from the Pokeball pounding the ground readily with his fists, "Mankeyyyy, Mankey Mankey!"

Brock looked stunned. How did this new Trainer have a Mankey? They weren't found anywhere near here or Pallet Town for that matter... He shook it off and commanded his Pokemon, "Geodude use Rock Throw!"

"Mankey dodge by flipping to the side!" Ash called.

Mankey flipped out of the way of the rock thrown his way. "Geodude Tackle!" Brock commanded.

Geodude took off at Mankey. "Mankey slide under Geodude and then hit it with a Mega Kick while your under it!"

Mankey slid under Geodude just before the Pokemon was about to connect with Tackle, Mankey then used Mega Kick while under Geodude to launch it into the air. "Great Mankey now jump high in the air to meet Geodude and grab ahold of it, then throw it back to the ground with Seismic Toss!" Ash called.

Mankey jumped up and met Geodude in the air, he grabbed ahold of the Rock Pokemon and then spun him around before throwing back towards the ground. Brock saw the danger and called out, "Geodude use Defense Curl to tuck yourself into a ball and lessen the impact!"

Geodude rolled itself up into a ball just before it hit the ground, saving it from serious damage. Geodude rose back into the air with a few scraps and bruises on it's body. "Geodude use Rock Tomb!" Brock called.

Geodude picked up large rocks and began throwing them at Mankey, trying to bury the Pig Monkey Pokemon with large rocks. "Mankey break all of those rocks with Brick Break!" Ash called again. Yet again Ash was glad that he had trained with Mankey so hard. The Pokemon had learned a lot of new Fighting-Moves that were really useful here.

Mankey broke all of the rocks apart with Brick Break. "Now Mankey use the rocks to hop towards Geodude fast so it can't follow your movements, once you get right on Geodude start hitting it with multiple Karate Chops and end it with a powerful Mega Punch!"

Mankey zipped towards Geodude using the rocks on the battlefield so fast the Rock Pokemon couldn't react. Mankey finally got right in front of Goedude and Brock could do nothing but watch as Mankey began assaulting Geodude with Karate Chop after Karate Chop. He finished the combo with a well placed Mega Punch, knocking Geodude back into a nearby rock where it fell to the ground.

Brock called to his Pokemon, "Geodude get up! Don't give up please!"

Geodude slowly got up and looked dead at Mankey with determination in it's eyes. "Geoooo... DUDEEEE!"

Geodude began glowing blue as it began changing. Brock looked at his Pokemon in amazement and Ash just looked interested. '_Well now it gets interesting...'_ Ash thought to himself. When Geodude was done evolving a strong looking Graveler had taken it's place. "Grav Grav Graveler!" The newly evolved Pokemon said loudly.

Brock stood in shock only one moment longer before smiling and then ordering his Pokemon, "Okay Graveler use Rollout on Mankey!"

Graveler tucked into a ball and started to roll towards Mankey at fast speeds, getting faster and faster as it went. "Mankey start jumping from rock to rock to avoid Graveler!" Ash called out. Mankey began jumping from rock to rock, Graveler smashing into and destroying each rock as it went. Eventually Mankey made a slip up and tripped off of a rock, falling right into Graveler's path. It hit Mankey hard, sending him into the air with a cry of his name, "Mankeyyy!"

The Pig Monkey fell back to the ground and then Brock ordered Graveler to keep hitting Mankey with Rollout. Over and over again Mankey was slammed into before he finally got sent into a nearby boulder where he smashed the rock into pieces and lay there for a minute. "Come on Mankey you can do it, get up and show them what true strength is!" Ash urged Mankey. His Pokemon slowly got back up and started fuming with anger, his veins started to grow and his eyes turned almost red with anger. Ash saw that Mankey had just learned Rage and was ready to capitalize on it. "Mankey wait until Graveler get's right on top of you and then jump into the air!" Ash called out.

Mankey did as told and waited until Graveler got right on top of him before jumping into the air and letting the Rock Pokemon roll itself into a nearby boulder where it hit the rock and it's momentum stopped. "Now Mankey get in on it and start using Rage combined with Karate Chop, Fury Swipes and Mega Punch!"

Brock saw the danger his Pokemon was soon to be in and called out, "Graveler try and get up from that rock!"

Graveler heard it's Trainer but couldn't move due to being stuck inside of the rock it was now wedged into. Mankey got on the inside of Graveler and began delivering an onslaught of fighting moves to the Rock Pokemon. Graveler just cried out in pain as it was struck over and over again by Mankey's powerful blows. Brock knew that there was only one way out of this. He only hoped that Graveler would understand. This Trainer was pushing Brock to his limits and he needed to act fast... "Graveler use Selfdestruct!"

Ash heard the move being called but couldn't say anything before Graveler was consumed in a white light before exploding with a thundering 'Boom'!

Everyone in the gym waited with baited breath as the smoke cleared and showed Graveler unconscious from the self sacrificing move that is used. What really surprised everyone though was Mankey. The Monkey Pokemon was standing there, battered and bruised, but still standing. Albeit barely and breathing heavily from the blast it just took head on.

Forrest raised his arm and pointed his arm towards Brock. "Graveler is una-... uh?" Mankey suddenly went down to both knees and then fell to the ground unconscious as well. Forrest rephrased what he was going to say, "Both Pokemon are unable to battle. Trainers please choose your last Pokemon."

Ash recalled Mankey. "You did a great job Mankey, thank you so much. Very few Pokemon could stay standing so long after an attack like that."

Brock also recalled Graveler. "Thanks Graveler you did great, now take a nice rest."

Brock then pulled out his last Pokeball. '_Man this kid is good. My Geodude evolved into Graveler and his Mankey still ended up nearly beating him. If I hadn't had Graveler use Selfdestruct then Mankey would still be standing and Graveler would have definitely been unconscious from that beating it was taking.' _Brock thought to himself. He then threw out his last Pokeball, "Onix gooo!" The giant Rock Snake Pokemon appeared with loud, "ONIXXXX!"

Misty recoiled back from the huge Pokemon from where she was near Ash at the sidelines. "Be careful Ash... that looks like one powerful Pokemon." She warned Ash nervously. Ash looked back at her and smiled. "Don't worry Misty, this match is already won. Trust me."

Misty looked at Ash in confusion but just nodded her head, trusting Ash and hoping he really did have something planned. Ash looked at Pikachu. "Do you think he's ready buddy?" Ash asked his starter. "Pika Pikachu Pika Pi!" Pikachu responded. Ash nodded his head, "Your right buddy he is ready."

Ash then drew another Pokeball from his belt. He then spoke to Brock, "Hey Brock this has been a great battle and you have done a great job but... it ends here."

Brock raised his eyebrow. "Well let's see what you've got then Ash!" Brock replied back.

Ash then threw the Pokeball, "Go my friend I need your help!" Out of the Pokeball came a small and purple Pokemon. "Rat Rat Rattata!"

"WHAT?" Misty said loudly. "Your using Rattata a Normal-Type against Onix a ROCK-TYPE?! Ash what is wrong with you?!"

Ash waved his hands at Misty trying to calm her down. "Misty! Chill will ya? I have a plan. You don't think I would just send Rattata out there with no strategy in mind do you? Come on Misty!"

Misty just looked disbelieving and shook her head. "Okay Ash I trust you. I just really hope you know what your doing."

Ash smiled back at her and gave a thumbs up. "Watch and learn Misty. Your about to see the benefits of hard training first hand."

He turned back to the battle and looked at Rattata, "You ready buddy?!"

Rattata nodded his head. "Ratta Rat Rattata!"

Ash smiled and looked at Forest who got the hint. "Trainers Ready? Battle!" He shouted.

Ash instantly commanded before Brock could even open his mouth, "Rattata use Agility and get up to Onix as fast as you can! From there... You know what to do!"

Ash had a whole strategy planned out, he knew all about Onix's and once he found out that the leader of this gym had one he instantly started training Rattata on this strategy they had made up.

Rattata started running in a blur of speed until he was running on top of the rocks of the battle field. Brock didn't know what was going on and commanded his Onix to begin sweeping the entire battlefield with it's tail, trying to hit Rattata. The Mouse Pokemon wasn't about to be deterred from his target though and jumped on top and then over the Rock Snake Pokemon's tail.

Rattata bypassed Onix's defenses and was almost on him. Brock didn't know why but he got a strange feeling telling him to not let that Rattata get near Onix. "Onix dive bomb it with your head in a Tackle attack, hurry!"

Onix smashed it's head down on the ground where Rattata was now right at Onix's body. A huge dust cloud kicked up and no one could see a thing. Brock was certain that Onix had hit his target and knew that there was no way a small Pokemon like Rattata could have made it through an attack like that from a much larger opponent.

Brock spoke up. "Well Ash you battled hard but it looks like I win. Better luck next time." He didn't say it but this was the toughest battle he had fought as a gym leader and if Ash would have just been a little smarter on who he chose as his last Pokemon he very well would have won.

Forrest was smirking at his brother's supposed win and Misty just looked distraught for Ash. The strangest thing was that when she looked up at Ash he did not have the look of someone who had lost. No, he had the look of someone in deep concentration and determination. Pikachu also seemed locked onto the slowly dissipating dust cloud that surrounded the two formerly battling Pokemon.

Misty seemed confused and looked towards the dust cloud as well. The dust finally cleared and when it did everyone was absolutely shocked. All except Ash who had the widest grin on his face. Rattata was absolutely no where to be seen! Where the Pokemon should have been, which was unconscious in the crater that Onix left with it's head, he wasn't. He had literally disappeared.

Misty spoke first. "Wh-where did Rattata go? He's not trapped under Onix is he?!" She started to panic. Brock looked worried to and was just about to have his Pokemon move so they could see if Rattata really was trapped under the huge Pokemon's body when Ash began to do something that made everyone look at him like he was crazy... He chuckled.

"Hehehehe... Brock my friend I'm sorry to say this but... You have lost this battle."

Everyone looked at Ash like he really had lost his mind. Brock began to think that maybe Ash was in denial that he had lost and was now just spouting off nonsense.

"Ash... What do you mean? Are you okay?" Misty asked concern.

Ash finished chuckling and then looked back at Misty. "I'm better than okay Misty and here in a second you will see why."

Everyone just seemed lost until Ash pointed his hand at Onix. "Now Rattata!" He shouted.

Brock, Misty and Forrest all looked towards Onix and saw that nothing was happening. Misty broke the silence. "Ash what are y-" But that was all she got out. Suddenly Onix began writhing around in what seemed like pain. Twisting and turning it's body around like crazy and bellowing in pain, "ONIXXXX!"

The huge Pokemon kept smashing it's body around the whole gym. Smashing it's tail and it's head around wildly, smashing into everything in sight. Brock tried to intervene, "Onix what's wrong?! Stop this!"

But Onix didn't hear and continued to thrash around wildly. It began smashing it's head into the gym floor over and over again, bellowing in pain the whole time. Everyone but Ash just stood there in undisguised shock at what they were seeing. Ash just had a calm and cool look on his face as he watched the scene unfold. Brock just stood where he was, unable to do anything to help his Pokemon as he watched it beat itself into oblivion.

Finally Onix stopped banging it's head on the floor and raised itself back to full hight, looking very battered and bruised. It gave one weak call of "Onixxxx..." Before falling to the ground unconscious and with swirls in it's eyes.

Brock, Forrest and Misty were utterly thunderstruck at what just happened. All of a sudden a small purple body came jumping out between the rocks that made up Onix's body. Everyone stared stupidly as Rattata ran back across the field and stood in front of Ash, facing the downed Onix. The small Pokemon didn't have a scratch on him and looked like he had not even been battling.

Misty finally stuttered out, "A-Ash... Rattata... wh-what just happened?!"

Ash began explaining to the other three what had happened. "You see, I studied about Pokemon for quite a few years and in that time I learned A LOT about Pokemon. Naturally I also learned about Onix. So when I found out that you used an Onix Brock it was just a simple matter of finding the best strategy to beat it. Onix may be an extremely tough Pokemon on the outside with their rock skin, but just like many Rock-Type Pokemon their insides are extremely vulnerable and sensitive. I taught Rattata how to best get inside of Onix by passing in through the spaces between the boulders that make up Onix's body. Once inside Rattata begin tackling, biting and smashing away on Onix's soft inner tissue. This is what caused Onix to writhe around in so much pain and start beating itself up. It wanted Rattata out of it and was willing to do anything to make that happen. It began beating itself so badly that Rattata didn't have to fight it head to head on the outside. He just attacked it from the inside, causing Onix to beat himself into unconsciousness on the outside. Allowing Rattata to stay safe inside of Onix's body and letting me just sit back and wait while Onix beat itself. I was a little concerned that Onix had hit Rattata with that Tackle earlier but he just wasn't fast enough. My Rattata is very fast. So there you have it!"

Everyone was slack jawed and Misty could only mumble one word, "Genius..."

Ash rubbed the back of his head and then spoke again, "Well I really got the idea from reading reports on how the same thing happens to Onix in the wild. Smaller Pokemon are always getting lodged inside of Onix when the huge Pokemon are tunneling all around the place. When this happens Onix feels great discomfort and can begin going off in a terrible rage. When this happens experts are usually called out to quail the situation and help remove the Pokemon from Onix. So that's where I really got the idea from, I just implemented it a sound strategy that can be used against any Onix in battle if you have a small enough Pokemon that can fit inside Onix, like Rattata. Of course, I have created a counter to this very strategy of taking down Onix's that I will teach my own Onix if I ever get one."

While everyone processed what they just heard Ash went up to Rattata. "You did a great job pal and I'm very proud of you. You implemented that strategy perfectly and I can tell that all of your training is really paying off. Give it a few years and you will become the strongest Rattata, and eventually Raticate, that there has ever been. You'll show the world just how strong a 'common Rattata' can be. Just look..." Ash pointed towards the downed Onix. "You took down that Pokemon who makes up a hundred or more of you. You should feel very proud of yourself, I know I am."

Rattata looked teary eyed for a second and then looked up at Ash, "Ratta... TAAA?!"

Rattata looked confused, as did Ash, before the Pokemon started to glow. Ash instantly knew what was happening and smiled. "Well what d'ya know?" Ash said amused.

After the glow died down a larger and taller Pokemon stood in Rattata's place. "RATICATE!" The newly evolved Raticate called out as he looked back up at his Trainer. Ash pulled out his Poke'Dex and scanned the Pokemon.

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.020_

_"Raticate: The Mouse Pokemon"_

_"With its long fangs, this surprisingly violent Pokemon can gnaw away even thick concrete with ease."_

_"This Pokemon know's the moves: Headbutt, Quick Attack, Hyper Fang, Agility, Focus Energy, Pursuit and Scary Face."_

* * *

The boy put his Poke'Dex away and then bent down and began rubbing Raticate on top of the head comfortingly while speaking to him. "Well Raticate it looks like I spoke to soon... in a few years you will become the strongest 'Raticate' that there has ever been."

Raticate clicked his teeth happily at his Trainer's praise and then jumped into his arms, hugging Ash. "Rati!"

Ash laughed and hugged his Pokemon back. After he finished congratulating Raticate Ash turned back to the battlefield where Brock had just returned his Onix. Ash looked over at Forrest and the younger boy seemed to get the message. He broke from his shocked stupor and called out: "Uhhh yeah... right. *Ahem* Since the gym leader's Pokemon are all unable to battle the win goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Ash smiled happily and then looked to see Brock walking up to meet him. "Ash..." The older boy began. "That was without a doubt the best battle I have ever had and I learned so much from you. I don't know how to thank you enough but... I believe you have earned this fair and square, no questions asked.

Brock held up a silver badge that was shaped like a boulder. Brock spoke again, "I present you with the Boulderbadge Ash. You earned it, no doubt about it."

Ash reached out and took the badge and then held it up to so he and Pikachu could see it better. "Well buddy... we just took our first step towards the Pokemon League." Pikachu grinned and looked at Ash, "Pika Pi, Pi Pikachu!" He said excitedly. Ash knelt down, opened up his pack and pulled out a silver plated badge case that looked like a small metal box and had different designs on it, from the bags depths. The badge case had an emblem of every different type of Pokemon there was, with the insignia for each, like a flame, leaf, water or wind symbol to name a few. The inside of the case was wide and was covered in a fine red lining that would mold to each badge, keeping it in place.

Ash placed his first badge in the case and then put it away before standing back up to face Brock again. "Thank you Brock."

Brock shook his head. "No Ash, thank you. You showed me so much in that battle and reminded of just how much I still have to learn about Pokemon." Brock paused for a second and looked away, staring out the window of the gym. "You know... I have never really cared about Pokemon battling and making my Pokemon stronger just to fight. I have always loved taking care of Pokemon and grooming them... making them the healthiest that they can be. My dream isn't to be a gym leader like I am now, I want to become the world's best Pokemon Breeder!"

Brock then turned solemn. "But I'll never realize that dream. Ever since my mother died and my father left to go on his own Pokemon Journey I was left here to take care of my younger brothers and sisters. They count on me and I could never leave them..."

Ash was about to say something when the doors of the gym suddenly flung open. In came the very man that had helped Ash power-up Pikachu... Flint.

The man walked up and stood a few feet away from Ash and the rest of the group. He then spoke, "Brock... I want you to go and achieve your dreams. I don't want you to be settled here anymore paying for the mistakes that I made when I left..."

Ash looked a little confused. "Uhhhh... Flint, who are you to Brock anyway?"

The man suddenly reached up and took off his red hat and surprisingly... his beard! When he had finished, before the them all stood a man who looked exactly like Brock, just much older. Misty seemed startled and asked, "Why do you look exactly like Brock? Who are you?"

Brock answered for them all. "He's my father."

Ash and Misty just seemed floored while Brock and Forrest didn't have any readable expressions their faces. Flint spoke again, "Brock... Forrest, I am so sorry for leaving you after your mother died. After Lisa died I just... I didn't know to deal with the pain and so I left. I thought that if I tried to achieve my life long dream of becoming a Pokemon Trainer then I could forget the pain, but it didn't work. I not only was a horrible Trainer but I also realized just how terrible of a father I had been. I should never have left you to take of your brothers and sisters by yourself and I'm truly sorry for that son, really I am... But I'm here to make up for all of that now. I want you to go on your own journey and find the path that you wish to follow and achieve every dream that you have. Please son... let me do this. Let me make amends for my mistakes."

Brock just stared at his father for a moment before speaking. "First there are some things that I think you should know."

Flint just nodded his head. "I'm sure you must have a lot you want to tell me Brock, so go ahead and get it all off of your chest."

Everyone thought Brock was going to explode on his father for being gone for so long and then just showing up today, wanting to just now pick up on his fatherly responsibilities. To everyone's surprise though, Brock just held up a pad and pen to his estranged father. Flint took them confused and just looked them. Brock then began to rattle off a mile a minute all of the things that Flint would need to do for all of Brock's little brothers and sisters if he was really going to start taking care of all of his children. Flint started scribbling notes down furiously on the notepad and then started comically waving his arms around in the air while yelling, "Slow down, slow down Brock I can't write that fast!"

Everyone in the gym began laughing at the funny scene as Brock continued to barrage his father with all of the many things he would need to do when taking care of his children. When it was over Brock stood back and looked at his father. "I'm trusting you with this dad." He said. Flint nodded and replied back. "Don't you worry son everything will be okay, I promise."

Ash then walked up to Brock. "You know Brock, your more than welcome to come with me, Pikachu and Misty if you want to. I would be overjoyed to have another traveling companion with me on my journey. What do you say?"

Brock looked stunned and just replied back, "Really Ash? You wouldn't mind at all?"

Ash just shook his head, "No way, the more the merrier! Right guys?" Ash turned to Pikachu and Misty.

"Right!" Misty agreed. "Pika!" Pikachu said excitedly.

Brock looked looked happier than words could describe him. "Thank you guys so much... I would love to travel with you!"

...

After they were all done at the gym Brock, Forrest and Flint went back home so Brock could his stuff together for the next day when he would leave with Ash and Misty and also so Flint could become reintroduced to his children. The aforementioned young Trainers went back to the Pokemon Center so Ash could get his Pokemon healed up, call his mom and Professor Oak and tell them the great news about his first badge, switch the Pokemon on his team around a little, and then get to bed so he would be rested and ready to start the next leg of his adventure the following day... only now with a new friend in tow.

(_Chapter Four End:)_

* * *

_A/N:_ **Well there you have it, chapter four! This chapter really marks the turning point for this story. I am now pretty much officially done with all of the beginning and prequel stuff and now I can really start delving deep into the really good stuff. This means all of the really juicy episodes in story form and several of my own twists on the Pokemon Series! Now that Brock and Misty are introduced, (finally), I can get things under way.**

**Now is the part of the A/N where I will address things.**

**1: Anyone who wants to complain about Ash being to 'Garystu' or 'OOC' can please just leave my story now. There are many other Pokemon stories out there that I'm sure can satisfy your needs.**

**2: Anyone who also wants to complain about Ash's Pokemon being to strong or evolving to fast can please read the previous chapter where I explained training THOROUGHLY! Ash and his Pokemon train H-A-R-D! So naturally they will evolve much faster. Training people, it always pays off. That's the end of it and I won't be addressing this again and if you PM me complaining about this I will just delete your message without reading reading it fully. Thank You!**

**3: My story is the WAY it is! If you don't like it then you can just leave. Thanks again!**

**4: Ash WILL catch A LOT of Pokemon and he WILL train them all. When they aren't with Ash they are training hard at the Lab. I will not listen to anymore whining about Ash catching too many Pokemon. Don't like it don't read it, end of story. I WILL NOT ADDRESS THIS AGAIN!**

**4: A dear follower and fan of my story is looking for OC's for their story and needs some help deciding. Please go and look up 'WhiteEagle1985' and PM this individual to see how you can help if you so choose.  
**

**5: I would like to give an extra special thank you to the following fans and readers of mine who are supporting me every step of the way in this story: 'Advanceforeverandafter'/ 'XDragoon55'/ 'ThomasLight'/ 'TinkotheWolf'/ 'the lord of the night'/ 'darkrai6543'/ 'PsychicAuraKing 123'/ 'WhiteEagle1985'  
**

**You guys are all a part of the group and I thank you so much for everything!**

**...**

**Ash's rank: Beginner Trainer**

**Titles: Pokeman Trainer/ Pokemon Researcher In-Training**

**Tournaments, Contests and Leagues Won: 0**

**Badges: Boulderbadge**

**Ash's Pokemon:**

**Pikachu: Male**

**Spearow: Male**

**Roselia: Female**

**Raticate: Male**

**Nidoran: Female**

**Nidoran: Male**

**Pidgeotto: Female**

**Caterpie: Male**

**Weedle: Male**

**Mankey: Male**

**...**

**Well everyone, I thank you again for your wonderful reviews and all of your amazing support! I can't thank you enough dear readers. This means you!**

**So that's it guys and girls! Guys keep Rockin 'N' Rollin! And... my dear ladies. This is the part of the whole chapter you really look forward to isn't it;) Come be honest it's alright! Lol but seriously though, stay beautiful and mysterious you magnificent works of creation. *Kisses hands***

**Peace Out... For now;)**


	5. Team Rocket's Bain and A Love Square!

A/N: **Guess who's back with a brand new chap?! And I don't mean this as in a short chap now just everybody sit back and veg-a-tate whoaa ohhh ahhh ohh! Lol! I'm not going to say much in this A/N except that I hope you all really enjoy this new chapter. I would like to thank everyone who is following this story and offering your continued support and amazing reviews! You all rock! **

**Brock and Misty have finally been introduced and now we can really get started with the fun stuff! To tell you all the truth, I can't wait until I get to the Advanced generation. Something big is going to happen in that part of the story that will set a series of events into motion that will eventually lead to Ash becoming two of the most important things that he will ever be able to call himself. Even more so than a Pokemon Master. Which HE WILL attain by damn!  
**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**Anyway peoples, enjoy the chapter and let your mind go! Enjoy the show!**

**...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything affiliated with it.**

_'The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be_

_Chapter Five: Team Rocket's Bain and A Love Square!_

* * *

Ash, Brock and Misty all stood on the path that would take them out of Pewter City and lead them to their next destination: Cerulean City. In front of the three traveling companions was none other than Brock's entire family, all gathered to tell them good-bye. Brock went and hugged each of his little brothers and sisters before going to his little brother Forrest, who was the second eldest of the siblings. Brock knelt down to Forrest's level and spoke to him. "Well Forrest it looks like you are going to be the oldest now. Help dad look after the others and try not to get caught peeping on Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny again okay?" Brock said the last part with a devilish grin and Forrest snickered. "Don't worry Brock I will... and don't worry I never get caught hee-hee!" Brock shared a perverted giggle with his brother and then gave him one last pat on the shoulder before standing up.

He then turned to his father. "Well dad... I guess this is it. I can't thank you enough for giving me the chance to finally have this opportunity. It really means a lot."

Brock's father Flint walked up and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "You don't have to thank me Brock. If anything I should be thanking you. You are giving me the chance to finally get to know my own children and be a real father to them. That means more to me than I can say. You go on and follow your dream Brock and don't you worry about us, we'll be just fine here."

Brock nodded to his father and then went and stood beside his friends. Ash then walked up to Flint. "Flint I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me and Pikachu out and having so much faith in us. I really appreciate everything."

Flint smiled and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. "I was more than happy to help you Ash. I may never have made it as a Pokemon Trainer myself but I know what it takes to make a great one and Ash... you have the potential to become the greatest there has ever been. I know it. You and your Pokemon share a strong bond and as long as you never forget that bond then there is no limit to just how far you can go. I believe in you, so I know you make your dreams come true and someday shock the world with your skill. Not to mention... you have two great traveling companions to help you out on your journey and I'm lucky enough to call one of them my son."

Ash nodded to Flint's words of wisdom and praise and then went back to join his friends. With one last wave to the Stone family Ash and his friends set off on their journey.

...

Ash, Brock and Misty were walking down the road headed towards their first destination. Ash was staring down the road intently, anxious and excited for anything that may end up happening as the day wore on, Pikachu was asleep on Ash's backpack, exhausted from that mornings extremely intense training session, Misty was staring at the nearby river they were passing, trying to spot any Water-Type Pokemon and Brock was looking at the map, making sure that they were heading in the right direction.

Ash had told Brock that they would never get lost with his Xtransceiver but Brock was adamant about using a map. He said that he wanted to make sure they were always taking the best routes possible and he believed maps were the best fit for the job. Ash didn't argue because he knew that if and when they did get lost and Brock's map failed, they would have Ash's Xtransceiver to fall back on.

Ash looked at Brock and asked, "Hey Brock since you aren't leading the Pewter City Gym... who is?"

Brock looked up from the map and answered Ash's question. "The Pokemon League is actually sending one of their own appointed Trainers out to Pewter to become the new gym leader. They told me that if I really wanted to keep my position then I could just close the gym down while I was away but I'm not interested in returning to my post as a gym leader. That's why I told them that they could just give it to someone else who really did want it."

Ash seemed surprised at this. "Wow I wouldn't have thought the Pokemon League would have been okay with shutting down one of the eight gyms of Kanto for any amount of time. How would Trainers get all eight badges so they could enter the Pokemon League then?"

Brock looked at Ash with his own surprised look. "Wait a second Ash... do you mean to tell me that you think there are only eight gyms in Kanto?"

Ash nodded his head, looking perplexed. "Yeah I did why? Are there more than eight?"

"There are actually." Brock answered. "There are really a grand total of twenty-seven League sanctioned Pokemon Gyms throughout the entire Kanto region."

Ash seemed stunned. "Why are there so many?"

Brock put his map away before answering. "Well you see Ash, the Kanto region is a big place and eight gyms just aren't enough to support all of the many Pokemon Trainers who are always traveling the region trying to win the eight badges that are required so they can participate in the Indigo Conference. Basically the Kanto region needed more than eight gyms so the Pokemon League decided to spread nineteen other gyms around the region so all of the many Pokemon Trainers out there had enough gyms to participate in. Supply and demand really."

Ash just looked away thoughtfully for a second and then turned back to Brock. "Where are these other nineteen gyms located Brock?"

Brock pulled out a small book titled 'Guide to the Kanto Region' from inside his pants pocket and opened it up. "This book tells the location of every gym in the Kanto region, including all of their information. The original eight gyms of Kanto are spread throughout the whole region. The other nineteen are actually set up all over Kanto as well, like I said earlier. Luckily, since you are wanting to challenge the eight original gyms anyway you are going to have to travel across the entire region to get to the them. We will actually pass right by all of the other gyms on the way to the original eight. It's just a matter of taking a few small detours really.

Ash thanked Brock for his explanation and then went back into deep thought.

...

A while later Brock announced to the rest of the group, "Alright guys, if we just keep heading this way then we will be at the entrance to Mt. Moon in about fifteen to twenty minutes."

Ash nodded and decided it was time for a break. "Cool Brock. Everybody let's take a rest before we tackle that mountain. Feed the Pokemon some lunch and get some ourselves while we're at it."

Brock and Misty nodded their heads in agreement and then released their Pokemon while Ash did the same. Misty released her Staryu, Starmie and Goldeen down by the nearby river so they could cool off from the hot summer sun and Brock's Onix and Graveler just lounged around near the temporary campsite that had been set up for lunch time. However, when Ash released his Pokemon they came out in a totally different way. Each one of them appeared in front of Ash looking very disciplined and militant in appearance. Ash immediately gave the commands. "Alright everybody lunch time will be in about fifteen minutes so I want all of you to train until then! Get moving guys!"

All of his Pokemon called out their names in affirmative and then let Ash place the training weights on them before getting to work. Ash decided that for his workout he would train with Mankey for awhile and so he stretched out a bit and then began sparring with his Pokemon just like he used to with his old fight coaches. Brock sat back watching Ash and all of his Pokemon train with the same intensity they apparently always did and he shook his head. It was no wonder he never stood a chance against Ash. With brutal training like Ash put himself and his Pokemon through it was no wonder they were so tough. Brock found himself even more amazed as time went by just how dedicated Ash was to his Pokemon and they were to him. He could tell that Ash's Pokemon loved him fiercely and respected him deeply, just as Ash felt the same way towards them.

Brock shook his head again and then turned back to preparing lunch for himself, Ash and Misty, as well as all of the Pokemon. Ash had told Brock that he didn't have to cook or make the Pokemon food since he himself was skilled at both, but Brock loved to cook so Ash just decided to let him have the reins. Ash enjoyed cooking but he would much rather train with his Pokemon than cook and he loved Brock's cooking so far, so did the Pokemon. Why not let Brock take over doing something he enjoyed? Brock told Ash that he would gladly maintain all of the nutrition plans that he had set up for his Pokemon just as long as Ash kept kept him updated on any changes in the nutritional plans or when he got another Pokemon and then created a new plan for it. All in all it was much like what Professor Oak did for Ash's Pokemon back at the Lab.

Ash had just finished training with Mankey and came back over to sit near Brock. He pulled his 'Pokemon Researcher In-Training' journal out of his pack and began jotting down notes like he did every time he thought of, or saw something he deemed important enough to merit writing into the journal about.

When he was done Ash put the book away and then looked back at his training Pokemon. Spearow and Pidgeotto were having their usual rivalry session. Each one trying to see who could train the hardest before dropping first. Ash chuckled at their actions and was also very glad for it at the same time. Their intense rivalry pushed them to crazy limits and Ash was happy to see that it helped them improve greatly. It was all in good fun though and neither Pokemon really disliked one another... it was just a rivalry of who was 'top bird'.

Pikachu and Roselia were doing their own very intensive training and just kept getting better and stronger everyday. Ash could say that he was very impressed and happy with the two of them. Roselia was perfecting her Grass-Type moves and making them stronger every time she trained. Her absorption moves were coming alone extremely well and he truly pitied any Pokemon that got hit with one of those attacks.

As for Pikachu... The only way that Ash could describe his progress was astounding and scary. The little yellow mouse seemed to get stronger everyday and there seemed to be no limit to his power. Focused Lighting training was coming along incredibly well. Pikachu could now easily shatter just about any sized rock and could leave fairly large craters in the ground with nothing but his Volt Power. The little Pokemon seemed to be an endless well of power and Ash couldn't wait to further unlock that great power in his starter Pokemon.

Ash turned his attention to his two Bug-Type Pokemon, Caterpie and Weedle, who were currently engaged in a fierce sparring session with each other. Ash watched as both of his Pokemon went as hard as they could on each other, the rivalry between the two of them of trying to decide who was the strongest Bug-Type was intense!

Ash was also amazed at his two Bug-Types progress and gains in power. Bug Pokemon were not usually known for power, instead they were recognized for their status effecting attacks and abilities to create tricky strategies and maneuvers to win battles. Caterpie and Weedle were showing signs of being both very strong and also gifted in status attacks and strategic maneuvers like their species was famous for.

Ash was dragged from his musings by Caterpie and Weedle clashing together hard. When the two Pokemon separated both of them were breathing hard and battered up. Both Pokemon stared each other down intently, neither giving in. Ash was about to intervene and relieve his Pokemon, who had done enough by now, but all of a sudden they both began to glow.

Ash merely watched happily as his two Pokemon evolved at the exact same time.

When the light died down two new Pokemon stood in place of Caterpie and Weedle.

"Metapod!"

"Kakuna!"

Ash grinned at seeing his two Pokemon finally evolve and walked over to them. "That was a great battle guys." Ash said as he knelt down to them. "And you finally evolved to, I'm proud of you!"

Both Pokemon called happily to Ash and then he pulled out his Poke'Dex.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.011_

_"Metapod: The Cocoon Pokemon"_

_"A steel-hard shell protects it's tender body. It quietly endures hardship while awaiting evolution"_

_"This Pokemon knows the moves: Tackle, String Shot, Bug Bite and Harden"_

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.014_

_"Kakuna: The Cocoon Pokemon"_

_"While awaiting evolution, it hides from predators under leaves and in nooks of branches"_

"_This Pokemon_ _knows the moves: Tackle, String Shot, Bug Bite and Harden"_

...

Ash put his Poke'Dex away and then spoke again to his Pokemon. "Wow guys I really am so proud of you! Keep this up and I'm sure you will evolve into your final evolutions soon!"

Kakuna and Metapod cheered excitedly at hearing that. Ash then had his newly evolved Pokemon stop for lunch as he called for his other Pokemon to stop training and bring it in. After his other Pokemon had came in and congratulated Metapod and Kakuna on evolving they all dug in.

Misty and Brock also called their Pokemon in to eat and then the three Trainers sat down themselves to enjoy their lunch. While they ate Brock asked Ash a question that had been nagging at him for awhile now.

"Hey Ash."

"Yeah Brock?" Ash replied.

"I was just wondering something... And you don't have to answer if this is too personal or anything but... How do you have the money to buy all of the Pokemon food, medical items and Pokeballs you have?"

Ash swallowed the bite of sandwich that he had in his mouth before answering. "Actually Brock, my dad sends very large sums of money to my mom every month. Since he is a Pokemon Trainer himself and pretty successful at it if what my mom tells me is true, he gets a lot of money from all of the battles that he wins. Since my mom lives alone she doesn't need a lot of money to live on. That's why we set up a credit line on my Xtransceiver that she uses to send the rest of the money she doesn't need to me. Naturally it's quite a bit and since the only thing I ever buy is supplies for the road, meaning food for me and my Pokemon, medical items and Pokeballs... I always have plenty of money to cover everything. Once we get to Cerulean I'll stock up again at the Poke'Mart and then be good to go again for awhile."

Brock nodded his head in understanding, yet again impressed by Ash's preparedness on the road. "Sounds like a good plan Ash, you got a good thing going there."

Ash smiled and then continued. "Honestly, once I get more established in my own career as a Trainer I'll hopefully be making more than enough to support me and my Pokemon. Mom won't even need to send money to me anymore and so she can keep the extra for herself."

Brock nodded again and then they all went back to finishing their lunch.

...

After lunch was over they returned their Pokémon and then set out again for Mt. Moon. Fifteen minutes of walking later, the three friends found themselves standing in the shadow of Mt. Moon. As they continued walking towards the entrance to the mountain a loud cry of what sounded like distress reached their ears. Ash looked at his friends and motioned for them to follow him as he took off running for the source of the sound.

They kept running until they came upon the source of the disturbance. A man was crouching down just outside of the entrance of Mt. Moon with his hands over his head, yelling in terror. A flock of Zubat was flying over the man's head trying to attack him.

Ash and Brock instantly took action. They sent out Pikachu and Graveler to scare off the Bat Pokemon. With a well placed Thunderbolt and an accurate Rock Throw all of the Zubat became scared and flew back into the caves. Well... all except for one of the Zubat that was struck by Graveler's Rock Throw and knocked unconscious. Brock took advantage of the situation and threw a Pokeball at the downed Pokemon. A few shakes of the ball later and the Pokeball 'dinged' signifying a successful capture. Brock went over and picked the Pokeball up that now contained his newest Pokemon and smiled to himself. Ash came by and patted Brock on the shoulder, congratulating him on his new Pokemon and then went to check on the man who was attacked.

The man in question, who had now risen from his crouched position suddenly lunged at the trio of friends. "Ohh thank you thank you thank you so much! I was certain that was the end for me when who should come along to save me but a group of brave and strong Pokemon Trainers! Thank you again so much!" The excited man shouted as he rapidly shook Ash's hand, then Brock and then Misty's.

Ash just shared a look with Brock, Misty and Pikachu before looking back at the man. "It was really no big deal mister honestly."

The man stepped back. "Of course it is! If you and your friends hadn't saved me then who knows what would have happened!... Ahh where are my manners?! I haven't introduced myself! My name is Seymour and I am a Pokemon scientist!"

Ash and his friends introduced themselves and then Ash asked, "So what do you study Seymour and what are you doing here at Mt. Moon?"

The scientist suddenly got serious and answered Ash's question with a raised finger. "I'm actually studying the mystery's surrounding Clefairy and the Moon Stone!"

All three kids said at once, "Clefairy? The Moon Stone?!"

Seymour nodded his head. "Yes... the Moon Stone. You see, I'm studying the theory that some types of Pokemon came from space. The Moon Stone is supposedly a giant meteorite that fell from space and crash landed somewhere inside of Mt. Moon long ago. I believe that the Clefairy who live here in Mt. Moon came to Earth on the Moon Stone and that's why I'm here, to prove my theory correct!"

Ash and his friends looked amazed. "But that still doesn't explain why you were being attacked by those Pokemon Seymour." Ash said curiously. "Zubat will usually fly away from danger, what did you do to provoke them?"

Seymour grew sad. "It wasn't me that provoked them. All of the Pokemon inside of Mt. Moon have been acting extremely odd lately and also very aggressive... I don't know what is causing it either... I was inside the mountain trying to find the source of the Pokemon's distress when that flock of Zubat attacked me."

Ash looked at his friends and then Pikachu, who nodded at Ash's unspoken question. He then turned back to Seymour. "We'll help you find the cause of the Pokemon's distress Seymour."

Seymour looked up so fast it looked like he had whiplash. "Really?! You will?!"

Ash nodded his head and smiled. "Of course! If Pokemon are in danger or in any kind of crisis then I'm not going to stand by and do nothing!" He said resolutely.

"Me neither!" Misty said.

"Count me in to!" Brock chorused.

"Pika!" Pikachu added in.

Seymour started crying rivers of tears and bowed to each of them in turn, "Thank you so much my friends! Thank you thank you thank you!"

Ash and his friends sweat dropped and then followed Seymour into Mt. Moon.

...

As they walked down the tunnel leading them through Mt. Moon Ash noticed several lights strung through the cave that seemed to be making many of the nearby Pokemon around them seem very agitated. From Paras, to Sandshrew, every single one of them seemed on edge.

"Hey Seymour what is what with all of the lights strung up everywhere?" Ash asked.

Seymour turned back to look at the group following him. "Whoever is messing around here in the mountain are the ones responsible for all of these lights. As you can see, the Pokemon that dwell here aren't used to the light and so it is bothering them terribly."

Misty then spoke up, "That's terrible! These poor Pokemon are all suffering because of someones carelessness!"

Seymour sadly nodded his head. "Yes it is terrible... I just hope we can stop it."

They soon came to a fork in the road and Seymour turned to face them. "The left path is the main one and will eventually take you out of Mt. Moon. I was attacked by the Zubat down the right path there..." Seymour pointed to the path on the right that was also lit up with lights.

"I don't understand what is going on down there though... I have spent years here in Mt. Moon looking for Clefairy and the Moon Stone and that path just leads down a bunch of winding twists and turns until it hits a dead end room with solid rock walls on all sides. I suspect that the diggers who made these tunnels down here were originally going to make the road through the mountain follow the tunnel on the right, but eventually must have abandoned that idea after seeing that they couldn't get through the solid rock walls in the last room and so they opted instead to make the road follow the left tunnel."

Seymour paused for a moment and scratched his head before continuing. "The strangest thing is though... Out of all of the years I have searched down here I have only ever seen Clefairy a handful of times. Each time I have tried to follow them, hoping they would lead me to the Moon Stone. Never have I ever seen them go down the path on the left, it's always been the right. Every time I followed them down that right path I always ending up losing them. And somehow I always lose them at the same spot, right in that last dead end room... I just don't get it!"

Seymour scratched his head vigorously as Ash stepped in front of him to stare down the path. Ash spoke, "Well guys... We don't have any other options than to go down this right path and see if we can find the source of all of this trouble."

Seymour stopped his frantic scratching and looked at Ash. "Well I don't see what it will accomplish but we can try it."

Ash's friends agreed and they all decided to go down the path on the right. They had been walking very long and then Seymour stopped them. "Just in case we do happen to see a Clefairy down here can I please ask you not to try and catch it? I know it's a lot to ask considering that you are all Pokemon Trainers but with everything going on down here I don't want to upset the Pokemon any further. Are you three okay with that? I'm very sorry..."

Ash just shook his head. "Don't worry Seymour everything is okay. We understand don't we guys?" Ash turned to his friends and they all nodded their heads.

"Of course Seymour you don't have to worry about us." Brock said.

"Yes we promise Seymour." Misty chimed in.

Seymour smiled and bowed again. "Thank you all so much."

Ash just waved his hand. "No problem Seymour. Now lets go!"

Seymour nodded and then started leading the way down the path. They didn't walk very long until they all heard a sound. "Hey guys stop for a minute!" Ash said quitely. Everyone stopped and listened intently. Then they heard it. "Clef Clef Cleffa."

They all turned around and looked at one of the small branch tunnels that were literally everywhere and saw a small pinkish colored Pokemon come bouncing out in front of them, heading straight ahead in the direction that they were also going. Seymour whispered, "That's a Cleffa! Quick, everybody follow it!"

The group took off after Cleffa and followed it as the Pokemon went through several twists and turns in the tunnel until finally they came out into the dead end room Seymour had mentioned earlier. There wasn't an opening to be seen anywhere in the room, not even a hole and Cleffa was nowhere to be seen. It had just disappeared.

Seymour knelt down in a crouch position and began furiously scratching his head again. "Noooo! I can't believe I lost my chance again!" His head drooped. "I'll never find the Moon Stone now..."

Ash and his friends kept trying to find a crevice or something that Cleffa could have squeezed through. Finally Brock spoke, "There is absolutely no way to go anywhere else in this room, it's a complete dead end."

At that moment Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and bounded over to the front most rock wall of the room and began sniffing around it. Everyone looked at Pikachu in confusion (except for Seymour who was lost in his own despair) at the furiously sniffing Pokemon. Pikachu kept looking around for something that none of them could understand.

Ash addressed his Pokemon, "Hey buddy what are you looking for? Did you find something?"

Pikachu looked up at Ash, "Pikaka, pi pikachu, chu pika pi!" The Pokemon answered his Trainer.

Ash just got an excited look on his face. "Really buddy?! That's awesome keep looking!"

Seymour had finally stood up and was now watching the display in confusion as well. "You can understand that Pikachu?!" Seymore asked amazed.

Ash went over to where Pikachu was still looking around. "Of course I can. He's my Pokemon after all."

Pikachu made an excited noise and then went to a darker corner of the room. He wiggled around a little bit until his body started to slowly fade into the wall before disappearing completely.

Everyone stared in undisguised shock, all except for Ash who just seemed excited and proud of his Pokemon.

Pikachu reappeared a second later and bounded back over to Ash. "Did you find something pal?" Ash asked his starter.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said excitedly as he went over to where he previously disappeared and looked at Ash and the group expectantly.

Everyone walked over to Pikachu. "Show us what it is buddy!" Ash asked Pikachu.

Pikachu went over to the furthest corner of the front wall and started making pushing motions with his arms. Ash and Brock looked at each other and then went over to the rock wall where Pikachu was standing and got on either side of it. They both put their arms on the wall and started pushing. At first nothing happened, then the wall began to move. It started sliding across the ground towards the opposite wall as Misty and Seymour just stared in shock.

When Ash and Brock had finished pushing the wall, which was surprisingly light and easy to push, they stood back with Misty and Seymour and looked at the new tunnel they had just unveiled. Seymour just stammered, "I- I can't believe it... All this time there WAS another tunnel right here under my very nose..."

Pikachu came back over and jumped onto Ash'a shoulder. Ash looked at his Pokemon and started rubbing him under the chin. "Great work buddy! If it wasn't for you then we would have never have found this new tunnel. Thanks Pikachu!"

Pikachu just smiled happily, "Pika chu pika pi!"

And and his friends then made their way down the new tunnel, trying to find Cleffa again. The new path itself was not very tall or wide, just big enough for normal sized humans to fit through.

A short time, and many twists and turns later, Ash and the group came out into a small open cavern that had many different paths branching off in different directions. But what caught Ash's attention the most was Cleffa. The Pokemon was hunkered down in a nearby corner at the very front of the room with two men dressed all in black uniforms, long black shirts, black pants, black boots, black gloves and a black hat on their heads, standing over the Pokemon menacingly.

"Come on now little Cleffa just come with us quietly... We promise we won't hurt you" One of the men said.

"Yeah we PROMISE we won't hurt you... Hahaha." The second one added in.

Ash stepped up. "Who are you and what are you doing to that Cleffa?!" He said loudly.

The men turned around to face Ash. "What do you think your doing here?! Little kids shouldn't be down here, you might get yourself in trouble." One of the black dressed men said.

Ash got a good look at the two men and when he did he saw that they both had large red 'R's on the front of their uniforms. Ash's eyes narrowed and his anger rose to the surface. "Your members of Team Rocket..." Ash growled.

"That's right kid, and your getting your nose in places it doesn't belong. I don't know how you and your little friends made it down here to this part of the mountain but I suggest that you just turn around and go back to where you came from before things get ugly." The other guy said gruffly.

Ash just stepped forward. "Ash be careful..." Misty said as she grabbed Ash's shoulder. He turned around with murder and his eyes and softened his look when he looked at her. "Don't worry Misty I'll be fine. Someone needs to help that Cleffa and now that we know that Team Rocket are the ones behind all of this I'm going to stop them... Team Rocket aren't going to succeed in anything they try if I have anything to say about it. I swear." Ash said this with such sureness, determination and seriousness that Misty just nodded her head, trusting Ash and stepped back.

"Ash make sure that you know what your getting yourself into here." Brock cautioned. "If you mess with these guys one time then that's it. They'll never forget what you did and you WILL become their enemy."

Ash looked at Brock and nodded his head. "I know Brock and I don't care. Team Rocket have done to many terrible and foul things to people and Pokemon alike. I WON'T let them hurt the Pokemon here in Mt. Moon. These guys are going home empty handed today."

Brock was impressed by Ash's bravery and vindication and just smiled. "Then I'm right behind you Ash." He said while still smiling.

Ash also smiled and then turned back to Team Rocket. "Seymour... Stay out of this." Ash said deadly calm.

The mildly unhinged scientist just nodded his head, showing he understood.

The two Rocket Grunts looked at each other and laughed. They then looked at Ash, "Alright boy you want to mess with us? We'll show you just how foolish it is to mess with Team Rocket!"

With that the two Rockets threw two Pokeball's out in front of them. Out came a Raticate and a Koffing.

Ash observed the two Pokemon in front of him and then drew two Pokeball's from his belt. "Go Metapod, Kakuna! Show them your power!"

The two Cocoon Pokemon appeared from their balls, determined and ready for battle.

The two Grunts took one look at Ash's Pokemon and busted out laughing. "You think those two weaklings can possibly beat us!" The first grunt said.

"They won't last five minutes!" The other said.

Ash glared at the two Rockets and calmly spoke. "Well if your so confident... Then come get us."

The two Grunts laughed again and commanded their Pokemon, "Koffing Sludge attack! Raticate Hyper Fang!"

Ash smirked. "Alright you two use a max Harden." He said calmly.

Metapod and Kakuna glowed green and brown respectively just before the attacks hit. Sludge hit Metapod and Raticate clamped down on Kakuna with Hyper Fang. After the attacks were over both of Ash's Pokemon were shown to be totally fine and without a scratch on them.

Without being commanded Kakuna flipped backward and smacked Raticate underneath the chin, unlatching Raticate from his body and sending the Pokemon flying back with a loud grunt of pain.

The Grunts just stared in shock. "H-how?!" One of them said.

"That's not possible!" The other one said.

Ash didn't give them time to think. "Now you two, Tackle as hard as you can and then finish up with Bug Bite."

Ash just watched with a stoic look on his face as his Pokemon performed their attacks.

Metapod and Kakuna smashed into the Rocket Grunts Pokemon with speeds that shouldn't have been possible for two Pokemon that were still wrapped in their cocoons.

As Raticate and Koffing flew away from the force of the powerful Tackles, Metapod and Kakuna sped towards their opponents incredibly fast, showing the results of hard training.

They came up on top of Koffing and Raticate and then performed powerful Bug Bite attacks on them, followed by hard smacks to their opponents heads with the bottom end of their cacoons, smashing them into the ground.

When the dust settled Raticate and Koffing were completely unconscious. Ash looked at the two dumbfounded Rocket Grunts and spoke coldly. "What were you saying about my Pokemon not lasting five minutes? I don't think yours lasted two."

As Ash said this Metapod and Kakuna started glowing, signaling evolution.

Everyone in the cave room stared as both Pokemon continued to evolve. Once the light died down Butterfree and Beedrill were hovering in the air in place of their cocoon counterparts.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.012_

_"Butterfree: The Butterfly Pokemon"_

_"It loves the honey of flowers and can locate flower patches that have even tiny amounts of pollen."_

_"This Butterfree has the abilities: Compound Eyes and Tinted Lens"_

_"This Pokemon knows the moves: Tackle, Bug Bite, Confusion, Poisonpowder, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Gust, Supersonic and Whirlwind"_

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.015_

_"Beedrill: The Poison Bee Pokemon"_

_"Its best attack involves flying around at high speed, striking with poison needles, then flying off."_

_"This Beedrill has the abilities: Swarm and Sniper"_

_This Pokemon knows the moves: Poison Sting, Bug Bite, Fury Attack, Focus Energy, Twineedle, Rage and Pursuit"_

...

Ash let a small grin escape his lips and he quietly said to himself. "Looks like their training can really begin now."

He then looked dead at the Rocket Grunts and spoke in a voice that sounded as cold as ice. "Now that my Pokemon have thoroughly crushed your fighting spirits... get the hell out of my sight and go tell the rest of your team that's still in this mountain I'm coming for them. And... I... Will... Not... Show... Mercy."

Both of the Grunts stared at Ash in undisguised terror as a colored aura, barely visible began radiating off of Ash. Even Brock, Misty and Seymour looked afraid at the... What almost seemed like bluish energy... coming off of Ash in his angered state.

The Rocket Grunts just nodded dumbly at Ash and then took off running down the center most tunnel of the multi tunnel room.

Ash called out to his two newly evolved Pokemon while raising their Pokeballs. "Great job you two. Stand bye for now I may need you again." Butterfree and Beedrill nodded their heads in understanding and then disappeared back into their Pokeballs in a beam of red light.

Ash then knelt down by the still scared Cleffa and spoke to it. "Don't worry Cleffa I'm not going to hurt you. Can you please lead me to where the rest of Team Rocket are? We are here to save you, the rest of the Pokemon in this mountain and the Moon Stone from Team Rocket, but we don't know our way through these tunnels like you do. Can you please help us? I swear I'll protect you."

Cleffa looked at Ash for a few moments and then nodded it's head before getting up and going to stand by the same tunnel that the Rocket Grunts disappeared down. It looked at Ash intently, obviously waiting for Ash to follow it.

Ash turned back to his friends with a face of stone. "Are you guys coming?"

Everyone just looked at Ash and was still in shock at how serious and... Dead set he was right now on stopping Team Rocket. They were also thinking the same thing: _'What was that energy around Ash when he was really mad?' _None of them decided to contemplate on it though. Ash wasn't their enemy so they didn't have to worry about being hurt by him. Team Rocket though... that was another matter entirely.

Brock nodded and stepped up. "I'm with you Ash."

"Me to Ash, you can count on me." Misty said with a smile.

Seymour even spoke, though timidly. "I am to Ash. If the Pokemon that live here and the Moon Stone are really in danger from Team Rocket then I want to do whatever I can to help."

Ash nodded and then turned around. "Let's go then." He said in that same eerily calm voice.

He then followed Cleffa as she headed down deeper into the mountain. Brock, Misty and Seymour followed suit."

...

Ash ran after Cleffa as the small Pokemon led he and his friends deeper into the recesses of Mt. Moon. The whole way down Ash kept a calm and very unnervingly serious expression his face as they continued to follow the twisting tunnels. Eventually they came out into a larger room where several Team Rocket Grunts were chipping away into the walls of the mountain, looking for any new tunnel that could take them to the Moon Stone.

Ash and his friends stopped in mid-sprint and looked at what was going on. In the corner of the room were several of the Pokemon that inhabited Mt. Moon... Paras, Geodude, Sandshrew and Zubat. They were all locked up in cages looking terrified as several of the Grunts towered over them, laughing at their fear and despair.

Ash felt his vision go completely red with rage as he looked at all of the poor Pokemon who were being terrorized by Team Rocket. Ash began to shake with anger and suddenly the lights in the tunnels began dimming. The ground began to very lightly shake and the air seemed to get a little thicker. The Grunts turned to the source of the disturbance and all of them looked shocked at seeing a boy no older than ten or twelve standing there with a Pikachu on his shoulder and a group of people behind him, shaking in rage with what almost seemed like a faint blue glow surrounding his body.

Ash looked at them with fire in his eyes as he shouted. "Let those Pokemon go... RIGHT NOW!" He shouted.

Some of the Grunts looked scared after the boy's fury filled words were spoken, others however just laughed at him. "You want to play with us little boy?" One of the Rockets said.

"Bring it on!" Another finished.

Almost all of the Grunts that weren't scared to stiff to move drew Pokeballs from their sides and then threw them out to battle.

Out of the Pokeballs came several Rattata, Raticate, Zubat, Ekans, Koffing and even a Grimer.

Ash just looked at his opponents without an ounce of fear and then he looked to Pikachu. "Pikachu... Annihilate these Grunts."

Pikachu nodded his head and hopped onto the ground, facing his opponents with confidence, anger and determination on his face. "Pika!" He said loudly, showing he was ready to fight and show no mercy.

Brock and Misty came to stand by Ash, drawing their own Pokeballs. Ash just held his hands out stopping them. "What are you doing Ash? Look at all of those Pokemon, there is no way Pikachu can take them all!" Brock exclaimed with confusion evident on his face.

"Yeah Ash let us help!" Misty said pleadingly.

Ash just shook his head. "No... I don't need any help taking out these pieces of trash. I feel bad for those Pokemon having to serve people like this but... I won't let them hurt any more Pokemon here in this mountain or get to the Clefairy and their Moon Stone. Pikachu is more than capable of taking these guys and their Pokemon down. No offense but you would only get in the way guys. I'm sorry."

Brock and Misty just looked at Ash for a minute and after realizing how serious and resolute he was they backed off. Plus, after seeing him get so angry just moments before they didn't want his anger directed towards them.

Ash looked at Pikachu and commanded him just as the Grunts ordered their Pokemon to attack, "Pikachu... Thunderbolt, put a little of your Focused Lightning into it but not much. I don't want those Pokemon getting hurt." He spoke with a deadly calm that sent shivers down his friend's spines.

Pikachu's whole body started sparking as he charged his attack. "Pika..."

The charging Pokemon got closer...

"Pikaaaaa..."

By this point Pikachu's whole body was encased in a thick yellow glow. The charging Pokemon was almost upon them...

"Ash what are you waiting for?!" Misty yelled.

Ash stayed completely still until the charging Pokemon were right on top of Pikachu. "NOW PIKACHU!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu released the attack with a loud yell, "PIKAAA CHUUU!"

A powerful and large Thunderbolt suddenly lit up the whole room as the bolt struck the charging Pokemon, stopping them in their tracks. The Pokemon trapped in the bolt cried out in pain and then a huge explosion rocked the room as the bolt of sheer power exploded.

When the smoke cleared all of the Grunts Pokemon were unconscious and smoking a little bit from the powerful attack. The Rocket's took one look at their Pokemon and then looked back at Ash and Pikachu with horror in their eyes. They returned their Pokemon and slowly stepped back.

"Everybody get out of here! We need to alert commander Zetson!"

The Rocket grunts all turned away and then took off running down the tunnel farthest to the right. Ash turned to his friends, "Quick guys let's get all of these Pokemon out if their cages and follow them!"

Brock, Misty and Seymour nodded and then joined Ash in trying to open up the cages. They kept pulling at the locks on the cages, not making any head way until Brock stepped back, "Hang on guys I have an idea... Graveler we need your help, smash open these cages!"

Brock released Graveler from it's Pokeball and then the Rock-Type set to work carefully smashing the cages open. Once Graveler was done the many Pokemon that were previously trapped all came bolting out of the now open cages and then took off in fright.

Ash stood up, "Thanks Brock great idea. Alright guys let's go, we need to find the Moon Stone before Team Rocket does."

"Right!" His friends answered. Ash then turned to Cleffa. "All right Cleffa, lead on!"

The small Pokemon nodded and then took off down the same tunnel that the Rocket Grunts had just fled down. Ash and his friends took off after it, knowing time was of the essence.

...

In a large, cavernous room deep within the mountain, several Team Rocket Grunts were busy slaving away on the walls of the cavern, trying to find the tunnel that would lead them to the Moon Stone and all of the Clefairy. In one section of the large cavern were several cages filled with Pokemon that lived in and around Mt. Moon. All of them looked scared and weak from being mistreated and had a look of complete hopelessness in their eyes.

In another corner of the cavern was a large, all black drill with a big 'R' on it's side that was poised to drill through the mountains interior at a moments notice.

In the center of this room, gathered around a large table that held blueprints, lay-outs and mappings of Mt. Moon and also a large computer on it's surface, were two men. The first was a rather tall man with silver hair that was slicked down on the sides and spiked straight up on the top, he had eyes matching the color of his hair and his face was rather sharp and angular. He wore a black Team Rocket outfit that consisted of black knee high boots, black cotton pants that were tucked into his boots, a black belt wrapped around his waist, a long sleeved black shirt of some kind that almost looked like a poncho of sorts because it was so loose and free falling around his torso and a large red 'R' was in blazed upon the chest. He also wore white gloves that reached up to his elbows and since his free flowing shirt had a slight split up the middle of it you could see that he was wearing a black undershirt.

The second man was much older and had wild white hair that stuck out in all directions and also had a neatly trimmed, almost handlebar mustache on his upper lip. His face was worn and weathered looking, showing his age, and he wore glasses. He was dressed in a white lab coat that was totally buttoned up, except for a few on the very top that showed he was wearing a purple shirt under the coat. He also wore tan tan pants and had black shoes on his feet.

The two men were surrounded on all sides of the table by Grunts. The younger man suddenly spoke to the older man, his voice was smooth and almost lazy. "Dr. Zager, how much longer until we find that accursed rock? It's damp in this mountain and I want nothing more than to be done with this mission so we can get out of here. The moisture in here isn't good for my hair..."

The older man answered the younger in a somewhat higher pitched and gravely voice. "Stop your incessant complaining Zetson! You cannot rush genius and that is exactly what I'm doing here. It's not easy trying to find a fabled space rock that has been laying hidden away in this mountain for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. The Clefairy have done a surprisingly effective job hiding the metorite for all of these years. Pretty impressive considering their just a bunch of unintelligent Pokemon. There are so many paths and so many weak structural points in the rock that make up this mountain and could possibly open up to even more tunnels, one less brilliant than I could never hope to succeed in finding the meteorites location. It's a literal maze in this Arceus forsaken mountain... Luckily though, my enhanced intelligence and unrivaled Team Rocket state-of-the-art software will be able to make short work of actually finding the Moon Stones location." Dr. Zager let out a dark chuckle. "Muhahaha, it is only a matter of time until my computer pinpoints exactly where to find the rock by tracking the energy signature it's giving off, and once we do... Those wretched Clefairy stand no chance in stopping us!"

Zetson just looked bored by the crazy scientists explanation. "Rightttt... And why are we looking for some moldy old space rock again?"

Zager just huffed and looked at Zetson. "Well I honestly doubt that an imbecile like you will appreciate any sort of history but I will explain this to you anyway if for nothing more than to stop your idiotic questions!"

Zetson raised an eyebrow at being insulted and Zager shifted in his seat before speaking again. "The Moon Stone is powerful meteorite that fell from space countless years ago. The rock crash landed somewhere here in Mt. Moon... Hence the name of the mountain. What makes the stone special is it's evolutionary properties. It can, just like regular sized Moon Stones, make certain species of Pokemon evolve. However, unlike normal Moon Stones that lose their evolutionary abilities after being used once, the true Moon Stone has unlimited cosmic energy within it's core... Which basically means that there is no limit to how many times the Moon Stone can be used to make Pokemon evolve."

He turned in his seat to face Zetson. "Do you comprehend why Giovanni would want the Moon Stone now Zetson?"

The commander in question just nodded his head dumbly and whistled. "Unlimited evolutions huh? Sounds like the boss really knows what to go after. Still... I wish it didn't have to be in this forsaken mountain! My hair can't possibly hold up to all of this moisture!"

Dr. Zager grew a tick mark on the side of his head. "Shut up you fool I'm trying to concentrate! Go order around the insects for a while and leave me to my work! I can't focus with all of you and your foolish questions constantly bombarding me! Now if you please... Kindly leave me to my work and go do... Whatever you unintelligents do."

Zetson just snorted and turned away. "Fine you old gasbag! Play with your tech... I didn't ask to be sent down here you know."

The emotional commander sighed. "If only I was back at the hideout in Celadon... Playing roulette at the Game Corner, or even Black Jack with Rykon... instead I'm stuck down here with an old man that has no sense of humor!... Or fashion."

Before Zager could give a stinging reply several Rocket Grunts came running out of the entrance tunnel to the cavern they were in. The Grunts came running up to Zetson and then stopped, breathing hard. One of the Grunts spoke up after he had regained his breath. "Sir! There are a couple of kids and a crazy looking man that have stumbled upon our operation!"

Zetson raised his eyebrows. "How is that possible? I thought we were the only ones that knew the passage to get down this far into the mountain... did you take care of it?"

The Grunt suddenly started shuffling his feet, looking very nervous and embarrassed. "W-we tried sir but... One of the kids is a very strong Trainer and has some really powerful Pokemon with him... We lost commander, I'm sorry... H-he wanted me to tell you that he's coming for you and the rest of us and that he's going to stop us."

The Grunt hung his head low and Zetson just looked at him. All of a sudden he started laughing like a maniac. "Hahahaha! Whohahahaha! You mean to tell me... Hahaha... That a kid... Hahaha... Bested you and the others?! Hahahahaha! That's rich! Ohahahaha! I'm starting to feel glad I came after all! Hahahahaha!"

The Grunts just lowered their heads even further and then Dr. Zager shouted. "Zetson you need to take care of this! We can't have anyone knowing what we are doing down here. Understand?!"

Zetson just sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah yeah yeah... I'll take care of it. Sheesh, it's just one thing after another! I need a vacation..."

...

On the other end of the cavern three bumbling Rockets were busy chipping away at the cavern walls with dulled pickaxes, a joke from the other Grunts that couldn't stand Jessie, James and Meowth. To the rest of Team Rocket they were just a hindrance. The only reason they were even down here was because Giovanni wanted to send them on a mission that they could be supervised in, assuring they wouldn't screw anything up like they did in Viridian City. When the three idiots heard the other Grunts telling Zetson about the mysterious Trainer, James turned to Jessie. "Hey Jessie you don't think that this mysterious Trainer could be the twerp and his Pikachu do you?"

Jessie turned to face James. "I don't know James maybe it is... And if it is him then that means he will have his Pikachu with him!"

The smallest member of the trio jumped into the conversation. "Dats right! And if it is then dat means we get another shot at stealing dat Pikachu!"

"But how will we do it?" James asked.

"Simple." Meowth answered. "We'll wait until Commander Zetson wipes the floor with da twerp and then we'll tell the Commander that we're going to take his Pokemon and throw em' in the cages for him. He'll trust us to do it and then we'll steal Pikachu when da time is right. After that we'll get out of here and deliver it to da boss!"

"I like it Meowth!" Jessie exclaimed excitedly.

"So do I!" James agreed.

"Alright then yous twos... now all we need to do is bide our time."

"Right!" Jessie and James said in unison.

...

A Rocket Grunt lay on the ground of one of the tunnels. His Pokémon unconscious at his feet. Ash slowly walked over to the Grunt and grabbed him by the color of his shirt. "Where are the others at?! Your commander and the rest of your team? Where?!" Ash yelled at the Grunt, the faint blue glow still surrounding Ash.

The Grunt looked terrified and answered Ash. "Down this tunnel, keep following it and then take a right when you reach the fork... keep following that tunnel until you come out into a large cavern... that's where our base is. Please..."

Ash let the Grunt go and then hit him in the side of the neck, knocking the Grunt unconscious. Ash silently thanked Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan for the hundredth time and then stood back up. He looked at his friends and said calmly. "You guys ready?"

Brock, Misty and Seymour all looked at Ash with just a little trepidation after seeing the way he had been handling all of the Rocket Grunts but quickly reminded themselves why Ash was so angry. Team Rocket was hurting innocent Pokémon and that made them just as mad it made Ash. They nodded their heads showing they were ready and then Ash turned back around and signaled to Cleffa to lead on.

They followed the exact directions the Rocket Grunt had given Ash and eventually found themselves standing in a large cavern. They looked around and saw several members of Team Rocket all gathered around the cavern staring at them. Ash's attention was first brought to a corner of the cave where he saw all of the Pokémon that were trapped inside of the cages. This brought that same familiar fury rushing back to Ash at full force, making the energy around him blaze a little more brightly and cause the lights in the cavern to flicker. He then settled his gaze on the center of the room where he saw an older man furiously typing away on a computer. Ash went to move forward when a bunch of Grunts suddenly surrounded he and his friends. Ash then noticed a man dressed like the other Rocket members, only with a slightly different outfit step out of the crowd.

"So..." The man said as he stopped walking and faced Ash. "You are the one that my guys have been complaining about? Your just a little kid! Hahahaha! What is this some kind of field trip?!"

Ash just looked at the man with cold eyes. "I'm guessing your the one the Grunts from earlier called Zetson. I will tell you one time... Let the Pokemon in those cages go right now. You and the rest of your team then pack up and get out of Mt. Moon!" Ash said with venom in his voice.

Zetson was taken aback by the boy's serious tone and harshness of his words, but then started smirking. "Well then... so rude! Fine, you want to play? Let's play!" He then threw three Pokeballs out at one time. Out came a Golbat, Arbok and Sandslash.

Ash just stared at his opponents and felt that familiar feeling of calmness before a battle come over him before he drew three Pokeballs as well. "Be careful Ash... this guy is not just a normal Grunt like the rest of them... he's gonna be a lot tougher." Brock warned Ash.

"Yeah Ash please be careful..." Misty said with worry clearly showing in her words.

Ash looked at his friends and reassured them. "Don't worry guys. I have all the faith in the world in my Pokémon. We won't lose."

He then stepped out to meet Zetson. All of the Grunts and Ash's friends stepped away to give them room to battle and then Ash chose his Pokémon. "Spearow, Nidoran and Nidoran... show them what true teamwork and power really is!" In a flash of light all three Pokémon appeared ready for battle. "ROW! NIDO! RAN!" All three of Ash's Pokémon said as they came out ready to battle.

Ash was secretly very glad that he had used his Poke'Dex to swap his Butterfree and Beedrill for both Nidorans after Pikachu took down that large swarm of Pokemon that the Rocket Grunts had called on them earlier. Ash felt sure that both of his Bug-Types could have taken down any other opponent that they came across but Ash didn't want to take chances. Besides, both of his Nidorans had been training very hard at Professor Oak's and Ash wanted to see how much more they had grown.

Zetson just started laughing when he saw Ash's selection of Pokémon. "Hahahaha you expect to defeat me with those three? An undersized bird and two poisonous rabbits?! This is just priceless!"

Ash ignored the jibes and addressed his Pokémon. "Get ready guys. Don't give them an inch." His Pokémon nodded in reply and just glared at their opponents. Zetson finally stopped laughing and spoke to his own Pokémon. "Let's end this before it even begins! Arbok use Sludge Bomb! Sandslash Dig! Golbat Supersonic!"

Ash prepared himself. "Alright guys get ready! Spearow use your wings and whip a large dirt cloud! Nidoran duo... you know what to do!"

Spearow made a large dust cloud that obscured the three of them from sight just as their opponents attacks hit. "Hahaha it's over already?!" Zetson complained. "I was hoping for more of a challenge... Ohhh well."

The other Grunts laughed and Ash just smirked. "Now!" He commanded. Out of the smoke cloud came two fast blurs that hit Arbok and Golbat hard, sending them into the ground. Spearow suddenly came flying out of the smoke as well and dove straight into the hole that Sandlash had dug. A few loud thumping sounds and one large gust of wind later, Sandlash came smashing up through the ground and landed beside it's comrades. Spearow landed next to both Nidorans looking smug.

Zetson was shocked. "H-how?!" He sputtered out.

Ash called out. "After Spearow whipped up that dust cloud both of my Nidorans used it as cover and after using the males long and sensitive ears to judge where the attacks were going to hit they were able to effectively dodge them."

Zetson got over his shock and looked at his Pokémon who had just stood back up. "Come on you three stop messing around and fight!" He then pointed at Ash's Pokémon. "Sandslash use Sandstorm! Golbat Air Cutter! Arbok use Poison Sting!"

Ash was fast, "Spearow use your wings and whip up as much air as you can to keep that Sandstorm from overtaking the field! Nidoran duo, use your speed to dodge those attacks and stagger each other while your doing it! Stay close to one another so your ready for the next attack!"

Spearow launched himself into the air just as Sandslash started whipping up a powerful Sandstorm attack. Spearow kept flapping his wings hard, keeping the attack at bay.

Both Nidorans took off running at very fast speeds, dodging and weaving through Golbat and Arbok's attacks. As they ran both Nidorans kept zigzagging in and out with each other in perfect harmony, confusing their opponents.

Zetson yelled out frustrated. "Both of you use Toxic on those irritating little scraps!"

Ash shouted to the male Nidoran, "Quick hit the ground and use Double Kick to launch your partner into the air at Golbat and then use Double Kick again but this time on the ground to slide yourself away from that Toxic!" Ash commanded.

They did just that. The male Nidoran got onto his back and let the female stand on his feet. He then launched her into the air at Golbat at a side angle so she wouldn't hit the Toxic attack heading for her. He then used Double Kick again on the ground and slid himself away from both Toxic attacks that had just hit where he and the female Nidoran had been standing. The Double Kick slid Nidoran towards Arbok unintentionally and Ash took action. He first looked up at the female Nidoran who had just got launched into the air and was now heading for Golbat.

"Nidoran use Poison Sting on Golbat the whole way up and the use your forward momentum to smash into it with Tackle! From there grab onto Golbat with your teeth so you don't fall and then start using Double Kick on Golbat until you smash it into the ground!"

He turned to the male, "Nidoran use Focus Energy and then roll forward. When you get right under Arbok hit it under the chin with Double Kick! From there smash into it as hard as you can with Tackle! I want to hear that impact!"

He watched as the female Nidoran executed her attacks first. She launched Poison Sting at Golbat the whole up to it. Every needle hitting Golbat and making it cry out in pain. She then smashed into it with Tackle and then latched on with her teeth and started viciously kicking Golbat into the ground with Double Kick until they hit and cratered the ground.

The male Nidoran started rolling towards Arbok, using Focus Energy all the while until he was right on top of the snake and then popped up, hitting the Pokemon under the chin with Double Kick, making it cry out in pain. Nidoran then jumped into the snakes chest and hit it as hard as he could with Tackle, fulfilling Ash's wish of wanting to hear the crack of the hit.

Zetson watched in undisguised shock and disbelief as his Pokemon landed right near each other, grunting in pain.

Ash didn't let up. "Alright both of you! Use a combined Poison Sting on the two of them while their down and then gather as much speed as you can and then smash into them with your new moves! Headbutt!"

The Nidoran duo fired a dual Poison Sting at their downed enemies and then rushed rushed into their opponents as fast as they could and hit them with Headbutt. Ash raised his hand. "Finish this! Jump into the air and then pulverize them into the ground with Headbutt! Then stay on them and use Poison Sting until their unconscious... Max power!"

Zetson tried to command his Pokemon to do something but he was too late... Both Nidorans were already executing their attacks before Ash even finished his command. They jumped high in the air and then brought their heads down on the two shaky Rocket Pokemon's heads as hard as they could. They then stood on their opponents chests and began using Poison Sting as powerful as they could on them.

Zetson watched with his mouth agape at the absolute beating his evolved Pokemon were taking from their opponents who weren't even evolved yet.

Ash turned his attention to Spearow who was still fighting the Sandstorm valiantly, not letting it overtake the field and obscure the accuracy of the fight. Yet again Ash was glad for their extreme conditioning training. Otherwise he doubted that Spearow could have kept up the battle against the Sandstorm for as long as he had been.

"Spearow focus on Sandslash's location then break the gust you have! Fly in through the Sandstorm and take out Sandslash with Aerial Ace!"

Zetson looked between Sandslash and his other two Pokemom that were still being viciously assaulted by the Nidoran duo's Poison Sting. And it didn't look like they would hold up much longer either... "Nidoran! Both of you add Double Kick to your assault! Pound them into the ground!"

Zetson's eyes widened. '_Dammit! This kid has me backed into a corner! I can't decide what to do?! He commands his Pokemon relentlessly and never gives time for a counter strategy! And his Pokemon always obey him perfectly... Hell they are already attacking before the kid even finishes his commands to them!__ I've never seen someone so young before that was so talented! This kids insane! Gahhhhh!'__  
_

Before Zetson could do anything else Spearow came streaking through the Sandstorm at incredible speeds and smashed into Sandslash, making the Pokemon fly backwards with a cry of pain. Ash felt the feeling of battle lust overcome him and shouted out, "Spearow Fury Attack that Sandslash until it's on its knees then fly up high into the air and come down and smash Sandslash into the ground as deep as you can with one last Aerial Ace!"

Zetson made to command his Sandslash to do something and get away but was stopped by a loud cry of pain from his other two Pokemon. He began turning his head from left to right just as Spearow started pulverizing Sandslash with a vicious Fury Attack. Wild, battle hungry eyes were the only things you could see in Spearow's eyes as he continued to pound Sandslash. The Ground-Type Pokemon could take no more and fell to it's knees. Badly battered and scratched up.

Spearow showed no mercy and flew high into the air, then came careening down at insane speeds and smashed into Sandslash, pushing the poor Pokemon deep into the ground with a loud cry of pain. "SLASH!"

At the same time, both Nidorans gave one last Double Kick each and cratered their own opponents into the ground. Ash Pokemon returned to his side with that same wild hunger burning in their eyes.

When the dust cleared all three of Zetson's Pokemon were completely unconscious. Zetson fell to his knees in disbelief and just knelt their staring off into space. "I-impossible... How could I lose? It's just not..." He then went silent. All of the Rocket Grunts were in complete disbelief that their commander had been so thoroughly annihilated by a kid!

Brock, Misty and Seymour just continued to stare unblinking at the carnage they just witnessed. The same thought crossed their minds, '_That was... Unbelievable!'_

Ash made to go and congratulate his Pokemon when all three of them looked to the sky and called their names loudly. "SPEAROWWW! NIDOOO! RANNNN!" In that same moment they all began to glow and change shape.

When the evolution died down three larger and much more powerful looking Pokemon stood in place of Spearow and both Nidorans. A strong and fierce looking Fearow hovered in mid-air with a scary and extreme look in his eyes. The Nidoran duo had evolved into two larger and much stronger looking Nidorina and Nidorino. They both had just as equally of an intimidating and battle hungry look in their eyes as Fearow did.

Ash smiled widely and instantly pulled his Poke'Dex out and scanned his newly evolved Pokemon.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.022_

_"Fearow the Beak Pokemon"_

_"It has the stamina to fly all day on its broad wings. It fights by using its sharp beak."_

_"This Fearow has the abilities Keen Eye and Sniper"_

_"This Pokemon knows the moves Fury Attack, Gust, Whirlwind, Air Cutter, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Mirror Move, Agility, Roost and Drill Peck"_

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.030_

_"Nidorina: The Poison Pin Pokemon"_

_"When it senses danger, it raises all the barbs on its body. These barbs grow slower than Nidorino's."_

_"This Nidorina has the the abilities Poison Point, Rivalry and Hustle"_

_"This Pokemon knows the moves: Headbutt, Double Team, Double Kick, Poison Sting, Toxic Spikes and Crunch"_

* * *

_Poke'Dex Entry No.033_

_"Nidorino: The Poison Pin Pokemon"_

_"It has a violent disposition and stabs foes with its horn, which oozes poison upon impact."_

_"This Nidorino has the abilities: Poison Point, Rivalry and Hustle"_

_"This Pokemon knows the moves: Headbutt, Focus Energy, Poison Jab, Double Kick, Horn Attack, Toxic Spikes and Double Team"_

...

Ash looked proudly at his Pokemon and once again was reminded of the benefits of hard training. Most people would say that his Pokemon evolved way to fast, but Ash knew that hard training and the integrated methods in which he trained his Pokemon was how and why they evolved so fast. They literally needed to evolve to their furthest evolutions so their bodies could handle all of the strain that Ash's training programs put on their bodies.

"Great job guys that was a great battle and I am very proud of you!" Ash called out to his Pokemon. They nodded their heads in acknowledgement to Ash's praise but kept their focus on Team Rocket. Ash suddenly got deadly serious again and turned his attention back to Team Rocket. Zetson was still on his knees in complete shock and disbelief that he had lost. The rest of the Grunts just looked scared and nervous.

Dr. Zager stood up from his chair and came to stand in front of the rest of the Grunts and Zetson. He looked down at Zetson and scowled. "You call yourself a commander?! You are pathetic Zetson! Can't even defeat a child!"

Zager looked at the rest of the Team Rocket members in the cavern and commanded them, "What are you all doing standing around?! Stop that insolent little brat and his friends!"

The Grunts just looked between each other, none of them wanting to go up against someone who had so completely destroyed their commander. Zager got even more furious. "What are you waiting for?! I told you to stop them! NOW!" Otherwise Giovanni will hear about this!"

The Grunts all suddenly shot to attention. As much as they may have been afraid of going up against Ash, they were even more terrified of their boss. They all drew their Pokeballs and with loud shouts of "GO!" Released a large battalion of Pokemon that outnumbered Ash and his friends badly.

Ash's Pokemon looked ready to battle but Ash just shook his head. "I know you guys could beat all of these Pokemon but I want to end this quickly. So please return."

The Pokemon reluctantly nodded their heads and then Ash called them back. He then turned to Pikachu. "Alright buddy... It's your turn."

Pikachu got an ominously scary look in his eyes and then bounded down off Ash's shoulder and stood ready to battle. Completely calm and unafraid. The Grunts ordered their Pokemon to attack and Pikachu got ready. Ash'a eyes turned steely. "Alright Pikachu. Charge up Thunderbolt and mix it with Focused Lightning. Make it stronger than you did earlier but don't hurt the Pokemon. It's not their fault who their forced to serve."

Pikachu nodded and began sparking his cheeks. His whole body started glowing yellow as he began calling his name. "Pika... Pika... PIKA... PIKACHU!"

An insanely powerful and widespread Thunderbolt was expelled from the yellow mouse's body and struck each and every one of the Grunts Pokemon. They began screaming in agony from the powerful Thunderbolt that was shocking them and eventually the lightning exploded.

The smoke cleared and showed all of the Pokemon that was charging Pikachu unconscious. The Grunts all gaped in undisguised horror and returned their Pokemon before backing away from Ash, shaking in fear.

Zager was so furious, his face turned the same shade of purple as the shirt under his lab coat. "YOU ARE ALL COMPLETELY HOPELESS! YOU CAN'T EVEN DEFEAT A SIMPLE CHILD! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

...

Off in a corner of the cavern Jessie, James and Meowth stayed huddled away from the ongoing confrontation. Trying desperately to not draw any attention to themselves. "I-I think we need to reconsider trying to steal Pikachu this time Jessie..." James said, clearly scared from the display of sheer power that Ash and his Pokemon just displayed.

Jessie looked at James and slowly nodded her head. "Yes that's a good idea James! Besides... If we leave now we'll have other opportunities to steal Pikachu right?" Meowth suddenly spoke up, "But how are we gonna get out of here widout gettin' stopped by the rest of the team or da twerps?" James suddenly pointed in front of them. "Look!" He said pointing to the Team Rocket drill that was in the farthest corner of the cave. "Maybe we can use that to escape. What do you think Jessie? Meowth?"

"That's brilliant James!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Yeah I'm sure I can take control of that tang!" Meowth said.

The three Rockets then slowly made their way towards the drill. Meanwhile Ash had stepped up to Dr. Zager. "Alright that's it! You've all been beaten, now release all the Pokemon you've stolen and leave this mountain now!" He demanded fiercely. Zager stared at Ash with anger burning in his eyes. "LISTEN YOU INSOLENT LITT-"

At that very moment a loud rumbling sound suddenly came from the farthest end of the cavern. They all turned their heads and saw the Team Rocket drill come barreling towards them at high speeds. "EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE WAY NOW!" Ash yelled to his friends as they all jumped out of the way of the large drill that had just rolled right over where they once stood. The machine hit the cavern wall and became stuck. "James you idiot what are you doing?! Get us out of here!" Jessie yelled loudly.

"I'm trying Jessie be quite! It's stuck and won't budge!" James shouted back.

"I don't care what yous twos do just get us out of here before dey stop us!" Meowth yelled, waving his arms in the air frantically.

"James just dig through the wall!" Jessie said.

"I'm trying but it won't work! The drills jammed!" James said as he started pounding the wheel furiously.

"What are you imbeciles doing?!" The evil scientist shouted. "Get out of there right now!"

Ash and Misty looked surprised. "Those three are here too?!" Misty said shocked.

"Who?" Brocked asked confused.

"The first time I ever ran into Team Rocket was in Viridian City. It was just those three and they tried to steal the Pokemon from the Viridian Pokemon Center. Me and Pikachu stopped them and saved the Pokemon. I didn't think I would be seeing them here though." Ash answered.

Suddenly the drill came to life and started digging into the cavern wall. However, the back of the drill suddenly hit one of the support beams that Team Rocket had placed to keep the cavern roof from collapsing while they dug into the mountain, and smashed the beam. James lost control of the drill. It rebounded off the wall it was drilling into, causing it to start smashing into more of the support beams.

"Fools! Get out of there now before you bring this whole cavern down on top of us!" Zager shouted.

James kept trying to regain control of the machine but it wouldn't respond. "James turn this thing off!" Jessie yelled at him while clutching her seat in terror.

"I can't! It won't work!" James replied back with fear dripping from his voice.

Ash looked to Pikachu. "We have to stop that thing before it destroys anymore of those beams... Pikachu use a Thunderbolt on the drill and try to short circuit it!"

"Pika!" Pikachu answered as he ran up to the drill and unleashed a strong electric bolt that hit the drill and began frying it's circuits. "WAHHHHH!" The Rocket Trio from inside the machine yelled as they were electrocuted as well. The drill went haywire and slammed against the cavern wall again, making the doors fly off, sending the idiotic Rockets flying out of the machine. Before anything else could be done the roof of the cavern began to rumble and large pieces of the ceiling started to fall.

"Oh no the roof is coming down!" Seymour shouted terrified.

Ash and his friends suddenly had to jump out of the way of a particularly large piece of ceiling that fell right where they had been standing. Zager realized the danger and yelled out to the other Rockets, "Get out of here now fools! The ceiling isn't going to last much longer!" All of the Grunts started running frantically for the exit, trying to save themselves from being buried alive. Zager went running for his computer only for a large chunk of ceiling to fall onto it, smashing it. "NOOO! My data!" Zager yelled. He growled and turned around to look at Zetson, who was still on his knees in a daze. "Don't just sit there you idiot! Let's get out of here!" Zager shouted. Zetson looked up with glazed eyes and then realized what was going on. He shot up instantly and looked at Zager. "Right... come on let's go." The deflated commander said as he took off with Dr. Zager towards the exit tunnel.

Ash looked to his friends. "Come on guys let's set the Pokemon in those cages free and then get out of here!"

"Right!" They chorused.

Ash, Misty, Brock, Seymour, Pikachu and Cleffa and also Brock's Graveler, all started to work at freeing the Pokemon. Once they were done the now freed Pokemon all took off for the exit of the cave, blocking Zetson and Dr. Zager from being able to get through due to the many Pokemon now trying to escape at one time. Ash and his friends all headed for the exit as well. Just as the last Pokemon made it through the exit Zetson and Zager finally made it through and then stopped and turned to look at Ash and his friends. Zager gave them a hateful and wicked look. "You may have stopped us from getting the Moon Stone you brats! But now you won't live to ever interfere with us again!" From his pocket the crazy doctor pulled a small, square device from his pocket that had a big red button on the top of it. "So long you meddlesome pests!" He then pushed Zetson the rest of the way through the tunnel and then stepped over to the other side himself before pressing the button on the device and throwing it at the ceiling of the exit tunnel.

With a loud 'BOOM!" The device exploded, making the tunnel collapse in on itself. Ash and his friends ran as fast as they could towards the exit but were too late. The last thing they saw on the other side was Dr. Zager's smirking face as the tunnel completely collapsed. Sealing them inside of the crumbling cavern.

"No!" Ash shouted as he pounded the rock. It couldn't end this way! He hadn't even got to experience the joy's of really being a Pokemon Trainer yet... he would never win a league, catch anymore Pokemon... nothing. He would never see his mom or Professor Oak again and to make it worse... all of his Pokemon, Brock, Misty and Seymour were also going to die with him. "This can't happen! It can't end like this!" Ash yelled again as banged his fists against the caved in tunnel. Brock and Misty just rested their hands on Ash's shoulder and Pikachu rubbed Ash's cheek, trying to comfort him.

Suddenly Seymour got their attention. "Hey guys look at Cleffa!"

Everyone turned to look and saw Cleffa on the other side of the cavern, near the very front. She was standing near some large rocks and was motioning them over with her hands in a quick motion. Confused the friends all ran over to Cleffa, dodging the falling chunks off ceiling as they ran. When they got to Cleffa she started pointing at the large pile of rocks madly with her hands. "Clef Clef Cleffa!" It said hurriedly.

Ash was confused but bent down to examine the rock pile for himself. He started feeling around everywhere and suddenly felt a cool breeze blow against his face from the other side of the rocks. His eyes got wide. "Hey guys there is another way out through behind these rocks I think!"

Brock bent down next to Ash and felt the breeze for himself. "Your right Ash!" Brock said as he stood up.

"But how are we supposed to get through?!" We'll never be able to move these rocks in time!" Misty yelled while looking at the falling ceiling.

Brock drew a Pokeball. "Leave that to me! Onix get these rocks out of the way!" He said as he released his large Rock-Type. Onix wasted no time and with a couple thrusts of it's tail and smashes with it's head, the rocks were cleared away. Brock returned Onix and everyone looked at what the Pokemon had uncovered. A small little hole, just big enough for all of them to fit into was shown in the wall and instantly Cleffa went down into it. Not hesitating at all Ash followed Cleffa, squeezing through the hole and calling back to his friends, "Come on guys hurry!"

Just as Seymour made it into the hole, the cavern completely caved in, trapping the group inside of the tiny tunnel and forcing them to keep going forward... wherever it may lead.

...

Ash and his friends crawled after Cleffa through the tiny little passageway. Literally dragging themselves through the small tunnel on their stomachs as the tunnel curved every which way. It was pitch black, the only thing they could do was keep in contact with one another as they crawled so they didn't get lost. Cleffa kept it's tail on Ash's nose so he knew where to go as he followed it, since he was up front. The tunnel was small and the ceiling so low that Pikachu couldn't stay on Ash's shoulder and instead stayed in the crook of Ash's chest and crawled along with him. They all had removed their backpacks since they couldn't keep them on their backs because of the very low ceiling and instead opted to attach the straps to their shoes and drag the packs along behind them. Misty would hold onto Ash's pack so she didn't lose him and Brock and Seymour repeated the same process.

Eventually they came to a stop. Ash couldn't see what Cleffa was doing since they were in total darkness but he could tell that the Pokemon was now right by his head. He could make out Cleffa doing what he thought was punching motions with it's hands and Ash reached out his hand in front of him. He felt a wall in front of him that signaled a dead end. He almost panicked until he saw Cleffa make those same punching motions with it's hands again. Or at least... what Ash thought was punching motions in the pitch dark. He reared back his hand and punched his arm forward. He instantly felt his arm go forward through the wall and into loose dirt. He put both of his hands forward and started scrapping his hands at the wall until it finally gave way and a small opening was revealed.

Ash crawled through the small opening and instantly fell forward out of the tunnel. His friends following close behind. When Ash got up and looked around he noticed that they were in a much larger tunnel that went in a right and left direction. Looking back at where they came from he was surprised to see that it was nothing more than a small hole in the wall of this much larger tunnel. Ash marveled that they were able to fit the way they did while he waited for his friends to get on their feet.

"Wow..." Misty said in surprise. "Where are we now? This tunnel looks different than the others."

"I don't know..." Answered Ash, who was in puzzlement himself.

"I'm just glad to be out of there and still be alive!" Brock said as he stretched his back.

Seymour was studying the structure of the walls in this new tunnel and said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "This tunnel is definitely much different than any of the others I have ever seen here in Mt. Moon... the mineral deposits in these walls are so bountiful and the composition of the dirt here is very rich, I can tell."

Suddenly Cleffa called to them from the right hand direction of the tunnel, wanting them to follow. Ash and his friends picked up there packs and followed it. As they continued down the newly discovered tunnel they suddenly got the feeling that they were going up. All of a sudden the tunnel stopped. A huge boulder was blocking their path. "Now what?" Misty asked.

Cleffa hopped up to the boulder and started calling out, "Clef Cleffa Clef Clef!"

Ash and his friends watched in amazement as the large boulder suddenly started rolling to the side and after a few moments come to a stop. A large opening was now revealed and standing in the middle of the wide opening was two Clefairy with their fingers pointed in the air. "Clefairy!" Seymour exclaimed, pointing his finger at the two Pokemon. Cleffa ran up to both Clefairy and began speaking to them very fast while pointing at the four humans and Pikachu. The Clefairy nodded their heads when Cleffa finished speaking and then waved their hands to Ash and his friends, signaling them to follow.

After following the Clefairy for a some time through the new passage, they suddenly saw another wide opening with light coming from the end. They walked in through the opening and their jaws almost dropped at what they saw. They were in a large room that had a small hole in the ceiling, letting shine down into the cavern. Or in this case, moonlight, since it was proven to be night time outside of the mountain now. Clefairy were bouncing all around the room, interacting with each other and even playing together in some cases. But what drew the sight of the group the most was what the Clefairy were all congregating around the most. In the center of the room, situated on a flat slab of rock was a huge and majestic looking rock that looked very much like both a meteorite and also a much larger version of the small Moon Stones that were very well known. The rock radiated a kind of power that was so brilliant it almost glowed blue in the moonlight. On the top of the rock was a cover of moss that blanketed the entire top side of it.

Seymour just stumbled forward. "Th-the M-Moon S-Stone?! It's actually here! I have finally found it! Hahaha!" He started jumping around, which made Ash and his friends sweat drop at the sight. "It's beautiful..." Misty said in awe.

"It sure is..." Brock agreed as he gazed upon it as well.

Ash walked up to Cleffa. "Wow Cleffa thank you so much for saving us and bringing us here to see this... it's amazing!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu chirped up.

Cleffa just beamed in happiness. "Clef Clef!"

Suddenly a Pokemon that was bigger than all of the other Clefairy in the room, a Clefable, came walking out from behind the Moon Stone. It walked up to stand in front of Ash and his friends with several Clefairy flanking it. It didn't look very happy at having humans with them and started talking animatedly to Cleffa in almost a scolding fashion. Cleffa wouldn't back down and talked right back to Clefable, all the while pointing to Ash and his friends and making crazy hand gestures with it's hands. Ash just looked at everyone else and shrugged his shoulders before walking up to the debating Pokemon. He knelt down in front of them, Clefable and it's Clefairy studied him with a weary eye. "Listen you guys, I promise that neither me nor any of my friends are here to harm you or your Moon Stone. Heck, me and my Pokemon just finished fighting off an evil group of people who did want to take your Moon Stone and all of you as well. I promise that we are friends." Ash finished with a big smile on his face that Pikachu and the rest of Ash's friends mirrored.

Clefable considered what Ash said for a long moment and looked to Cleffa for confirmation. The small nodded her head vigorously, showing that it was the truth. Clefable then smiled and patted Cleffa on the back, smiling at the smaller Pokemon. It then turned to Ash and his friends and also smiled at them. "Clefa Clef Clefable Clefa Clef."

Ash took that us Clefable's way of thanking them for what they did to protect them and just smiled and shook his head. "No need to thank me Clefable, it was our pleasure to help you and we would do it again. Friends?"

He held out his hand and Clefable took it, shaking Ash's hand. "Clefable!" It said while still smiling.

Ash smiled back and then suddenly all of the Clefairy started getting excited. Ash looked towards the source of what was causing their sudden excitement and noticed that the Moon Stone had begun glowing a very bright blue. The air seemed to radiate a form of energy and the moonlight that was bathing the cave in light almost seemed to be a shade of blue in itself.

"What's going on?" Misty said in confusion.

"I think this is the power of the Moon Stone! Were going to see it first hand!" Seymour exclaimed excitedly.

As the group watched the events before them unfold several of the Clefairy began doing a strange dance around the Moon Stone, perfectly in synch with each other. One by one each Clefairy would end their dance by reaching up and touching the glowing Moon Stone. After doing so, the Clefairy would suddenly begin evolving, changing shape into their final forms, Clefable. Ash pulled out his 'Pokemon Researcher' journal from his pack and began furiously scribbling notes into it, desperately needing to record this moment. By the time the ritual was over, half of the Clefairy in the cave had now been evolved into Clefable.

Ash and his friends just continued to stare in awe at what they had just seen. Seymour broke the silence with a sudden shout. "That was amazing! After all of the years I have spent looking for Clefairy and the Moon Stone my journey is finally complete! I actually got to see the power of the Moon Stone for myself! This is great!"

"With a power like that it's no wonder Team Rocket wanted to steal the Moon Stone." Brock said thoughtfully.

"Yeah can you imagine if they would have gotten their hands on this thing?... That would have been horrible!" Misty said shivering a little.

"Well they didn't get it. And they never will. Those three idiots from Team Rocket made sure of that when they brought the cavern down that lead to here." Ash said matter-of-factly.

"Huh, I guess they were good something after all eh Ash?" Brock said to his friend.

Ash just grinned. "Yeah I guess they were. Whadya know?" He then turned serious again. "I just hope that cavern was really the only way to get here after all..." He was thinking about the tunnel they had ended up in after crawling through that tiny little hole. Cleffa took them down the right side of the tunnel. There was still the left side of that tunnel that went who knows where? He didn't know why but it made Ash get a weird feeling that something could still happen.

Suddenly Seymour came up to them, breaking Ash from his thoughts. "My friends I just wanted to say thank you. If not for you I would never have gotten to achieve my life long long dream and the Clefairy and the Moon Stone would probably be in Team Rocket's hands right now. Thank you very much."

Ash smiled at the wacky man. "No problem Seymour, we were glad to help and I'm glad you achieved your dream finally. What are you going to do now though since you have finally realized your goal, if you don't mind me asking."

Seymour grinned widely and replied, "I'm going to stay here with the Clefairy and study the Moon Stone some more. I have never really fit in out the real world before... And I just feel as though my place is here."

Ash nodded his head in understanding. "Well then Seymour I wish you the best."

Before Seymour could say anything else the lead Clefable came up to Ash with three regular sized Moon Stones in it's hands. "Clefable!" The Pokemon said as it pushed the Moon Stones towards Ash. He looked at the rocks and then at Clefable. "For me?" Ash asked confused. The Pokemon nodded. "Clef Clefable!"

Ash smiled and took the Moon Stones. "Thank you very much. I'll never forget this Clefable!"

The Pokemon nodded it's head and then had it's attention drawn to Cleffa, who was pulling on Clefable's arm. Ash put the Moon Stones in his pack and then watched in confusion as Cleffa urgently spoke to it's leader. The Clefable looked over at Ash and then back to Cleffa. It nodded it's head with a smile on it's face and then Cleffa jumped into the air happily and ran over to Ash. The small Pokemon began frantically talking to Ash and making hand gestures with it's hands. Ash didn't get it until Cleffa pointed to the Pokeballs on Ash's belt.

Ash went eyed with understanding and addressed Cleffa. "Do you want to come with me and be my Pokemon Cleffa?" The Pokemon nodded it's head vigorously and began chanting happily, "Clef Clef Cleffa!" Ash smiled but then remembered something as he turned to Seymour. "Hey Seymour I know that we told you we wouldn't capture any of the Clefairy while we were here but ahh..."

Seymour just raised his hand. "Cleffa wants to go with you Ash! I don't have a problem with it at all. If anyone will take care of it I know it's you my friend."

Ash smiled at Seymour, nodding his thanks and then reached for one of his Pokeballs. "Alright then Cleffa! Welcome to the team!" Cleffa smiled widely and then Ash touched the Pokeball to the Pokemon's head. It was sucked inside and didn't struggle as the capture was completed.

Ash smiled and turned to Pikachu and the rest of his friends, "Another one for the team you guys!" He said happily.

Pikachu called his name in excitement and Ash's friends congratulated him. Ash smiled inwardly and thought to himself as he looked at Cleffa's Pokeball, '_Another friend and another soon to be powerful addition to my team... Thank you Arceus.'_

_..._

Ash and his friends stood at the exit of Mt. Moon. Seymour and the Clefairy and Clefable stood with them, seeing their new found friends off. Ash spoke to them, "Well guys it's been really great. Seymour I'm really glad you realized your dream and as for you guys..." Ash said as he looked at the assembled Pokemon. "I'm really glad we were able to stop Team Rocket from hurting you all and taking your Moon Stone. I can't begin to say just how much I appreciate you welcoming us into your home and showing us the Moon Stone. We'll never forget it... thank you."

"Yeah thanks a lot you guys, I hope to see you around sometime." Brock said from beside Ash.

"I do to, you all are great!" Misty chorused from Ash's other side.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said from atop Ash's shoulder.

The Clefairy and Clefable all cheered happily and Seymour spoke, "It was a pleasure meeting you three as well. And thank you again. If not for you Team Rocket would have succeeded and I would have never found my true place. I'm proud to call you my friends."

Ash and his friends smiled and then Ash turned to look at Cleffa, who he had let out so it could say good-bye to it's friends. "Ready to go Cleffa?" Ash said.

Cleffa looked up at Ash and nodded happily. Taking one last look at it's friends and home it went over to Ash and let him return it to it's Pokeball. With their good-byes said, Ash and company headed out of Mt. Moon and continued on the road to Cerulean City. Waving back at their new friends as Seymour and the Pokemon did the same. As Mt. Moon started to fade into the distance Ash looked over at Brock. "How long until we reach Cerulean Brock?"

Brock looked at the map again and then checked his watch. "We should be there by tomorrow morning."

Ash nodded his head and Misty looked excited. "Ready to see your sisters again Misty?" Ash asked.

Misty shook her head and replied, "No I'm just anxious to see how well the gym is doing and make sure my sisters haven't run it into the ground."

"I didn't even know you had any sisters Misty. "Brock told her. "Let alone that their the gym leaders of Cerulean City."

"Yeah you didn't tell me your sisters were the leaders of a Pokemon Gym Misty." Ash chimed in.

The girl scratched the tip of her nose nervously. "Yeah guys sorry it just kind of slipped my mind..." She fidgeted with her hair for a little bit before speaking again."I was actually the main leader of the gym before I decided to start traveling on my own. My sisters are kind of like the back-up gym leaders when I'm away. And like I said, their not as... serious about it as I am."

Brock seemed confused. "Are they bad gym leaders?" He asked.

Misty contemplated for a few moments before responding, "Well... their kind of... overly obsessed with their appearances and the Water-Pokemon shows that they put on at the gym. Being the gym leaders was never really their thing, it was always mine. I'm just afraid they may have let the gym itself go while they have been focusing on their shows... I hope not though."

"Don't worry Misty I'm sure it's not that bad." Ash comforted her with a smile.

Misty smiled back and replied, "Yeah maybe your right. They may surprise me... or leave me horribly depressed." She said this with a downcast expression and a dark rain cloud over her head causing Ash, Pikachu, Brock and eventually even Misty to start laughing. With their spirits high from their fit of mirth the group of kids plus Pikachu continued down the road.

...

Evening was drawing near as Ash and the gang stopped by the side of the road to set up camp for the night. Brock was making supper for them and their Pokemon while Misty was checking on her own Pokemon. Ash had released his Pokemon shortly after they arrived and put them to work doing their last bout of training for the day. Currently Ash was preparing to set Cleffa up on it's own training regimen. Since Cleffa was technically a Johto region Pokemon and the Kanto and Johto regions were connected, Ash's Poke'Dex luckily had info on the Pokemon.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.173_

_"Cleffa: The Star Shape Pokemon"_

_"According to rumors, Cleffa are often seen in places where shooting stars have fallen."_

_"This Cleffa has the abilities: Cute Charm, Magic Guard and Friend Guard"_

_"This Pokemon is female and knows the moves: Pound, Sing, Sweet Kiss, Copycat and Magical Leaf"_

...

Ash had to admit that he was impressed with Cleffa's move set and abilities. He put his Poke'Dex away and spoke to Cleffa, "Well Cleffa, unfortunately you won't be able to learn anymore moves until you evolve into Clefairy. Until then we are going to work on honing and perfecting the moves you already know and as for the rest of the training... we are going to work you hard on extreme physical conditioning, battle strategies, type disadvantage training and also team work training like I work all of my Pokemon in. Honestly the only thing we won't be able to work training wise right now is learning more moves. But that can wait, no problems there. Whadya say Cleffa, You ready to start getting stronger?!"

Cleffa gave a determined nod and then they started training.

Two hours later Ash and his Pokemon were finished training and had joined Brock, Misty and their Pokemon around the camp fire to eat. Cleffa took to her new nutrition plan perfectly fine and settled in with Ash's other Pokemon just fine. He had to switch out Fearow to keep Cleffa but it was worth it. Fearow could still train intensely back at Professor Oak's Lab so he didn't mind being sent back. Ash could say with confidence that after seeing Cleffa train he knew that she would eventually become quite a powerful asset to his team. It was just a matter of time.

Ash decided to break the silence. "Hey Brock."

"Yeah Ash?" Brock answered.

"I've been thinking about something you said... about all of the other gyms in Kanto. You know besides the original eight?"

Brock looked interested and turned to face Ash, "Yes I remember what about it?"

Ash looked serious as he said the next part, "I have decided that I am going to challenge every gym in Kanto and win all of the badges. It'll be a big accomplishment and it will really help me and my Pokemon prepare for the Indigo League."

Brock and Misty both looked surprised. "That is really going to be a lot of work Ash are you sure?" Misty asked Ash.

He nodded his head. "Yes Misty I'm sure. I want to be the greatest there has ever been, or ever will be. If I am going to accomplish that then I am going to have to do things that most Trainers have never even dreamed of doing before. So yes... I'm absolutely sure."

Brock and Misty shared a look and then they smiled. Brock looked at Ash again, "Well then Ash, if this is what you want to do then I'm behind you."

"Me too Ash!" Misty said.

Ash smiled at his friends. "Thanks guys that means a lot... I really appreciate it."

He looked at Pikachu. "What do you say buddy? Are you ready to show the Kanto gyms just what we are made of?!"

"Pika Pi, Pikachu!" Pikachu answered with his fist raised in determination. Ash smiled and nodded and then they all finished their supper. After clearing the dishes and setting up the sleeping bags the three friends settled down for a restful nights sleep. The adventures and events that happened in Mt. Moon still fresh in their memories as they off drifted to sleep.

...

"Yeah we're here!" Ash said excitedly as Ash, Misty and Brock took their first steps into Cerulean City. It was still morning by the time they arrived and yet the city was bustling with activity.

"We made really good time." Brock said as he looked at his watch and noticed the time was only 9:30.

"Ahh it's good to be home!" Misty said joyfully. "Come on guys I'll lead us to the Pokemon Center!" Ash and Brock nodded and then followed Misty as she led the way through her home town. After about ten minutes they arrived at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center and went inside. Walking up to the Nurse Joy at the front desk the three friends requested to have their Pokemon treated. Ash handed over Pikachu and his Pokeballs before then asking Nurse Joy, "Excuse me miss can we please have two rooms for the week?"

"Why do we need rooms for a week Ash?" Brock asked his friend.

Ash turned to face Brock and answered him, "I want to spend all this week training my Pokemon until I challenge the gym. I think it's time I up my Pokemon's training and this week will be a good time to do it."

Brock nodded and then Nurse Joy handed Ash the room keys, "Here you go young man, enjoy your stay in Cerulean City! We will notify you when your Pokemon are ready for pick-up." She said with a smile. Ash returned the smile and then thanked the nurse before they went up to their rooms.

Ash called his mom and Professor Oak on his Xtransceiver and let them know that he and his friends had arrived safely in the city. Obviously leaving out the dangerous parts that happened in Mt. Moon and then he retired to bed. Anxious for the long week of training ahead of he and his Pokemon.

(Time-Skip:Next Day)

After getting up early the next morning and stopping by the local Poke'Mart to stock up on travel supplies, Ash made his way out of the city to spend the day training his Pokemon.

Ash had made it to the outskirts of the city and now stood in a large, barren space with his Pokemon gathered around him. He currently had Pikachu, Roselia, Pidgeotto, Mankey, Raticate and Cleffa with him. They were going to begin their tougher training schedule today and spend all day on it. Brock and Misty both had separate things to do in the city and so Ash was free to do nothing but train. "Alright you guys!" Ash said to his Pokemon authoritatively as they all snapped to complete attention. "We are going to start training even harder today! All of the training drills will remain the same but the intensity of everything we do is going to increase greatly. All of you here except for Cleffa and Mankey have already reached one of your evolutionary stages or is already completely evolved. This means that your bodies will now be able to take a lot more punishment, which we will deliver to it! I want us to not just beat but destroy the gym at the end of this week!"

Ash's Pokemon called out loudly in agreement and then Ash held his hand up. "You are all doing great and I'm very proud of you but there is ALWAYS room for improvement! Your reaction time on when I call out commands in battle is very good, but I want it to be perfect. I want us to be so fast when we battle that we give our opponents no time for recovery or a chance to breath. From the time the battle starts until the time it's finished I don't want there to be a pause until your opponents are unconscious and cratered into the ground. I don't want you injuring your opponents but I don't want you showing even an ounce of mercy to them either, rather they are friend or foe! I want your battle styles to be harsh, aggressive, unkind and unforgiving, completely brutal! When our opponents face us I want them to know the TRUE meaning of fear and despair. I want them to know that they can't beat us! I want you to be able to battle without me giving a command, relying completely on your natural instincts, training and abilities. I see how when you all battle you get that thirsty look in your eyes... begging for more. I want you to embrace that! Give in to that hunger for battle and let it drive you in ways that most people would say is impossible. You control your mind and body not the other way around! If you refuse to give up and fall unconscious... if you embrace the pain being dealt to your bodies while in battle then it will turn you into something no one has ever seen before."

Ash paused and looked his Pokemon dead in the eyes with a drop dead serious expression. "You will become unbeatable machines that no one will ever hope to stand against. Do you want to show the world your true power and stand above everyone else?! Then this is how you do it, this is where you will make your mark on the world! You will stand above the weak and you will destroy the strong! You will become wraiths in the minds of your opponents... you will be feared... you will become legends!

By the end of his speech all of Ash's were crying there names as loudly as they could and had a fire in their eyes that was so hot and extreme anyone foolish enough to try and extinguish it would burn into nothing. "Are you ready?! THEN LET'S GO! AHHHHHH!" Ash yelled out loudly one last time. With his upraising speech completed... the hell on earth training began.

...

It was late in the evening and darkness had long since fallen over the city. Brock and Misty were currently sitting in the lobby of the Pokemon Center. Well... Brock was sitting, Misty was pacing back and forth in a bit of a frantic. "Misty would you calm down?" Brock said after seeing Misty make her tenth pass past their table.

She stopped and looked at Brock. "I can't help it Brock! What if something has happened to Ash? What if Team Rocket has caught up with him and are now trying to get back at him for what he did to them in Mt. Moon?!" She fretted while waving her arms in the air as a gesture of how worried she was.

Brock just shook his head and crossed his arms. "Don't worry Misty I'm sure Ash is fine. You know how consumed he gets when he's training with his Pokemon. He probably just lost track of time. I'm sure he will be here any moment..."

No sooner did those words leave Brock's mouth and the doors of the Pokemon Center opened up. Brock and Misty looked to see who it was and saw Ash limping towards them. His track suit was dirty and scuffed up and he looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. Pikachu was barely hanging off of Ash's shoulder, looking just as exhausted and beat up as his Trainer.

Brock and Misty both looked shocked at Ash and Pikachu's appearance. "Ash what happened to you?!" Misty said in horror.

Ash just smiled weakly at his friends, "Ahh you know guys... Training."

Misty looked taken aback. "Training?! You mean to tell me that you did this to YOURSELF?!"

Ash went over and stood by the counter, ringing the bell for Nurse Joy while clutching his side. "Yeah... I decided it was time that me and my Pokemon upped are training to the next level since almost all of them have evolved."

Brock spoke this time. "And who did that to you." He said while pointing to Ash's beat up body. Ash chuckled and placed Pikachu on the counter along with his Pokeballs once Nurse Joy arrived. "Hahaha... Mankey actually. We had a long spar and let me tell you... He has REALLY improved. I guess we got a little carried away!" Ash laughed sheepishly as he said that while rubbing the back of his head.

Brock just shook his head in amusement and Misty merely sighed, grabbing the bridge of her nose. Nurse Joy took the Pokemon away and then Ash turned to his friends, "Well guys, I'm pretty sure Nurse Joy will have my Pokemon all night and I need to get some sleep. Got another long training day tomorrow and I need to be rested."

"Yeah I'm tired too... Long day in the city." Brock said yawning.

"Me third." Misty said looking equally tired.

They all went up to their rooms and then Ash and Brock told Misty goodnight before retiring to their own room. As Ash lay in bed he could only think about just how powerful he and his Pokemon were going to become with all of the training they were doing. His last thought before sleep overtook him was of standing atop the winners podium at the Indigo League, holding the winners trophy with all of his Pokemon that helped him win standing around him, the crowd cheering their names.

The big smile on Ash's face stayed there even as he fell into a deep sleep.

...

Ash and Brock had finally made it to the Cerulean City Pokemon Gym and were now walking through the doors, entering into the lobby. They had awoken early in the morning, a usual thing if you traveled with Ash. He and his Pokemon had prepared all morning for their upcoming gym battle and were completely confident that they would win. They had taken their new training regimen to the max all week long and were now feeling stronger than ever. Ash had even rotated some of his Pokemon around so he could introduce the training regimen to all of his Pokemon.

As Ash and Brock stood in the lobby waiting for someone to acknowledge they were there, Ash kept looking at his Xtransceiver, checking the time. Misty said she had to go and pick up her bike this morning since her sisters had actually managed to find someone in the city who fixed bikes. Misty had not gotten a chance to see her sisters since she had arrived in the city with Ash and Brock and told Ash that she would come to the gym as soon as she was done picking up her bike so she could watch Ash's battle and see her sisters.

As Ash and Brock stood there waiting they suddenly heard a door open up down a nearby hall and turned to see three young women walking out into the lobby, giggling and laughing with each other. Ash noticed that they were wrapped up in towels that tightly hugged their obviously very curvaceous forms. The only thing that led Ash to the conclusion that they weren't naked was the straps of their bikini tops showing above the towels.

Now, Ash may have been ten years old but he was VERY mature for his age. He definitely had no trouble whatsoever noticing the finer qualities of the opposite sex. By five years old Ash had already started having little puppy crushes on some of the girls his own age back in Pallet Town while every other boy his age and even a little older was terrified to death about the absolutely absurd condition known as 'cooties'.

Ash, being as intelligent as he was knew that 'cooties' couldn't possibly be a real medical condition. Not to mention the fact that he had tricked his mom into admitting that they weren't real after all. Needless to say, while all of the other idiotically immature boys continuously showed just how un-intelligent they really were, Ash became increasingly popular with all of the fine young ladies in Pallet Town as he grew older, using nothing more than his naturally bright and happy charisma, flirtatious charm, and the way he could honestly complement women on things he found beautiful and/or special about them.

So long story short, Ash definitely knew a beautiful woman when he saw one and currently, he was staring at three. Before anything could be said or even before the three young women could take notice of Ash and Brock's presence, the latter had suddenly rushed forward with stars in his eyes and grabbed ahold of all three young women's hands and knelt before them. The sudden surprise of Brock doing what he did caused the ladies to loss the grip on their towels, leading to the wet pieces of cloth to fall down to their feet. Exposing their mostly revealed beautifully curvaceous forms, only clothed by the small two piece bikini's that they were wearing.

Brock began sputtering out nonsense consisting of, "Ohh my lovely's where have you been all my life?! For so long I have..." Anything else Brock might have said was lost when he raised his previously bowed head to stare at the objects of his 'affections'. Upon seeing that the three women who he had ahold of were clothed in only skimpy bikini's, the teenager started leaking blood from his nose and began stuttering incoherently. "bahbh... Aobllll... I umphdff... Daaaaa!"

Ash saw the glares that the three ladies were giving Brock and could only cringe as they screamed 'PERVERT!' and clobbered him all at once, sending him rocketing into the fountain that was in the middle of the lobby. They were still huffing in anger as Ash walked up to them, reached down and grabbed their towels, and stood back up. He held them out to the ladies as he said smoothly and calmly, "Here you are ladies I believe these are yours. I apologize for my friends... Over zealousness."

Ash turned around to give the ladies a chance to become some what decent again before turning around to address them again. "Again I apologize for Brock. I hope you can forgive him and his somewhat perverted ways. I had no idea he was like that... now would one of you three beautiful young women happen to be the gym leader here?" Ash asked in a cool and debonair fashion.

The ladies looked at this new guy who was being very polite and gentlemanly to them, much different than the other one who they had just knocked into a blissful unconscious. They observed him and noticed just handsome this young man truly was. Even though Ash was still a boy, all of the intense training he had engaged in over the years had burned all of the baby fat from his body and had left him a rather sculpted face for a kid and a very nice body. They could actually see some of his muscles through his track suit. All of that combined with his previous complement to all three of them instantly had the ladies sporting small blushes. The woman in the middle, who had long and luxurious looking blond hair complete with a daisy flower in her curled tresses, was the one that answered Ash, "Yeah like actually... all three of us are the leaders of the Cerulean City gym!"

Ash smiled at them, "Ohh really? And may I ask what your names are my dear ladies?"

The girls blushed again before each one spoke individually. "I am the vivacious Violet Waterflower!" Said the girl with long violet blue hair.

The next girl, one with reddish/pink hair stepped up next, "They call me the lovely Lilly Waterflower!"

The last girl, the one with blond hair, stepped up last. "And I'm known as the dazzling Daisy Waterflower!"

All three of them then struck sensual poses and said in perfect unison, "And together we are... The Sensational Sisters!"

Ash was momentarily struck speechless by the sight of the three beautiful women who were now posing themselves in very attractive positions in front of him but quickly recovered. "Well what do you know? Beautiful names for three very beautiful women!" Ash said this with a wink at the three ladies as he stepped up to them, "My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and the pleasure..." Ash said as he kissed each of their hands in turn, "Is entirely mine." He finished with a devilishly handsome smile and then stepped back, looking each one of the beautiful women in the eyes with pure confidence radiating from his own.

The sisters blushed Tomato Berry red and giggled cutely before each said at the same time, "Ohhh no Mr. Ketchum the pleasure is ALL ours!" They each gave Ash their own winks, making him smile hotly at them again before speaking again, "Well since these very pleasant introductions are now over my dears... which of you could I interest in having a battle with me? My buddy Pikachu and I have been anxious to challenge this gym all week long. Could one of you ladies possibly grace us with a battle please?"

The girls yet again blushed and Daisy spoke up for the sisters. "Well like, we weren't planning on battling again for awhile since we were just like, totally defeated by three other Trainers from Pallet Town..." Daisy stopped talking and then moved closer to Ash and put one of her fingers under his chin, "But like, then again... how could we possibly deny a handsome gentleman such as yourself... especially since you asked so nicely?" She purred as she was now directly in front of Ash.

She looked back at her sisters, "Like, isn't that right girls?"

Lilly and Violet looked at Ash and gave him a suggestive wink, "Right!" They both answered at the same time.

Ash smirked and then kissed Daisey's hand again. "Well my ladies..." Ash said as he looked at the three sisters and held out his arms, "Shall we?"

The sisters blushed and giggled again before taking each of Ash's arms and leading him out towards the battle field. Brock had woken up by this point and saw most of the exchange take place. "What the hell?!" Brock cried as he climbed out of the fountain and followed Ash and the three young women out to the battle field, a rain cloud hovering over his head at the same time.

...

Ash stood across from the battling sisters, separated by a large water field. The only land on the whole battlefield was a few straggled platforms floating in the water. The girls had dressed back into normal clothes that Ash thought were still just as alluring as their bikini's. Daisy called over to him, "Alright Ashyyy! Like, decide who you want to battle!"

Ash smirked and pointed his finger at each one of them, "Actually my dears... I want to battle each of you!" He said with confidence laced in his voice.

Daisy seemed surprised and then looked at her sisters, "Like, what do you say girls?"

"Like, fine by me!" Lilly said.

"Same here!" Violet also agreed.

Daisy looked to the referee who was standing outside of the battlefield. "Like, Whadya say ref?"

The referee just shrugged his shoulders. "That decision lies with the challenger and the leaders of the gym."

Daisy smiled and looked back at Ash. "Like, it looks like we're good to go sweetie!"

Ash smiled. "Alright then! Which one of you water angels are going first?"

The complement made all three of them blush again as Lilly stepped. "Like, I'm first honey!"

"Well then my red haired beauty... I'll let you choose first!"

The referee stepped up, "This will be a one on one Pokemon battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and the leaders of the Cerulean City Pokemon Gym: Daisy, Lilly and Violet Waterflower. Only if the challenger defeats all three opponents will he claim victory, as are the decided conditions for this battle. The winner will be decided when either side has lost their Pokemon first or someone surrenders. This will be an un-times battle and only the challenger is allowed to switch out Pokemon. Trainers please choose your Pokemon."

"Go Seaking!" Lilly shouted as she chose her Pokemon.

"Roselia show your power!" Ash said as his Pokemon appeared on one of the floating platforms.

"Seaking dive down into the water and then come up and hit Roselia with Headbutt!" Lilly commanded. Seaking dove down into the water and then swam straight for Roselia.

"Roselia use Growth and root yourself into the ground." Ash said calmly.

Seaking popped out of the water and dive bombed Roselia. She just stood there rooted into the ground, glowing a faint green from using Growth. "Roselia catch it!"

"Huh?!" Lilly said in confusion.

Roselia put her arms out and stared down her incoming foe with pure calmness and and the utmost confidence. Seaking slammed into Roselia but the Grass-Type just stood firm and caught the fish Pokemon in her arms. "Now Roselia, drain Seaking's energy with Mega Drain."

Seaking began losing vitality as it's energy was sucked out by Roselia's powerful Mega Drain. Lilly was to stunned to do anything. How could a Pokemon just stand there and catch an opponent with just it's arms when said opponent was careening at them at high speeds using an attack like Headbutt?! It didn't make sense!

"Now Roselia end this by throwing Seaking into the air and then hitting it with your arms. Send it back to Lilly... out cold!"

Roselia did just that and hit Seaking hard. The Pokemon went flying over to Lilly and hit the ground by her feet, unconscious. The referee raised his hand, "Seaking is unable to battle. Since gym leader Lilly has lost her Pokemon the win goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Lilly hung her head and returned Seaking. "I couldn't win this battle either..." She said despondently.

Ash called out, "Hey Lilly."

Lilly raised her head and Ash saw a few tears in her eyes. "Don't you even think of crying! You did a great job and I think you are a talented Trainer. The better one just one out today. Keep training to get better and maybe things will be different next time! So wipe your tears my dear, beautiful eyes like yours shouldn't be wasted on tears okay? Smile!" Ash gave her a warm smile and Lilly wiped her tears and smiled brightly and just a little bit affectionately at him. "Thanks Ash... That really means a lot."

She then stepped aside and Violet came up next. "Like, are you ready cutie?!" She asked Ash. Lilly looked at her sister with what almost looked like a little jealousy and then her face went neutral again.

"Whenever you are lovely!" Ash called back.

"Trainers please select your Pokemon." The Referee said.

"Shellder I choose you!" Violet said as she called forth her Pokemon.

"Roselia you did a great job, do you want to stay in?" Ash asked her.

"Rose Roselia!" She answered back with certainty.

Ash looked to Violet, "ladies first!"

Violet blushed a little. "What a gentleman... Okay Shellder start this off with Harden and then charge in with Tackle!"

"Roselia dodge by hopping to the next platform!" Ash called.

Roselia dodged the hardened Tackle attack and landed safely on another platform. "Shellder Aurora Beam!" Violet commanded.

"Roselia in the water!" Ash commanded.

"What?!" Violet exclaimed in surprise.

Roselia dove into the water, missing the Aurora Beam as it impacted where she had stood. Violet suddenly had a thought, "Shellder use Ice Beam on the water!"

"Ash be careful and don't let Roselia get caught in the water by that Ice Beam!" Brock shouted from the sidelines.

Ash just smiled calmly, "Roselia use the tendrils of Mega Drain to push you through the water and come up right under where Shellder is, hurry!"

Roselia began pushing herself through the water at high speeds using Mega Drains tendrils as fast moving paddles. Everyone besides Ash just stared on in amazement as Roselia came shooting out of the water just as Shellder launched an ice beam that instantly began freezing the water over with a thin sheet of ice.

While Roselia was still in the air Ash shouted, "Roselia give them a taste of your new move, Razor Leaf! Then follow up with Leech Seed!"

Roselia launched powerful Razor Leafs at Shellder that all struck the surprised Pokemon head on, doing massive damage. One well placed Leech Seed that Roselia implanted on Shellder after she landed on the ground wrapped up the Pokemon in energy sapping vines until it could take no more and passed out.

"Shellder is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Roselia and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" The referee called out.

Violet returned Shellder and stepped back, but shouted over to Ash. "Like that was a great battle sweetie! Thanks a lot!"

Ash smiled, glad Violet was taking her defeat better than Lilly did. "Anytime my bodacious bluenette beauty!" He said with a wink. Violet's face turned a color completely contrast of her hair and then went to stand beside her sister Lilly.

Daisy was last up and stepped into the box smiling. "Well well well baby boy... I guess you like, have quite a bit of strength to back up that confidence after all. It's like, such a shame your so much younger than me! The things I could do to you..." She said with a very suggestive wink.

Her sisters looked furious at Daisy's boldness to say what they dare not and Brock just flew off the bench he was in with a massive nosebleed. Ash merely gave a roguish smile and replied back to her, "Baby girl... Age is just a number."

Daisy blushed a little bit, taken by surprise yet again by this strange, yet very charming boy. The referee coughed into his hand, "Ahem! If you are both through... Both Trainers please choose your Pokemon for the last match of this gym battle."

"Like, sure thing! Seel come on out!" Daisy said as she chose her Pokemon.

Ash looked at Roselia, who didn't seem like she had even been battling yet. "You okay to stay in and finish this girl?!" Roselia just raised a rose budded hand and waved off Ash's concern. "Alright good! That's what I want to hear. Let's rock!" Ash said. Roselia nodded her head and twirled on the spot, "Roselia!" She said gracefully.

Daisy took command, "Seel in the water and use Ice Beam!"

"Roselia jump to the next platform and use Growth while you do it to build your strength!" Ash yelled.

"Seel aim another Ice Beam where Roselia is going to land!" Daisy shouted.

Ash smiled, "Roselia use Razor Leaf behind your self to gain momentum and push your way through the air to the next platform!"

Roselia did perfectly and landed on another platform, avoiding Seel's attack. Daisy commanded Seel to use multiple Aurora Beams to try and hit Roselia. Ash ordered Roselia took keep 'dancing' from platform to platform. "Roselia start shooting Leech Seed onto all of the platforms, but don't activate them, them use Ingrain to plant roots from Seel to all of the Leech Seeds you've placed on every platform!" Ash said

Everyone was completely baffled at what Ash was having Roselia do. Daisy didn't have Seel dodge the Ingrain attack since for one, the attack came to fast and for two, she knew Seel didn't need to block it. Ash had commanded Roselia to make the roots travel back to the Leech Seeds that were scattered all over the platforms now, not back to Roselia herself. So Daisy knew that Seel wasn't going to be in any danger of getting his health sapped. She figured that Ash was just trying to scare her and knock her off of her game for some reason with a potentially bogus strategy.

Brock wasn't so sure. He knew how smart and battle genius Ash was when it came to tactics. After all... Ash's Raticate, well Rattata for that battle, was able to beat his own Onix with nothing more than clever strategy. Brock knew something was up.

Roselia had just finished using Ingrain and was now standing calmly on a nearby platform with her arms crossed over her chest. Daisy was getting frustrated and knew she needed to end the battle now if she wanted to avoid whatever possible strategy Ash was thinking up. If he had one that is. "Seel use Blizzard on the whole field so Roselia can't escape the attack!"

Daisy was almost certain she had a full proof plan. Roselia couldn't go anywhere to escape the Blizzard above the water, and if she went under it then she would be frozen solid by Blizzard freezing the water pool completely. Daisy smiled, this was it. Ash had finally slipped up and now he was going to pay for it. By leaving Roselia out for so long he had allowed Daisy to find the perfect attack to beat a Grass-Type with. There was no way Roselia would be able to withstand a blizzard.

Right as the chilling winds of Blizzard began howling through the gym Ash smirked. "Roselia head towards the nearest Leech Seed!"

Roselia took off at fast speeds and landed near one of her seeds. "Now wait for it girl!" Ash commanded.

Daisy was beyond confused and just thought Ash was being desperate now. The fierce snow of Blizzard began freezing the water of the field over instantly and then the snow headed for Roselia. Ash waited until just the right time. He saw it, "Now Roselia use Sleep Powder on yourself and right before you fall asleep activate the effects of the Leech Seed your standing over and the Ingrain roots that are connected to the seed!"

Brock sensed something major about to happen and wasn't disappointed. Roselia fell asleep from Sleep Powder soon after it hit her and then right before the howling blizzard hit her she was encased by the energy sucking vines of the Leech Seed she was standing over. Draining her energy while she slept. At the same time though, Ingrain had taken effect and was now sapping energy from Seel and sending it through the root system back towards Roselia, replenishing her energy at the same time Leech Seed stole it. While this happened the blizzard rained down on Roselia intensely. However, Roselia's body was so preoccupied with the constant draining and replenishing of it's energy that her body stayed at an elevated temperature the whole time during this energy cycling process. Making the fierce cold and snow of Blizzard completely ineffective at dropping her body temperature and freezing her.

Eventually the blizzard died down, leaving a snow covered battle field and a completely frozen pool. Seel looked exhausted from both the attack and having it's energy drained the whole time Roselia was doing her 'energy cycling'. With the Leech Seed and Ingrain having stopped as well Roselia began to wake up. The pain of Leech Seed and the energy cycling process waking her up from the effects of Sleep Powder.

She stood up and disentangled herself from the dead vines of Leech Seed and then twirled in place. "Roselia!" She said full of life, her energy seemingly having been restored by Ingrain much more than it was taken by Leech Seed.

Daisy and everyone else stared in undisguised shock at what just happened. "Like... Wow!" She and her sisters chorused together. Brock was completely dumbfounded and just sat there in disbelief at what he just witnessed.

Ash smiled widely and said, "Great job Roselia! Like a pro! Now... End this by activating all of the Leech Seeds around every platform and use the roots of Ingrain that are attached to the Leech Seeds to feed the attack back towards Seel and hit it with a multiple Leech Seed attack!"

Roselia performed the order perfectly and suddenly Seel was being wrapped up in several Leech Seeds thick energy stealing vines, courtesy of Ingrains roots. Seel cried out in awful pain as it was completely drained. The energy that was drained from Seel instantly went back to each Leech Seed pod since the vines of Leech Seed and the roots of Ingrain were intertwined with each other.

Roselia stood at a Leech Seed pod and channeled the gathered energy from every other Leech Seed pod to the pod she was currently in contact with. Making all of the energy flow into her like a flowing river of stolen energy. The gathered energy made Roselia raise her head to the sky and call her name loudly as very dark blue tendrils of energy, almost blue/green in color, came out of her body.

Ash knew that this was Roselia having just now unlocked the move Giga Drain and smirked. "All of that extra energy must have given her the power boost she needed to learn Giga Drain." Roselia looked up with the energy sucking tendrils that were monstrous in size still coming from her body. Her eyes glowed a faint blue/green color. Ash raised his hand, "Roselia use Giga Drain to finish of Seel!"

The tendrils sped towards Seel and wrapped the Pokemon up, stealing what little energy it had left. The Pokemon gave one last cry of pain before the tendrils stopped sucking energy and then dropped Seel to the ground. Totally unconscious.

The Referee raised his hand and pointed it towards Ash. "Seeing as how the gym leaders Pokemon is unable to battle the victory goes to Roselia and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town! Since all three Cerulean City gym leaders have been defeated I hereby declare Mr. Ketchum the official winner of this gym challenge!"

Ash knelt down to Roselia's level and thanked for her hard work and told her how proud he was of her before returning her. Daisy returned Seel and looked a little melancholy but smiled when she saw Ash walk over to meet them. He stood in front of them and smiled handsomely at them. "You ladies did an amazing job in those battles. I was honored to have you as my opponents, thank you very much."

"Ohh no don't thank us cutie we should be thanking you! Like, that was the first really enjoyable battle we've had in ages!" Violet said truthfully.

"Yeah I almost forgot how fun battling can really be until I battled with you. Like, your just so... Perfect." Lilly said with a blush on her face.

"You know like, to tell you the truth... We have kinda started letting the gym go and began focusing on just like, our water shows and stuff because we got tired of being beaten so many times. But battling you Ash has taught us that losing is all a part of... You know like, getting better and stuff. We shouldn't have let things get so totally out of hand. Thanks a lot for that... Handsome." Daisy finished with yet another flirty look directed at Ash.

Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I didn't do anything ladies, you found the desire to become better Trainers again on your own, I just helped things along a little that's all."

"Well we're still grateful to you, thanks a mil honey!" Violet said happily.

Ash was about to say something else until he heard someone come running into the gym. Turning around he saw Misty bent over, panting and looking kind of sweaty. "Misty your late!" Ash said with humor in his voice.

Misty stopped breathing hard and began talking, "I'm really sorry Ash I tried to get here earlier but the man took a lot longer on those final repairs on my bike then it should have... I thought that you may still be battling by the time I finally got here but I guess not. I'm really sorry..."

Ash just walked up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it Misty I understand! Besides I had Brock and Pikachu with me just in case I needed some extra support, so no big okay?"

Misty gave a small smile, "Thanks Ash for understanding. So how did your battle go?!"

Before Ash could answer Misty's sister had came over, Brock as well from where he was sitting. "Like, Misty you finally came back!" Daisy exclaimed as she came over to stand beside Ash and Misty. "Ohh hi Daisy, Violet, Lilly! How's everything been here since I've been gone?" Misty asked as she hugged her sisters.

"Like, it's been great Misty! The shows have been as popular as ever but the gym... Well like, not so well." Violet answered her youngest sister, bracing for the unavoidable eruption from Mt. Mistyis.

"Yeah it's like, totally been a drag running it these past few weeks!" Daisy said in a whining tone.

Misty just sighed angrily. "I knew this would happen..." She mumbled. "Well how bad is it then?! Are we going to have to shut the gym down since you've pretty much given up on it in favor of your shows?! Or let me guess! I am going to have to stay here and run the gym again myself full time and stop traveling with Ash and Brock so the gym doesn't go under, while you three have a great time shopping and putting on your shows! Am I right?!" Misty said furiously.

Daisy just waved her hand in the air to calm down her fuming little sister. "Like, calm down would you Mist? Yeah you probably would have had to do that earlier before Ash challenged us all to a battle but now... You don't have to worry Misty, we are gonna totally get this gym back into shape!"

Misty looked taken aback. "W-what?!" She almost shouted in surprise. Her anger vanished.

"Like, yeah Misty. That battle with Ash was the the best we've ever had and it showed us just how like, totally fun battling can be! We are so determined to get stronger and make this gym better!" Lilly said.

Misty was absolutely shocked. "So you mean to tell me that you three are going to completely turn this gym around and start taking things seriously just because of your battle with Ash?"

Her sisters nodded their heads. "That's right Mist! Like, Ash showed us just how much excitement there can be in Pokemon battles and he just opened our eyes... Not to mention he's so totally cute which really helped out to!" Violet said the last part with a giggle and small blush, mirrored by her sisters.

Misty was temporally angry at her sisters for their apparent... What was it? An interest in Ash? And she wasn't entirely sure why she was angry. "Well... If you guys are serious about this then... Does this mean I can keep traveling with Ash and Brock?" Misty asked hopefully.

Ash seemed surprised. "You want to keep traveling with us Misty? I though it was just until we got here to Cerulean?" Ash asked her.

Misty turned to Ash and blushed a little. "Well... I was kinda hoping I could keep traveling with you guys if you wouldn't mind. There is so much about Water Pokemon I still don't know and the best way to do that would be traveling. Plus... I really like you guys." She finished with a slightly redder color on her cheeks and was looking down at the ground when she said this.

Ash smiled softly and put his hand on her shoulder. "I would love if you kept traveling with us Misty! I've really grown to like you to and it would feel just weird if you weren't with us. Right guys?" Ash asked Brock and Pikachu.

"Pika Chu Pika Pi Pika!" Pikachu said in agreement from Ash's shoulder.

"Ash is right Misty. Your a part of the group now, it would feel wrong if you didn't come with us." Brock said.

Misty looked at her friends and felt overwhelming happiness at their words. "Thank you guys so much, this means a lot to me... Really thank you!"

Misty turned back to her sisters and said, "Well guys I guess the gym is your responsibility for quite some time then." Misty then got right in her sisters faces, "But you had better not ruin it and only focus on your water shows! If I find that you are letting this gym go to ruin again then I'm coming back here and setting things straight! Got it?!"

Misty's sisters backed away with their hands out in front of them and sweat drops on their foreheads. "Yeah like, you don't have to worry Misty!" Lilly said assuredly.

"We promise to keep it running smoothly Mist!" Violet swore.

"Like, don't worry about it little sister we've got it covered!" Daisy said.

Misty calmed down. "Thanks guys... I'm trusting you."

"No prob Mist!" Daisy said waving her hand. She turned to Ash, "Ohh that reminds me! I think we forgot to give you something handsome." Daisy went into the office of the gym for a second and then came back and held her hand out to Ash. In her palm was a light blue gym badge that looked to be in the shape of a water droplet. "You have totally earned the Cascadebadge for beating all three of us fair and square like you were supposed to, helping us realize how great battling can be and also... For making us feel so beautiful and special. Not many guys just genuinely complement us like you did Ash... Like, your a really sweet guy. Not like so many others."

The three sisters glared at Brock for a second and then their eyes softened on Ash again. "Yeah like, you really know how to make a girl feel great sweetie!" Violet said with a wink towards Ash.

Lilly just blushed a deep red before speaking. "Yeah you know like... I was really upset when I lost to you Ash but... You went out of your way to make me feel good about myself and told me that I did a good job... You totally brightened me up. Your such a nice guy! I just wish you were older..." Lilly stopped suddenly and slapped her hand over her mouth, just realizing what she said. She then stepped back with an even larger blush on her whole face.

Ash just gave her a warm smile and nodded his head to her in understanding, which made her blush an even deeper red and look away. He looked at the badge in Daisy's hand and then shook his head. Making everybody confused. He then turned to Misty, "You know Misty... I set out to challenges ALL of the Sensational Sisters and by my count... There is still one left."

Misty looked confused. "What do you mean Ash?" Misty asked.

"What I mean is, Your also a gym leader here and I want to really earn this badge. Will you battle with me Misty?" Ash asked her.

Misty looked surprised at first and then nodded her head with a smile on her face, determination and fire in her eyes. "Sure I'll battle you Ash! But you better watch out though because I'm not going easy on you Ketchum!"

Ash smirked and simply said, "Well then bring it on red. Let's see what you got!"

...

Ash and Misty stood on opposite sides of the field, ready for battle. The referee raised his hands. "This will be a two on two Pokemon battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and the fourth gym leader of Cerulean City Misty Waterflower! This battle will not be timed and only the challenger can substitute Pokemon. The winner is decided whenever either side loses both of their Pokemon first or surrenders. Trainers ready? Please select your Pokemon."

"Staryu go! Misty yelled as her Pokemon appeared in a flash of light.

Ash was deadly calm as he chose his Pokemon. "Cleffa show us your strength!" His newest Pokemon appeared ready for battle.. "Clef Clef Cleffa!" She said loudly.

Misty went first, "Staryu Water Gun!"

"Cleffa dodge it with your speed!" Ash yelled.

Cleffa hopped out of the way of the attack and landed on the next platform. "Staryu under the water and then come up and hit Cleffa with Rapid Spid!" Misty shouted.

"Cleffa wait for it!" Ash said calmly.

Cleffa stood her ground and just as Staryu came up out of the water to hit her Ash called out, "Now Cleffa drop to the ground and avoid that attack! As soon as Staryu passes over you hit it with Magical Leaf!"

Misty eyes went wide, "Staryu us-" but she wasn't quick enough and Magical Leaf struck her Pokemon directly underneath of it, sending it up into the air and then back down on another platform with a loud 'crash'.

Staryu struggled back to it's feet and Misty called out, "Staryu use Recover!" The Pokemon glowed a golden color and restored it's energy. "Star!" It said as it spun in the air.

Misty smiled, "Great Staryu now use Water Gun again and dive back into the water!"

Ash had Cleffa jump out of the way of the attack and then she stood there, looking around for Staryu in the water. Suddenly Misty shouted, "Now Staryu use Swift!"

Staryu emerged from the water fast and shot off golden stars of energy at the Star Shape Pokemon, who was caught off guard and struck with the attack. Sending her flying back onto another platform. Misty didn't stop there, "Staryu start pin balling Cleffa around by using Rapid Spin!"

Staryu spun directly at Cleffa and then hit her with Rapid Spin, launching her into the air. It then kept hitting her with multiple Rapid Spins, knocking Cleffa all through the air. It finally stopped and Cleffa came crashing back down onto a platform and cratered the platform a little. Misty felt certain she had one this round and was shocked beyond belief when the smoke cleared and Cleffa stood up in the crater. Smiling wide with an almost scary look in the usually sweet Pokemon's eyes.

Ash smiled calmly. "Perfect." He muttered under his breath. "Looks like that particular style of training is really going to be a great weapon..." He smirked again and gave off a slight chuckle. He then spoke to Cleffa, "Great job Cleffa. Let's really start battling now shall we?"

Cleffa nodded and remained silent. Misty got over her shock and commanded Staryu, "Back into the water Staryu!"

Her Pokemon dove back into the pool and Ash just smiled. "Cleffa... get ready."

She nodded and waited. Misty commanded, "Staryu burst through the water and hit Cleffa with Rapid Spin!"

Ash got a strange glint in his eyes. "Cleffa step to the side enough to avoid that Rapid Spin but then jump right back at Staryu and latch onto it by it's gem!"

Everyone stared in shock as Cleffa perfectly obeyed Ash and then grabbed onto Staryu just as the Pokemon was about to pass by her. Now Staryu was spinning with Cleffa hanging onto it tightly the whole time. "Staryu keep Rapid Spinning and try to shake Cleffa off!" Misty yelled out.

Ash just smirked, "Too late! Now Cleffa use Sweet Kiss on Staryu and then let go!"

Cleffa did just that just that and after kissing Staryu's gem she detached herself. Staryu was now hopelessly confused as it began spinning everywhere uncontrollably. The Pokemon suddenly lost direction and headed straight for the gym all, smashing into it and getting stuck in the wall.

"Staryu try and get free!" Misty yelled desperately.

Ash raised his hand, "Not this time Misty. Cleffa use Magical Leaf on Staryu and don't stop!"

Cleffa jumped right in front of where Staryu was stuck into the wall and began barraging it with never ending Magical Leaves. Misty could do nothing but watch as her Pokemon cried out in pain while it was being bombarded.

When the attack stopped Staryu fell off of the wall and onto the ground unconscious. It's gem in the middle of it's body flickering weakly signaling it's exhausted state. The referee called out, "Staryu is unable to battle! Will the gym leader please choose her next Pokemon!"

Misty returned Staryu and thanked it for it's hard work before throwing out her next Pokeball. "Starmie I choose you!" She yelled.

Ash smiled at Cleffa, "Great job girl come on back." He returned her and then chose his next Pokemon. "Mankey break em'!" The Pig Monkey Pokemon appeared throwing his fists in the air, "Mank Mankey Mankey!"

The referee called out, "Battlers ready? Begin!"

"Starmie Swift now!" Misty yelled.

"Mankey Focus Energy as you jump to the next platform!" Ash called out.

The attack missed and then Mankey began running towards Starmie on his own. Hopping across the platforms at fast speeds. "Starmie get into the water quickly!" Misty yelled, desperate to make sure Starmie stayed out of Mankey's reach. If he got close enough to Starmie to perform any of his combat moves Misty knew it would be over.

Starmie disappeared into the water but Ash just commanded Mankey, "Into the water after Starmie!"

Misty looked shocked. Why would Ash tell Mankey to join a Water-Type Pokemon IN the water?! It didn't make sense. Starmie would be superior in the water not Mankey. She took advantage of it, "Starmie use Rapid Spin in the water to continuously hit Mankey!"

Ash just smirked. "Mankey show them just how USELESS you are in the water."

As Starmie closed in on Mankey the Pokemon simply swam away in side a maneuver much faster than anyone would have thought possible. Starmie kept trying to hit Mankey but the Pokemon kept gracefully dodging from side to side with perfectly honed swimming style and technique.

"Now Mankey grab ahold of Starmie on it's next pass by and hit it with a barrage of your fighting moves!"

Mankey dove out if the way of Starmie's last attempt to hit him and then grabbed ahold of one of Starmie's pointed ends. He brought the Pokemon in close and then began a vicious assault of aquatic combat moves. Karate Chops, Low Kicks, Mega Punches and Kicks, Sky Uppercuts... The barrage was endless. Mankey finally stopped the onslaught by spinning Starmie around and then chucking it towards the bottom of the pool with Seismic Toss. Starmie flew through the water at surprisingly fast speeds and hit the bottom of the pool.

Mankey finally needed air and rose back to the surface, jumping out of the water and landing on a platform with grace. The Pokemon quickly recovered his lost air and then started banging his fists in the air again, ready to keep going. Ash looked at Brock, Misty and her sisters surprised faces and explained, "I have trained Mankey in the water extensively. Both on moving and fighting under water and also holding his breath for long amounts of time and regulating the intensity of his moves so he doesn't run out of air when fighting under water. Luckily there are many small lakes at Professor Oak's lab, which means Mankey has got a lot of training time done in the water."

Everyone looked shock and then Misty saw Starmie rise back to the top of the water. It drug itself out and stood on a platform looking beaten and exhausted. "Starmie use Recovery to regain your strength!" Misty called out desperately.

But Ash wouldn't have have it, "Mankey get in close to Starmie and use Mega Punch, Low Kick and a Vital Throw combo to stop that Recovery attempt!"

Before she could tell Starmie to abort Mankey was already across the other platforms and stood in front of Starmie. He began another vicious combo on the still recovering Pokemon and ended the beating by grabbing Starmie and then jumping high into the air with it before chucking the Pokemon back towards the ground with a powerful Vital Throw.

Starmie hit the nearby platform so hard it cratered it a little and made the platform move around in the water. Mankey came down and landed on top of Starmie, who looked like it couldn't take much more. Mankey had a wild gleam in his eyes as Ash gave the last command, "Mankey finish this with repeated Mega Punches. Drive Starmie into the ground and don't stop until it's over!"

Mankey raised his fists in the air and they began to glow. "Mankeyyyy Mankey Mank!" The Pokemon shouted as he began pulverizing Starmie into the platform with brutal Mega Punches. The hungry look in his eyes never leaving.

Misty just stared in horror at what was happening and could do nothing but watch the carnage take place. Finally, Mankey stopped when he saw Starmie was unconscious and stood up, bowing to his fallen opponent before returning to Ash's side. The battle hungry look now gone from his eyes like it was never there.

The referee raised his hand and pointed towards Ash. "Since the gym leader's Pokemon is unable to battle and she has lost both of her Pokemon the victory and the match goes to Mankey and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Misty returned Starmie and then watched as Ash came over to her. Ash stopped and knelt by Mankey, "That was a great battle Mankey and I am so proud of you! Training is doing wonders for you. Keep it up!" Mankey looked at Ash with tears in his eyes and hugged Ash, which he returned, before returning Mankey and finishing his walk over to Misty and her sisters.

"That was a great battle Misty thank you!" He said with a smile.

Misty looked a little upset at being beaten but shook it off and smiled right back, "Thanks Ash that was a great battle! But next time I'm winning so watch out okay?!"

Ash nodded his head, still smiling. "You got it!"

He then turned to see Daisy walking up to him with the badge in her hand. "So like, now that you've defeated us all will you take your badge now or do I need to do something else to make you take it huh?" Daisy gave him a sultry look.

Ash chuckled and took the badge from her hand. "Maybe in a few years I'll come back here and take you up on your offer... My naughty little flower." Ash said with his own suggestive wink, making Daisy blush bright red and see stars a little.

Ash turned to Pikachu and held up the badge. "Well buddy we have the Cascadebadge now!"

Pikachu nodded his head and called out happily, "Pikachu!"

Brock spoke up, "Badge two down Ash. Now only twenty-five left to go."

Ash nodded his head happily and Misty's sisters looked confused. "Twenty-five? But you only need like eight to get into the Pokemon League?" Daisy said.

Ash cleared their confusion by explaining to them how he was going to challenge all of the gyms in Kanto. The girls looked very impressed and wished Ash luck before Lilly came up to Ash. Surprisingly she sounded very mature when she asked him her next question. "So ummm Ash... Will you come back and visit m- I mean! Us in a few years? I would uhh... Really like to see you again sometime..." She was blushing bright red by the end of her question and looked like she might die of embarrassment any second.

Ash just gave her a warm smile and lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Of course I will Lilly. I'll look forward to seeing you girls again sometime."

Lilly continued to blush and muttered a quite, "Thank you..." Before she was pulled away by Violet. "Like what do you mean visit you uhh?! He's going to visit me!"

Lilly got mad and was right in her sisters face, "Now why would he want to visit some twig like you?! It's me he's going to come visiting end of story!"

Lilly and Violet ended up rolling around on the floor with shouts of who Ash 'belonged' to more. Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock and Daisy just watched the little scuffle with amusement and then couldn't resist anymore and began laughing at the sight hysterically. Well... Most of them did. Brock was passed out with a nose bleed after seeing two beautiful young women roll around on top of each other.

All in all, the whole day ended very well in Ash's opinion.

...

After getting Ash's Pokemon healed up at the Pokemon Center it was only noon and the trio decided to start heading out for their next destination. We currently find our young heroes standing on the road leading out of Cerulean City. Misty's sisters stood there as well, preparing to see them off.

"Misty you like, take care of yourself okay?" Violet said to her little sister.

"Yeah Misty don't be afraid to call us if you need something." Lilly added in.

"And like, always remember that home is always going to be here when your ready for it little sis. Who knows, maybe by the time you come back and are ready to stay at the gym full time we can add ourselves another sister to the Sensational Sisters?" Daisy finished with a smile towards Misty.

Misty smiled brightly and looked at her sisters, "Thanks so much guys... everything you said really means a lot. I love you." Misty said as she came in and hugged her sisters all at once.

"We love you to Misty!" They all said as they hugged their youngest sister.

After they were done hugging Misty the sisters walked up to Ash, who had been leaning on the nearby road sign with Brock, Pikachu on his shoulder, while he waited for Misty to say her good-byes.

"Like, please take of our little sister Ash." Daisy asked him.

Ash came up to them and smiled, giving a thumbs up. "Don't worry ladies I'll make sure Misty stays safe!"

"You keep ME safe?! It's going to be Brock and I who are going to be watching out for YOU if you keep getting involved with Team Rocket Ash Ketchum! Misty yelled over to him.

Ash just rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah well... What can I say?! Everybody wants a piece of Ash Ketchum!" He said with a fake grin.

Misty just sighed and rubbed her temples while Daisy and her sisters looked shocked at hearing that Ash was interfering with Team Rocket. Even for girls who didn't really pay much attention to things like crime syndicates in the region, the news and what was going on in the world they had still heard of Team Rocket and about all of the cruel things they did to people and Pokemon alike. Daisy told Ash in a clearly worried voice, "Well like in that case Ash you had better be careful! That would be terrible if something happened to you! And... I don't want anything happening to my future boy toy now do I?!" She said the last part with a flirtatious but still worried tone.

"Yeah like, honey you better come back to us safe one day! I have a LOT of plans for you once you get older!" Violet said in a sultry tone that also held the faint vibes of worry.

Lilly just walked up to Ash and said in voice devoid of anything but seriousness, "Be careful okay Ash? Team Rocket is really dangerous and I really just... Please be safe okay?!" In a quieter tone and with a slight blush she continued by saying, "And I umm... Really look forward to seeing you again. Thanks for everything again Ash..."

Ash was definitely surprised by all three of the sisters. Even though they tried to hide it with their flirting Ash could tell they were generally very worried about him which surprised him considering they just met. He was even more surprised by Lilly. She seemed to be acting much more serious and mature than her other two sisters. In fact, Ash didn't recall hearing her say the words 'like' or 'totally' in quite awhile. Either way he just gave her a soft and warm smile while kissing her hand. "Your very welcome Lilly and you can count on me being safe!... And I look forward to seeing you again to. Really."

Lilly blushed again and then leaned in and placed a kiss on Ash's cheek. He smiled at her and her now enormous blush as she quickly retreated back to her other sisters. Feeling a little jealous and not wanting to be outdone both Daisy and Violet came in and kissed Ash on either cheek. Backing away and winking at him with small blushes on their faces. Ash even had a small one on his.

Ash smiled at the girls one last time before going to stand by Misty and Brock. Or where Brock was. He was suddenly knelt down in front of the ladies on his knees, "What about me ladies? Don't you have something for me?!" He said with a goofy smile.

The girls looked at each other and gave an evil grin before Daisy spoke to him. "Of course Brock! Like, close your eyes and you'll get what's coming to you!"

Brock eagerly closed his eyes and puckered his lips, expecting a kiss. What he got instead were three strong slaps to the face as he was sent flying back to Ash and Misty and landed in front if their shoes. Red marks on his face.

"And let that teach you not to be such a pervert!" Daisy shouted to him.

"Yeah!" The other two chorused.

Brock picked himself up off the ground and started nursing his face as Ash began leading the way down the road. Ash, Misty and Pikachu kept waving their hands as they got further down the road and then they heard Misty's sisters call out to them while still waving, "Bye Misty we love you! Bye Ashy we can't wait to see you again! Take care of them Pikachu!... See ya pervert."

Brock broke down and began crying anime tears, "It's not fair!" He said loudly enough for everybody to hear him. Getting laughs from his friends as well as the nearly out of earshot Sensational Sisters.

...

Making their way down the road Ash turned to Brock, who had finally finished moping a while back and asked, "Hey Brock where do you think we should head to next?" Brock pulled out his map and thought about it for a minute. "Ummm... well it's showing here that Vermillion City is the closest city from where we are now that has another one of the original eight gyms, so we should probably head there next. Plus, I believe there a few other gyms along the way to Vermillion that just require a few slight detours to get to."

Ash seemed excited at the prospect of more gyms and was eager to accept. "Sure thing Brock, I don't care how out of the way they are. Where is the closest one anyway?"

Brock checked his Kanto region guidebook and leafed through it. "Well let's see here... Ahh here we go! The closest place from here that has another gym is Rolanda Town. We could head there if you want to Ash?"

"Definitely Brock! Let's do it!"

And so, with another destination in mind and many more battles ahead our young heroes push on. Wondering what new adventures may be awaiting them... As the journey continues!

* * *

A/N: **Holy shit 29,170 words! I swear I can't write short chapters to save my life! I planned on making this a shorter chapter than all the rest but it turned out being the longest! *Sigh...* I'm just going to let the chips fall where they may and just write each chapter until I get to a good stopping point. If it turns out being a short chapter good and if it turns out being a long ass beast then sooo be it! I really hope you guys and gals enjoyed this new chapter and it was worth the wait. See I told you things were going to pick up didn't I?! Haha that's right! Whooda man? Lol!**

**The next chapter is going to be even better and also see the introductions of a couple of Pokemon we all know and love! Plus... Next chapter I will hopefully be writing an episode I have been wanting to write forever now! Let's just say that Ash is going to be getting a Pokemon that I have never read about any other author having Ash catch before. God it's going to be good!**

**As usual a huge thank you to all of my loyal readers, fans and followers! You are all absolutely great and I can't think you enough for everything! I'm not going to write down the names of my biggest supporters because it's literally to many to count. So instead I will just say another huge thank you to... all you people! Haha, you know who you are;) **

**So until next time dear readers of mine! Especially you ladies;) Be sure to check out the next chapter of, '_The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be'!_**

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**Ash Ketchum Trainer Profile  
**

**Number of badges earned: Boulderbadge, Cascadebadge**

**Number of regions visited: 1**

**Tournaments/Competitions/League Championships Won: 0 **

**Titles: Pokemon Researcher In-Training**

**Abilities: Heart Speak: Activated but not trained on.**

**Aura Powers: Only a physical manifestation of the energy when angry.**

**Psychic Powers: Not Discovered.**

**Soothing Words (Meloetta's Gift): Not Discovered.  
**

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**Ash's Pokemon:  
**

**Pikachu: Male**

**Roselia: Female**

**Fearow: Male**

**Pidgeotto: Female**

**Raticate: Male**

**Nidorino**

**Nidorina**

**Butterfree: Male**

**Beedrill: Male**

**Mankey: Male**

**Cleffa: Female**


	6. Gathering The Three and A Lonely Soul

A/N: **Hey everybody I'm back! I'm really anxious to get to this chapter started so here are a couple of things before we start:**

**1: Thanks to everybody who is following this story and offering your great ideas, support, contructive criticism, spell and grammar checking for me and just the whole works. Thank you so much! **

**2: I have had a lot of people ask me this question and I will answer it now. About Ash's Pokemon having all of these abilities, your actually right. I'm going to start giving his Pokemon only the best of the abilities and leaving the others out. The ones Ash has now will keep the abilities I've already given them but the rest from here on out will only have one ability. The best ability they can have and that's it. On really special occasions a Pokemon may have two but not very often. Thank you everyone for bringing that to my attention.**

**3: I have been having a lot of people tell me how great my story is, which I thank you all for profusely! However, some have been saying that they think things are happening to weird and strangely for Ash and his Pokemon, (Namely the Pokemon he is catching), in a lot of different ways and not just from the show but other Pokemon stories as well. To all of you out there who are wondering and complaining about these matters understand something here and now! I have already explained this in my pre-story A/N as a way to let everybody know what to expect in this story but I honestly think some people are either skipping that VERY important A/N, or they don't fully grasp what I have stated. So here it is: My version of Ash and EVERYTHING that happens around him is going to be very unusual and VERY unlike the show and many other Pokemon stories. You all have to understand that he is NOT NORMAL! His birth was not even a normal occurence. His very existence and destiny was constructed by Arceus herself. Ash's coming and his life had been prophesied long before he was even a gleam in his father's eye! The time of his birth was foretold at the very beginning of EVERYTHING that Arceus created. **

**Ash's coming was meant to happen at a time when the world was going to be experiencing great changes and the coming of many revelations and discoveries. For instance, everything that happened in the show and the movies: The evil organizations, the events with the Legendary Pokemon, the discovery's that were made... everything that is taking place and is going to take place during Ash's time had all been foretold long ago! Ash is Arceus's gift to humanity. The one who will protect the people and Pokemon alike from all kinds of threats and also strive to bring the world together. He is a light, a beacon of hope, a savior to many! He's not just some great person that is going to be a fantastic Trainer, he has a purpose! A reason for his creation. In many ways, the whole thing with him and Arceus is just like Superman and his father from the movie: 'The Man of Steel'. Superman was sent as a gift to humanity. To help guide them to the light and achieve great things. Ash is Arceus's gift to the world so YES he is going to be very different and a lot of strange things ARE going to happen to him! As for Ash's Pokemon being too 'special' here is the thing: Every Pokemon Ash ends up obtaining have all been born and/or created for the sole purpose of being 'The Chosen One's' Pokemon. Yes, they will all be VERY different and very special. And no one can complain about them being to OP because I have written MANY times so far that they train HARDDD! And the training will only get harder.**

**So there you go people. I have explained to all of you everything that you need to understand about this story going from here on out. When I said that this Pokemon fic was going to be different than just about about every other story out there Pokemon wise... I wasn't fucking around. I meant it! Now please understand all of you people who I am addressing right now: I am not upset or mad at how any of you have been bringing up these subjects, not at all! You have all done it in a very nice way and have brought up your concerns in nothing more than a constructively critical light and I really appreciate it! I just wanted you all to understand why things are happening the way they are. I'm just answering your questions. If you ask I'm going to answer and not fuck around. But seriously though, thanks again so much. I count all you constructive criticizers just as special to me as the other readers because you do it in a polite and clear way. Just know that sometimes I may not take all of your ideas or opinions seriously because it's still my story. I will listen to you all with an open mind and then make the ultimate decisions myself.**

**Anyway my dear friends! Thank you again everybody for your amazing support. From my 'I love everything about your story' reviewers, the simple 'I like it' reviewers, and my constructive criticism reviewers... I love you all and thank you so much!**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**...**

**Now enough chatter! On with the show!**

**P.S. This will be a longgg assss chapter! Just a warning.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. **

**'_The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be'_**

**_'Chapter Six: Gathering The Three and A Lonely Soul...'_**

* * *

We find our young group of heroes continuing their journey to Rolanda Town. The sight of Ash's next gym battle. The stretch of road they were currently traveling down was heavily forested on both sides of the road, so thick that it was hard for any of them to see very far into the distance. Ash was keeping his eyes peeled for any new Pokemon with Pikachu sitting atop Ash's head, also surveying the land. Brock and Misty stayed on either side of Ash trying to see if there was any break in the thick forest that surrounded them on either side.

Ash suddenly saw a huge, what almost looked like circus tent, towering over the tree tops. "Hey guys look there! What is that?" Ash asked in surprise.

Brock and Misty also stared in surprise at the large object. "I don't know Ash, it's not on the map." Brock answered.

"Maybe it's a traveling circus or something?" Misty volunteered.

"Let's check it out!" Ash said.

As they started to get closer to the tent they saw a young Trainer walking down the path towards Ash and his friends. His head bowed and looking depressed. It appeared as though he had just came from the direction of the tent and Ash stopped him. "Hey man are you okay? And do you know what they place is." He asked pointing to the tent.

The boy looked at Ash and answered him, "That's AJ's unofficial Pokemon Gym. He trains savage Pokemon and is really strong. We didn't stand a chance... I guess he was right, me and my Pokemon really are weak."

Ash suddenly had a fire light in his eyes. "He called you weak?! Just because you lost?!" He stared hard at the depressed boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, making the kid look at him again. "Listen dude. Just because you lost a battle does not make you weak! If anything it shows you what you have to improve on so you can get better. Train harder with your Pokemon so next time you battle you can win. Okay?!"

The boy seemed surprised at Ash's faith in him but smiled and nodded his head, his depressed air suddenly vanished. "Thanks a lot your right! I need to train my Pokemon more so next time we can win. I owe it to them! Thank you!"

Ash smiled and then watched as the boy continued walking down the road with a new spring in his step. Ash turned to his friends, "Let's go guys. I want to meet this... AJ." He said it with a calm and serious tone in his voice. Making Brock and Misty realize that Ash was obviously upset that this AJ person was apparently demeaning Trainers and their Pokemon after he beat them. They didn't like where this was going.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later they stood in a large open field that held the giant tent. A large wooden fence surrounded the whole tent. Walking up to the entrance of the tent they suddenly heard what sounded like grunts and calls of Pokemon coming from inside and a clearly human voice calling out to them. Looking at his friends who looked just as confused as he was Ash stepped inside the tent, flanked by Brock and Misty. Once inside they saw just how large it was. There were training obstacles littered all around the gym and a large pool was in the center of it. Pokemon ranging from Rattata to Zubat all were training and doing several different exercises all around the tent. Several of the Pokemon were wearing what seemed to be body weights of some kind Ash noticed.

Near the pool was a boy that looked around Ash and Misty's age. He had green hair with black streaks and wore jean shorts, black shoes and a black shirt with orange coloring around the chest. He had a whip in his hand and was whipping a Sandshrew who also wore a metal bodysuit and was standing near the edge of the pool dripping wet. "Come on Sandshrew get back in the water!" The boy yelled in a mildly southern accent as he cracked the whip again. Ash and his friends, specifically Ash, watched in wrapped attention as the Pokemon jumped back in the water and stayed there treading the water while the boy yelled at it to stay in the pool. When the Pokemon was done it jumped out of the water and then the boy took the bodysuit off of Sandshrew and commanded all of his Pokemon to rest.

Ash stayed silent while observing the training of the Pokemon and had to say that the boy's methods were primitive and laughable at best. The body weights his own Pokemon trained with were much heavier and much more advanced than what this boy used. Ash could tell at a glance. He also saw many, many exercises that the kids Pokemon were not, but should have been performing while using the training weights that would have maximized effectiveness. The boy also lacked focus on type specific training and his Pokemon's physical conditioning program was poor. While at first glance from most people it may have seemed extreme and impressive, from the eyes of someone experienced and well versed in all of the many different areas of training Pokemon like Ash was, it honestly was more pathetic and flashy then anything. No proper form was emphasized at all. Meaning the training was less effective. The boy may have been TRYING to brush the subject of type disadvantage training with Sandshrew but Ash could tell he was going about it entirely the wrong way. The best way would have been letting Sandshrew get used to swimming in the water and submerging itself for as long as it could first, before ever putting body weights on it. Getting the Ground-Type used to being in the water for long periods of time before taking it any further was the best place to start and he could tell that Sandshrew had went in the entirely opposite direction from the way it acted when in the water. Yeah it may have put on a tough front but Ash could the water bothered the Pokemon much more than it let on. All in all Ash could tell the kid was a wannabe who didn't really understand exactly what he was doing. No doubt the kids Pokemon would get stronger from training in general but it would take a while. Ash just decided to stay silent though, it wasn't his business.

The boy turned and noticed Ash and his friends standing near the entrance to the tent. "Hey are you guys here to challenge my gym?" He asked as he walked over.

Ash just looked at the boy with a stoic face. "Are you AJ?"

The boy just nodded. "That's me! My name been spreading around has it?!"

Ash just continued stare at him emotionlessly. "I'm Ash Ketchum and this is my partner Pikachu and my friends Brock and Misty. We actually came across a boy on the road that had just challenged your gym and looked pretty upset. He said you had called him and his Pokemon weak after you beat him."

AJ just crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah I remember him. He and his Pokemon were weak. Barely worth the challenge really!"

Ash just narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't insult someone just because they aren't as strong as you."

AJ just waved his hand and walked over to nearby metal cabinet. "Heh! If it's the truth then that's all that matters. If the babies can't take it that's their problem." He opened up the cabinet and began pulling out Pokemon food. He fed his Pokemon and then walked back to Ash and his friends. "So are you here to challenge the gym or what?"

Ash just ignored him and walked over to the discarded body weights and picked one up. Just as he expected, the weight was feather light compared to what he trained his Pokemon with. Pikachu got off of Ash's shoulder and reached out to touch one of the weights. AJ called out to them, "Hey be careful with your Pikachu there! If it touches one of those weights it will instantly attach to it's body. There is no way that little runt will be able to stay upright and the weight will curl it up into a ball that you'll be hard pressed to get your Pokemon out of."

Ash just smirked. "Really? Pikachu." He nodded his head to Pikachu and the small mouse touched the weight. It instantly came to life and attached itself to Pikachu's middle section. Instead of Pikachu getting rolled into a ball however he just stood there like nothing happened. Easily resisting the pressure of the body weight. Ash spoke again, "Pikachu, show off a little."

Pikachu smirked. "Pika!" He then began performing several acrobatic moves and exercises while wearing the weights. Moving effortlessly around the tent. Pikachu jumped in the pool and began performing graceful movements that made Misty see stars because of the beauty in which he was swimming around in the water. Pikachu jumped out of the pool and flipped in the air several times before landing in front of Ash, not even breathing hard. Ash smiled and nodded to his buddy before unlatching the weight from Pikachu and handing it to a shocked AJ.

He just looked at Ash. "How did that little runt do that?!"

Ash just shrugged. "Training." He then looked up at a giant scoreboard in the tent that read 99. "What's with the scoreboard and the number."

AJ just looked smug. "That's just the numbers of victories I've won in a row! After I hit one hundred me and my Pokemon are gonna take the Pokemon League challenge!"

"Why are you waiting so long to enter?" Misty asked.

"Because I wanted to make sure we were ready for it first." AJ answered her.

" Regular Trainer battles aren't a substitute for what your going to experience against gym leaders and the Indigo Conference AJ." Brock said sagely.

The boy just shrugged and said arrogantly, "You do it your way and I'll do it mine!"

He then looked at Ash. "So are we gonna battle or what? I'm anxious to get that hundredth win and if you don't wanna battle then your just holding me back!"

Ash stared dead into his eyes and said with eery calmness. "Yes. Let's battle AJ. I wouldn't want to have... Wasted your time."

The boy smiled smugly and said, "Meet me out back!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and AJ stood on opposite sides of a large ring that AJ had set up out back of the large tent and were staring each other down. Well, AJ was staring down Ash. He was just staring back at AJ with steel cold eyes, completely calm. Brock stepped up to ref the match. "This will be a battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and AJ from Virdian City. This will be a one on one Pokemon battle. The winner will be decided when whichever Trainer loses their Pokemon first. Trainers please choose your Pokemon."

"Sandshrew Go!" AJ shouted as he summoned the Ground-Type from it's Pokeball.

Ash looked down at Pikachu with his arms crossed. "Your up buddy."

Pikachu took to the field. "Pika." He said calmly.

AJ just looked dumbfounded. "An Electric-Type against a Ground-Type?! Ha! One hundredth victory here we come!" He said cockily.

Ash narrowed his eyes. "Really? Well come get us then." He said with ice in his tone.

AJ smirked. "It'll be our pleasure! Now Sandshrew use Rollout!" He commanded.

Sandshrew tucked into a tight ball and took off rolling towards Pikachu at a fast pace. Ash just stood there with his arms crossed. Not saying a word. Pikachu looked on calmly at Sandshrew and as soon as the Pokemon was on him Pikachu merely blurred out of the way in a pure burst of speed. AJ looked shock. "What the?! Sandshrew keep attacking with Rollout!"

Sandshrew kept rolling towards Pikachu but he just continued dodging with perfect and effortless grace, not even breaking a sweat. AJ got annoyed. "Sandshrew use Sandstorm!"

The Ground Pokemon whipped up a large sand cloud that covered the field, obscuring everyones vision of the battle. Ash just remained calm and merely said, "Pikachu, tail to the ground and sense the movements on the field." Pikachu nodded and remained calm.

Suddenly they heard through the Sandstorm, "Sandshrew use Slash!"

The Ground-Type came hurtling through the sand cloud with it's claws glowing a silver color and extended out longer. As it slashed downwards on Pikachu he just feinted to the side, allowing Sandshrew to pass right by him. As his opponent continued passing by him Pikachu's tail turned a silver glow and then took the look of being coated in thick steel. He swung it around at fast speeds and smashed Sanshrew in the face hard, making the Pokemon cry out and fly back into the sand cloud. They all heard a loud crash a few seconds later, affirming that Sandshrew had landed on the field. hard.

Ash decided it was time to get rid of the sand cloud. "Pikachu use Agility and run around the field, dissipate the Sandstorm by creating a whirlwind with your speed."

Pikachu took off running incredibly fast and created a small whirlwind that blew the sand cloud away, exposing Sandshrew. AJ shouted out, "Sandshrew use Dig!"

He dug into the ground and disappeared. AJ smirked, "There's no way your Pikachu can run from this move! My Sandshrew could be anywhere!"

Ash just smiled. "Pikachu focus your tail on the ground again and close your eyes. Sense the vibrations and prepare an Iron Tail."

Pikachu nodded and closed his eyes. AJ yelled out, "Now Sandshrew!"

Ash didn't even have to say it and Pikachu jumped and swung in a downward motion, his tail now looking like steel again. Sandshrew came out of the ground at just the perfect moment. However, instead of smashing into Pikachu like AJ thought he would, Sandshrew was met head on with an Iron Tail to the head. Sending it cratering back into the ground. Yet again Ash was glad Pikachu had finally learned Iron Tail in training two days ago.

Pikachu hopped back and stared at where his opponent was laying. AJ was in shock. His toughest Pokemon hadn't even lain a hand on Pikachu, yet the electric mouse had only struck Sandshrew twice and now his Pokemon was standing on it's last legs. Sure enough Sandshrew stood up, looking very shaky. Ash decided to end the battle. "Pikachu... Focused Lightning Thunderbolt." He said completely calm again.

Pikachu began sparking his entire body and stared calling out. "Pika... PIKA..."

AJ didn't know what Ash was doing. There was no way a Thunderbolt would hurt his Pokemon. He just smirked. "That'll never work! Don't you know about type advantages and disadvantages! Sandshrew Rollout!"

Sandshrew tucked into a ball again and took off rolling for Pikachu. Meanwhile Pikachu just kept glowing with power as he readied his attack. Ash called out just as Sandshrew was on top of them, "Pikachu now!"

Pikachu unleashed his attack with one final cry. "PIKACHU!"

A Thunderbolt that looked massive in size came from Pikachu and struck the rolling Pokemon that was coming for him. Instead of the bolt just bouncing off of Sandshrew like AJ thought it would, the bolt of lightning struck and stopped Sandshrew in it's tracks. Electrocuting the Ground-Type Pokemon and making it cry out in agonizing pain as it was brutally shocked.

An explosion suddenly rocked the field and a dust cloud kicked up. When it passed Sandshrew was laying in a deep crater on the field with scorch marks all over it's body. Clearly unconscious.

"H-How?!" AJ stuttered out as he stared at his battered and beaten Pokemon. Pikachu merely turned around and casually strode back to Ash and hopped on his shoulder. "Pika!" He said as he nuzzled Ash's cheek. Ash patted his Pokemon's head. "Great job buddy you made me proud!"

Brock stepped up and raised his hand. "Since Sandshrew is unable to battle I hereby declare the winner of this match Pikachu and Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

AJ returned his Sandshrew and then looked at a second scoreboard that was held above the ring that also held the number 99 on the winning side. Now however there was a lone 1 on the side that counted losses. AJ dropped to his knees and just stayed there. "How did I lose?! We trained so hard! Only one more win was all I needed!"

Ash walked over and AJ looked up at him. "Do you know that feeling you are feeling right now? The feelings of despair, loss and weakness? That's how everybody feels after a loss and is exactly what you made worse for all of those Trainers who challenged you. You beat and then mocked them and their Pokemon like they were nothing. That is not the mark of a good Trainer. A good Trainer will try and help fellow Trainers and make them feel better about themselves when they are feeling down after losing a tough battle. Good Trainers are there for one each other and seek to help one another improve through battling. Ridiculing and saying harsh words will do nothing except cause hard feelings." Ash said wisely.

AJ looked at the ground for a few moments and then spoke. "Your right... I made so many Trainers feel terrible about themselves after I beat them. Their Pokemon truly battled the best they could, mine were just better. I shouldn't have said those things and acted like such a jerk..."

He stood up and looked Ash in the eyes resolutely. "But no more! From now on I will never again demean or make another Trainer feel bad about themselves!" He smiled at Ash. "And I have you to thank for that Ash. If you hadn't showed me just how wrong I was and beat me down like you did and said what you said to me I would never have seen the error of my ways. Thank you."

Ash just smiled back. "I'm glad AJ. And all is forgotten. You see what I mean? Trainers help each other! Friends?" He held out his hand.

AJ smiled again and took the offered hand and shook it. "Thank you Ash. And yes, friends."

Brock and Misty just smiled. Glad the tension between the two Trainers was finally relieved.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time Ash and his friends decided to leave it was now just beginning to turn to dusk. They stood outside of the gate that lead to AJ's tent. The gate was now firmly locked shut and AJ stood across from them with a travel pack slung over his shoulder. "So AJ what are you going to do now?" Ash asked him.

AJ smiled and looked out at the setting sun. "I'm gonna start my own journey now. I think me and my Pokemon have stayed in one place for too long and now it's time to go. We're gonna win eight badges and then compete in the Indigo League!"

Ash smiled and shook his friends hand. "Well I wish you luck AJ. Hopefully we'll meet again. Who knows? Maybe we'll face each other in the League."

AJ smiled as he shook Ash's hand. "Yeah maybe we will! And next time I'll win!"

"Haha alright then! Take care AJ."

"Yeah be safe AJ!" Misty said.

"Take care man." Brock added.

AJ nodded to his friends and then headed in the opposite direction, waving back to them. Ash and his friends waved as well as they headed back towards the road. Once on the road they set their sights back towards Rolanda Town and the next adventure!

* * *

(Time-Skip: Next Day)

As Ash and his friends wondered through the thick fog of early morning as they continued on the way to their next destination. Misty yawned loudly. "Ash... why did we have to be up before the damn crack of dawn?! We could have slept longer and still had more than enough time in the day to make good headway towards the next town! And now, because you were so eager to leave before the Pidgey were even up, we have to wander through this dense fog!" She complained loudly.

Ash just looked back at Misty and smiled amusingly. "Come on Mist you know I have to get my morning training session in with my Pokemon! Now can you begrudge me for that?!"

Misty just scowled at him. "If it interferes with me getting sleep yes I can!"

Brock suddenly spoke up. "Ahh come on Misty it's not that bad. The morning air is so refreshing and-"

'Whack!' Brock was instantly on the ground with a big lump on his head, twitching a little. Misty stood there with a log in her hands, fuming from Brock interfering with his chipper morning attitude and had several tick marks on her forehead. "Shut up Brock! I'm tired and don't want to hear about your love for mornings!"

Ash just sweat dropped and gained some space from the cranky red head while Brock got up, rubbing his head and hurriedly went to stand on the other side of Ash, clearly not wanting another lump on the head. Misty just nodded in satisfaction and walked along in a happy silence.

As they continued walking they suddenly saw a light up ahead through the fog. Ash and his friends got closer and saw a young boy running on a treadmill with a bunch of other boys standing around him. They were all wearing school boy uniforms and one of them stood their holding a lantern in his hand. Another boy stood by the treadmill asking the running boy questions. "Alright Joe answer this! At what level does Pidgeotto learn Wing Attack?"

The boy huffed and puffed while running but tried to answer the question. "Pidge...otto...learns Wing Attack... at level... huh... at level..."

The other boy laughed. "Come on Joe answer the question or you fail the test!"

The boy looked to be on his last legs and at this point Ash and his friends had arrived in the clearing. Ash was pissed at seeing the treatment of the boy on the treadmill and spoke up. "That's a trick question actually. Pidgeotto learns that move once it evolves into Pidgeot, which is at level 36. It then learns Wing Attack at level 37."

The other boys turned around to face Ash and his friends. The boy on the treadmill lost focus and slipped, falling off of the machine and onto the ground. Brock ran up to the boy followed by Ash and Misty. "Are you okay kid?" Brock asked.

"Yeah I'm fine... thanks." The boy answered, sounding depressed.

Ash looked at the other boys. "Just what the hell was that?! Your friend could have gotten hurt!"

"Yeah you should be more careful ya jerks!" Misty yelled.

"Friend?! That loser is not our friend! He's pathetic. Can't even answer the simplest questions! He's an embarrassment to Pokemon Tech!"

Misty looked surprised. "You are all from Pokemon Tech?!"

"That's right! And we're some of the best students there are!" One of the boys said smugly.

Ash didn't like these boys attitudes. He knew all about Pokemon Tech and how they believed that once you reached a certain level on their ranking system you could automatically enter the Indigo Conference without challenging any of the gyms or earning any badges. Ash didn't believe in book smarts being the only thing you needed to be proficient in if you wanted to win the League. It took hard work, a strong bond between you and your Pokemon, tough training and all of the life experiences you gained by traveling around the region collecting gym badges. Needless to say, He didn't agree with their methods.

"Yeah and who are you?!" One of the boys demanded.

Ash stared the boy down and answered him. "My name is Ash Ketchum. This is my partner Pikachu and my friends Brock and Misty. Now I suggest you leave this guy alone and go back to your academy now." He said the last part in dead seriousness.

The boy who had been asking the questions stepped up. "Ohh yeah? And what if we don't? What are you gonna do?!" The boy went to push Ash but he sidestepped him and grabbed the boys hand as fast as Pikachu used Quick Attack and bent the boy down into a straight arm bar, pushing his arm up until the boy cried out in pain. Ash let go of him and the boy went stumbling back towards his friends. "Now get the fuck out of here before you really piss me off!" Ash said to them with a growl in his voice. The boys looked afraid and then turned around and took off running into the fog.

Ash calmed down and went back over to the boy who Brock and Misty was kneeling by. "You got a name guy?" Ash asked kindly.

The boy looked at Ash. "Joe's the name. Thanks for sticking up for me you guys... I really appreciate it. Though now I'm afraid to head back to the academy. Those guys are just going to be waiting for me and then they'll beat me up... or worse, they'll tell Giselle."

Ash looked confused. "Who's Giselle?"

Joe stood up and faced Ash and his friends. "She's the best student at Pokemon Tech. She can literally make your life a living hell if she wants to she's so popular. When she finds out how pathetic I am she'll ruin my life at the academy..."

Ash just looked at his friends who nodded their heads and then he placed a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Your not pathetic Joe. Anybody could get a few answers wrong. What matters is your performance in an actual battle and how well you raise your Pokemon. I tell you what... we'll go back with you and keep you safe from the other kids. We'll set em' straight so they don't mess with you anymore okay?"

Joe seemed surprised and asked, "You guys would really do that?"

All three of them and Pikachu nodded their heads. "Of course! Bullying makes me sick and I won't let some stuck up rich kids torment you Joe!" Misty said firmly.

"Me neither Joe. I'll help however I can!" Brock said kindly.

"Pikachu!" The little electric mouse said loudly.

Ash just smiled. "We got your back Joe."

The boy smiled a little. "Well I don't think it will help but what more can it hurt? They already can't stand me there. Thanks guys, follow me and I'll take you to the academy."

And so the group of friends, led by their new friend Joe, headed towards Pokemon Tech.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends stood in the courtyard of the Pokemon Technical academy. They were admiring all of the many large buildings and study halls that were set up seemingly everywhere. "So this is Pokemon Tech huh? Interesting." Ash said as he continued to observe everything. Joe turned around to face them. "Yeah it's pretty big. Come on and I'll show you guys where the students usually hang out at the most." They all agreed and followed the boy as he led them into the biggest building on the premises. They walked through a well designed and sophisticated looking lobby, through a long hallway and then up a large flight of stairs. They eventually came to a room that was located on the very top floor. They walked into the large room and saw that it was littered with computers sitting on desks everywhere.

"This is our tech room." Joe said as they explored around a bit. "Joe what's with all of these computers?" Misty asked.

Joe went and sat down at a desk and then started doing something on a computer. "These computers contain knowledge of any and all subjects to do with Pokemon. We learn everything we know about battling from a virtual simulator of sorts that allows us to match up all kinds of different Pokemon and then virtually pit them against each other. It allows us to find out things like type match ups, move sets, abilities... anything you can think of really. We make several battle scenarios and then witness them on the computers. This teaches us everything we really need to know about being a Pokemon Trainer. Since we get to see how battles go on the simulator we never really have to battle with each other. Only on rare occasions. We use the Pokemon that are provided here at the academy when we do battle unless someone actually has there own."

Ash and Brock just shook their heads sadly at the poor boy's disillusionment. It took way more than going to some fancy school to become a great Pokemon Trainer. No matter how much tech you had at your finger tips. Misty however spoke her mind, "That's ridiculous! A Trainer isn't made from learning battle theory on a computer! It's from Training alongside your Pokemon and getting better and stronger together. Going through good times and bad! You can't become a successful Trainer by just sitting in a classroom!"

Joe just shook his head. "We have all the data here on our files to prove it. Each student here gets a ranking based on how far along they are to graduating. A fresh student with only a few months of knowledge is at the level of a Trainer with two or three badges. A student right in the middle of their time here at the academy is at the level of a Trainer with five badges. And a student who is graduated is at the level of a Trainer with eight badges. That's why people who graduate from here are cleared to become Trainers and enter the Indigo League straight away."

Misty just looked shocked. "But that's insane! There are extremely tough Trainers who compete in the Pokemon League every year. How can someone fresh out of a school with no REAL experience raising Pokemon ever hope to match up?! The Pokemon League is for those who have braved the hardships of being a Trainer alongside their Pokemon and have actually earned eight real badges from gym leaders around the region!"

Joe just shrugged his shoulders. "The stats don't lie." He then turned to Ash. "How many badges do you have?"

Ash answered from the desk he was leaned against near Brock with his arms crossed and Pikachu mimicking him from his shoulder. "Two." He said coolly.

Joe nodded his head. "You would be a student fresh into the academy then. Giselle is the highest ranking student here with the knowledge equivalent of someone with six badges. Even someone like me who is one of the worst students at Pokemon Tech am better than someone with two badges."

Misty lost her cool here. "What are you saying?! I was a gym leader at the Cerulean City gym before leaving to travel with Ash and Brock!"

The boy raised his eyebrows and shrugged again. "Yeah I know all about the Cerulean City gym. You specialize in Water-Type Pokemon. Still, your gym is at the difficulty level of at the most two badges so you would be a beginner here as well. Besides, I have beaten your Water-Pokemon on the simulator dozens of times."

Misty banged her fist on the desk that Joe was sitting at. "Alright then you want to prove it?! Let's battle here and now and I'll show you just how much of a 'beginner' I am!"

Joe just sighed and stood up. "There's no point in this but okay. I guess I'll just have to show you what I'm talking about." He went over to a wrack that held some Pokeballs and looked at Misty. "You choose first."

Misty just nodded. "Fine by me!" She reached into her bag and pulled at a Pokeball. "Starmie Go! She yelled as her Pokemon appeared with a call of, "Starm!"

Joe just picked up a Pokeball and said, "Let's see here... for a Water-Type this Pokemon should be the best choice." He threw the ball, "Weepinbell go!" He said as the Pokemon appeared ready for battle. Joe began, "Weepinbell use Razor Leaf!"

Misty quickly commanded Starmie. "Starmie meet those leaves head on with a Rapid Spin and knock them away!"

Joe seemed surprised. "What?!"

Starmie spun rapidly into the leaves and batted them aside harmlessly as it continued on towards Weepinbell. Joe yelled out, "Quick use Vine Whip!"

Misty wasn't having it. "Starmie break Rapid Spin and knock those vines away with Water Gun!"

Starmie stopped spinning and fired a strong jet of water at the incoming attack and knocked the vines down before they could get to Starmie. The Water Gun pressed on and ended up hitting Weepinbell. Making the Pokemon slide back into a wall. "Quick Starmie use Swift and then Tackle!" Misty commanded.

Starmie shot star shaped energy shots at Weepinbell and hit it's mark, making the Pokemon cry in pain. Starmie then rushed in and hit Weepinbell with Tackle before Joe could say anything. Starmie returned back to Misty and everybody watched as Weepinbell became unstuck from the wall and fell to the floor unconscious.

Joe just stuttered. "But how?! I never lost with Weepinbell on the computer! I even had the type advantage! What happened?!"

Suddenly the doors to the room opened again and in walked a couple of students. Some of them were a few of the boys that Ash and his friends encountered in the woods earlier. Ash, Brock and Misty recognized them and glared at the bullies while Joe just tried to shy away. Out of the small crowd of students walked a girl that could instantly be classified as beautiful. She had long brown hair that reached past her shoulders, light brown eyes and wore a school girl outfit that showed her clearly developing curves and chest. She looked to be around Misty's age. Ash raised his eyebrow in surprise of who this new girl was and thought one thing. '_Damn she is beautiful!'_ Before the girl could speak Brock suddenly appeared in front her out of nowhere with his hands clasped in hers. "Ohh my brunette beauty there are so many things to learn here at this fine school of yours! Tell me, are there any subjects here that can teach me how to win your heart?! I'll do any- YOWWW!" He cried out as Misty grabbed Brock by the ear and pulled him away from the girl who just stood there in confusion with her hands still outstretched. "Why don't you just go sit in a corner and sweet talk yourself Brock!" Misty fumed as she drug him away.

The girl recovered from her shock and then looked at Joe with a stern and overly confident look. "It's simple why you lost Joe! You put to much faith in type match ups and rely on the simulator to much. Anything can happen in a battle! I can't believe you have forgotten that!" She scolded him in a voice that, while truly sounding proper and sophisticated, also was as soft and smooth as honey.

Joe lowered his head as the other students laughed at him. "I'm sorry Giselle your right... I should have remembered that."

Ash suddenly stood from where he was leaning and spoke up with that same calm and cool tone he had become known for (A/N: Everybody who knows of Naruto just imagine Kakashi's voice. That is what Ash kind of sounds like. His voice is the same as in the show, just with Kakashi's tone. He even sounds like him when he get's excited and loud). "So your Giselle huh?" He asked her almost lazily but with hidden interest.

Giselle turned her glaring attention from Joe to the source of the new voice. In mid turn she said, "Yes I'm Giselle why do y-" she stopped when she finally saw Ash and took in his appearance. His cool posture, very confident aura he just sort of exuded, the track suite on his body that hugged him nicely and showed off his muscles and the bright look in his eyes... Giselle continued to look at him and then promptly began blushing a little.

She tried to speak but stuttered a little bit. She finally regained control of herself and addressed Ash in a sweet tone. "Yes I'm Giselle! How can I help you?"

Ash just smirked to himself and walked up to stand beside Joe. He looked at Giselle with a mischievous smile and decided to match her intelligent persona and words with his own. "Well beautiful I believe you can. May I call you that? I would hate to offend someone of such obvious refinement and intelligence with seemingly shallow words. One such as yourself would never fall for something as trivial as the flirtatious advances of just any guy if you detected even the slightest hint of insincerity in their voice. I just don't wish for you to believe I'm idly throwing complements around I do not mean. I believe honesty of opinion is important in a first meeting so I merely said the first words that came to my mind upon seeing you. I hope I was not to brash?"

Giselle just stared in shock at this guy. He spoke to her with such respect and in such a kind way. Not to mention he sounded so intelligent! She had read many books and saw several movies on the finer class of men known as gentlemen and she had to admit, she was a bit... Over the top when it came to how a male should speak to her. Not to bold and not to timid either. This guy was the perfect middle when he spoke to her. Still, she was curious about him.

"No your fine mr...?"

Ash merely smiled charmingly again. "Ketchum! Ash Ketchum my dear. Now... As for the reasons of why my friends and I are here. We were walking through the forest this morning, on the way to Rolanda Town, when we came across Joe here being tormented by some of the very boys behind you there." Ash pointed to the guys behind Giselle and continued on. "They had him running on a treadmill while answering random questions about Pokemon. They said if he didn't answer the questions correctly then he would fail the 'test'. Did you know about this? You are apparently the one that all of the students here look to for instruction and approval if what Joe has told us is true. That's why I asked you."

Giselle looked taken aback as she turned to her fellow students. "You did what?! Why would you do something like that?!" She scolded them.

The boys looked surprised that she was actually defending Joe but then hung their heads. "We're sorry Giselle. We just wanted to help him improve by any means necessary so he wouldn't be such an embarrassment to us all."

Giselle merely flipped her hair and turned away from them. "Well don't worry about the students who stand no chance of succeeding here at the academy. Let them fail, it won't affect you at all if they do. However pulling a stunt like you did earlier will only make the rest of us look bad!"

Ash suddenly got upset. He thought maybe she was actually defending Joe earlier but now he saw that she was merely reprimanding her fellow students for doing something that could have made her look bad. Before Ash could say anything to her Misty walked back up to the group and glared at Giselle with fire in her eyes. "Just who do you think you are miss Priss?! You only care about yourself and your own grades so much that if those boy's would have been torturing Joe in a way that wouldn't have somehow made you look bad then you would have been okay with it?!"

Giselle just looked at Misty with a superior look on her face. "Well it really shouldn't matter to me what happens to someone who is to weak to fend for themselves. Who are you anyway?"

Misty stood straight and proud. "My name is Misty Waterflower and I was a gym leader of the Cerulean City gym!"

Giselle just snickered. "Ohh yes I know who you are now. I know all about your gym and the Pokemon that you use there. Honestly I'm not surprised Joe lost to you, after all he could never beat someone with one badge let alone a gym leader."

Misty continued to look proud until Giselle said what she did next, "Although, Joe and students like him are probably the only ones you could defeat at this academy. Someone like me you would never stand a chance against me."

Misty turned beat red. "Ohh yeah?! You think so?! How about we battle right here and now and I'll wipe that smug look off of that pretty little face of yours!"

Giselle just laughed. "Why would I battle you when my Rock-Type could defeat any of your Water-Types without even trying?!"

Misty looked like she could bite through nails. "Alright that's it! No one mocks my Pokemon and get's away with it! Let's go right now!"

Giselle just flipped her hair again. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you... orange head." She walked over to the other side of the room and pulled a Pokeball out from a pocket she head on the side of her school shirt. She turned around and faced Misty. "Prepare to lose! Graveler go!" She said as she released her large Rock-Type Pokemon.

Misty was still fuming and looked to her Starmie. "Let's go Starmie! Let's show that Priss and her overgrown pebble to never insult us!"

Giselle just smirked. "Come get us then orange head!"

Misty growled. "Starmie Rapid Spin to get close to Graveler and then use Water Gun!"

Starmie spun towards Graveler and then stopped in mid-air and launched a Water Gun at the Pokemon.

Giselle just flipped her hair. "Hmph! Graveler use Harden and then charge through that weak little water spout and smash into the little starfish with Headbutt followed by Stone Edge!"

Graveler ran straight at Starmie and charged straight through the Water Gun. "What?!" Misty yelled in surprised.

It then ran into Starmie hard with Headbutt and sent the Pokemon flying back further into the room. Before Misty could command her Starmie to defend itself Graveler used Stone Edge and bombarded the Water-Type with several hard stones, hitting it with so much force that Starmie was blasted out of a window and down into the exercise yard outside.

"Starmie!" Misty yelled as she ran out of the room, followed by Ash and Brock. Giselle just smiled to herself and motioned for the others to follow her outside.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Misty crouched by Starmie and held her Pokemon close as she hung her head low. "I can't believe I lost..." She murmured sadly to herself.

Ash and Brock stood near Misty, watching her sympathetically as she sat immersed in her own grief. Giselle and the students had just arrived and the girl walked up to them. "Do you see what I was talking about now? You never stood a chance against me. It's sad really that your Pokemon had to pay for the mistakes of it's Trainer but ohh well."

Misty just looked up at Giselle and that fire came back into her eyes. "You may have beaten me but not because being a Tech student makes you better! I just wasn't prepared for that really strong Graveler..."

Giselle just laughed. "Exactly! And that's what makes us here at Pokemon Tech better than you normal Trainers. We know exactly what to prepare for in almost any situation, which makes us superior!"

Ash stepped around in front of Misty to face Giselle. "Enough." He said in that deadly calm tone he used when he was mad. "It's one thing to beat your opponent but when you rub it their face and make them feel miserable like this is when you've gone to far. Just because you beat Misty doesn't give you the right to belittle her values as a Trainer or her Pokemon. If you think your so great and so prepared for anything then battle me. Let's see just how prepared you are."

Giselle looked taken aback with Ash's cold tone but then just flipped her hair and said, "Apparently you haven't learned anything from watching your friends battle. Very well Ash I'll battle you!"

Ash nodded and then the two of them went to stand on opposite sides of the exercise yard. "I'll use my second Pokemon for this!" Giselle yelled out as she threw the ball in the air. "Cubone come out!"

Ash took one look at her Pokemon and knew the perfect choice for this battle. "Pidgeotto show your power!" Ash called out.

"Pidgooo!" The Pokemon called out as she appeared from her Pokeball. Giselle called out, "A type advantage won't help you Ash!"

He shrugged. "Who said I'm going to be using a type advantage?" He said mysteriously.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"I'm going to prove something to you that's what." He looked to his Pokemon. "Pidgeotto... stay on the ground the whole time. Understand?" Pidgeotto nodded her head yes.

Giselle seemed surprised. "Your going to ground your Pokemon?! This will be over quickly then!"

Ash crossed his arms. "Is that so then? Well come on."

Giselle did just that. "Fine! Cubone use Bone Club!"

"Pidgeotto Agility." Ash said calmly.

Thanks to all of Pidgeotto's training on both her feet and in the air she had become very fast both in running and flying. When Cubone came in to hit her she merely jumped to the side with a powerful jolt of her legs.

Giselle looked stunned. "Huh?! Cubone keep trying to hit it with Bone Club and use Focus Energy to build power at the same time!"

Cubone began centering it's energy as it kept trying to hit Pidgeotto. No matter how hard it tried though the bird just kept strafing and dodging away from Cubone, not even once taking to the air. Ash called out, "Pidgeotto bat it away with your wing!"

Pidgeotto jumped to the side again and reached her wing out as Cubone swung down towards where she had been with it's bone. She smacked the Pokemon and sent it flying away from her. Cubone landed on the ground with a grunt and then got back up. Giselle called to her Pokemon, "Are you okay Cubone?" It looked at her, "Cu Cubone!"

She smiled, "Good! Now use Dig and then wait for my next order!"

Cubone burrowed into the ground. Ash sighed, "This move again?! Second time in two days!" Ash just sighed. "Troublesome..." He muttered under his breath before looking back at his Pokemon and saying calmly, "Pidgeotto stay focused." The bird nodded her head and just stayed where she was. Giselle smiled. Now she had Ash. "Cubone come up now and use Bonemerang!"

"Pidgeotto jump now, bring your wings in front of you and then whip them out and hit Cubone!" Ash said lightning fast. Just as Cubone popped up from the ground ready to hit Pidgeotto the bird jumped back quickly with her wings drawn in tight and then whipped them open fast, smacking the Ground-Type just as it came up. Cubone flew back and landed on the ground roughly. "Bone!" It said with a pained grunt. "Pidgeotto run in fast and then use Agility to continuously hit Cubone with Tackle!" Ash yelled.

Pidgeotto ran in faster than the legs of a Flying-Type should have been able to and then hit the struggling to get up Cubone with Tackle. She kept darting from place to place, hitting Cubone over and over again. "Cubone!" Giselle yelled out, "Try and get away!"

Ash wouldn't have it though. "Pidgeotto get back and then rush Cubone as fast as you can with a grounded version of Aerial Ace!"

Pidgeotto jumped back and then started using Agility to run towards Cubone as fast as she could. She streamlined herself and then right as she was a few feet away from Cubone she jumped forward the rest of the way and performed a grounded version of Aerial Ace. She hit Cubone hard enough to lift it off of the ground and sent the Pokemon flying back into the school wall where it spider-web cracked the wall. Cubone fell down off of the wall and laid on the ground with swirls in it's eyes.

Pidgeotto flew back to Ash and he bent down and stroked his birds feathers for a few moments before thanking her for a great battle and returning her. He looked over at Giselle who was now sitting on the ground with Cubone in her lap. She looked shocked beyond words at her loss and the rest of the students just stared in amazement that Giselle was defeated. "I lost... I wasn't good enough. Even after all of the studying I have done it was for nothing..."

She looked up when she saw a pair of shoes in front of her and saw Ash looking down at her. Ash saw tears in her eyes and instantly his heart softened. He hated seeing women cry. He witnessed his mother doing enough of that over the years out of loneliness for not having his father around and if he could, he would never see another woman cry ever again. It literally broke his heart to see something so beautiful and amazing with tears rolling down their face. He may not have liked how Giselle treated other people before their battle but he hoped that maybe she had now seen the error of her ways.

Not wanting Ash to see her in a weakened state with tears in her eyes she looked away. Ash looked at his hands to make sure they were clean and then knelt down in front of Giselle. He cupped her chin and turned her to face him. He saw that a few tears had escaped her eyes and could see the tear tracks they had left behind. He took the back of his right pointer finger and gently wiped Giselle's eyes of the tears that were collected there. Smiling softly at her all the while. When he was done he gently grabbed her by the shoulders and had her look right at him. "Hey please don't cry. You have really good skills as a Trainer. Just because you lost one time doesn't make you bad in anyway. It just shows you what you need to improve at. However I do want you to take just a minute and recognize how you are feeling right now. You feel upset, not very good about yourself, like your just not any good. Well that feeling you have right now is exactly how you and the others have been making kids like Joe feel this whole time. Just because they are not as naturally gifted as you and the other top students are you have all made the decision to ostracize them and make them feel like their no good."

Ash shifted a little bit to get more comfortable and upon noting that he had Giselle's wrapped attention and even all of the other students he continued. "Yesterday I battled another guy who was pretty skilled when it came to battling with his Pokemon. He had a dream of winning one hundred straight battles before he headed out on his own journey to collect badges and enter the League. He was good and beat 99 Trainers before I met him. The problem was... He got arrogant and cocky. He let all of his victories go to his head and then he began insulting every Trainer who he defeated and then belittled their skills as a Trainer and their Pokemon as well. All because they weren't as skilled as him. When he battled me he was sure he was going to crush me and get his hundredth win. After I defeated the guy it struck him to his very core and for the first time he was experiencing all of the same feelings that he had made every Trainer he ever defeated feel as well..."

Even Brock and Misty was now listening with wrapped attention at Ash's wizened speech that was much deeper than anything a ten year old should have been capable of giving. Ash took a break to wipe a lone tear away from Giselle's eye and smiled at her again. "You know what I told him?" Ash said kindly. Giselle silently shook her head. Unbeknownst to them so did the other students. Ash looked at the sky before speaking. "I basically told him this just in different words: To be gifted at anything, be it Pokemon Training or anything else doesn't give you the right to look down on others who aren't as skilled as you. If anything it should make you want to help those people get better instead of demeaning them. What you and the other top students don't realize is that these other guys... they look up to you in a way. They want to be like you. Who are they going to look up to if the ones who are supposed to be their idols are looking down on them and making them feel even worse than they already do about themselves. How is acting like that helping anybody? Isn't being there for each other better than fighting amongst yourselves and causing animosity?"

Giselle looked very thoughtful for a while and then looked down in shame. Ash raised her head back up to meet his and then he softly spoke to her. "Hey don't be ashamed. You now have the ability to make things better for all of you. What are you going to do about it?"

Ash stood back up and then walked over to his friends. "Come on guys let's go and see if we can find someplace to heal Starmie at. Hey Joe!" Ash called.

Joe turned around from where he was standing by the school wall and came over to them. "Yeah Ash?" Joe had gained much respect for Ash after hearing what he said and was proud to say that he kind of looked up to Ash now. Even though they were about the same age. Ash smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You think you take us somewhere here on campus that heals Pokemon buddy?"

Joe nodded his head. "Yeah guys follow me!" He went over to the doors leading back into the school and Ash, Brock and Misty followed. Leaving Giselle and the other students alone with their thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At around noon time Ash and his friends, plus Joe was back outside in the courtyard, eating some lunch that Brock made them. All of their Pokemon were out eating as well. "Wow Brock this soup is great!" Joe exclaimed as he ate his soup with gusto. Brock just laughed, "Thanks Joe I'm always glad to get a new fan!" The friends laughed at this and then suddenly saw Giselle and the boys who had picked on Joe earlier walking up to them. Joe instantly stiffened a little bit but Ash placed a calming hand on his shoulder as the students finally made it up to them. Giselle shuffled her feet a little and timidly asked, "Are we interrupting anything?"

Ash just smiled and answered. "Nope not at all! What can we do for you?"

She took a deep breath and then looked at Ash and his friends with an unwavering gaze. "The truth is... we wanted to apologize. To you guys... and to Joe."

Joe and Misty looked surprised but Ash and Brock just shared a knowing look and a small smile. She continued on, "Joe I really wanted to apologize for how I have been treating you and all of the other students that aren't quite as good me and the other top students. I had no right looking down on you and making you feel so bad about yourself. I should have been helping you not tearing you down. Even if I wasn't actually tormenting you I did nothing to stop it and I should have. I am sorry... I will never do that to anyone ever again."

The boys behind her stepped up. The main boy who had been asking Joe all of the questions earlier that morning when he was on the treadmill spoke next. "Yeah Joe and I'm really sorry to... I was a major jerk to you and I shouldn't have done so many mean things. I'm speaking for me and all of the other guys when I say that we are extremely sorry. Ash didn't have to beat our asses into the ground in a battle to make us realize just how stupid we have been being to you and all of the students here who aren't as good as us. Everything he said was true and now we're trying to make amends. We know it will take a while but we don't care. From now on we are going to help instead of hinder. We promise!"

"Right!" The others guys said at once.

Giselle and the boys then bowed their heads to Joe which shocked him more than anything else they did. After regaining his thought process he smiled. "Thank you guys for apologizing to me... I can't tell you how much it means to finally feel excepted by all of you. Don't worry... I forgive you."

The rest of the boys smiled wide and then came in and started shaking Joe's hand and patting him on the back, making the previously outcasted boy smile even wider. When they were done Giselle came up to him and stuck her hand out. "Friends Joe?" She asked with a smile.

Joe smiled back and shook her hand. "Friends." He said happily.

Giselle smiled brightly and then walked over to Misty who just glared at the girl. Giselle looked nervous but spoke anyway. "Ummm... Misty... I just wanted to say how incredibly sorry I am to you. I had absolutely no right putting you, your gym back home, or your Pokemon down. I understand if you can't forgive me... I was a real bitch to you. I just wanted to apologize anyway."

Misty just stared at the girl with her arms crossed and an impassive expression on her face. Ash, Brock, Joe and all of the other guys just stood there with baited breath. Praying this didn't turn into a cat fight. Well... All except for Brock who had his fingers crossed behind his back, silently wishing something like that would happen. He had a quick daydream of a topless Giselle rolling on the ground with Misty and it caused him to let out a slightly perverted giggle. Ash somehow read Brock's thoughts and elbowed him in the side with a fierce glare that shivers down Brock's spine and made him fall silent again.

Giselle looked like she might start sweating any minute but then Misty suddenly stuck her hand out. "Don't ever insult my Pokemon or my gym ever again. If you don't do that... then I forgive you." She said this with a somewhat stony tone but it was more than enough to make Giselle smile happily and take Misty's offered hand and begin shaking it. "Thank you so much Misty I promise I won't ever do that again!"

Misty just nodded her head satisfied and stepped back, ending the handshake. Giselle then looked over at Ash, who was standing there with his arms crossed and a bright smile on his face. Overjoyed that everything had worked out the way it had. Standing there the way he did the sun seemed to shine on Ash and illuminate him. Making the boy almost glow. A perfect fit to that bright and happy personality he had. Giselle didn't miss any of this and was absolutely struck by Ash. Never before had she met someone so calm and cool, yet also so bright and happy before. Being around him was almost addictive and Giselle was beyond grateful for everything that Ash had told her and helped her realize. He also made her feel this really warm and fuzzy feeling in her stomach and when she looked at his smile it sort of made her feel light headed.

She walked up to him and stood there, not really looking him in the eyes. "Ummm... ahh... Ash, I-I just wanted to say that... Well I-"

He smiled charmingly and lifted her chin to look at him. Pulling her gaze to his and feeding her confidence as she looked into his eyes. She suddenly found her words, "Ash I just wanted to say thank you so, so much for everything that you said and did for me... I would never have realized how stupid I was being if it wasn't for you. I just... thank you so much. Your such an incredible guy and I can't thank you enough..."

She looked down at the ground out of embarrassment and then Ash had her look at him again. He smiled brilliantly at her and then said, "You don't need to even think about thanking me Giselle. The fact that you did all of this on your own... it blew my mind way and made me so happy for you. You have shown that you really are a special and sweet girl and not just a pretty face and brilliant student. You are going to go really far as a Trainer and a person. I can tell."

Giselle blushed cutely and then spoke again. "No Ash I do need to thank you. You also taught me that there is so much more to being a good person and Trainer than just a classroom and book smarts. There are so many things you can only learn with first hand experience and you get that by journeying with your Pokemon and going through many different things together as a team and as friends. Through good times and bad. In fact that's why I..."

She stopped and looked away again. Ash was confused, "What is it Giselle? Tell me please." He took her hands in his and smiled reassuringly at her. She fidgeted and scuffled her feet on the ground a little before looking at him with both nervousness and certainty in her eyes. "Ash I... I was wondering if I could come along with you, Brock and Misty on your journey."

Everyone just looked dumfounded. Joe and the students almost had their mouths on the ground at Giselle's declaration of wanting to go on with Ash and his friends on their journey. They couldn't believe that she was willing to give up her position as top student of the academy to go on a journey around the region when she could just stay at the academy, graduate after a few more years and then instantly participate in the Indigo League.

Brock and Misty was equally as shocked and couldn't believe it either. They looked at Ash to see what his expression to this declaration of Giselle's was. He looked surprised as well and asked, "Giselle... are you sure about that? Life on the road isn't easy and it's nothing like school at all! It's the real world."

Giselle just nodded her head firmly and looked Ash right in the eyes. "Yes Ash I know believe me! It will be very different from anything I have ever done or experienced before but that is why I want to do it! To better myself as a Trainer and a person! I have already called and talked to my parents about this and even though they aren't overly thrilled about my choice to leave the academy they still support me in my decision. The only thing now is... would you like having me along with you on your journey? I would understand if you didn't after how I have acted but I just wanted to ask... I needed to know."

She looked down again. Ash got over his surprise and then smiled. He could definitely tell that Giselle was a kind hearted and good person who he could really enjoy traveling with. It's not easy admitting your faults and apologizing but she did so admirably and he deeply respected that. He then spoke, "Giselle... I had already forgotten how you were when we first came here to the academy with Joe the moment you apologized to him and resolved to be better. I have forgiven you completely and too be honest, I would love if you traveled with me!"

Giselle's head shot up like a rocket and she had wide, hopeful eyes. "Really Ash?!"

He nodded his head. "Yes Giselle really! However... I care about my friends opinions greatly and I need their okay first. Alright?"

Giselle just nodded her head and smiled. "Okay!"

Ash smiled and then turned to his friends. "Well guys... what do you say?"

Brock just shrugged his shoulders. "It's totally fine with me Ash. Besides, I think that Giselle could learn a lot from you if she comes with us. I know I have in just the short time we have been traveling together."

Ash nodded and turned to Misty. "What about you Misty? I know you got off on a bad foot with her earlier and I don't want you being uncomfortable."

Misty just looked at them and then Giselle for a little while before shrugging her shoulders as well. "Ehh what the heck? Let her come. Besides..." Misty got an evil look on her face. "It'll give me PLENTY of time to get back at her for insulting me earlier!"

Everyone felt a cold chill pass through them at Misty's words except for Giselle who looked as though she could burst from excitement. Before she could say anything however Ash held up a hand. "Hold on Giselle. I need the most important 'okay' first." He looked over his shoulder to Pikachu. "Well buddy? Are you okay with it?"

Pikachu just nodded his head happily. "Pikachu!"

Ash smiled and looked at Giselle. "Well my dear... welcome to the group!"

Giselle got tears in her eyes again and threw her arms around Ash and squeezed him happily. "OHH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

Ash happily hugged her back and couldn't help but enjoy himself. She was either wearing some kind of perfume or it was a body wash that made her smell like fresh spring flowers with just a hint of cinnamon. She pulled away from Ash blushing a little and then tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Thank you again so much! I'm going to go get my stuff together! Be back in a second!" She then took off for the girls dormitory and Ash just chuckled. He turned around to face his friends. "Well... now we wait!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later Ash and his ever faithful partner Pikachu was standing on the road just outside of Pokemon Tech with Brock and Misty by his side. Giselle stood in front of them saying good-bye to all of her friends who were gathered in front of the gates of the academy. The sun was setting and casting perfect shadows over everyone, making the moment feel very surreal and emotional.

"Take care of yourself Giselle." Joe told her as he shook her hand. "I've decided to stay here at the academy for a little while longer yet and then I'm going to leave and start my own journey. Maybe we'll meet again on the road someday!"

Giselle just smiled as she shook his hand. "Maybe we will Joe. Good luck in everything you do!"

Joe smiled back and then turned to Ash and his friends while Giselle went and said the rest of her good-byes. He came up and smiled sadly at them. "Well I guess this is it... I really can't thank you guys enough for everything you've done for me and all the other students here. You've changed our lives! Especially you Ash, thanks a lot."

Ash smiled and extended his hand. "Anytime Joe. I'm sure we'll meet again sometime!"

Joe shook his new idols hand and then did the same with Brock and Misty. "Take care Joe!" Misty said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah Joe it was great meeting you." Brock told the younger boy.

"Pikachu Pika Pika!" Pikachu said as he raised his paw off of Ash's shoulder in the sign of a salute.

Joe smiled again at his friends. "Bye Brock, Misty, Pikachu! It was great meeting you!"

He then went to stand by the other students as Giselle made her way back towards Ash and his friends. She had changed her outfit and Ash had to admit that she took his breath away. She now wore a short, red, cotton skirt with a light pink belt wrapped around her waist. She also wore a tight white T-shirt, a blue jean jacket and white sneakers on her feet. She also now carried a pink backpack with her that had a pink sleeping bag attached to the top of it.

Ash could say that, without a doubt, she was the picture of beauty. He smiled brightly at her and she smiled right back as she came to stand by his left side, while Misty was at his right and Brock stood next to Misty. The newly formed foursome, five counting Pikachu, smiled at the students again before setting off down the road into the setting sun, waving back at their academy friends as they walked.

"Bye everybody!" Joe called out. "I'll be looking on TV for you in next years Indigo Conference Ash!"

Ash called back, "See ya Joe and you can count on seeing me then!"

After the academy was nothing more than just a speck on the horizon Ash turned his head back towards the setting sun. "You know guys... There is no place I would rather be then right here, walking down this road and watching the sunset with you Pikachu..." He looked up at Pikachu who gave him a happy "Cha!" In response.

"With you Brock..." Brock just gave him a smile and a pat on the back.

"You Misty..." Misty smiled and squeezed his shoulder.

He then turned to the newest member of the group. "And with you Giselle."

She just looked at Ash and gave off a small blush that he found very pretty before giving his hand a squeeze.

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily.

"I'm glad to be here to Ash." Brock said.

"Me too Ash!" Misty said in a happy mood.

"Yeah... Me too." Giselle said as she continued to stare at him.

Ash smiled at each of them again and then turned his attention back towards the setting sun. His friends did the same and also took time to admire the Arceus gifted beauty that was the shimmering horizon set before them. Promising new adventures for the young friends...

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: Three Days Later)

"Ash we're lost!" Misty yelled at him as they trekked through a thick forest. The path had been forsaken long ago.

Ash turned to look at her, walking backwards. "Uh uh Misty look." He said as he pulled up his track suits sleeve and showed his Xtransceiver on his wrist. "This thing has a built in GPS, which means we can't get lost. It showed me that this forest is a shortcut to Rolanda Town."

"A shortcut?! Ash we're in the middle of a forest with no civilization anywhere near here!" Misty said in exasperation.

Ash turned around. "Just trust me Misty!"

"You know Misty if I didn't know any better I would say that you were scared of getting lost and don't trust Ash." Giselle said with a sideways glance at Misty. "I for one trust Ash completely!" She finished, looking smug.

Misty turned red. "What's that supposed to mean huh Miss Priss?! Are you calling me scared?! Or maybe your just sucking up to Ash!" She accused the other girl with a pointed finger.

Giselle just shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. At least I know I'm not scared like some people."

"Yeah well some people don't spend an hour straight putting on make-up in the morning and getting ready to go! Why do you need to wear so much on the road anyway? Wanting to be prepared if you suddenly do a shoot for a magazine cover?!"

Giselle got right in Misty's face. "Yeah well at least I take some pride in how I look unlike some people!" She yelled pointing her finger at Misty.

"Why you!" Misty shouted.

Brock suddenly appeared in the middle of them. "Alright, alright girls calm down! You don't have to fight, you should be getting al-"

'BANG!' Brock was on the ground with two large bumps on his head. Both girls stood over him huffing. "SHUT UP BROCK!" They yelled together. Both of them looked at each other and then started laughing at what they did. The fight forgotten between them, they ran to catch up with Ash, giggling and laughing with each other. Brock just lay there. "Why me?!" He sobbed with tears rolling down his face.

XXXXXXXX

The friends now stood at a large cliff that separated both sides of the forest. A rushing river ran far below and a rickety bridge was the only way across. "I don't like this..." Misty said worriedly.

"It's the only way Misty." Ash answered her. "There's no other way around to the other side. We just have to take our chances."

"Pika... Chu..." Pikachu said from Ash's shoulder, looking at the river below.

"It'll be fine buddy don't worry." Ash said assuredly to his Pokemon.

"Let's just take it slow." Brock offered as he examined the bridge.

"Well come on guys!" Giselle said as she latched onto Ash's arm. "let's go Ash!"

Ash smiled at her. "Alright! Let's do it!"

And so they began carefully walking across the bridge. Carefully taking their time as they went and holding onto the rope railings. All was good until they got to the middle of the bridge. Suddenly, a board broke under Giselle's foot and she started falling through the hole in the boards.

"AHHHH!" She screamed as she started falling.

Time slowed down for Ash and the next thing anybody had known, he put Pikachu in Misty's arms and jumped through the hole in the boards after her. He grabbed onto the bridge with one arm and grabbed Giselle by the waist with the other. She latched onto Ash tightly and the two just dangled there above the rushing river.

"Ash!" Misty yelled.

"Pika!" Pikachu said from her arms.

"Ash just hold on! I'll try and get you up!" Brock yelled down to him. "Grab my hand!"

Ash looked up at Brock with an incredulous look, looking very strained from the amount of strength it was taking to support two people's dead weight with one arm. "Brock I'm keeping us from falling into a rushing river with one arm and I have Giselle's waist with the other! How in the hell am I supposed to grab your hand?!"

Brock looked sheepish. "Uhhh... Yeah right! Here I'll grab ahold of your arm and pull you up!"

He grabbed ahold of Ash's arm and started pulling upwards, Misty and Pikachu also grabbed ahold of him and started pulling on his arm. All of sudden, another board broke under Brock's feet, causing he, Misty and Pikachu to jump back. They lost their grip on Ash and then he and Giselle started falling to the river below.

"ASH, GISELLE!" Brock and Misty called out.

"PIKA PI!" Pikachu cried out for his Trainer.

As they fell Ash wrapped both arms around Giselle. "Giselle keep your legs straight and don't let go of me!" He yelled.

She wrapped herself tightly around him as the two hit the water below them and disappeared. Brock, Misty and Pikachu just stared after them. The bridge began collapsing on the side they just came from causing them to take off running for the opposite side.

They made it just as the bridge snapped and fell into the river. They stood there panting. "Brock we have to find them!" Misty yelled.

Brock nodded his head. "Right! Let's make our way down stream!"

They then took off, hoping their friends would be okay.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Giselle had swum madly for their lives and were now resting on the shore quite a ways down stream. "Are you okay Giselle?" Ash asked as he pulled himself closer to her.

She nodded her head tiredly. "Yeah I'm fine... Just wet and tired."

Giselle wrapped Ash in a hug. "Thank you so much for jumping after me Ash... That was so amazing."

He hugged her back and smiled. Enjoying her scent again. "Hey I would do it again in a heartbeat... Just don't make it a regular thing alright?" He said with a wink. She giggled and nodded her head. He released her from the hug and helped her to her feet. "Now let's get going and see if we can find the others okay?" He said with a warm smiled that made Giselle feel like she was already starting to dry under the warmth of it.

"Yeah let's go." She said as she made to get her wet pack and put it back on. Ash stopped and grabbed her pack for her and threw it over his other shoulder so he was now carrying both of their packs. Upon seeing her confused face he smiled again. "Your tired right? Well then I'll carry your pack for you."

Giselle blushed and smiled back at him. "Thanks Ash, that's really nice of you."

He just waved it off, still smiling and then the two took off.

...

They walked awhile and finally came to a wide open clearing that had a small little drinking hole with a small waterfall in the corner of the area. Ash and Giselle made their way over to the drinking hole and sat down on some rocks that were scattered near it.

They hadn't been sitting very long before they heard someone coming through the woods, towards their position. They looked to see who it was and both were pleasantly surprised to see Brock, Misty and Pikachu come stepping out into the field.

Upon seeing Ash and Giselle their eyes widened and they came running over. "Ash you guys are okay!" Misty shouted.

"Yeah man you and Giselle had us worried!" Brock said as he walked up and clapped Ash on the back.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu called out happily as he bounded off of Misty's shoulder and on to Ash's.

He scratched his Pokemon under the chin and rubbed him behind the ears. "I'm really glad to see you again to Pikachu!"

Pikachu called out happily again and then nuzzled Ash's cheek one more time before settling down on his shoulder. Ash looked at his friends. "Sorry if I worried you guys..." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah I'm really sorry as well... If I hadn't fallen through that hole in the bridge Ash would never have had to save me. I hope you guys can forgive me..."

"We weren't upset Giselle. Just worried about you and Ash. We're glad you guys are okay!" Brock said.

"Yeah we were really worried." Misty added.

Giselle smiled at them. "Thanks guys for understanding."

"Well..." Ash said as he sat back down on a rock. "We might as well take a break for awhile and recover before we head back out."

Everyone agreed and then let their Pokemon out while Brock made lunch for everyone. Giselle sat there watching Ash train with his Pokemon and had a small blush on her face when Ash took the top part of his track suite off before continuing his workout.

"Pretty impressive isn't it?" Misty said as she sat down next to Giselle and watched Ash and his Pokemon as well.

Giselle became startled. "Wh-what's impressive?!"

Misty looked confused. "The training that Ash and his Pokemon do of course! What did you think I meant?"

Giselle just waved her hand. "Ohh nothing at all I was thinking the same thing!" She partially lied.

Misty just raised her eyebrows but didn't press the issue. Instead she looked back towards Ash. "Man I tell you... The training those guys do is just brutal! But it really shows great results though. Ash and his Pokemon are something else that's for sure."

Giselle just nodded as she continued to stare at Ash. "Yeah they really are..."

Brock called out to everyone. "Alright guys soups on!"

The friends and their Pokemon all gathered around for a nice lunch and then just relaxed for a little while. When they were done and had returned their Pokemon and packed up they were getting ready to head out again until a small Pokemon suddenly came stumbling out of the woods.

Ash was both surprised and excited to see such a hard to find Pokemon, at least around this particular area. "What do you know guys an Oddish!" He said.

"Interesting... Don't see those around here often." Brock said thoughtfully.

"I know that's what I thought Brock." Ash said.

Misty suddenly spoke up. "Ohh it's so cute! I'm gonna catch it!"

"I thought you were a Water-Type Trainer Misty?" Giselle asked.

Misty looked at Giselle incredulously. "I am! But I also like cute Pokemon and that Oddish definitely fits the bill! Now stand back already!"

Giselle moved over to Ash's side, her seemingly new favorite place, and they all watched as Misty went over to Oddish and stood in front of it. "Alright Oddish are you ready to battle?!"

The Pokemon just tilted her head in confusion. "Odd?"

Misty called out Staryu. "Alright Staryu use Water Gun!"

Staryu fired a powerful Water Gun at the still confused Pokemon and struck it head on, launching the Pokemon back into a tree. "Oddish!" It cried out in pain as it just lay there on the ground.

Misty smirked. "Now I've got ya!" She threw a Pokeball at the Pokemon. Right before it could hit however, a vine suddenly came out of nowhere and slapped the Pokeball away.

"What the?!" Misty said in surprise.

Out of the bushes jumped a Pokemon that Ash instantly recognized. "Wow a Bulbasaur!"

Misty just gaped in surprise. "Why did it stop me from catching that Oddish?!"

Brock spoke. "I don't know maybe that Bulbasaur knows Oddish."

Ash decided to get closer to the Bulbasaur and Oddish but the Pokemon just got in front of the other Grass-Type and growled at Ash. "Bulba!"

Ash just backed away with his hands in front of him. "It's okay Bulbasaur I'm not going to hurt you or Oddish. None of us are. Just calm down."

Bulbasaur just continued growling and ushered Oddish back into the woods before taking off after it. "What was wrong with that Bulbasaur?" Giselle asked curiously.

Ash just stared after where Bulbasaur and Oddish disappeared with an unreadable expression on his face. He picked up his pack and started walking after Bulbasaur. "Where are you going Ash?" Giselle asked.

"After Bulbasaur." He answered as he walked off into the forest.

"What?" She said confused.

Misty just sighed. "Huhhh... Ash has this thing about him where he feels like he needs to do something or help somebody sometimes. When he gets like that there is no stopping him. It's best just to go along with it."

"Yeah let's follow him and see what happens." Brock agreed as he reached down and grabbed his and the ladies packs, handing theirs to them before going after Ash. Giselle just shrugged and followed Brock and Misty.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the same forest, not far away we find three familiar Rockets stumbling their way through the forest. "Ahhh! Meowth I thought you said that we would run into the twerps somewhere in this forest?! We haven't seen them once and I'm getting tired of getting caught in all if these traps!" Jesse complained.

You see, the three of them had been getting caught in all sorts of mysterious traps all throughout the forest. From pit traps to nets that would suspend them in the air, they were getting caught by everything.

"Yeah Meowth my butts still sore from falling into all of those holes!" James whined.

Meowth just sighed and turned around to face his comrades. "Look yous twos, all of these traps were obviously placed around dis forest for a reason right? So if we find the source of all of the traps den I guarantee we'll find da twerps. Just trust me! We'll have dat Pikachu before you know it!"

Jesse and James just looked at Meowth questioningly. "Fine Meowth! But if we don't find the twerps after all of this then your gonna pay!" Jesse threatened him.

"Yeah Meowth!" James chimed in.

The talking Pokemon merely nodded his head satisfied and then led the way forward... directly into another pit trap.

"MEOWTH!" Jesse and James yelled together.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had been walking for awhile now and had still not found any sign if where the two Pokemon had gone. "Ash! We aren't to find them, can we please stop searching now?!" Misty whined.

Ash ignored her and continued to just look around intently, almost as though he was seeing and noticing things his friends were not. "Ash did you hear me?" Misty asked.

He still didn't answer and just continued to look around. He bent down and started inspecting the ground and then he would look at grass patches and study them closely. "Ash will you at least tell us what you are doing?!" Misty asked him again.

Ash continued to look around intently and only offered a simple reply of, "Tracking." Without looking back to them.

"You know how to track?" Brock asked surprised.

"Yep." Another short reply. You see, on top of all of the many things Ash learned from his mother and Professor Oak during his training years, tracking was one of them. He was told how important learning to track was if you wanted to be a truly successful Trainer and so he learned how.

Ash ran forward and suddenly found a flat rock that was sticking up out of the ground slightly. He smiled to himself and walked over to it. He got down, closed his eyes and put his ear to the rock. His friends just looked at him like he was crazy. All except Pikachu. He knew exactly what Ash was listening for.

He stood up with a big grin on his face and turned to face his friends. "Well guys, I know where to go!" He said happily.

They looked stunned. "How?!" Misty asked.

"Rocks can channel sounds and vibrations if they are the right type and shape. I listened for the sound of the Pokemon's foot falls and noises they were making. I bent my ear down to this rock and listened. I heard them and they are that way." Ash pointed in a north direction.

He motioned with his hands. "Come on guys you can listen to! I don't know if you will be able to hear the same things I was because I have always had unnaturally good hearing but... It's worth a try!"

Brock and Misty just shrugged and went over to the rock. One after the other they put their ears to the ground and then got wide eyed. "Wow your right!" Misty said as she stood up.

"Yeah Ash that's a really neat trick." Brock agreed.

Ash turned to Giselle. "Come on and give it a try Giselle!"

She nodded and walked over. She put her ear down onto the rock. "Like this?" She asked him. Ash got closer to her, "Yeah that's it! Now just position your body so your laying this way..." He grabbed ahold of her hips and shifted her into a more laid down position so she could make sure her whole ear was pressed firmly to the rock.

Giselle blushed crimson when Ash grabbed her hips and moved her but she stayed silent and kept her ear to the rock. She listened closely and Ash just observed her. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. She was so eager to learn and try new things... He really couldn't believe how different she was now compared to who he first met back at the academy, mere days before. He could honestly say that he both liked and respected her much more now.

She got a big smile on her face when she heard the two Pokemon they were looking for and stood up. She hugged Ash. "Thank you so much for teaching me how to do that! It was amazing!"

Ash just chuckled and enjoyed the hug. Brock cried silent tears and Misty just looked annoyed. Ash stood up, pulling Giselle up with him. "Come on guys! Let's go catch up to them!"

They then followed Ash as he led them deeper into the forest.

...

Sometime later the young group of friends found themselves walking into a large clearing. There was a small cottage near the corner of the clearing and a small pond in front of the cabin. What really drew everyone's attention though was the Pokemon that were gathered around the front of the cabin and also in the pond. Some were lounging in the sun and others were swimming around. Ash counted a few different species of Pokemon. He saw a Paras, Caterpie, two Rattata, a Weepinbell and in the water he saw a Staryu and a Magikarp.

"Wow look at all of the Pokemon!" Misty said in awe.

Ash walked forward but before he got to far the same Bulbasaur from earlier jumped in front of him and smacked at Ash with Vine Whip. "Bulbasaur!" It shouted angrily at him.

Ash jumped back and so did his friends. "Whoa! Hey there Bulbasaur we don't mean any harm to you or your friends okay!"

Suddenly the cabin door opened up and out walked a young woman with long blue hair that was tied back into a ponytail and kept there with a large yellow/green ribbon in the back of her hair and a red hairband on the top of her head. She was wearing red overalls with a pink T-shirt underneath. In her arms was the Oddish from earlier. She saw the source of the commotion and walked over towards Ash and and his friends.

"Who are you all and what are you doing here?!" She asked seriously as she came to stand beside Bulbasaur.

Ash just kept his hands up in a placating gesture. "Ma'am I promise you, we are not here to cause any harm to you or your Pokemon. My name is Ash and this is my partner Pikachu and my friends, Brock, Misty and Giselle. We ran into Bulbasaur and Oddish some ways back in the forest when my friend here..." He pointed to Misty. "Tried to capture Oddish. Bulbasaur stopped her and to be honest, it intrigued me. I wanted to know why Bulbasaur did what it did so I tracked it here. I'm sorry that we intruded upon you miss, we will leave now."

Ash made to turn around and motion for his friends to go back the way they had come but the woman stopped them. "Wait! I'm sorry I was so forward and unfriendly, it's just that... This is a special place and I wanted to make sure you weren't a bunch of criminals or even Arceus forbid... Team Rocket. Please forgive me."

Ash and his friends stopped and turned around. Ash spoke, "It's okay miss I completely understand. In fact, I would have done the same thing to make sure me and my Pokemon would have stayed safe."

"Thank you for understanding. My name is Melanie by the way." She looked a little sheepish for a minute and then said, "You didn't get caught in any of my traps on the way here did you?"

Before Ash could say anything Brock rushed forward and bent before Melanie, grabbing her hand. Ash rolled his eyes, "Ohh Arceus here we go..."

"Ohh my dear Melanie! For so long now we have been lost and wondering this forest! Yet somehow our fates has brought us together... Tell me my dear will you consi- OUCH OUCH OUCH MISTY THAT'S MY EAR!" Brock cried in pain as she dragged him away from Melanie.

"Even in the middle of nowhere you still find a way to be a creepy pervert Brock!" Misty said angrily as she drug him away. Ash, Giselle and Melanie stared after them with sweat drops runnings down the back of their heads before Ash turned back to Melanie. "Yes well uhhh... Anyway. No actually we didn't why?" He asked confused.

Melanie just sighed in relief. "Ohhh thank goodness! You see, I didn't want any unwanted intruders finding this place so I set up many different traps around the forest to stop any would-be thieves and other bad people that may be lurking around."

Ash just nodded in understanding. He then decided to change the direction of the conversation. "You know I'm really impressed with all of the Pokemon you have here. Pretty impressive line up."

Melanie just seemed confused for a second and then she smiled. "Ohh no these Pokemon aren't mine! They are actually Pokemon I have taken in and nursed back to health after they showed up here hurt or after their Trainers abandoned them." She said the last part sadly.

"Their Trainers abandoned them?!" Giselle said in shock and disgust.

Melanie sadly nodded her head. "Yes... Many of these Pokemon have been abandoned by their Trainers. Bulbasaur is actually one of them and is the reason he doesn't trust people very much. He is a very brave Pokemon and has become the protector for this village in a sense. All of the Pokemon here look up to Bulbasaur and count on him to keep them safe. I take in these Pokemon with the intentions that once they get better they can then leave this village and return to their lives in the wild. However, none of them want to leave because they feel safe and secure here. Bulbasaur is a big reason for that."

Giselle just shook her head in wonder and anger at incompetent Trainers. Brock and Misty did the same. Ash however looked at Bulbasaur, who was now using his vines to lift Oddish up into the air and make it laugh. Ash smiled. "Now that would be a great Pokemon for any Trainer to call their own."

Ash slowly walked up to Bulbasaur and knelt down in front of him. Melanie tried to stop Ash so he wouldn't get hurt but Brock just stopped her with an outstretched arm. "Just watch." He said simply. And so Melanie and the rest of Ash's friends did.

Bulbasaur just looked at Ash warily and gave him a mistrusting look. Ash just smiled at the Pokemon softly. "Bulbasaur... It is far beyond me why any Trainer would not want you as their Pokemon. You are a very brave and noble Pokemon. Keeping Melanie and all of these Pokemon here safe is a big responsibility. You do it though out of the goodness of your heart and that is truly amazing . You have my respect through and through my friend."

Pikachu jumped down and gave Bulbasaur a friendly pat on the back. "Pika Pikachu!"

While this was happening Misty walked over to Oddish. She bent down to the Pokemon and spoke to it. "Oddish I am so sorry for trying to capture you. I shouldn't have hurt you like that and I am very sorry."

A lone tear fell down Misty's face and Oddish reached up and brushed it away with one of it's head leaves. Misty looked at Oddish in surprise. "Does this mean you forgive me?" She asked hopefully.

Oddish just nodded her head happily. "Odd Oddish!"

Misty smiled. "Thank you Oddish."

The Pokemon merely nodded and then went over to where Ash and Pikachu were talking to Bulbasaur. It then did something that no one expected it to do. Oddish jumped onto Ash's lap and then just sat there with a content look on it's face.

Melanie looked surprised. "That is amazing! Oddish didn't even take to me like that at first. Your friend must have a way with Pokemon!" She said in awe.

Brock and Misty just looked at each other and then back to Melanie. "You have no idea." They both said.

Giselle just stared at Ash with stars in her eyes.

Bulbasaur was now listening to Ash with wrapped attention and didn't even notice when Ash reached his hand out and touched his palm to Bulbasaur's forehead. Neither noticed the white mark suddenly appear on Ash's palm either. The next thing that happened surprised everyone... As soon as Ash touched Bulbasaur a bright light erupted between them, blinding everyone who was looking at the two of them.

When Ash opened his eyes it was like he was going through that same experience he had with Pikachu in Professor Oak's Lab before they left to start their journey. "This is messed up." Ash said as he looked at himself. He was glowing white again just like last time and Bukbasaur was glowing a yellow color just Pikachu had. "I really need to ask Arceus next time I see her what this is. Something tells me this has something to do with her."

He looked at Bulbasaur and when he tried to speak nothing would come out of his mouth. Instead his mind was speaking aloud. "Bulbasaur_ everything is going to be okay. This has happened to me before and I just please need you to trust me okay? I know that is very hard for you to do but please... I need to come in contact with you again so we can complete whatever this is. That's how I ended it when this happened with Pikachu. Okay?"_

Bulbasaur just nodded his head warily. Ash reached out and came in contact with the Pokemon. Instantly he was rushed with a barrage of memories. Bulbasaur as a baby playing with his litter mates while a mother Venasaur watched from nearby with a loving expression on her face.

The next scene Ash saw was Bulbasaur's litter mates and mother getting poke'napped by some Pokemon Poachers. Ash felt the the intense fear and anger from Bulbasaur as he tried to help his mother fight them off, only for her to push him away and tell him to escape since he was the only one the poachers hadn't gotten yet. He felt the grief and despair as Bulbasaur watched his mother get subdued by the poachers Pokemon and then captured.

He saw the scene shift to a young Bulbasaur walking through the forests alone and racked with guilt, anger and grief. How he tried to keep himself warm in the cold nights of the forest by sheltering in hallowed out trees all alone and shivering. Ash could see Bulbasaurs breath which meant it was undoubtedly very cold, probably winter.

He saw Bulbasaur fight many opponents much bigger and stronger than himself, fighting for his survival. Even though he took bad beatings and achieved many scars every time he still fought bravely and never backed down. Through all of the many feelings Ash was feeling from Bulbasaur the most prevalent was the desire for power and to become strong. To be very strong and avenge his family.

Ash saw Bulbasaur meet a Trainer who he thought he could trust and help him become stronger. Ash witnessed Bulbasaur fight his hardest every time for his Trainer in every battle they fought. His Trainer didn't know how to train Bulbasaur properly however and Ash watched as Bulbasaur was beaten in every battle they fought. Of course the Trainer blamed Bulbasaur and when Ash saw the look Bulbasaur's Trainer give him Ash knew what was coming next. He was right. Ash then physically felt the pain Bulbasaur felt when his Trainer ended up abandoning him in the very forest they were in now. Leaving him and saying he would come back with more training tools they could use to get stronger.

Ash watched with tears building in his eyes as Bulbasaur waited for days in the same spot for his Trainer to return. He felt the worry Bulbasaur felt when he thought something had happened to his Trainer and then the bitter realization that he had been abandoned, followed by the heartbreaking sorrow and the complete loss of trust Bulbasaur had in people.

The last scene Ash saw was Bulbasaur wandering through the forest, weak and completely despondent before he collapsed. Ash saw through Bulbasaur's eyes the kind face of Melanie picking up Bulbasaur gently and carrying him back to her cabin so she could nurse him back to health.

When the connection had ended and they had come back to reality Ash just sat back and stared at Bulbasaur. The Pokemon had an ashamed look on his face that Ash had seen all of his memories and just how sad and pathetic his life had been.

Ash simply knelt down in front of Bulbasaur and looked at him. The Pokemon looked at Ash with more vulnerability in his eyes than Ash ever thought he would see in the tough Pokemon. "Bulbasaur... There are no words I can say except... I understand your mistrust of us. I am so sorry for what happened to you... You did not deserve that. From what I've seen you are a great and brave Pokemon that any Trainer would be lucky to call their Pokemon."

Bulbasaur just looked at Ash in surprise for a little bit before turning around and walking off to be by himself. Ash just sighed and stood up. He turned around to face his friends and Melanie who were looking at Ash in amazement. Ash seemed confused for a second until he realized that they must have seen what happened between he and Bulbasaur earlier.

"Ash what was that?" Misty asked in complete bewilderment.

Brock, Giselle and Melanie just looked at Ash as well, hoping for an answer. He scratched the back of his head and then explained. "Well guys to be honest... I don't know what it is that happened with me and Bulbasaur. It's only happened one other time and that was when I first got Pikachu. I hope to understand it some day but... until then I just don't know."

His friends just shook their heads in wonder and then Brock asked Melanie. "Hey Melanie would you mind if we stayed here and rested for awhile before we left?"

Melanie just shook her head. "Not at all Brock! You are all welcome here."

They thanked Melanie and then they all went to doing their own thing. They released their Pokemon and then Misty joined her Pokemon by the little pond, where they had opted to go and cool off. Giselle stayed near where Brock was grooming his Zubat and she watched Ash as he went over to his Pokemon and had them start training again. Ash himself did his own exercises but the whole time he kept noticing the village Pokemon watching all of his Pokemon train with great interest. Especially Bulbasaur.

Ash finished his exercises and then walked over to the Pokemon. "Do you like the way my Pokemon train?" Ash asked them.

They all nodded their heads, even Magikarp from where he was in the pond. Ash just smiled at them. "Well if you want you can join them while they train." He said kindly.

The Pokemon just looked at Ash with wide eyes and then nodded their heads vigorously. Ash smiled wider and invited them then gave them all exercises they could do that was generally just physical conditioning. He then went back to Magikarp and Staryu and gave them their own water drills to do that was really good for Water-Type conditioning training. He never had a Water-Type obviously but he knew just about all there was to know about how to train them from all of the studying he did.

After the training session was done Ash took in the village Pokemon before him. They were all very tired and obviously couldn't hang with Ash's Pokemon but all in all... He had to admit that he was impressed. They all had the fighting spirit and were talented, that was for sure. Even Oddish! But mostly Ash was impressed with Bulbasaur. He had kept his fair distance from everyone else while he did the exercises Ash had given them and he trained HARD. Ash was stunned with Bulbasaur's training ethic and was still in disbelief that anyone wouldn't want such a Pokemon. Hell that went for all of the village Pokemon!

After their rest was finished Ash and his friends began to pack up. Soon they were ready to go and were preparing to say their good-byes. Melanie came up to the group. "Thank you for visiting with us." she turned to Ash. "And thank you Ash for being so nice to the Pokemon and letting them train with you and your Pokemon. It will do them well to know that there are good Pokemon Trainers out there."

Ash just looked at the Pokemon. Who all seemed to have sad expressions on their faces that he was leaving. Ash was about to say something when all of a sudden a giant gust of wind came blowing through the village. It was so powerful it made everyone fall to the ground. "What the?!" Ash yelled out over the loud wind.

They looked up into the sky and saw a giant flying machine that had a large red 'R' on the front, hovering over the village. The top of the machine opened up and three Rockets they all knew and hated came up to stand on top of the machine. "Team Rocket!" Ash called out in anger.

The Rockets laughed and then began their motto. (A/N: Refuse to write such annoying shit). When they were done Jessie yelled down to them. "That's right little boy! Now prepare to lose your precious Pikachu!"

Ash just shouted up to them in anger. "The hell you will!"

James laughed. "So rude! Meowth, hit it!"

"Right James!" The Pokemon said with a dark grin.

He pushed a button and then out of the machine came a large, tubelike object that suspended in the air above everyone on the ground. Meowth pressed another button and then suddenly the strange tube began forcefully sucking everything towards it like a vacuum. Ash wasn't prepared for it and neither was Pikachu. He was sucked off of Ash's shoulder along with several of the village Pokemon, right into the stomach of the machine.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled out to his Pokemon.

"Pika Pi!" He cried as he was sucked into the machine.

Ash looked over and saw Bulbasaur rooting himself to the ground, holding Oddish in the air with his vines so it didn't get sucked away to. Ash ran over to them and grabbed Oddish out of Bulbasaur's grip. He then tucked the Pokemon into his side and laid himself on top of Bulbasuar. He kept a tight hold on the Pokemon as they were all pulled into the air and sucked inside of the tube.

"ASH!" His friends called after him.

"Umm... Meowth, I think we just acquired a twerp." Jessie told Meowth.

"Ahhh, we'll get rid of him once we give the Pokemon to da boss!"

"Well get us out of here Meowth!" James said to him.

All of a sudden the machine began getting bombarded by large rocks and blasts of water. They looked over the machine and saw Brock's Pokemon throwing rocks at them and Misty's shooting blasts of water at them. Jesse laughed. "Do you honestly think that will stop us?!" She mocked them.

The Rocket's just continued to laugh while inside of the machine Ash was now gathered around the captured Pokemon inside of a cylindrical like container. "Are you all okay?" He asked them.

They all called their names showing they were. "Okay good! Then we need to get out of here."

He looked around and spotted an air vent that had been placed for them so they wouldn't suffocate. He looked at Pikachu. "Hey buddy do you think you can use Iron Tail on that vent grate and open it for us?" He asked.

Pikachu nodded and then jumped up to the grate and hit it with an Iron Tail. The grate broke, leaving a hole for a Pokemon to get through. Ash looked at Bulbasaur. "Hey Bulbasaur do you think you can get yourself and Pikachu up there if I give you a boost?" He asked.

Bulbasaur nodded and then Ash grabbed Pikachu and Bulbasaur and lifted them up near the grate. Bulbasaur used his vines to attach himself to the inside of the ventilation shaft and hoisted himself up, Pikachu on his back. When they were inside they turned to face Ash. "Alright guys great job! Now follow that vent until you find the control room. Once inside destroy everything that looks important with your attacks and bring this thing down!" He told them.

They nodded in understanding and then took off.

...

A couple minutes later Pikachu and Bulbasaur came upon the control room. Upon not seeing anyone inside the room they began releasing Thunderbolts, Iron Tails, Razor Leaves and Vine Whips to the entire control room. After one of the attacks hit the central control panel a large explosion rocked the flying machine.

"What was that?!" Jessie asked James.

"I don't know. Meowth go and check it out!" James said.

Meowth disappeared into the machine and then reappeared a moment later in complete panic. "We gotta get outta here! Dis things gonna blow!" He shouted.

"What?!" Jessie and James both shouted in unison.

"The entire control room is destroyed! Probably da twerps doing!"

Before they could say anything else another explosion rocked the machine and underneath of it, where the container was located, a large hole was suddenly blasted into existence. Ash and the Pokemon started jumping out if the hole and ran to join Ash's friends who were shouting for him in glee that he and the Pokemon were okay.

"We better go..." Jessie said as she started to back away, preparing to jump off of the smoking machine. "Right!" James and Meowth said together.

"I don't think so you bastards!" Ash yelled, making them freeze. "Pikachu use a high powered Thunderbolt and blast those creeps outta here!" He shouted.

Pikachu unleashed a powerful bolt of lighting that surged straight for the Rockets.

"CRAP!" They shouted in unison as the bolt struck them. It electrocuted them until the machine they were standing on exploded, launching them high in the air. "Looks like Team Rockets blasting off!" They shouted as they disappeared into the sky.

Ash was suddenly glomped in a monster hug by Giselle. "Ohh Ash thank Arceus your okay!" She shouted.

Ash just patted her on the back. "Air... Giselle... Please!"

She released him and blushed up a storm before backing away. Brock and Misty came up next and told him how glad they were he was okay. Ash was then rushed by every Pokemon in the village, save for Magikarp, as they pushed him to the ground and began hugging the life out of him while shouting their names happily.

Melanie smiled and came over to Ash. He stood up and looked at her, still a little sore and out of breath from the intense hugs he had received from Giselle and then the Pokemon. Melanie hugged Ash, only much softer and then pulled away. "Thank you so much Ash for saving the Pokemon, I can't even begin to thank you enough!"

"It was no big deal Melanie I was glad to help them honestly." Ash said sincerely.

Melanie smiled brightly at him and gave have him a kiss on the cheek for what he did. Making Ash blush a tiny bit and Brock break down in tears with mumbled words of, "It's not fair!"

After Melanie backed away Bulbasaur came up to Ash. "Bulba!"

Ash for some reason could understand Pokemon better when he went through that weird energy and mind reading thing. He could understand Pikachu perfectly and was even beginning to be able to understand Bulbasaur. He took what Bulbasaur said as a thank you and he responded back, "Your very welcome Bulbasaur. Anytime!"

"Bulba Bulba Bulbasaur!" The Pokemon said excitedly.

Ash looked shocked. "Are you serious?!"

"Bulba!" He said again while nodding his head.

"What does Bulbasaur want Ash?" Melanie asked.

"He said that if I can beat him in a battle then he will come with me and be my Pokemon!" Ash said, his voice dripping with enthusiasm.

Melanie and everyone else looked shocked as well. "Really Bulbasaur?!" She asked him.

Bulbasaur nodded his head. "Alright then! Let's battle!" Ash said happily.

...

Ash and Bulbasaur faced off. "Pikachu you take this one." Ash said.

Pikachu bounded down onto the ground. "Pika!"

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur shouted as he and Pikachu stared at one another.

Bulbasaur started with a Tackle and ran for Pikachu. "Pikachu get out of the way with Agility!" Ash said.

Pikachu jumped to the side, avoiding Bulbasaur. The Pokemon fired Razor Leaves at Pikachu. "Iron Tail to knock those leaves aside!"

Pikachu batted them all down just to see Bulbasaur come charging through the last couple of leaves. Ash reacted fast, "Pikachu slam your tail on the ground and launch yourself up into the air! Then plant your feet on that branch above you and launch yourself off of it and hit Bulbasaur with your head!"

Pikachu bounded off of the branch when he came in contact with it and rocketed himself towards Bulbasaur and hit the unsuspecting Pokemon with an air Tackle, making the Pokemon cry out in pain as he flew back and hit a tree. "Pikachu now use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.

Pikachu flew forward in a blur and hit Bulbasaur, knocking him into the air. "Bulba!" He cried out. He hit the ground hard and then struggled back on his feet. He had that same fire in his eyes that Ash saw in Bulbasaur's memories and he loved it! Bulbasaur fired another round of Razor Leaves at Pikachu who Ash commanded to use the same Iron Tail strategy as before.

Bulbasaur however was tricky, he then snuck both of his vines in on Pikachu while he was batting the leaves away with his tail and wrapped them around his waist. He lifted the surprised Pikachu into the air and began slamming him into the ground hard with his vines. Ash's friends and Melanie cringed with every hit but Ash just stayed calm.

When Bulbasaur had tired himself out he laid Pikachu down with his vines still wrapped around him. Pikachu rose up from the ground battered and bruised but with a wide and scary smile on his face. "Pika Pika..." He almost laughed at Bulbasaur. The laugh was scary and almost eery sounding. Like Pikachu had reveled in the pain.

Ash's friends and Melanie just looked wigged out at Pikachu's actions. All except for Misty who remembered the look Cleffa had on her face after Staryu had beat it around with Rapid Spin in her and Ash's battle. That look was the same. Scary and eery.

Bulbasaur looked shocked at the fact Pikachu sounded like he was laughing and could do nothing when Ash called the finishing move. "Pikachu Thunderbolt those vines and electrocute Bulbasaur!"

Pikachu grabbed ahold of the vines that held him and released a strong Thunderbolt that went straight up through the vines and began electrocuting Bulbasaur. After it was done Bulbasaur was smoking a bit and then rolled over, unconscious. Ash smiled and threw a Pokeball at him. The ball hit and sucked Bulbasaur inside. It only rolled twice before 'dinging' and completing the capture.

Ash went up and thanked Pikachu before walking over and picking up Bulbasaur's Pokeball. "Your gonna be one hell of a powerful Pokemon after I'm done with you my friend. If I can I will help you find those poachers and together, we'll take em' down."

He then released Bulbasaur and began healing his wounds along with Pikachu's. Bulbasaur just nodded his head in respect to Ash, showing he was happy to be his Pokemon and thanking Ash for his promise of some day hunting down and crushing the poachers who took his family from him.

...

Ash and his friends were now eating supper that Brock had made after Team Rocket's attack, with Melanie, their Pokemon and the village Pokemon. Bulbasaur was eating with Ash's Pokemon, getting to know his new comrades and the village Pokemon just kept stealing glances at all of Ash's Pokemon.

After they all finished eating and had packed up Ash was just about to return his Pokemon when all of the village Pokemon came up to him. he turned around and looked at them. "Hey guys what can I do for you?" He asked with a smile.

Oddish answered for all of them by coming up Ash and pointing one of it's leaves at the Pokeballs on Ash's belt and then sweeping it's head leaves over all of the village Pokemon. Ash went wide eyed. "Are you telling me that you ALL want to come with me?!" He asked in shock. His friends and Melanie heard this and walked over.

Oddish and all of the other Pokemon nodded their heads. Ash just looked over at Melanie. "Ummm... Melanie, what do you say about it?"

She looked at the Pokemon assembled before them and saw a fire in their eyes that she never thought she would see in them. She smiled and then looked at Ash. "I never thought I would see Bulbasaur trust another Trainer again. Let alone become their Pokemon. But now he's yours. I never thought that the other Pokemon would have this kind of fire and determination in them before. But you have lit something strong within them Ash. Something that they will only learn to perfect and take to the limit with you as their Trainer. Truthfully I love all of these Pokemon and would it be any other Trainer I would say no. But you Ash have shown just how special of a person you are. You risked your life against Team Rocket earlier just to save Pikachu and a bunch of Pokemon you had only just met. I see all of these Pokemon becoming extremely strong under you if Pikachu is anything to go by. You have my blessing."

Ash smiled and bowed to her gratefully before turning to the Pokemon. "Are you sure this is what you want you guys? I can make you stronger then anything in your wildest dreams but it is going to be hell on earth. Can you all take it?!"

The Pokemon called out in excitement and determination. Ash just smiled and spoke to them one final time. "Alright guys! Just to warn you though: Once I capture you all I am not going to be able to keep you with me right away since I already have six Pokemon with me. You will be transported to my home back in Pallet Town to a safe place called the Oak Laboratory. It's run by a very kind Pokemon Professor named Samuel Oak. He is who gave me Pikachu and is where my other Pokemon are at right now. Training away to get stronger. That is where you will go. I will use my Poke'Dex however and switch you all around with the Pokemon I have on me now so you can all get a chance to train and travel with me. Is that okay?"

The Pokemon called out again, showing it was okay and then Ash pulled out a couple of Pokeballs. One by one each Pokemon came up and let Ash capture them all. Melanie just watched with happy tears in her eyes as all of the Pokemon she had cared so long for finally came around and found a Trainer to trust.

Ash kept a huge smile on his face as he captured each Pokemon. Both Rattata, Paras, Caterpie, Weepinbell, Staryu and Oddish came up and allowed Ash to catch them. The Pokeballs did not even struggle as they 'dinged' and the Pokemon were captured. Melanie let the tears fall as she watched each Pokeball glow white and then disappear in thin air as they were transported to the Oak Lab.

Ash then walked up to Magikarp who was flipping around happily in the water, awaiting his turn. Ash was very excited to see how fast the 'soon to be his' Magikarp would grow and just how powerful he would become as a Gyarados. Ash had no doubt that with his extreme training Magikarp would evolve very fast, making Ash one of the youngest Trainers to own a Gyarados that he knew of. In order for that relationship to work out Ash would first have to build a strong bond with Magikarp so when it evolved into Gyarados it would still care about Ash. He would also have to show his strength as a Trainer so that once Magikarp evolved he also respected and listened to Ash.

He pulled another Pokeball out and tapped Magikarp on the head. Capturing the Pokemon without it even struggling. The ball disappeared a few seconds later.

XXXXXXXXXXX

At the Oak Lab Professor Oak was having tea with Delia when he got a ding on his computer telling him that one of his Trainers had captured another Pokemon. Professor Oak excused himself and went over to check the computer. He had a feeling the Trainer was Ash. The boy had been catching Pokemon like crazy and Oak wasn't wrong.

The computer showed several catches that Ash had indeed just made. Professor Oak was very impressed when he took in the haul Ash had just acquired and nodded his head proudly. When he saw the image of a Magikarp come across the screen Oak was even more intrigued. _'Now this is very interesting... Ash we both know what Pokemon this will evolve into. I have no doubt you will be successful in raising it. Any other greenhorn Trainer and I would say no... But you Ash I have faith in.'_

Oak walked back into the living area where Delia was and sat back down to continue enjoying his tea. "What was that about Professor?" Delia asked curiously.

The Professor just smiled. "That was actually me getting notified about one of my Trainers capturing another Pokemon. It was quite a few actually and they all belonged to Ash."

Delia smiled proudly at the mention of her son. "He's really going to go far isn't he Professor?" She asked him.

Professor Oak looked at Delia seriously. "My dear I believe that boy is going to be heading for the stars."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends stood on the road that led out of the village. Melanie was standing there seeing them off. "Thanks a lot Melanie, really. For everything." Ash said.

She just smiled kindly. "No problem at all Ash. And thank you for everything you did. Protecting us from Team Rocket and giving the Pokemon I cared for a great future with a great Trainer. I'll be looking rooting for you in the next Pokemon League!" She said still smiling

Ash nodded, shook her hand and then said, "Thanks Melanie and don't worry, all of the Pokemon will be safe with me. I'll make sure they become the best they can be!" He said it with a thumbs up and Melanie just bowed her head to him in thanks. He then let his friends all say their good-byes to Melanie and after the parting words were out of the way Ash and his friends set out again. Letting the road take them to their next adventure, wherever it may be!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: Three Days Later)

Ash and his friends had finally made it out of the forest and were now relaxing by a tree in a field that was near the road. "How long until Rolanda Town Brock?" Ash asked.

Brock checked the map. "Well let's see here... I would say another two days and we'll be there. That shortcut we took when you led us through the woods actually did turn out to be a time saver after all."

Ash nodded his head. "Cool. Hey guys I'm gonna-"

"Go train?" Giselle asked him cheekily.

Ash just gave her a goofy grin. "Maybe."

They all laughed and then Ash went into the field a little further and released his Pokemon. At the moment he had with him, Pikachu, (obviously), Mankey, Cleffa, Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto. He wanted to keep a space open just in case he ended up catching another Pokemon.

He had been rotating his Pokemon in and out since they left Melanie's cottage and had managed to get all of the Pokemon he obtained there caught up on what training they were going to be doing, their nutrition plans, (which he shared with Professor Oak and Brock), and had ultimately gotten ample training time with all of the Pokemon.

He had scanned each of his new Pokemon with Dexter and had got the complete move set, abilities his Pokemon knew and also what gender they were.

Both of his new Rattata were female. Ash strongly suspected they were sisters because of two reasons. 1: They were extremely close. One never going somewhere without the other. And 2: They both also had the same ability, Guts. They were so identical that Ash actually had to put a pink scarf on one and a purple scarf on the other so he could tell them apart!

Their move sets were pretty impressive and also were also identical. They knew: Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Pursuit and Hyper Fang.

Both of the Rattata showed real promise when training and Ash was very pleased with them. Apparently in their short time of being at the Lab and being around Ash's Raticate both Rattata had become attached to him and came to look up to him in a way. Ash decided to send them back to the Lab after he was done teaching them their training schedule so they could stay with Raticate and train with him. Raticate promised Ash that he would work hard with them and still continue his own training so Ash had no problem with it.

Paras was a male, had the ability Effect Spore and knew the moves Scratch, Poisonpowder, Stun Spore and Leech Life.

Ash was very impressed with Paras when it came to his training ethic and combat abilities. Paras was very good at strategy when battling and he always trained himself very hard.

Weepinbell was also a male, had the ability Chlorophyll and knew the moves: Vine Whip, Growth, Poisonpowder, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Sweet Scent and Razor Leaf.

Weepinbell was Bulbasaur's sparring partner and was also very motivated when it came to training. Ash had found out that Weepinbell wanted to make a name for itself and the other members of it's evolutionary line since they were often looked over in favor of other, more well known and 'desirable' Pokemon. Ash had a strong feeling that Weepinbell would achieve that goal.

Oddish was a female, also had the ability Chlorophyll and knew the moves: Absorb, Sweet Scent, Poisonpowder, Sleep Powder and Stun Spore.

Oddish was a very sweet Pokemon. However, she was also very serious about training and could be very fierce when battling. She looked up to Bulbasaur very much and he inspired her to want to become stronger. Ash could see a very bright future for Oddish.

Caterpie was a male, had the ability Shield Dust and knew the moves: Tackle, String Shot and Bug Bite.

Caterpie, just like the two female Rattata did with Raticate, had really taken a shine to Ash's Butterfree and looked up to him. After Ash had worked with Caterpie on what training program he was going to use, Ash decided to let Caterpie stay with Butterfree under the same conditions he gave Raticate. All in all, Caterpie was just like all of the other former village Pokemon: he wanted to get stronger and he was willing to work as hard as he could on getting there. Ash had also needed to tie different colored scarves on both his Butterfree and his new Caterpie, so when Caterpie finally evolved into Butterfree himself, Ash could tell the difference between the two. His Butterfree wore a yellow scarf and Caterpie wore a green one.

Staryu had the ability Natural Cure and knew the moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Rapid Spin, Harden, Recover and Camouflage.

Since Staryu and Magikarp were Ash's first Water-Type Pokemon he had Misty give him a few pointers and let Staryu train with Misty's Staryu and Starmie. Ash could say that, without a doubt, Staryu was definitely the strongest village Pokemon besides Bulbasaur. His move set and ability were extremely impressive and Ash was determined to work Staryu incredibly hard since he believed that Staryu could become a very strong Pokemon. It's training ethic was also right up there with the other former village Pokemon, which made training a joy.

Magikarp was a male, had the ability Swift Swim and knew the moves: Tackle, Splash and very much to Ash's surprise, Flail. Since few Magikarp knew that move.

Ash could say with certainty that Magikarp amazed him. The Pokemon trained itself like crazy! Since Magikarp didn't know a lot of moves Ash had him train extremely hard on things such as: Making his Tackle and Flail as powerful as they could be, turning Splash into a move that was actually useful, (By using it as an evasive move. Magikarp would use his tail to perform the move and splash out of the way of incoming attacks), and also work very hard on physical conditioning. Ash would put the special water weights on Magikarp and have him swim for long amounts of time. This worked his stamina and strength. He would also have Magikarp train on dodging several obstacles in the water, thus increasing his agility and speed. This, as well as training with Misty's Goldeen and also Ash's Staryu really helped to work Magikarp hard.

Ash's ultimate goal was to make Magikarp as strong as he could be in this state so when he evolved into Gyarados all of that power and experience would transfer over. The way Ash saw it was, when Magikarp finally evolved into Gyarados his training was going to get so brutal that only by being in his final evolutionary stage could he handle it. That's why he was making Magikarp so strong now. When Ash thought about how strong of a Gyarados he was going to have at some point in the near future Ash almost salivated at the mouth. His goal was to make his future Gyarados as powerful as any Champion's Pokemon and then a little more.

The only problem with having two Water Pokemon was the lack of water to train in while on the road. After instructing Magikarp and Staryu on their very tough training programs he decided to send them to the Lab and let them stay there for now so they had full access to a constant source of water. The Lab's Poke'Fields had many ponds and rivers which meant Magikarp and Staryu would have plenty of water to train in. Luckily, the area that Professor Oak had told Ash all of his Pokemon stayed at together had a very large pond for his Pokemon to work their training in. Something Ash was ecstatic for! He had made Magikarp and Staryu official 'training partners' and that meant they did every form of their training together and sparred every day, several times a day.

The last Pokemon Ash thought about was Bulbasaur. He actually had two abilities: Overgrow and Chlorophyll. Which amazed Ash. He knew the moves: Tackle, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Leech Seed, Poisonpowder and Sleep Powder.

Bulbasaur was a truly one of a kind Pokemon just like Pikachu. He trained almost as hard as the electric mouse, meaning to the point that he would collapse. Ash was determined to make Bulbasaur the strongest of his species and take vengeance on the Pokemon Poachers that took his family if and when they ever found them. From move training, extreme physical training with body weights on and sparring with Pikachu, Bulbasaur would train like crazy.

Bulbasaur and Pikachu were without a doubt the Pokemon that trained the hardest, borderline unsafe. He and Pikachu had also become fast friends and trained together every day. Their spars would always become very intense and sometimes Ash would have to intervene. Ash had decided to keep Bulbasaur with him all the time like he did Pikachu so the Pokemon could train under his critical eye constantly. Ash knew that eventually Bulbasaur, like Pikachu, would become a true horror to fight in battle with enough experience and training.

One thing Ash did was have Pikachu and Bulbasaur attack each other relentlessly with their most powerful attacks and whoever was getting attacked would just stand there and take it. It was sort of like type disadvantage training only this form of take-the-attack training was entirely about teaching his Pokemon to, as weird as it sounded, learn to revel in the pain of battle. This form of training Ash actually had all of his Pokemon do, but Pikachu and Bulbasaur did it to much more extreme levels.

This kind of training was a deadly weapon for battling. If a Pokemon learned to take the pain of battle with nothing more than a smile and a shrug then you would become nightmare opponents. Ash just made sure to monitor his Pokemon when they trained like this and always had medical supplies nearby just in case.

An hour later Ash and his Pokemon returned to the others exhausted and soaked in sweat. Ash's Pokemon instantly charged towards where Brock was laying out some water and Pokemon food. Brock saw the ravenous and parched Pokemon coming towards him and tried to get out of the way only to be bowled over and then trampled as they attacked their food and water.

Brock just lay there twitching. Thanking Arceus that Ash didn't have any large Pokemon yet.

Ash limped over towards Giselle and Misty and crashed on the ground beside them, grabbing his water bottle and hydrating himself. Giselle got a devious smile on her face as she saw an oppurtunity she just couldn't pass up. Crawling up to Ash, she sat down on the ground near him and then took his head and gently laid it on her lap. He looked at her in confusion and she just smiled at him. "It's not good to lay down on such uneven ground Ash. You could hurt your neck by laying like that. Besides, isn't this much more comfortable?"

Ash just smiled at her. He wasn't an imbecile, he knew what she was doing and just smirked to himself. "Well thank you sweetie. And your right." He said as he got more comfortable in her lap. "This is much more comfortable."

Giselle blushed a little, smiled at him and began running her fingers through his hair absently. Misty just looked at the scene with something akin to what looked a mixture of jealousy, disgust and anger on her face before looking away.

Ten minutes later Ash and his friends returned their Pokemon and then set off again.

XXXXXXXXXXX

They had been walking for only about half and hour before they came to large clearing that the road passed through. Ash was looking all around for any new Pokemon and suddenly Pikachu tapped him on the head. "What is it buddy?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu Pika Pi!" Pikachu said as he pointed to a spot on the left side of the road. Ash followed his Pokemon's direction and looked towards the nearby forest. What he saw made his jaw nearly drop open as he stopped walking in mid stride, causing Brock to bump into him.

"What is it Ash?" Brock asked as he and the rest of them stopped walking as well.

Ash pointed ahead and they all followed his gaze. What they saw also shocked them. Sitting on a large rock near the border of the forest was a Charmander. Ash started walking towards it, followed by his friends.

They neared the Charmander and it just eyed them warily. "What's a Charmander doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Misty asked confused.

"I don't know." Brock answered her. "Maybe it's waiting on something."

"Or someone." Giselle offered.

Ash looked at the Charmander and smiled. "Hey pal what are you doing out here all alone huh?"

The Pokemon just continued to look at Ash and his friends with that same wary gaze. However, he didn't run anyway, which was odd. The three starters of Kanto were very rare Pokemon and anytime they saw Trainers they were known to run. Ash suddenly had a theory. "I think it's possible that this Charmander has a Trainer." He said with mild disappointment.

"What makes you say that Ash?" Misty asked him.

Ash just backed away from the Pokemon. "Well for one: If it was a wild Pokemon most likely it would have either tried to flee or attack when it saw us. This Charmander did neither. Clearly it's used to seeing humans and being around them. However, it's looking at us with unsureness and wariness. I'm taking this to mean that Charmander probably has a Trainer since it seems used to humans but it's wary of us because it doesn't know if we are going to try and capture it or not."

His friends looked amazed with Ash's insight and then Giselle asked. "But why is it here then?"

Ash just shook his head. "I don't know. It's probably waiting here on command from it's trainer for some reason."

"We should probably leave it in peace now to wait for it's Trainer then." Brock said.

Ash nodded his head. "Yeah let's go. It's a shame really... You don't see Charmanders often. I would have liked to get to know it more... Maybe even see if it wanted to join the team." He sighed. "Ohh well. It's probably a great Pokemon and I'm sure it's Trainer is very proud of it. I just hope he comes back soon... I would never leave my Pokemon anywhere like this without me with them. You never know what could happen."

Brock nodded his head in understanding. "Well Ash not everyone is as devoted to their Pokemon as you are."

"Or as overprotective!" Giselle teased.

Ash just laughed. "Yeah I guess your right!"

They all began walking away as Ash turned to Charmander one last time. "See ya around Charmander. Take care okay?"

He then followed his friends as they continued their way down the road. Little did Ash know that Charmander had heard what he said about him probably being a great Pokemon and also about how Ash would never leave one of his Pokemon alone like his own Trainer had.

Charmander just looked towards the sky and cooed out sadly. "Char..."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had run across a Pokemon Center a little further down the road and had decided to stop and stay there for the evening.

Ash had just finished giving his Pokemon to Chansey to heal up since Nurse Joy was apparently out and then went to join his friends at a nearby table. He sat down beside Giselle and he stared out the window. Rain had begun to fall in torrents and Ash was getting worried about Charmander. He looked across the table at Brock. "Hey Brock do you think that Charmander's Trainer ever picked it up?" He asked with worry clear in his voice.

Brock looked worried as well. "I don't know Ash, I hope so. Otherwise..." He paused for a second. "We all know what happens if a Charmander's tail flame is put out."

Ash just shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Yeah I know..."

All of a sudden they heard a couple of Trainers at a nearby table laughing and another Trainer talking to them while he also laughed. "Wow Damian you have so many Pokemon!" One of his buddies said. They were all looking at a large collection of Pokeballs that apparently belonged to the guy named Damian that were laid out on the table in front of them.

"Yeah Damian pretty impressive!" The another guy said.

Damian just nodded his head. "Yeah it is pretty impressive ain't it? I'm just a great Trainer what can I say!"

"Hey Damian didn't you used to have a Charmander as well?" Another one of his friends asked.

Damion just shrugged. "Yeah I used to..."

Ash instantly came to attention when he heard this. So did his friends.

Damian continued. "It was so weak though it lost every battle we ever fought! I got so tired of dealing with it that I left the wimp on a rock in the forest and told it I would come back for it. It's probably still back there waiting for me the little idiot hahahaha!"

Damian began laughing followed by his cronies. Brock looked over at Ash quickly and saw nothing but pure and unrivaled fury in his eyes. After seeing what happened in Mt. Moon Brock knew that Ash, plus being mad, equaled very bad things so he quickly got up from the table.

He looked at Ash. "Just calm down Ash I'll take care of this!" He said quickly. He then made his way over to Damian's table as Misty got up as well. She looked to Giselle and said, "Giselle please stay with Ash and try to keep him calm okay? We don't need him blowing his top right now."

She looked confused but Misty just waved her hand. "I'll tell you later just... Please okay?"

The girl merely nodded her head still looking confused. "Yeah sure Misty."

Misty smiled. "Thanks." She said as she went to join Brock. Giselle turned back to Ash who was breathing hard and had his gaze twisted in anger. She could have sworn that she saw a faint blue glow surrounding him but she just dismissed it and took his hand in hers. She started rubbing it soothingly while talking to him softly. "It's okay Ash just please calm down now alright? Brock and Misty will take care of it so just calm down." She kept talking to him comfortingly as she continued to rub his hand.

Damian was still laughing when Brock and Misty came to the table. Damian saw them standing there and said rudely, "What do you two want?"

Brock just looked at him and said coldly. "Is that your Charmander we saw on the way here that was sitting on that rock waiting for it's Trainer?"

Damian just snorted. "And what if it is? It's none of your business wanker!" (A/N: Remember he has like a British accent)

Brock reached across the table and grabbed the boy by his shirt and lifted him up off of his feet a little. "That Charmander has been out there waiting for you all day! Now it's out there in a thunderstorm and if it's tail flame goes out then it'll die! Go and get it!" He said angrily.

"What kind of Trainer are you anyway?!" Misty said with equal anger in her voice. "Nobody with a heart leaves a Pokemon, let alone their own Pokemon, all alone like you did! The fact that you would abandon your Pokemon is bad enough, but to leave it out in a thunderstorm like this is just sick!"

Damian merely motioned to someone out of view and then suddenly Misty was lifted off of the ground by one of his cronies and Brock was tackled to the ground by the other two, making him drop Damian.

The one guy just held Misty by her underarms and the other two held Brock, one on each arm. Damian smoothed back out his vest and then walked up to Brock. Everyone else in the Center was just looking at the scene with baited breath, hoping someone would end this. Nurse Joy had to step out from the Center for awhile to go check on some Pokemon in the forest nearby that one Trainer said was injured so she still wasn't around.

Damian flipped his hair and got in Brock's face. "Now let me tell you something wanker... That Charmander is pathetic and if it dies then I see it like this... he got what he deserves for being so damn weak!"

He suddenly reared back and punched Brock in the gut, making him double over and gasp for air. He then pulled Brock by up to face him and said, "If you ever question me on how I deal with nuisance Pokemon again I'll make you wish you never met me! Understand?!"

'WHAM!' He punched Brock in the face hard, the guys holding Brock let him go and let him fall to the ground. Damian then turned to Misty. "Now what do we do with you darlin'?"

Before he could take one step closer to Misty everyone suddenly heard a loud 'CRASH!' From the other side of the room. They all looked to the source and saw Ash standing up from the table. He had flipped the whole thing over the seats that Brock and Misty were sitting at and was now standing there breathing heavily. His eyes started glowing an electric blue and the usually faint blue glow that Brock and Misty had seen in Mt. Moon when he was fighting Team Rocket was now taking the form of a thick blue shroud surrounding Ash's entire body and swirling around him violently like raging waves in an unsettled sea.

Giselle was in her seat looking at Ash with wide eyes as was everyone else in the Center. The lights began flickering in the Center on and off and the fire that was in the fire grate was dimming. The air became thick and hard to breath and the atmosphere seemed to darken.

Ash slowly, almost as if he were levitating, walked over to Damian and his gang. Damian backed away with fear in his eyes and shouted to his thugs, "What are you all doing standing around for?! Stop that nutter!"

One of the ones who was holding Brock earlier started to charge Ash. The enraged boy made a growling sound and as soon as the other guy came up on him to throw a punch Ash just caught the punch in mid-air and began squeezing it.

The other boy cried out in pain as Ash continued to squeeze and forced the boy to his knees. He reared back and then punched the boy in the face with so much force he sailed back ten feet and smashed into the wall.

Damion's other two cronies charged Ash at once. Right as they were about to attack him Ash flashed in front of them with incredible speed speed and kicked one boy with a powerful side kick, sending flying back into the opposite wall. Ash then turned in mid-air and grabbed the other guys face just as he got close enough.

Ash simply stepped forward and pushed the boy's face directly into the ground with a sickening 'crunch'. He stood up with anger and what almost seemed like malice still blazing in his eyes. The electric blue energy that surrounded Ash's body and glazed his eyes over seemed to dance around him with an angry and fierce will of it's own.

He slowly stalked up to Damian who was now backed into a corner and stopped in front of him. He looked down at the cowering and whimpering boy with fury in his eyes and grabbed him by his throat. He lifted him up by one arm and pinned the boy to the wall. He finally spoke for the first time and his voice sounded dark, cold and ominous. Almost as though it wasn't entirely his own.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A TRAINER! A HUMAN BEING EVEN! THAT POKEMON HAS BEEN WAITING FOR YOU ALL DAY LONG AND NOW HE IS OUT THERE IN A RAGING THUNDERSTORM! IF THE RAIN PUTS HIS TAIL FLAME OUT THEN HE WILL DIE! YOU CALL HIM WEAK BECAUSE HE NEVER WON A BATTLE! YOUR THE WEAK ONE! A PATHETIC WASTE OF LIFE LIKE YOU COULD NEVER HOPE TO RAISE ANY POKEMON!"

Ash tightened his grip on the boy's throat as the energy swirled around him faster and even more furiously, making the boy gasp for air.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO CALL ANY POKEMON YOUR OWN AND FROM THIS DAY FORTH YOU NEVER WILL AGAIN! I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE OF IT!"

Ash then threw Damian to the ground and grabbed ahold of his hands, pressing the boy's palms to Ash's own. The energy around Ash began swirling around even wilder and the color began turning an even darker blue in color. It started channeling down Ash's arms into his hands and then into Damian's own hands. A blue colored smoke began steaming from Damian's hands as they were intertwined with Ash's making the boy scream out in agonizing pain.

When it was over Damian just laid there on the ground with his hands smoking like they were on fire. His eyes were watering as he sobbed. "W-what did you do to me?!" He asked in pure terror while still cringing in pain.

Ash spoke in that same dark and cold voice. "I HAVE CURSED YOUR LIFE AURA: FROM THIS DAY ON YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO TOUCH ANOTHER POKEBALL OR POKEMON EVER AGAIN. IF YOU DO THEN YOU WILL FEEL PAIN IN YOUR HANDS LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER FELT BEFORE! THIS IS ARCEUS'S WILL AND SO IT SHALL BE DONE!" As Ash said this a loud clap of thunder sounded in the sky high above the Pokemon Center.

Ash then looked down at the whimpering boy before him again. "DAMIAN ATARO... THE JUDGEMENT OF ARCEUS HAS BEEN PLACED UPON YOU AND YOU SHALL NOW CARRY THIS CURSE UNTIL THE DAY YOU HAVE COME TO TRULY REDEEM YOURSELF AND MAKE AMENDS FOR THE SELFISH AND THOUGHTLESS WAYS IN WHICH YOU HAVE TREATED BOTH HUMANS AND POKEMON ALIKE. SHOULD YOU EVER ATTEMPT TO RAISE ANOTHER POKEBALL BEFORE THAT TIME OR TOUCH ANOTHER POKEMON YOU SHALL KNOW THE MEANING OF TRUE SUFFERING! AND SHOULD YOU EVER BRING HARM TO ANOTHER HUMAN BEING AGAIN, YOU SHALL KNOW OUR WRATH!"

Damian just nodded his head violently in understanding before he got up from the floor and took off running out of the Pokemon Center. His cronies got up from where they had been laying and took off after Damian just as terrified.

The energy around Ash began to fade a little, going back to a faint blue glow, and his eyes weren't blazing with as much ferocity. He walked over to Brock and helped the stunned teenager up to his feet. Misty, Giselle, who had been holding Pikachu in her arms, also walked over to them, cautiously at first.

Ash then spoke in a much calmer but still not entirely his own voice. "Are you okay my friend?"

Brock just looked at Ash in shock and nodded his head dumbly. "Good. Thank you for standing up to them, it was a very brave thing to do Brock." Ash said kindly. A complete contrast to what they all heard him sound like earlier.

He then looked to both girls. "Do not fear me my friends all is well." He then turned around towards the door. "I am going to find that Charmander. Stay here and make sure Damian does not return. When Nurse Joy arrives explain to her what happened but omit the parts about me. Give her all of his Pokeballs then. I'm sure after she hears the story she will be more than pleased to notify the Pokemon League and have them revoke his license as a Pokemon Trainer. I'm sure they will be able to find suitable Trainers for his Pokemon if they so wish to serve another Trainer or they may decide to be set free. Either way my friends please stay here."

He then looked to Pikachu and held out his arm. "I need your assistance my friend."

Pikachu just nodded his head and jumped to Ash's shoulder. Even in the state Ash was in now Pikachu still seemed to just fit with him perfectly. Almost like a picture. Ash's friends nodded their heads and then Giselle walked up to him. "Ash please be careful out there okay?" She said with worry in her voice. She was scared at first when Ash went off but she understood why he did. Damian was a creep that needed to be stopped and that's what Ash did. Giselle had a strong feeling that Ash wasn't normal when she first met him and now she knew why. She wasn't scared of him. She knew that Ash was a very kind person that just loved Pokemon dearly. If anything it made her like him even more than she already did.

He smiled at her. "Do not worry Giselle I will be fine." He then turned and ran out the door of the Center, intent on finding Charmander.

XXXXXXXX

Ash ran through the pouring rain as fast as he could. The strange energy around Ash was still lightly cloaking him, keeping the boy warm from the cold showers that was pelting him. The wind was fierce and lighting cracked across the sky. Pikachu was hold ing onto Ash's shoulder tightly as he continued to run.

Eventually he began nearing the area where they saw Charmander earlier in the day and when he did he started hearing what sounded like angry squawking. Ash looked to Pikachu and then took off running faster towards the sound.

When he made it to the little clearing Ash saw Charmander laying down on the same rock as before. He was holding a large leaf over himself, more specifically his tail flame, to keep it from going out in the rain.

He was crouching down low and trying to defend himself from a bunch of angry Spearow that were attacking him. Ash took immediate action. "Pikachu Thunderbolt and scare those Spearow away!" He shouted.

Pikachu jumped onto the ground and then released a powerful Thunderbolt that struck near the Spearow, scaring them and making the Pokemon fly away.

Ash ran up to Charmander and checked on him. The flame on his tail was dangerously low and he didn't look well. In fact, Ash doubted that Charmander even knew Ash was here. Not wasting a second, Ash took off the jacket of his track suite and wrapped it around Charmander. He then turned around and started running back towards the Pokemon Center.

Ash ran through the storm with Charmander cradled safely against his chest. As he ran Ash started to feel very fatigued. And also, for some strange reason, lightheaded... like he was coming back to himself in a sense. The blue energy around him had pretty much left and his eyes were now back to normal.

He began to really feel the weather taking it's toll on him and the weakness getting worse. He wouldn't stop though, he had to get to the Pokemon Center to save Charmander's life. To Ash that was all that mattered.

He saw the lights of the Center in the distance and just ran faster.

...

Inside the Pokemon Center Giselle was pacing back and forth frantically. "What if somethings happened to him?!" She fretted.

Brock and Misty were sitting in chairs near the door and also looked worried. "I'm sure he's fine Giselle, Ash is tough. Just give him a little more time." Brock said.

Before she could say anything the door to the center burst open. They all whipped around and saw Ash standing there dripping wet with Pikachu hanging onto his shoulder also soaked and Charmander wrapped in Ash's track suit jacket.

"Hey guys..." Ash said in his normal voice. He stumbled forward. "Char-Charmander needs some... Help... Please..." He laid Charmander in Brock's arms and then stumbled forward a little more before collapsing to the floor.

"ASH!" Giselle yelled as she ran forward and knelt by his side. She rolled him over and cradled him in her arms as she looked at the other two. "What's wrong with him?! Somebody get help!"

Misty took off to find Nurse Joy who had arrived shortly after Ash had left. Brock knelt by Ash and checked his pulse and breathing. "He's okay Giselle. Just really exhausted most likely. I don't know what that energy is that surrounds Ash when he gets like that but if it allows him to do things like he did earlier then I imagine the toll it takes on his body has to be intense. He probably just needs rest but Nurse Joy will know."

Giselle nodded and looked at Ash who was out cold. "Be okay Ash..." She whispered.

XXXXXXXX

Ash awoke sometime later in a bed that he did not recognize. He looked around and noticed that he was inside of a room in the Pokemon Center. He saw that Pikachu was also laying at the foot of his bed. He started to move around a little and when the Pokemon felt Ash stir, Pikachu got up and looked at Ash. Seeing his Trainer awake the Pikachu got an excited look on his face and then jumped onto Ash and started cuddling against his cheek. "Pika Pi!" He said happily.

Ash just laughed and hugged Pikachu close. "Hey buddy I'm glad to see you to!" He put Pikachu down and asked him, "Where is everyone Pi?"

Pikachu started gesturing towards the door. "Pikachu Pika Pika Chu Pika Pi."

Ash just nodded. "Lobby. Gotcha." He then groaned. "Aghhh Pikachu what happened?"

That's when memories of yesterday all rushed back to him at one time. He clutched his head in pain as an instant headache took over.

He went to sit up fast and instantly wished he hadn't. His whole body felt like it weighed a ton and he felt fatigued. He laid back down in the bed and took a moment to collect himself. He then slowly got up and swung his legs over the bed. He gingerly stood and walked to the foot of the bed where his track suit was and put it on. Pikachu watching him carefully all the while.

After he was done and his body felt a tiny bit better Ash turned to Pikachu. "Come on pal let's go." He said.

Pikachu nodded happily and jumped onto Ash's shoulder gently. Ash then left his room and walked down to the lobby of the Center slowly. His first and only goal was to know how Charmander was doing because he couldn't remember anything clearly after Damian hitting Brock and going for Misty. There were a few staggered memories here and there... But they were foggy and Ash wanted some clarification on what happened. He remembered running Charmander back to the Center through the storm and then collapsing but that was it.

He finally made it to the lobby and saw all of his friends sitting around a nearby table. When they saw Ash they all called out to him. Well... Giselle actually threw herself on him making Ash yelp silently in pain as he hugged her back. Taking comfort from her scent.

When she backed off she looked at Ash concerned. "How are you feeling Ash?"

Ash just sat down at a nearby table and sighed. "Physically I'm fine just a little tired... Mentally though, I can't remember much of anything after Damian hitting you Brock... After that it's just fragments of memories."

All three of his friends shared a look and then Misty spoke. "You don't remember anything Ash? At all?"

He just shook his head. "Nope. Nothing."

Giselle sat down beside Ash and took his hand. "Ash... You better prepare yourself." Brock said as he sat down at Ash's table. Misty followed suit and sat down as well.

"Okay Ash... This is what happened..." Brock began

...

"So you mean to tell me that I did all of that?!" Ash said in utter shock.

Giselle tightened her grip on Ash's hand. "There's nothing wrong with you Ash so please don't even think that okay?"

"Yeah Ash that guy was cruel and didn't deserve to have any Pokemon at all. What you did was what needed to be done!" Misty said firmly.

Ash just sat there still stunned. " I CURSED him?! I made him unable to ever touch a Pokeball or Pokemon again?! How did I even do that?!" He asked with a completely shocked look on his face.

"I don't know Ash." Brock said. "But somehow when you get mad like you did earlier that energy overtakes your body and does weird things to you. It happened at Mt. Moon as well but that was nothing compared to two nights ago. You were possessed by it."

"Yeah but the weird thing was that you weren't evil or anything. You did what you did to Damian because you were passing some kind of 'judgement' on him. That's what you said. Something about 'the judgement of Arceus'. And you only attacked him and his goon friends." Giselle said.

"We don't know what... Or really even who Arceus is but that is what you kept talking about." Misty said with an equally confused expression on her face.

Brock explained before Ash could. "Arceus is said to be the creator of all things. The 'God Pokemon'. It's said to have strong ties to the Sinnoh region but not a lot is known about the Pokemon besides the little bit you will read in some books about it. Who knows, maybe what Ash experiences when he goes through his 'spells' is tied to Arceus in some way. It's said to be just a myth but... Maybe not."

Ash decided not to explain to his friends his very strong connection to the very much real GODDESS of all Pokemon. He didn't feel the time was right yet. Instead he just said, "Yeah I guess your right guys... Still I- WAIT DID YOU SAY TWO NIGHTS AGO?! I'VE BEEN OUT FOR TWO DAYS?!"

Brock just nodded his head. "Yeah two days. Apparently when you go through that... Experience, your body get's massively drained."

Ash just sat there for a little while in silence before speaking again. "Well how about Charmander? Is he okay?"

Before his friends could answer him they heard a soft voice say, "He will be just fine Mr. Ketchum!"

They all turned to see Nurse Joy walking up to them. "Nurse Joy!" Ash exclaimed happily. "What happened with him?"

Nurse Joy just smiled. "Well he was in pretty bad shape when you got him here but he made a full recovery with no problems whatsoever!"

Ash just breathed in and sighed out in relief. The kind nurse then continued. "And young man I just want to say thank you. Your friends told me about what happened with that boy Damian and his friends. Needless to say I was only to happy to call the Pokemon League on him. They have revoked his Trainers license and are sending an agent out at the end of the week to collect his Pokemon that we have here."

Ash looked concerned. "What will happen to his Pokemon nurse?"

She smiled reassuringly again. "No worries Ash! They are going to give them the option to either get new Trainers or be released into the wild. Either way all of the Pokemon are going to be taken care of and made happy no matter what!"

Ash smiled. "Good I'm happy for them." He then paused for a moment. "Umm is there anyway I can see Charmander nurse? Please?"

She smiled brightly again. "Of course you may Ash! I happen to know that Charmander will be very happy to see the person that saved his life. Ever since he woke up he has been restless, like he was looking for you. I think he saw you pass out and was worried about you."

"How do you know that he isn't looking for Damian?" Ash asked confused.

Giselle just snickered. "Ash... Have you noticed something weird about the top half of your track suit yet?"

Ash looked down and seemed shocked. He was wearing a black sweatshirt instead of his track suits jacket. "I'm wearing a sweat shirt? Man I really must have been out of it this morning not to notice!" He said as he laughed.

Giselle just giggled and Brock, Misty and Joy laughed as well. "What a minute..." Ash said as he thought more about it. "Where is my jacket and... MY POKEBALLS!" He began freaking out again until Brock stopped him with a raised hand. "Relax Ash! Your Pokemon are all fine. We knew that you would have been upset about not getting to train your Pokemon while you were out of it, so we took your Pokeballs and let your Pokemon out to train everyday just like you do. Though we didn't train with them like a certain mad man we know." Brock finished with a friendly insult to his friend.

"Yeah Ash you would have been proud." Misty said. "As soon as we let them out the first day and explained to them what was going on they went straight to training and Pikachu lead them! It was amazing! They were worried about you but Pikachu really marshaled them together. Bulbasaur too. "

Ash looked at Pikachu. "Thanks pal. Your the best! Bulbasaur too!"

Pikachu just rubbed the back of his head. "Pi Pikachu..." He said embarrassed.

Ash then looked to his friends. "Thanks a lot guys that... Really means a lot."

They just smiled and nodded their heads at Ash. "No problem Ash." Brock said.

"Yeah Ash any time!" Misty chorused.

Giselle just looked at Ash. "Yeah Ash anything you need we'll be there... Just tell m- us okay?" She said with a small blush on her face.

Ash just smiled at her and his friends. Nurse Joy then spoke. "As for your jacket Ash... You brought Charmander here wrapped up in it and he has been holding onto it since he woke up. No one can get it away from him."

Ash smiled. "Well then let's go. I'll see if I can work my magic and get it back!"

He stood up and followed the nurse back into the infirmary, followed by Misty, Giselle and Brock. Nurse Joy took them to a room and then stood aside. "Here we are Ash! You are free to go inside and see Charmander." She said with her trademark smile.

Ash turned to look at his friends. "Go on Ash. We'll wait here." Brock said. The girls nodded. Ash turned around and then stepped inside.

When he entered the room he looked towards middle of the room and saw Charmander laying there in a recovery capsule, curled up in his jacket, fast asleep. Ash smiled softly at the scene and then walked over and sat beside the capsule while he waited for Charmander to wake up.

A few minutes later Ash saw his jacket move and turned to see Charmander waking up. Ash was ecstatic to see that Charmander's tail flame was now burning a large and healthy orange/red color.

Upon the Pokemon waking up and seeing Ash sitting there he immediately brightened up like a light bulb and called out happily. "Charmander Char!"

Ash smiled warmly at the Fire-Type Pokemon. "Hey there Charmander how're you feeling?"

The Pokemon smiled happily and called out. "Charmander Char Char!"

Ash just shrugged. "Hey you don't need to thank me Charmander. I did what I did because I care and I didn't want anything to happen to you. I'm really sorry Damian did that to you..."

Charmander got a sad look on his face. "Charmander..." He said solemnly. "Char Char mander Char Charmander..."

Ash just shook his head vigorously. "No Charmander it's not your fault either! Damian is a cruel and vain person that doesn't deserve to have any Pokemon period! That's why I... Did something that will keep him from ever having anything to do with Pokemon ever again."

Charmander looked up at Ash with surprise and a little bit of anger in his eyes thinking that Ash had did something bad to his trainer. Ash just sighed. He knew what he had to do. He just hoped he could channel it willingly. "Charmander... I think you really need to see something okay? I'm going to try and show you my memories of when I... Took care of Damian. I just need to touch you. Is that okay?" He asked.

Charmander nodded his head and then Ash stretched his hand out towards Charmander, praying to Arceus that this worked. The mark on Ash's hand began to show as he focused on it's power. It began to glow an even brighter white as Ash neared Charmander and when he finally touched the Pokemon the connection was complete.

Instantly, Ash started feeding memories of that entire night to Charmander as the Pokemon eagerly excepted them into his mind. As it got to the parts where Damian was denouncing Charmander as his the Pokemon winced. Painful memory after painful memory was fed to Charmander and all he could do was watch them.

Ash let his heart go out to the Pokemon and felt a fresh wave of hate for Damian come rushing back to him as he felt Charmander's pain.

After the memories had ended Charmander sat down looking terribly depressed. Ash placed a hand on the small Pokemon's shoulder, making him look at Ash. "Charmander you are very upset right now and are undoubtedly feeling betrayed. The only thing I can say to you is this: Instead of feeling worthless and like your no good let this make you better, don't let it tear you down! Use this experience and this pain to make yourself stronger. You are a great Pokemon I know you are, now prove it! But to Damian, too yourself!"

Charmander looked at Ash for a little while and then nodded his head firmly and called out, "Charmander!"

Ash smiled at the Pokemon and then shifted a little in his seat before talking to the Pokemon again. "Charmander... You are a really special Pokemon that any Trainer would be so lucky to call their own. I know I would and that's why that..." Ash stopped for a second, wondering how to continue."Look I know that you may not want anything else to do with Trainers ever again but... If you would like to then you are more than welcome to come with me and join my team."

Charmander looked shock. "I promise that I will make you stronger than you can possibly imagine Charmander. If you are willing to work very hard then I will make you great! I can promise you that."

Charmander looked thoughtful for a little bit. "I'll let you think about it Charmander. If you don't then I totally understand. I would be ecstatic if you wanted to and I would except you with open arms. Me and all of my Pokemon."

Ash got up and touched Charmander on the head. "Get some rest buddy." Before he could leave Charmander called out to him. Ash turned around and saw Charmander holding Ash's jacket out to him. He smiled and took it. "Thanks Charmander." He slipped the sweatshirt off and then put on his jacket.

He then turned around and left the room, leaving Charmander to his thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends were all packed up and ready to leave the Center. It was still mid-morning so they could probably make it to Rolanda Town by nightfall. Ash swung his pack over his shoulders and looked towards the infirmary for any sign of Charmander. When he didn't see him Ash just sighed. "Well... I guess he didn't want to come after all. Can't really say I blame him. I just hope he finds happiness... Still, he would have been one hell of a Pokemon!"

Giselle looked at Ash with sympathy and squeezed his hand comfortingly. Brock just placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Charmander may have decided not to come with you Ash but I know he's grateful to you. If you hadn't saved him from that storm then he would have died. You gave Charmander another chance at life Ash, you did a good thing."

Ash smiled at his friend. "Yeah your right Brock. I just wish him well on whatever he does."

After that they all grabbed their packs and then left the Center.

...

They hadn't been walking long before they heard something. "Char Charmander Char!"

Ash and his friends turned around and saw Charmander running to catch up with them. He finally caught up and then stood in front of Ash with a Pokeball in his hands. Ash looked at Charmander and smiled at him. "Hey there Charmander what are you doing out here?"

Charmander just laid the Pokeball he was holding down on the ground and then stepped back and looked at. Ash seemed confused and then Brock said, "Maybe... maybe that Pokeball is Charmander's? You know, Damian's Pokeball."

Ash looked back at Charmander, who was staring at the Pokeball in disgust. They all then watched in amazement as Charmander backed a good distance away and then ran towards the Pokeball. He jumped in the air and then came down on top of the Pokeball hard with his head. The Pokeball couldn't take the force and instantly was crushed under the impact.

When Charmander stood back up the Pokeball was in pieces. The Pokemon then opened his mouth and fired a hot and strong looking Ember attack at the pieces of the ball. When he was done all that was left of the Pokeball was ashes.

Charmander stepped back and nodded in satisfaction before walking up to Ash. He stood in front of Ash and smiled happily at him. "Charmander Char!"

Ash seemed confused. "Uhhh Charmander... Why exactly did you destroy your Pokeball?"

Charmander just started pointing to the Pokeballs on Ash's side. "Charmander!"

It took him a moment but Ash eventually figured out why Charmander did what he did. "Charmander... Do you want to join my team?" He asked hopefully.

The Pokemon smiled even wider and nodded his head. "Charmander Char Char!" He called out happily.

Ash smiled brightly and then looked up at Pikachu. "Well pal whadya say? Can he join the team?"

Pikachu gave Charmander a thumbs up and called out, "Pika Pika Chu Pika!"

Ash then pulled a Pokeball from his belt. "Alright then Charmander. Welcome to the family!"

Charmander called out excitedly and then jumped towards the Pokeball that Ash just threw. The device opened up and sucked the Pokemon inside of it while Charmander was in mid-air. It floated back and landed in Ash's hands where it then 'dinged' in the sign of a successful capture without even a wobble.

Ash grinned from ear to ear and turned back to his friends. "Another teammate guys!"

They all smiled happily at their friend. "I'm happy for you Ash. See? Charmander really was grateful for what you did for him and grew to really like you." Brock said.

"Yes Ash what Charmander did just now was amazing and showed just how much of an effect you had on him." Misty added.

"Yeah Ash take this is as a sign of just how great of a person and Trainer you are. Charmander saw something special in you just like you did in him. I am so happy for you Ash! If anyone deserved this you did!" Giselle said as she came up and hugged his arm.

Ash smiled at his friends as he threw Charmander's Pokeball in the air and then caught it. "Thanks a ton guys... You really are great friends."

Brock placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Your a great friend Ash. You stepped in to defend Misty and I from Damian. Thank you for that."

"Yeah Ash thanks... That really was amazing what you did." Misty said with a slight blush on her face that Giselle saw and caused her to hug Ash's arm even tighter and send a silent 'he's mine!' To the other girl with a hard glare. Misty just glared back at her.

Ash put the Pokeball away and then said, "Well guys, let's head out! Rolanda Town is only a few hours away and I'm anxious for my next gym battle!"

With that said Misty and Giselle ended their glaring session and fell in step behind Ash and Brock as they took off down the road. The only thing on the young hero's mind was just how blessed by Arceus he was to have such great friends and Pokemon by his side. He looked to the horizon and smiled to himself. He was ready for whatever came his way and he knew it.

XXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: The Next Day)

"Charmander use Tackle!" Ash commanded.

Charmander rushed forward and clashed heads with Bulbasaur. The two of them struggled back and forth in a battle of strength. Suddenly they heard, "PIKACHU!"

Charmander and Bulbasaur jumped out of the way just as Pikachu slammed an Iron Tail into the ground they were just standing on. The three Pokemon backed away from each other, breathing heavily and very scuffed up and just glared at one another. The three of them then launched back into fighting with one another. Bulbasaur attacking with Razor Leaf, Charmander with Ember and Pikachu with Thunderbolt.

Ash's other Pokemon stood outside of the forested clearing they were all in, also heavily scuffed up from their own training, along with Brock, Misty, Giselle and all of their Pokemon as they watched the three Pokemon continue fighting viciously.

Ash stood near the middle of the clearing, watching with critical eyes as his Pokemon battled it out. Finally, the three Pokemon hit one another with each of their strongest attacks and were launched backwards and sent skidding through the ground to opposite ends of the clearing.

Ash stepped up and called out to them. "Great job guys bring it in!" He looked to his other Pokemon. "You to everybody! Come on!"

Ash's Pokemon all came up to him. Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Charmander were side by side, smiling and talking in Poke'Speech to each other as they limped in. They were scuffed up the worst out of all of Ash's Pokemon and were breathing heavily but they looked excited and had a wild fire in their eyes regardless.

When they finally made it to Ash he began using some healing supplies on each of his Pokemon in turn. After he was done Ash told them all how proud he was of them and how great their training went today before sending them over to Brock to eat and relax.

Ash then went over and collapsed near Giselle. Exhausted from his own training. He went to lay his head on her lap but she held her hand up. "Ash... What did I tell you that you have to do first BEFORE you even THINK about laying on me?!" She scolded.

Ash just sighed and then went over to his water bottle. He took off the top part of his track suit and laid it over a nearby branch to dry from the sweat that was soaked into it. He then took the water bottle and started pouring it over his head and upper body, cleaning himself of the sweat that was covering his body.

When he was done cleaning himself Ash looked over at Giselle again and put his arms out in an exaggerated fashion. "Better?" He said with a cheesy grin on his face.

Giselle just nodded her head satisfied and patted her lap. Ash smiled and said in a playful and excited tone, "Alrightyyy then sweetie that's what I'm talking about!"

He settled himself onto her lap comfortably with his head and smiled at her. "Arceus your comfortable! Not even a pillow is this nice!"

Giselle just giggled and smacked him playfully on the arm. "Ohh hush up Mr. Ketchum and just relax!"

He smiled at her charmingly again. "Yes Ms. Yūtō whatever you say!"

Giselle smiled down at him and then began running her fingers through his hair again as she laid her head back against the tree she was leaning on and closed her eyes.

Misty stared at the two with undisguised jealousy in her eyes and then just looked away. Brock looked at the two and smiled. He then turned to Misty. "She really likes him." He said.

Misty just nodded. "Yeah she does... I wonder how Ash feels about her?"

Brock shrugged his shoulders. "It's hard to say Misty. Ash is a tough guy to read. Maybe he does, he knows."

Misty just sighed and went back to reading a book she had on Water Pokemon. Ash was feeling drowsy while laying in Giselle's lap. His body was tired from his intense workouts and Giselle's lap was very comfortable. He looked over at his Pokemon and felt a huge rush of pride for them. Especially Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Charmander.

The three of them were sitting down relaxing while they talked amongst themselves animatedly. They had become fast friends and trained together everyday. Ash was amazed at just how well the three of them not only worked together when they trained and how well their teamwork battling was but also how well they got along.

Ash could actually see his own dream team being built right before his eyes, starting with those three. Whoever was foolish enough to say that Pokemon like Charmander and Bulbasaur were useless were fools.

Charmander had a burning desire to become stronger and trained extremely hard every time they trained. Ash had scanned Charmander with Dexter and learned that he had the ability Blaze and knew the moves: Scratch and Ember.

He was every bit as dedicated as Ash's other Pokemon was and he was proud of him.

After they were all done resting and had packed up everything and returned their Pokemon, they set out for Rolanda Town again, being very close by this point.

...

Ash and his friends finally entered into Rolanda Town after walking for about two more hours. Ash breathed in. "Ahhh it's so nice to be here finally!"

"Yeah, now we can actually sleep in a bed again for once!" Misty said enthusiastically.

"And have a shower!" Giselle added happily.

"Maybe we can even go out to eat for a change." Brock said with a smile.

The town itself wasn't overly huge. There was a suburban area for houses and a portion of town where they had shops and businesses set up on either side of the road. (A/N: This portion of the chapter takes place in the town where the event with the Squirtle Squad took place)

Before they got any further a young boy suddenly came out of nowhere and bowled right into Giselle and Misty, knocking them off balance and making the two ladies and himself fall to the ground.

"Ouch!" Misty yelled. "What the hell?!"

"That really hurt..." Giselle complained.

Ash reached down and carefully helped Giselle back to her feet and began looking her over while gently brushing her off. "Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

She nodded her head, smiling at him. "Yes I'm okay, thank you Ash."

Brock helped Misty up as well and then the young boy, who had brown hair and was wearing a blue T-Shirt and shorts, stood up last. "All right man why did you knock these two ladies down? That wasn't cool." Ash questioned as he held onto Giselle.

The boy just bowed his head low. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to! I was just trying to get to the Police Station so I could them about how I was attacked by a bunch of Squirtle just outside of town!"

They all seemed confused. "You were what?" Ash asked like he didn't hear right.

"I was sitting under a tree reading a book outside of town when a bunch of Squirtle came out of nowhere and attacked me! They took my book from me and dangled it over the hill we were on. I went to grab it from them and after I did they pushed me over the hill and I rolled all the way down!"

"A bunch of Squirtle did that?!" But why?" Misty asked confused.

"I know why!" A new voice said.

They all turned around and saw Officer Jenny walking up to them. Brock instantly went to charge at her but Misty pulled him back by his shirt. "Not now pervert!" She said angrily.

She came up to them with a Growlithe trailing her. "The Pokemon that attacked you young man are notorious for playing jokes on everyone in town. They call themselves the Squirtle Squad and are a band of rogue Pokemon that were abandoned by their Trainers. To get back at people they play horrible tricks on them like they just did you." She said looking at the young boy.

"That's terrible!" Giselle said angrily. "I hate people who abandon their Pokemon!"

Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty nodded their heads. "Yes it is a shame..." Jenny said sadly. "Their just upset at being forgotten by their Trainers. However, we still need to stop them. Their causing too many problems for the people here in town. Even travelers who are coming into the city."

She turned to the boy again. "Come with me to the station and then you can tell me all about what happened okay?" She said.

The boy nodded and then turned back to Ash and his friends. "I really am sorry for running into you." He said as he bowed low again.

Misty and Giselle looked at each other. "It's okay. Just be more careful next time okay?" Giselle said kindly.

"Yeah just watch out next time alright?" Misty said, not quite as kindly.

The boy nodded his head with a smile and then took off. Ash turned back to his friends. "Let's find the Pokemon Center guys. I want to get our Pokemon healed up so I can go and challenge the gym!"

They all agreed and then set off again. Nobody said anything but this... 'Squirtle Squad' was stuck in their minds and they couldn't shake it off.

...

Ash and his friends now stood in front of the Rolanda Town Pokemon Gym. It was pretty quaint actually and looked like a normal rec center. The only thing that set it apart was the Pokemon League Pokeball symbol above the building. Marking it as an official gym.

They walked inside and found themselves inside of what looked like a normal gymnasium. The cinderblock walls were all white and the ceiling, which was the same, was high in the air. There were bleachers on either side of the room and the floor was a normal spring loaded gym floor. There was another set of double doors on the other side of the gym that probably led to the gym leaders office and/or living quarters if he/she stayed here.

The doors suddenly opened and out walked a younger man who looked to be around his mid twenties. He looked to be an average height for a man and had short brown hair. He wore a white gym outfit, consisting of: A white tank top, white baggy shorts and the same colored running shoes. He had blue eyes and a somewhat angular face.

When the man saw he had challengers he came over to them with a smile. "Hey there friends! My names Ben, the gym leader here at the Rolanda Town gym and I specialize in Normal Type Pokemon. Are you challengers?" He asked nicely.

Ash stepped forward. "I am sir. My names Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and this is my pal Pikachu." He said looking up at the Pokemon on his shoulder who gave a happy smile. "These are my friends: Misty, Giselle and Brock."

The man nodded. "Nice to meet you all! Does a three on three sound good to you Ash?" The man asked.

Ash nodded his head with a smile. "Yes sir!"

Ben laughed. "Alright then let's do it!"

...

Ash and Ben stood on opposite sides of the gym with a referee in the corner. Ash's friends sat on the right side of the gym in the bleachers.

The referee made his usual announcement and then Ben Drew his first Pokeball. "Raticate I choose you! He said as the chosen Pokemon appeared on the field.

Ash smiled, getting that familiar feeling of excitement for a battle come over him. "Alright then... Cleffa make your mark!" He yelled out as the Star Shape Pokemon came out of her Pokeball. "Cleffa!" She said loudly, ready for battle.

"Begin!" The ref shouted.

"Raticate use Headbutt!" Ben shouted.

Ash called out, "Cleffa jump out of the way and use Pound to send Raticate away from you!"

Cleffa dodged the attack just in time and then hit Raticate as it passed by with a strong Pound. Raticate was sent hurtling to the side as it landed on it's side. Ben grit his teeth. "Raticate get up and use Agility followed by Hyper Fang!"

"Cleffa surround yourself with Magical Leaf as a counter and then use Sing all around the gym while your in the leaf shroud so Raticate can't dodge it!" Ash yelled.

Raticate began running in on Cleffa in fast speeds using Agility but before it could attack her with Hyper Fang she surrounded herself with deadly Magical Leaves that Raticate couldn't get through. She then began singing in a melodious voice that Ben knew was trouble. "Raticate try and use Agility to get out of range!"

Ash smirked. "Not gonna happen!" He said. "Sound travels. Especially in this gym!"

Sure enough, the acoustics in the gymnasium carried Cleffa's melodious voice everywhere as it bounced off of the walls. Raticate began getting slower as it heard the song and eventually stopped running all together as it passed out asleep. Ben was in shock that his Pokemon had succumb so fast to Sing.

Ash explained quickly. "I had Cleffa train it's voice using Sing over and over again. It's much faster at putting opponents to sleep now!" He commanded his Pokemon without a break. "Now Cleffa use Copycat to mimic Raticate's Agility and then smash into the sleeping Pokemon with your hardest Pound and don't stop!"

Cleffa did just that and used Agility that she had mimicked to close in on Raticate fast and then hit it hard with Pound. Raticate flew back a bit and then Ash called out. "Keep up Pound!"

Cleffa got in front of Raticate and began using Pound relentlessly. "Clef! Clef! Cleffa!" She shouted with every hit.

"Now Cleffa finish it with Magical Leaf!" Ash commanded.

Cleffa stood back and then fired off a powerful Magical Leaf at Raticate. Ben could do nothing but watch as his Pokemon was consumed by the attack. A few moments later Raticate was sent crashing back towards Ben's feet unconscious.

"Raticate is unable to battle! This round goes to the challenger and his Cleffa!" The ref called.

Ben frowned and returned his Pokemon. Ash went running up to Cleffa and picked her up. He began spinning her around. "Great job Cleffa I'm so proud of you!" He said.

Cleffa called out happily as she hugged Ash back. When he sat her back down she smiled up at him brightly and then began to glow. Ash stood back and watched with a huge grin on his face as Cleffa evolved.

When the evolution was over a happy looking Clefairy stood in place of Cleffa. "Clefairy!" She called out happily to Ash. He pulled out his Poke'Dex and scanned her.

_Poke'Dex Entry No. 035_

_"Clefairy: The Fairy Pokemon"_

_"The moonlight that it stores in the wings on its back apparently gives it the ability to float in midair."_

_"This Pokemon now knows the moves: Wake-Up-Slap, Metronome and Cosmic Power"_

_..._

Ash smiled widely. "Great job on evolving Clefairy!"

The Pokemon grinned at Ash. "Clef Clefairy!"

He patted her on the head again before returning her and looking back at Ben. "Leader please choose your next Pokemon." The referee called out.

Ben pulled out another Pokeball. "Wigglytuff go!" He shouted. The Pokemon appeared with a loud cry of, "Wiggly!"

Ash threw his next Pokeball out. "Mankey go!" The Fighting Pokemon came out pounding his fists on the ground. "Mankey!" He shouted.

Ben began. "Wigglytuff use Double Team!"

The Pokemon made several copies of itself that surrounded Mankey. "Stay focused!" Ash called out.

Mankey nodded his head. "Wigglytuff use Body Slam!" Ben shouted.

Wigglytuff and all of it's copies ran in on Mankey at one time and jumped in the air. "Mankey use Focus Energy and then wait for it!" Ash commanded.

Mankey powered himself up and then just waited where he was. Right as the Wigglytuffs were getting ready to hit Mankey, Ash called out, "Mankey hit the ground and then spin on your back while whirl winding your feet in the air with multiple Mega Kicks!"

Mankey dropped down and began spinning himself in a complete circle, spinning his legs around in fast kicks. Each Wigglytuff copy hit his legs and disappeared. The real Wigglytuff came down right on top of Mankey's outstretched foot, knocking the air out of it. Ash was glad for all of the lower body training he had Mankey do or otherwise his foot would have collapsed in on impact from Wigglytuff's weight. "Alright Mankey use your other foot to send Wigglytuff flying with another Mega Kick!" He called out.

Mankey reared back and then shot his other foot forward into Wigglytuff's gut, knocking the Pokemon into the air. "Quick Mankey jump up and catch it and then throw it to the ground with Vital Throw!" He called out again.

Mankey jumped in the air right beside of Wigglytuff and grabbed the Pokemon. He spun it around quickly and then tossed it back towards the ground. "Wigglytuff Defense Curl quick!" Ben shouted.

Right before impact occurred Wigglytuff tucked itself into a ball and hit the ground in a tight ball, lessening some of the damage it took. Ash didn't waste time. "Now Mankey get right on the inside of Wigglytuff and use a Mega Punch, Karate Chop, Low Kick, Sky Uppercut combo!" Ash yelled.

Mankey got on the inside of Wigglytuff before Ben could say anything and began delivering the harsh combo on the Pokemon. He finished with an uppercut that sent Wigglytuff flying into the air and then come crashing back down into the ground hard. The Pokemon laid there for a moment and then rose back to it's feet slowly, covered in bruises. Ben was getting agitated. "Wigglytuff use Sing!" He called out. "Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine Ash!"

Ash just smirked. "Mankey use your new move!"

Ben looked confused along with everyone else. Wigglytuff sung her song. Luckily, since Wigglytuff and Clefairy were trained on how to use Sing they didn't put their Trainers and everyone else out who listened to it as well. After the song was over Ben expected Mankey to be asleep on the other side of the field but was shocked when all he saw was a big hole in the ground.

Suddenly Ash called out, "Mankey come up from the ground and use Sky Uppercut!"

Mankey burst from the ground underneath Wigglytuff and hit the Pokemon into the air hard. "Now jump up after it and use Seismic Toss!" Ash yelled out.

Mankey jumped in the air and grabbed a hold of Wigglytuff in a tight hold, he then plummeted to the ground with her and threw the Pokemon into the ground very hard. He flipped away just before impact. When the dust cleared Wigglytuff was out cold. "Wigglytuff is unable to battle! This round goes to the challenger and his Mankey!" The ref called.

Ben just stared in shock as he returned his Pokemon. "How did your Pokemon escape Sing?!" He said in confusion.

Ash laughed. "Mankey used Dig and burrowed deep under the ground, out of earshot of Sing. That's how." He went over to Mankey who was acting up like crazy. "Great job Mankey you were great!" He praised his Pokemon.

Mankey continued to carry on loudly as he raised head to the ceiling. "Mankey Mankey Mankey! ManKEYYYY!" Suddenly he began glowing a bright white in color. Ash stared in amazement as his second Pokemon in this battle begun evolving. "Again?" Ben deadpanned.

When the light died down a powerful looking Primeape stood in place of Mankey, pounding his fists into the air as he called out. "Primeape Prime Primeape!"

Ash smiled widely and walked up to his Pokemon. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "You evolved Primeape! I'm very proud of you, thank you for that great battle." He praised. "You are truly a great Pokemon."

Primeape got teary eyed and picked Ash up in a bone crushing hug. "Can't... breath... Primeape! Need... Air!" He gasped out.

Primeape put Ash down and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Prime Primeape." He said apologetically.

Ash regained his breath and shook his head. "No problem buddy! We can train even harder now!" He said enthusiastically.

Primeape pumped his fists back into the air and began calling out excitedly. Ash smiled and then scanned his newly evolved Pokemon while he was distracted.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.057_

_"Primeape: The Pig Monkey Pokemon"_

_"It only stops being angry when no one else is around. To view this moment is very difficult."_

_"This Pokemon knows the moves: Karate Chop, Low Kick, Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Sky Uppercut, Focus Energy, Vital Throw, Seismic Toss, Revenge, Rage and Dynamic Punch"_

...

Ash patted Primeape on the shoulder again and congratulated him before returning the Pokemon. The ref broke the silence. "Will the gym leader please choose his last Pokemon?"

Ben shook his head and threw out his last Pokeball. "Persian go!" He shouted.

Ash surveyed the Pokemon before him and then chose his last Pokemon. "Charmander show that you have power!" He yelled as he threw out his Pokeball and Charmander appeared with a loud cry of, "Charmander!"

"Persian use Agility into Slash!" Ben called out.

"Charmander wait for Persian to get close and then jump out of the way of Slash by jumping on top of Persian!" Ash yelled out.

As Persian closed in, Charmander jumped into the air and landed on Persion's back before the attack could hit him. "Now use Ember!" Ash called out.

Ben went wide eyed. "Persian use Thunderbolt to get Charmander off of your back!"

Persian released a strong Thunderbolt that Charmander just barely dodged by jumping off of the Pokemon's back. "Now Persian use Headbutt!" Ben called out.

The Pokemon rushed at the unprepared Charmander and hit him with Headbutt. Charmander flew back and hit the gym wall. He had barely hit the ground and then he was back on his feet charging at Persian with a furious look in his eyes. He was glowing a dull red and when he finally hit Persian and started attacking it ferociously Ash knew what had happened.

Charmander had just learned Rage.

When he was finally done Charmander hopped back and Persian was left standing there breathing heavily. Ben looked very worried for his Pokemon and knew he had to stop Charmander now. "Persian use Double Team and then Night Slash!" He yelled out.

Persian made copies of itself and then surrounded Charmander. They began glowing a dark color as they prepared to launch themselves at him. Ash suddenly had an idea. "Charmander combine Rage and Ember together to create a strong vortex to surround yourself in!"

Charmander began breathing a powerful, Rage enhanced vortex of fire around himself just as the Persian copies and the real one came charging in using Night Slash. They hit the wall of fire and instantly disappeared. The real Persian hit the strong fire and was instantly burned badly. It jumped back and yowled out in pain as it was continuously burned.

Ash didn't stop. "Charmander keep up that Rage and charge into Persian with a Rage enhanced slam of your body, then follow up with Ember to finish it!"

Charmander charged in and slammed into Persian with greatly enhanced speed and strength from using Rage. Ben didn't have any time to counter attack as his Pokemon flew back into the gym wall. Charmander jumped in front of the cratered Persian and began consuming it in a strong Ember attack.

When the attack was through and the fire had died down Persian fell down to the ground unconscious and with burn marks all over it's body. The ref raised his hand. "The gym leader's Pokemon are unable to battle. The victory and the match goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and his Charmander!"

Ash ran up to Charmander and picked him up. He begun spinning his Pokemon around in circles while celebrating. "Great job Charmander you did great!" He praised.

"Charmander Char!" His Pokemon said happily as his Trainer continued to spin him around. Ash's friends all came running down to them from the bleachers, calling out to them happily.

Ash finished congratulating Charmander and then returned him. After his friends and Pikachu finished congratulating him Ash walked over to Ben who still looked shock that he had lost. He just shook his head and smiled before meeting Ash half-way. "Great job Ash that was a great battle!" He commended Ash.

The boy smiled. "Thanks a lot Ben I had a great time to!"

The man smiled and then pulled out a badge from his pocket. "Ash... You beat me with great strategy and superior intelligence when it comes to battling. So I reward you with this..." He put the badge in Ash's hand. "You have earned the Aptitude Badge."

Ash got a huge grin on his face and looked at his badge. It was golden yellow in color, was shaped like a rectangle and had a small extended circular bump in the center of the badge. (A/N: Go to Bulbapedia and look up badges. Go to the very bottom where they show the unnamed badges and look at Otoshi's badges. It's the badge in the very bottom left hand corner. Can't miss it).

Ash held up the badge to Pikachu. "Here we go buddy! One step closer to the Pokemon League!"

"Pika Pikachu!" He said happily.

Ash looked back to Ben. "Thanks a lot Ben. Take care of yourself." Ash said as he shook the man's hand.

Ben smiled at him. "Thanks Ash you take care as well. I'll be cheering for you in the League!"

Ash smiled back. "You got it Ben!"

The two continued shaking hands and then Ash and his friends left the gym and headed for the Pokemon Center.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had just left the Pokemon Center after getting Ash's Pokemon healed and currently were standing in front of the Center. Ash stretched and then asked Brock. "Where to now Brock? It's still pretty early so we may be able to make some pretty good headway to whatever town has the next gym."

Brock pulled out his Kanto Guide book and leafed through it. "Let's see here..." He looked through the book for awhile and then spoke again. "I think our best bet would be to keep heading straight to Vermillion City for our next destination. There are another three gyms along the way that we will just have to make small detours for."

"What towns are they Brock?" Misty asked curiously.

He looked at the book again before looking back up to answer her. "Andon Town, Ceras City and Kaston Village."

"Ooooh sounds like fun! Let's go!" Giselle said excitedly.

Ash smiled at his friends. "Okay, let's go then!"

They all made sure they had everything they needed and then began walking for the road that would lead them out of town.

Right as they had hit the road and begun walking they heard someone calling out to them. "Help! Please help me!"

They turned around and saw a young girl who looked to be no more than seven or eight years old, had long red hair, freckles on her face and was wearing a green shirt and a pair of jeans.

She ran up to Ash and his friends. "Are you guys Pokemon Trainers?!" She asked pleadingly.

Ash spoke for them. "Yes we are. What's wrong?"

The little girl began explaining quickly. "I was carrying an important package home to my mom when a bunch of Squirtle jumped me and took it!"

Ash looked at his friends and then back at her. "Where did it happen?"

She pointed in the direction of the nearby mountains. "Over that way. There's a cottage near there where an old woman makes herbal medicines, foods, everything. That's what I was carrying home when they jumped me!"

Ash placed a comforting hand on the young girls shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get it back okay? My name is Ash Ketchum and these are my friends, Brock, Misty and Giselle." He looked up at Pikachu. "And this is my buddy Pikachu!"

Ash's friends said their hello's and Pikachu called his name happily.

She brightened up. "Really?!"

He nodded, smiling all the while. "Yes I promise. Now you stay here in town and wait for us okay?"

The little girl nodded her head. " Yes okay! Thank you mister! And my names Amy!"

Ash smiled and placed a comforting hand on the young girls shoulder. "Great to meet you Amy! We'll be back."

With that said Ash and his friends took off in the direction that the little girl was attacked.

...

They had been walking in the forested mountainside for quite some time now and still no luck in finding the elusive Squirtle Squad.

"Aghh! We are never going to find those troublemaking Squirtle!" Misty shouted.

Ash turned around from his scanning of the terrain for any sign of them or their hideout and looked at Misty. "Misty be quite! Do you want the Squirtle to hear us?" He scolded her exasperatedly.

Misty just sighed. "I'm sorry... It's just so freaking hot out here!"

Giselle, who had long since discarded her jacket and was now lifting the hem of her shirt up to cool herself off agreed. "It is really hot out here!"

Before Ash could reply Brock suddenly got their attention. "Hey guys look ahead, it looks like a small cave!"

Ash and the others turned their gazes to what Brock was pointing at and saw a small opening in the mountainside directly ahead of them. They went right up to the entrance and inspected it. "Be careful guys..." Ash said as he looked around cautiously at the opening. "The Squirtel Squad are really tricky if what we have heard is true and if this is their hideout by some chance, then they could have traps set up. Just watch out."

His friends nodded and then they went inside the cave.

...

They walked around inside of the cave in near total darkness, the only light being Ash's Xtransceiver that he had out in front of him serving as a flashlight. They went through several twists and turns in the cave before they finally saw a light ahead.

They continued on until they ended up inside of a cavern that was well lit from sunlight and was pouring down from a hole in the ceiling. They hid behind some rocks and noticed that the room was cluttered with several items they guessed had been stolen. Most likely from the towns people.

In the center of the room was a large amount of objects spread out everywhere and gathered around them was a bunch of Squirtle. They were all going through the different objects, trying to get them to work and see exactly what they were for. In the middle of this little group of Squirtle was another one that was standing above the rest of them on a small rock. He had a pair of black shades covering his eyes and was directing the other Squirtle on where to put the many different things they had amassed.

Suddenly Brock slipped on the rock he was standing on and slid down it, making a loud noise. The Squirtel all looked up and whipped around. They instantly spotted Ash and his friends standing behind some rocks trying to hide.

"Squirtle!" The lead Squirtle commanded his fellow Water Pokemon. They shot to attention and surrounded Ash and his friends. They instantly blasted water at the rocks they were hiding behind. The combined force of their Water Guns hit the rocks and blasted them away, exposing Ash and the group.

The Squirtle all gave the humans a hard glare and stood there ready for action. The leader came down off of his rock and came to stand in front of them. He looked at the humans. "Squirt Squirt Squirtle!" He said in a commanding tone.

Brock, Misty and Giselle looked at Ash. "You better take this Ash." Brock told his friend.

"Yeah Ash you always seem to able to handle these things really well..." Misty said nervously as she looked at all of the angry Squirtle surrounding them.

Ash nodded and looked down at the lead Squirtle. "Squirtle... We're not here to to harm or capture any of you so don't worry. Just please hear me out before you have your friends attack us. Okay?"

Squirtle just looked at Ash carefully for a little bit before nodding his head and calling out to the other Squirtle "Squirt Squirtle!"

The other Squirtle eyed Ash and his friends carefully for a few seconds before they did as told and stood down. The leader looked at Ash expectantly. Ash took a deep breath and began. "Look Squirtle, the reason we're here is because of what you and your friends have been doing to all of the people from town you have been messing with. Your pranks and the things you have been stealing from everyone has made them all really mad at you!"

The Squirtle all laughed at this and Ash got mad. "Stop it!" He shouted.

Instantly the Squirtle quitted down and looked at Ash in surprise. "You guys don't understand the severity of what you've done! If they catch you then you are going to be most likely separated and then sent somewhere far away from not just here but each other as well! Now tell me, does that sound like something you would like to have happen? To be separated from one another? Is it?!"

The Squirtle remained silent and just looked at each other. Ash continued. "Listen... I'm not saying that I don't understand why you are acting the way you are because I do. Your upset and angry about what your own Trainers put you through when they abandoned you."

The Squirtle all looked equally shocked at what Ash just said. How did he know they had been abandoned? Ash kept on. "Yes that was a horrible thing they did to you and I cannot even begin to explain to you how sorry I am for what happened to you all. Why any Trainer would abandon their Pokemon is beyond me and I know it caused you terrible pain. Deep down each if you are still hurting but you try to hide it with the pranks and jokes you pull on the townspeople. Your trying to get back at people for what your Trainers did to you. But answer me this... How are you any better than your own selfish Trainers if you take out your frustrations on innocent people? How are you any better?"

He walked over to the stuff that the Squirtle had stolen and pointed to it. "Look at all of this stuff you've taken. These were all things that belonged to other people, things that they needed and worked hard for to earn." He saw a small package that had a picture of some herbs on the top of it. He guessed that this was the little girls package.

He picked it up and turned back to the Squirtle. "This belonged to a little girl that was running an errand for her mother. She really needed this and her daughter was just trying to get this back to her. You guys jumped her and stole this for no reason. Don't you have any shame? Any conscious at all? Or have you let your pain and anger cloud everything that's right and wrong to you. Have you let it make you no better then your old Trainers? Do you like hurting people?!"

He looked at the assembled Squirtle with a piercing gaze and noticed that they all had their heads down. Even the lead Squirtle and he decided to finish it. "What if... The herbs you stole was medicine that the little girl's mother needed because she was sick? She's trying everything she can to get better so she doesn't leave her daughter alone in this world. Maybe she doesn't have a father! What if you stole the one thing that could help her? What if you just killed a person and are now the reason for an innocent child's life being ruined?"

The Squirtle lowered their heads even further. After some time of doing nothing the lead Squirtle came up to Ash and pointed to the package in his hands. He started pointing from it to the exit of the cave. Ash understood and nodded his head. "Thank you Squirtle. That really shows something special in you. I know that you guys aren't all bad. You are just a bunch of good Pokemon deep down that has been hurt beyond belief and had your trust shattered by your Trainers. What your doing now is a very kind thing and I thank you for it. We'll leave you alone now and I can only hope that maybe the things I have said have made sense and gives you all something to think about."

The lead Squirtle just looked away silently and Ash walked over to his friends. "Let's go guys." They nodded their heads and then exited the caves, leaving a group of silent and deep in thought Pokemon to their thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends walked by to town in silence. Brock, Misty and Giselle were still in awe over the deep and meaningful words that Ash had spoken to the Squirtle Squad and wondered how he was able to come up with such things.

They finally walked back into the town and saw the little girl standing there with her mother looking anxious. When she saw Ash and his friends she became excited and ran up to them. "Your back, your back! Did you get it?!"

Ash just smiled and handed the little girl the package that was behind his back. The girls eyes widened and she squealed happily. She threw yourself at Ash and hugged his waist. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you mister!"

Ash hugged the little girl back. "No problem sweetie your welcome."

The little girl separated herself from him and then ran back to her mother. The woman smiled at her daughter and then walked up to the kids. The woman looked like an exact copy of her daughter, minus the freckles. She was wearing a long floral pattern dress. "Thank you so much for getting this package back for us. It contains all of the ingredients for a meal that Amy's father loves. He's been gone on business for three months now and we are both so ready to have him home. If it weren't for you wonderful people then we would not have been able to celebrate his return. Thank you again."

Ash just waved his hand. "No need to thank us ma'am, we would do it again in an instant." Ash's friends mirrored his action and the mother smiled at them all again. "Well thank you deeply once more. I hope you have very safe travels. Please come back and visit us again sometime. I'll cook you all a nice meal!"

The kids smiled and Ash nodded his head. "Thank you miss that sound great."

The woman just shook her head. "Please dear just call me Diana. Take care now okay?"

He nodded again and then walked back to his friends. "Don't worry we will!" Ash said as they began walking away.

Before they got very far however, Officer Jenny came speeding by in her motorcycle looking extremely worried. Ash could sense that something was wrong. "Officer Jenny what's wrong?!" He called out to her.

She stopped the bike and turned it around. She came back and stopped directly in front of them. "It's the forest outside of town! It's on fire and getting out of hand fast! The fire department is trying to put it out but it's getting to big! If the fire get's any closer we'll have to evacuate the town!"

Ash saw Amy gasp and latch onto her mother who looked terrified as well. He instantly shot to attention. "Then take me with you Jenny. I can go and help any Pokemon in the forest escape!"

Jenny shook her head. "No I can't let you do that it's too-" Ash cut her off. "Look officer no disrespect, but you need some more capable hands and the longer we argue about this, the longer that fire has to spread!" He said determinedly.

Jenny just eyed him for a little bit and finally nodded her head. "Alright fine... You can come. Just be careful!"

Ash smiled and then his friends stepped up as well. "I can help as well Officer Jenny!" Misty said. "I have Water Pokemon that can help fight the fire."

"And I have Rock Pokemon that can help throw dirt and rocks on the fire and suffocate it!" Brock added.

"I do too!" Giselle chimed in.

"Pikachu!" The electric mouse volunteered his help from Ash's shoulder.

The boy in question just looked at his friends in shock. "You guys don't have to help me." He told them.

Brock placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Of course we do Ash. We're your friends and we won't let you go running into a blazing forest without us!" He said firmly.

"Yeah we're with you." Misty said with a smile.

"I'm always with you Ash." Giselle told Ash with a warm smile.

"Pika Pika Pi!" Pikachu said from his shoulder.

Ash just smiled at his friends. "Thanks guys... That means more than I can say."

Brock, Misty and Giselle smiled as well. "All right then everybody meet me outside of town!" Jenny told them as she started her bike back up.

They nodded and then she took off. Before they could follow her Ash felt a tug on the pants of his track suit. He looked down and saw Amy staring up at him. "Be careful Mr. Ash!" She said in a scared voice.

Ash smiled softly at the little girl and bent down to look at her. "You know I will Amy. Take care of your mom and all of the other townspeople okay?" She nodded and hugged his waist again.

He returned the gesture and then Diana said to the children, "This is going to be very dangerous you kids... I hope you know what your doing."

Ash nodded his head firmly. "Yes ma'am we certainly do. We won't stand by while a whole town and a forest full of Pokemon is in danger."

Diana gave them a small smile. "You are all very brave and I commend you for it. Just be safe!"

"We will!" Ash said as he and his friends took off running, heading for the forest.

...

The group of friends had met up with Officer Jenny just outside of the town. She then lead them out into the forest where they began seeing dark, black smoke rising high into the sky. "There it is!" Jenny yelled. "Everyone be careful!"

The kids nodded their heads and followed her into the thick smoke cloud. They had to cover their mouths and noses with their shirts to keep the smoke from getting to them. Eventually they came upon the scene of several firefighters battling the roaring flames that were consuming the forest around them. "Jenny what are a bunch of kids doing here?!" They heard a voice call out.

They turned around saw a middle aged fireman with brown hair and a long bushy brown beard, walking up to them from his squad that was still trying to dowse the flames. "I'm sorry chief." Jenny said. "But these are Pokemon Trainers and they're here to help. Some of them have Pokemon that can help put the fire out and this boy..." She pointed to Ash. "Has volunteered to go into the forest and get as many Pokemon as he can out."

The chief just scratched his chin unsure for a few seconds. He saw the determination in Ash and his friends eyes and just shook his head. "Fine. But you better be careful alright you four?! We can't spare men to go looking for you if something happens."

They nodded their heads in understanding. Ash turned around to face his friends. "Be safe guys, I'm heading out!"

"Got it!" His friends said together.

"Be very careful Ash, please!" Giselle said worriedly.

Ash smiled and gave her a hug. "No sweat Giselle! I'll be just fine!"

She smiled at him in return and then Ash turned around and took off into the smoking woods. Brock drew his Pokeballs. "Graveler, Onix help us put out this fire!" He called. His Pokemon appeared and instantly set to work throwing rocks and dirt on the flames.

"You too guys!" Giselle called as she released her own Graveler, folowed by Cubone. They set to work right beside Brock's Pokemon, trying to put out the large flames.

Misty grabbed her own Pokeballs. "Staryu, Starmie you help to!" She yelled. Her Pokemon appeared and she commanded them to use Water Gun on the fire.

The chief looked impressed at the Pokemon's efficiency at fighting fires and then re-focused himself before before going back to his squad. Jenny went back to the town so she could be on stand-bye if she needed to start evacuating the townspeople.

...

While Ash's friends stayed behind to fight the fire, he was running through the forest with his own Pokemon out, trying to find any Pokemon that needed help escaping. He had already found a few Rattata and Pidgey, who was more than happy to go with him, and was now running back to the rendezvous point to meet up with his Pokemon and see if they found anyone.

He finally made it back to a smoke filled clearing and saw all of his Pokemon gathered. Pikachu, Clefairy, Charmander and Primeape had all found a few Pokemon between them, mostly Rattata, Pidgey, Spearow and a couple of Bug-Types like Caterpie and Weedle. Bulbasaur had stayed behind in the clearing where he was safe from the flames of the fire since he was a Grass-Type and kept the way back to Ash's friends and the firefighters clear from any obstructions. Pidgeotto was out searching the forest from the sky for any Pokemon they may have missed.

"Is everyone okay?" Ash asked his Pokemon as he came up to meet them.

They all called out affirmatively and then Pidgeotto came flying into the clearing. "Pidgo Pidgo!" It called out urgently.

Ash turned to his Flying-Type, "Did you find someone Pidgeotto?"

The Pokemon nodded her head yes as she hovered in midair. Ash just nodded his head and turned to his Pokemon. "Alright guys you take these Pokemon back to the others and stay there. I'm going to have Pidgeotto take me to this Pokemon or person that's in trouble alright?"

His Pokemon nodded in understanding and then got all of the forest Pokemon together before following Bulbasaur out of the clearing. Pikachu remained behind and hopped on Ash's shoulder. "Pikachu!" He said impatiently.

Ash nodded and turned to Pidgeotto. "Lead the way girl!"

...

Ash followed Pidgeotto through the dense smoke and flames as she led him to a section of forest that was stopped from going any farther by the mountainside. Ash came out into a more clear and open area and saw in front of him, bravely trying to fight off the flames by shooting their Water Guns at different areas of the fire, the entire Squirtle Squad. They looked exhausted and were standing over a frightened group of Rattata as they valiantly tried to fight the fire back. Ash instantly ran over to them. The lead Squirtle saw Ash and turned to face him. The rest of his squad turned to face him as well and Ash just stopped and raised his hands in the air. "I don't mean any harm guys! I'm here to help!"

Strangely enough, the Squirtle were not regarding Ash with glares and wariness. Merely curiosity and surprise that he wanted to help them. Ash spoke again. "You guys are doing a great job fighting this fire but if you let me, I think I have a better way that you can do this and put the fire out much faster without burning so much energy.

The Squirtle looked at each other and then their leader. The boss Squirtle nodded his head to Ash and the boy continued. "First we need to get those Pokemon you are guarding to safety!"

He looked at Pidgeotto. "Hey girl can you lead those Rattata back to the others using the same way we just came?" He asked her.

She nodded her head. "Pidgooo!" She answered him.

"Alright great!" Ash exclaimed. "Be careful though okay?"

His Pokemon nuzzled him with her beak and then got the Rattata together. She began flying off into the forest with the Rattata in close pursuit. Ash looked back at the Squirtle. "Okay guys here's what we need to do! All of you pick out one section of fire and then combine your Water Guns together. This will give you extra power and will easily put those flames out!" Ash instructed them.

The Pokemon obeyed perfectly and began using a combined Water Gun at a large patch of fire. Within a few moments the fire was completely out and they started the same process over again on another section of the burning forest. Ash took off the jacket portion of his track suit and wrapped it around his waist. He then started grabbing large handfuls of dirt and began throwing them on smaller patches of fire. Pikachu did the same thing, only he used Iron Tail and kicked up much larger clumps of dirt onto the fire. "Great job guys!" Ash called out to Pikachu and the Squirtel. "You are all doing an amazing job keep it up!"

He then stood up and looked at the large amount of forest the Squirtle Squad had already put out with their new, combined Water Gun method. He ran up to the Squirtle and called out again, "Great job Squirtle keep it up! Just keep using your combined Water Gun everywhere you see fire! If you get tired I have some Oran Berries in my pocket that will restore your energy!"

The Squirtle just nodded their heads and formed a perfect triangle as they kept putting out every patch of fire they saw.

...

What seemed like hours later but was really only an hour tops, Ash and the Squirtle Squad had already put out much of the forest that was on fire and were now making their way towards Ash's friends and the firefighters, where the fire was the worst. They kept putting out any patch of fire they saw as they went with Ash running behind them with Pikachu on his shoulder, shouting words of encouragement to them.

They finally saw a break in the trees and ran towards it. They found themselves standing in a large clearing that was almost completely engulfed in flames. It took Ash awhile to realize that they were in the same clearing that he and his friends had arrived in when they first showed up to fight the fire. He saw his friends in a corner of the clearing that wasn't engulfed in flames, surrounded by their Pokemon. Bravely fighting a losing battle. The firefighters were still trying to put the flames out by shooting the water from their hoses at different spots of the immense fire just like the Squirtle Squad were doing at first. However, since the blasts of water they were firing was tiny compared to the blazing inferno, they were quickly losing ground.

Ash wasted no time and ran towards everyone. The Squirtle Squad following behind him closely.

"Sir we're going to have to call Jenny and have her evacuate the town! We aren't going to be able to stop the fire before it reaches the town!" One of the firemen said to the chief.

The chief just looked at the fire and then back to his exhausted men and the equally exhausted kids and their Pokemon that were fighting the blaze alongside of them. He just sighed. "Fine... call Jenny and tell her to start evacu-"

"Wait!" The chief and everyone else whipped there heads around and saw Ash running towards them. He looked even more exhausted than them and was covered in soot and dirt but it was him. Despite the situation he still had a bright smile on his face and when he reached them his friends called out to him. "ASH!" They shouted as they ran up to meet him.

Giselle tackled him in a tight hug. "Thank Arceus Ash! We were so afraid something happened to you!"

Ash just hugged her back, lightly though. "Giselle I'm covered in dirt, your gonna get filthy." He said gently.

"I don't care just let me enjoy this Ash Ketchum! In case you've forgotten we have been fighting this fire same as you so we're ALL filthy! Giselle said firmly and with no room to argue. Ash just chuckled and kept hugging her.

"We were afraid you may have gotten caught in the fire after your Pokemon appeared here a little while ago with all those forest Pokemon in tow and you weren't with them." A dirt covered Brock said in relief as he clapped Ash on the back.

After Giselle had released him Misty, who's hair almost looked dull orange from the soot and dirt, came up and gave Ash a small hug before pulling away quickly. "Yuck Ash your covered in soot and... ash!"

Ash just laughed out loud. "Well Mist my name is ASH."

She just slapped him on the shoulder playfully. "Don't scare us like that again Ketchum!" She said loudly.

Ash just rubbed his arm and nodded his head, still laughing. Suddenly he heard the chief yell out, "What are THEY doing here!"

Ash looked at what the chief was pointing at and saw him glaring at the Squirtle Squad. Ash got a firm and serious look on his face and went to stand behind the Squirtle. "These Squirtle are responsible for putting out the entire forest except for this huge inferno that we're trapped in right now! They are brave and noble Pokemon who have been exhausting themselves to save all of our lives!" Ash yelled at the chief.

"But their criminals!" The chief shouted. "Look what they've done to the town and all of the people there!"

Ash left the Squirtle Squad's side and got right in front of the chief. "Does it really matter what they did before?! They are trying to make amends now for it and I honestly believe they are trying to change!" He looked to the Squirtle. "Am I right guys?" He asked.

The lead Squirtle came to stand in front of the other Squirtle. His sunglasses were almost totally filmed over with soot and ash but he still looked resolute and carried a Heystrong aura around him. "Squirt Squirtle!" He said nodding his head. The other Squirtle nodded their heads as well.

Ash turned back to the chief. "See? And I know where all of the stuff they stole is to. I'm sure they will give it back to every one of he townspeople IF we live through this! I know exactly how do put out this fire but you need to not only trust me, but the Squirtle Squad as well."

"Why do you trust them so much anyway?!" The chief demanded.

Ash looked back at the Squirtle and smiled at them. "Because I know that they really are great Pokemon and everything they have shown so far by fighting this fire has proved it. I trust and believe in them with everything I have." He looked back at the chief and said, with the utmost seriousness and sincerity in his voice. "I trust them because they are my friends and I won't let anyone hurt or look down on them anymore!"

The Squirtle looked shocked and touched beyond belief at Ash's statement. They all grew tears in their eyes as they looked at Ash, even the lead Squirtle was tearing up behind his shades.

The chief just sighed. "Alright boy... you do what you need to do."

Ash nodded a thank you to the chief and then addressed everyone. "All right everybody listen up carefully because this is exactly what needs to happen!" Everyone gave Ash their attention and then he continued. "Squirtle Squad!" They snapped to attention. "Form the triangle formation and use your concentrated Water Gun method on the weaker looking areas of the fire first!"

He looked to the firefighters. "All of you men! Concentrate the water from your hoses the same way that the Squirtle Squad are doing. Watch and copy them. Combine the water from your hoses the same way, not separate! Then focus on the other side of the clearing!" The firemen nodded their heads in understanding.

Ash looked towards Brock and Giselle's Pokemon. "You guys! Focus all of your rocks and dirt the same way! Pick out a section of fire and go to work!" The Pokemon nodded.

He turned to Staryu and Starmie. "You guys combine your Water Guns with the Squirtle Squad!" The Water Pokemon also nodded in understanding.

He then addressed his own Pokemon and his friends. "We will take the largest hand fulls of dirt we can and do the same thing!" His Pokemon called out in affirmative and his friends shouted at once. "Right!"

Ash turned to everyone. "Alright everybody, get to work!" He shouted.

They all did just that and set to work on the fire. Ash went to stand beside the Squirtle Squad and began throwing dirt on the fire while he directed the Squirtle on where to attack the fire. "There we go guys that's it! Don't stop, keep going! I know you can do this! I have complete faith in you!" Ash's words seemed to spur the Squirtle on and made them give everything they had.

...

What seemed like an eternity later they had all finally gotten the blazing inferno under control by using Ash's new firefighting method and were now beating the last of the fire down. When the Squirtle Squad finally dowsed the very last flame the whole clearing erupted into cheers as Ash and the Squirtle collapsed into an exhausted heap around each other.

Ash just huffed out, "Great... job... guys..."

The Squirtle nodded their heads tiredly. "Squirtle..." They answered him just as exhausted as he was.

Ash stood up and began walking over to his friends when he suddenly heard a loud creaking. He looked back at the Squirtle Squad and saw that a charred and unsteady tree was beginning to fall. He saw it head straight down towards the Squirtle and grew wide eyed. "Get out of the way!" He shouted as he started running towards them.

The Squirtle Squad turned around and saw the tree falling towards them. They couldn't get out of the way in time and just stared in terror at the falling behemoth. Suddenly they felt themselves being lifted off of their feet as they were pulled just out of range of the falling tree.

When they opened their eyes again they saw that they were all cradled into Ash's chest. He was laying on his back, just a few inches away from the tree and was breathing erratically. "Arceus that was close!" He gasped. He looked at the Squirtle in his arms, well actually they were all laying on him and completely covering him. "Are you guys okay?" He asked concerned.

The Squirtle just looked at Ash in disbelief that he actually saved them before they tackled him and began hugging him fiercely. "Your welcome!" Ash said happily as they continued to hug the life out of him.

After they released him and he stood up Ash turned back to his friends and the firemen, who had all been laughing at him as the Squirtle were crushing him in a hug. He smiled at them all and said tiredly. "Let's go back guys... I'm exhausted!"

They all agreed and then began heading back towards the town with the Squirtle Squad in tow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: 1-Day Later)

Ash and his friends stood on the road that lead them out of the friendly community of Rolanda Town. When they had come back from fighting the fire they received a hero's welcome and was praised for their deeds. The Squirtle Squad was initially accepted with caution and mistrust, but after Officer Jenny explained what had happened and how the Squirtle Squad had saved the town, the people's views on them changed instantly and the Squirtle's name was cleared.

Later on the Squirtle led the townspeople back to their cave hideaway and returned all of the items they had stolen. After that was done the fire department made the Squirtle Squad an official fire fighting team as a show of appreciation for what the Pokemon did for them. The chief tried to offer the same thing to Ash and his friends but they declined respectfully, saying that they were much better suited for life on the road than anything else. The chief was disappointed at first, knowing they would have made incredible fire fighters in time, especially Ash who had the qualities of a chief himself, but he ultimately understood and told them that if they ever changed their minds then the position would always be open.

The only thing that bugged Ash and his friends was that the fire department didn't know what caused the blaze. They said that most likely it was some campers that didn't put out their fire and it got out of hand and caused the wild fire. Either way, they would never know.

The Squirtle Squad had all become very attached to Ash and his Pokemon. Especially the lead Squirtle. He had showed them that not all humans and Trainers were bad and gained something that the Squirtle never thought they would give another Trainer. Their trust.

Needless to say, standing here looking at the assembled montage of people before them, sending them off, was very touching. The little girl Amy and her mom Diana told Ash and his friends good-bye, with Amy crying and her mother consoling her. Officer Jenny and the fire department gave them an honorary salute to see them off and the townspeople each came up and thanked them one last time.

The last up was the Squirtle Squad. They were dressed in long black coats of sorts that had a design on the back of the coat. The image was of a large fire that was being dowsed by combined Water Guns by the Squirtle Squad and the shadowed out image of a person that looked just like Ash behind them, pointing towards the fire. This was the Squirtle's way of honoring Ash. Having his image fitted onto their coats in the design. To finish it off, one of the Squirtle held a long poll that had a flag on top of it blowing in the breeze. The flag was black and had the same image as the one on the backs of their coats.

Ash stepped forward and knelt before them. "Well this it... I'm really going to miss you guys a lot." He said truthfully.

The Squirtle looked sad. "Hey don't be upset guys be proud of yourself! You have really come a long way and I'm very proud of you. Just make sure to keep working hard at keeping people safe okay?" Ash said to them in an upbeat manner.

The Squirtle still looked sad and one of them said, "Squirt Squirtle!" While pointing at Ash and the road behind him. The rest of the Squirtle mimicked the other ones actions. Ash got what they were trying to say and stopped them. "You guys want to come with me don't you?" He asked them.

The Squirtle all nodded their heads vigorously, surprising the townspeople and Ash's friends. He just smiled at them sadly. "I love the fact that you guys want to come with me really I do but... these people and several others all need you. Your a great team of fire fighters and you have a very bright future to look forward to now. I want you to experience that life can be good without a Trainer and have fun with this opportunity you've been given."

The Squirtle looked depressed but nodded their heads all the same. Ash decided something. "I tell you what. Why don't you pick one of you to come with me so I can raise whichever one of you it is up to be really strong. Then, if we ever meet again and you've had the chance to experience life without a Trainer I'll show you just how powerful whichever one of you that decided to come with me truly became. After that, if you really want to come with me and belong to another Trainer again and abandon your lives as fire fighters you can do that. How does that sound to you?"

The Squirtle looked at each other and after a few minutes of conversing they looked back at Ash and smiled. "Squirtle!" They all said happily in agreement.

Ash smiled back at them. "Great! Then who's it gonna be?" He asked.

They looked amongst themselves and then the lead Squirtle stepped forward. He took off his jacket. "Squirtle Squirt!"

Ash smiled brightly. "Well then Squirtle..." He said as he pulled a Pokeball out from his belt. "Welcome to the team!"

Squirtle took off his shades for the first time that Ash had seen and smiled at him with his eyes shining bright. "Squirtle!" He said happily!

Ash grinned and threw the Pokeball in the air. Squirtle jumped into the air and met the Pokeball as it came down. He was instantly sucked inside of the Pokeball and when it landed in Ash's hand it 'dinged' without a struggle.

Ash twirled the Pokeball in his palm for a second before looking back at his friends. "There's another member to the team guys!"

They and the townspeople clapped happily for him before Giselle said to Ash excitedly, "Ash you have all of the Kanto starter Pokemon now!"

Ash just smiled faintly for a second and then looked back up at Giselle. "Your right! Whadya you know?"

"Pika Pikachu Pika Pi!" Pikachu said excitedly.

Ash looked at his first Pokemon. "Your right buddy, the dream team is coming together." He said with a grin.

The Pokeball began glowing blue, signaling it was going to be teleported to the Lab since he already had six Pokemon. He acted quickly and decided to send Primeape back to the Lab and keep training from there so Ash could keep Squirtle with him.

"Are you ready to go Ash?" Brock said after Ash was done, happy his friend had captured another Pokemon.

Ash nodded his head. "Sure am Brock."

He turned back to the townspeople, Officer Jenny, the fire department and the Squirtle Squad. "Bye everyone take care!" He said as he waved.

"Take care!" Misty called out.

"Thanks for being so great!" Giselle said happily as she grabbed onto Ash's arm and waved as well.

"See you all later!" Brock finished.

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.

With that, Ash and his friends left the town behind and set out for Vermillion City. The townspeople waved to their hero's as they continued to get smaller in the distance. While the people were still waving a fire fighter turned to the chief. "The forest is going to have to be re-named when it starts to grow back chief. The signs were all burned down in the fire. What are we going to name it?"

Everyone looked at the chief expectantly. Diana, Amy's mother, spoke up. "That young boy Ash had a very nice last name. What was it..."

"Ketchum?" Her daughter asked cutely.

"That's it sweetie! Ketchum! Ash Ketchum." Diana said as she smiled at her daughter.

Officer Jenny looked at the chief. "Sounds pretty good to me." She said.

The chief nodded his head. "I like it to. Ketchum Forest, in honor of the brave young boy who saved our town and was responsible for the creation of the most effective fire fighting team I've ever seen." He said while looking at the Squirtle Squad, who raised their heads proudly.

Diana chimed in. "That's a great name!"

The townspeople all agreed and the chief nodded his head. "So be it. We have a name then...Ketchum Forest."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: One Week Later)

Ash sat on a tree stump that he and his friends had stopped to rest at near the road and was writing in his 'Pokemon Researcher In-Training' journal like he did every day when he had the spare time. He chronicled almost every event with Pokemon he had encountered so far and was anxious for the next adventure. Every single recorded venture he wrote down in his journal took him one step closer to becoming a Pokemon Researcher. Just like every new badge took him one step closer to entering his first League Tournament.

Ash was still trying to get his sweating under control from the harsh workout he had just had with his Pokemon not ten minutes before. He had worked himself, Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle into the ground for nearly two hours in a brutal training session.

He only had five Pokemon on him since he decided to send Clefairy back to the Lab and keep up her training there. He wanted to leave an open space on his team just in case he ended up catching another Pokemon. Also, Professor Oak had been bugging the hell out of Ash to let him see Clefairy so he could study her. Ash really couldn't blame him. Clefairy and her evolutionary line were very rare and hard to find so when the Professor found out that one of his sponsored Trainers had one, he wanted to study it. As a Pokemon Researcher In-Training Ash completely understood.

What was really funny was the fact that Professor Oak told Ash he was the only Trainer out of him, Gary and the other two that had even seen a Clefairy. Much less had one! Needless to say, Ash found that hilarious and was pleased with himself.

Back on the topic of training however, Ash had spent the last week that they had been on the road drilling his team and himself to the point of near complete muscle breakdown. Squirtle ended up fitting in perfectly to the team and trained with the same intensity as the others did. Each one of Ash's Pokemon had huge goals that they were bound and determined to achieve and Squirtle was exactly the same. He trained hard every day with Pikachu, Pidgeotto (who had also joined their training group), Bulbasaur and Charmander.

When Ash scanned Squirtle he learned that he had the ability Rain Dish and knew the moves: Tackle, Bubble, Water Gun, Withdraw and Bite.

Squirtle's goal was the same as Ash's other Pokemon. He wanted to be the most powerful of his entire species and Ash was determined to make that a reality. All of his Pokemon had been growing extremely well in the past week actually. His dream team, which consisted right now of Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, trained themselves to the bone every day.

Pikachu had learned the moves Thunder, Charge and even Mega Punch from Primeape, before Ash sent him back to the Lab. His Focus Lightning Training was coming along extremely well also. He could now break apart large boulders in half the time and leave even larger craters in the ground with his electrical attacks then he could before. Ash chalked up Pikachu learning Thunder and Charge so fast because of the Focus Lightning training itself. He now knew the moves: Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Thunder, Agility, Double Team, Iron Tail, Quick Attack and Mega Punch.

Bulbasaur had also been growing much stronger in the past week. His attacks were much stronger and his conditioning had increased incredibly. He now knew the moves: Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Leech Seed, Poisonpowder, Sleep Powder, Sweet Scent, Growth and Take Down.

Charmander had been blowing Ash's mind with his gains in strength and in the past week learned three new moves. He started out with just Scratch and Ember, learning Rage when he battled Ben's Persion, but now he knew: Smokescreen, Fire Fang and, to Ash's complete amazement, Dragon Rage.

It had happened earlier in the week when Charmander and the others were training together. Pikachu hit Charmander with a strong Thunderbolt and nearly knocked the Pokemon down for the count. Just when Ash was getting ready to intervene and stop the battle however, Charmander stood back up with fire in his eyes and opened his mouth. Instead of Ember coming out like Ash thought would happen, a dark blue energy began collecting in his mouth. When he released it and the energy hit a nearby patch of forest, completely destroying it, Ash knew what the move Charmander just learned was.

It took a week of hard training but Charmander learned how to master Dragon Rage. Which was impressive considering it was such a powerful and difficult move to learn, let alone master.

Pidgeotto had also become much stronger and also much faster. Both in the sky and on her legs. She now knew the moves: Gust, Whirlwind, Agility, Quick Attack, Aerial Ace, Air Cutter, FeatherDance and her most powerful move so far, Twister.

All in all, Ash was very impressed and happy with his Pokemon. He wanted to wait until Charmander and Squirtle reached their second stage evolutions and then was going to start them on serious type disadvantage training. He was also going to teach them how to make their attacks strong and effective against their 'type superiors' just like Pikachu was doing with Focused Lightning. Unfortunately, Bulbasaur would never get to learn such a thing since fire consumed foliage and that was all there was to it.

Ash had also called Professor Oak and his mother earlier on in the week and learned from the Professor that his Pokemon at the Lab were training like monsters and that training was all they did. He told Ash that they were becoming much stronger and also that his Caterpie had evolved into Metapod through he, Butterfree and Beedrill's intense training program.

Needless to say, Ash was ecstatic with all of his Pokemon's progress. Very much so.

He took a break from his thoughts and decided to ask Brock a question that had been burning in his mind for quite some time now. "Brock I have a question for you." He said out of the blue.

Brock, who was leaning against his pack and reading a book on Pokemon Breeder tips, looked up at Ash. "Sure thing Ash what is it?"

Ash put his journal away and leaned in closer. "Well, you know how when a Trainer wins a regional conference and can then go on to challenge that regions's Elite Four and Champion?"

"Yeah?" Brock said confused.

"Why doesn't anyone ever do it?" Ash asked curiously.

Brock put his book away before explaining. "Well you see Ash it goes like this: The regional conferences pits some of the region's strongest Trainers against one another. Whoever is skilled enough to come out on top and be crowned that years conference winner does indeed have the option to then go on and challenge the Elite Four and Champion. However, those guys are on a totally different level. Trainers fresh off of a win at a conference will go to challenge the Elite Four in hopes of going all the way but most of the time end up being defeated by the first member of the Four with them only using one Pokemon. Trainers are just scared of being defeated so easily Ash. That's why the Four hardly ever get challenged."

Ash looked thoughtful. "And who are the Kanto Elite Four and Champion again?"

Brock collected his thoughts for a moment before continuing. "Well the first of the Four is Prima, or as she likes to be called 'Lorelei'. She's a Water and Ice-Type Pokemon Master.

The second is Bruno. He's a Fighting and Rock-Type master.

The third is Agatha. She's an elderly woman who is a master of Ghost Types.

The fourth and final member, who also happens to be the regional champion as well, is Lance Blackthorn. He's a Dragon-Type specialist and master."

Ash seemed confused. "Why does the Champion serve as the final member of the Elite Four?"

Brock just shrugged. "It's never been a big deal for them to get a fourth member. Lorelei hardly never loses and even when she does, which is extremely rarely, no one has gotten past Bruno in years. Lance barely even battles anymore because of it."

Ash just seemed thoughtful for a little while longer before thanking Brock. "Thanks for explaining that Brock I appreciate it." Ash said gratefuly.

"No problem Ash, any time." Brock said as he got up and got his things together to head out again.

...

Ash and his friends had been walking the road for quite some time now and were finally starting to come into the low lands near the coast. They were actually getting so close to the ocean they could smell the salt water in the air. The trees had also begun to change and were now becoming more sparse. Misty breathed in deeply as they neared the ocean. "Ahhh! I just love the smell of the ocean! We'll be there soon and then I can feel the sand beneath my feet and the gently rocking waves of the ocean!" She said happily.

Giselle turned to Misty and said with enthusiasm in her voice, "I know Misty I love the beach as well! It's so calming and the sunsets are just sooo romantic!" She looked back at Ash. "Do you think beach sunsets are romantic Ash?" She asked him sweetly as she fell in step beside of him. He looked at her and smiled. "I really don't know Giselle. I've never been to the beach before."

She looked surprised. "You haven't?" She asked bewildered.

He shook his head. "Nope, never. Not once."

She smiled brightly at him again. "Well, we're just going to have to change that!"

She took off running for the beach, causing the others to take off after her. Eventually the road curved around a few trees before it opened up to the scene of a vast ocean spread before them. White, sandy beaches with sand as soft as flour was laid before their feet. The road curved away from the beach a little but still followed the ocean side as it continued along.

Misty and Giselle squealed before taking their shoes off and running down into the sand, heading for the water. Ash and Brock just shared an amused look and shook their heads smiling before taking their own shoes off and walking after the girls. Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and landed in the sand. He begun expecting it carefully before making the decision that he liked it and called out happily. "Chaa!" He said as took off for the water.

The girls came back up to meet the boys and Misty said, "Hey guys why don't we have a day here at the beach and then head back out this evening once it gets cooler? Trust me when I say that you don't want to be traveling around near the coast like this on a hot summer day. It's miserable! I used to come to the beach all the time with my sisters when we were younger and we learned really quick to never travel the coastline when it was hot out!"

Ash just shrugged. "Cool with me."

Brock agreed. "Yeah I'm fine with it."

The girls squealed again and ran off to get their swim wear on. Ash pulled out his Pokeballs. "Come on out guys! Let's have some fun!"

Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle appeared from their Pokeballs and when they saw the beach and the ocean spread before them they got wide eyed. They looked at Ash and saw him smiling. "Go on guys! Have fun!"

They instantly took off and began running around happily. Squirtle went straight for the water and jumped into the waves. Pidgeotto took to the skies and began flying over the ocean, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze coming off of the ocean as it passed through her wings. Charmander settled down into the warm sand and began soaking up the sun rays that were beating down. Bulbasaur laid down near Charmander and mimicked him as Pikachu joined Squirtle in the water.

Ash even used his Poke'Dex to have Fearow sent over to him so he could join Pidgeotto in the sky and enjoy the air currents above the sea. Ash turned around and saw that Brock had already changed into his trunks and had set up some towels for everyone to lay on. His Onix, Graveler and Zubat were all laying up near the trees that shaded the beach near the road, relaxing and enjoying their rest.

Giselle and Misty suddenly appeared again wearing their swim swear. Misty was wearing a two piece red bikini and Giselle was wearing a two piece pink bikini that showed off her developing curves and chest very well. The likes of which poor Misty had none. Ash felt a little drool pool in the corners of his mouth as he took Giselle in. She giggled and blushed at his stare as she came over to him. She pushed his mouth back up since it was slightly hanging open. "You might not wanna keep your mouth open like that or you might get sand in there... Ashy." She teased him playfully.

Ash just shook his head and laughed. "Yeah haha right... sorry. I'm gonna go change be right back!"

He left to go change into his trunks and came back a little bit later. "Alright guys let's have some fun!" He shouted with his fists in the air.

His friends and the Pokemon all cheered excitedly and then headed towards the water anxiously.

...

The day passed by in a blur of excitement and fun. They all spent hours in the water until they were pruned, with poor Brock getting stung by a passing Tentacool and then getting his leg packed in sand by Misty on the beach. He howled in pain until Misty hit him over the head, telling him to shut up and that her sand pack method of treating Tentacool stings would work if he only let her concentrate on what she was doing.

They then laid out on the beach towels with their Pokemon surrounded around them and fell asleep peacefully, lulled to slumber by the warm sun and all of the exhausting fun they had in the water.

When they awoke a while later Brock made lunch for them and their Pokemon and after they were done they set to work building sand sculptures with their Pokemon. Ash and his Pokemon made a sculpture of a Pokeball that Brock's Onix accidentally went through. Making Ash and his Pokemon cry rivers of tears and everyone else laugh their heads off.

By the time dusk had come the friends were all dressed up again and were standing there watching the sun set over the ocean with their Pokemon. Giselle held Ash's hand and smiled at him, which he returned. He then looked at Brock and Misty who had serene smiles on their faces as they looked at the sunset and when they caught Ash's eye they smiled at him which he returned. The Pokemon all looked calm as well as they stared at the beautiful scene before them. All in all, it was a very calm and picture perfect moment.

Right as they were preparing to leave Ash noticed that they were one Pokemon short. He looked around realized it was Squirtle. "Hey Squirtle!" Ash called out. "It's time to go!"

He and the others looked around and eventually Ash spotted his Pokemon still in the water, floating around peacefully with his eyes closed. Ash smiled amused at his Pokemon and called out again. "Hey Squirtle it's time to go!"

Squirtle finally heard his Trainer and opened his eyes. He then started swimming back towards the beach, looking sheepish. Right as he was about to get to the shore Squirtle was suddenly pulled under the water. Ash got wide eyed. "Squirtle!" He shouted in fear as he started running towards the water. Right as he was about to jump into the ocean after his Pokemon, Squirtle was suddenly launched in the air and came back down in front of Ash in the shallows. He landed on his feet and was panting a little as he stared into the deeper water with a fierce and angry look on his face. "What is it Squirtle?!" Ash asked his Pokemon.

Squirtle pointed ahead. "Squirtle!" He said without taking his eyes off the water.

Ash and his friends looked at what Squirtle was pointing at and eventually saw it. A head, followed by what seemed like pincers suddenly crested above the water. The Pokemon came all the way up from the deep water and waddled into the shallower waters so that Ash and his friends could get a good look at what it was. Ash was shocked to see that it was non-other... than a Krabby.

"Wow!" Brock said amazed.

"I've never seen a Krabby like that before..." Misty said in shock.

"Why does it look like that?" Giselle asked curiously.

Ash just shook his head in wonder. The reason everyone was looking at the Pokemon in amazement was not because there was something wrong with Krabby. Just the opposite. This Krabby was garnering their attention because it was literally huge! Easily twice the size of any normal Krabby.

Ash pulled out his Poke'Dex and scanned the Pokemon.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.098_

_"Krabby: The River Crab Pokemon"_

_"If it senses danger approaching, it cloaks itself with bubbles from its mouth so it will look bigger."_

_"This Krabby is a male, has the ability Shell Armor and knows the moves: Mud Sport, Bubble, Vice Grip and Harden"  
_

...

Ash put his Poke'Dex away and then heard Misty say, "This Krabby doesn't need to cloak itself in anything to make itself look bigger! It's already huge!"

"Koke Koke!" The Pokemon said as he looked at Squirtle intently brought his pincers up menacingly. "I think Krabby wants to battle Squirtle Ash." Brock said.

Ash smirked. "Is that so? What do you think Squirtle? Up for it?"

His Pokemon nodded and glared at Krabby. "Squirtle!" He said firmly.

Ash felt he knew why Squirtle wanted to battle Krabby so badly. He pulled Squirtle under the water and gave him a cheap shot when he wasn't prepared. Now Squirtle wanted revenge. "Alright then let's do it! Squirtle use Bubble to obscure Krabby's vision and then rush in and hit him with Tackle!" Ash commanded.

Squirtle opened his mouth and quickly fire a round of bubbles that headed towards Krabby and began surrounding him. The Pokemon looked around through the bubbles and when he couldn't see anything he began using his large pincers to pop them. Squirtle came rushing in and right before he hit Krabby with Tackle the Pokemon glowed a reddish color and his armored skin looked like it just got even tougher.

Squirtle hit the Pokemon and only budged him a little ways, causing Squirtle to bounce off of him. Krabby then mad his way towards Squirtle much faster than a normal Krabby should be able to and began using his claws to continuously try and hit Squirtle. "Squirtle keep on dodging!" Ash called out.

Suddenly Krabby opened his mouth and fired his own Bubble attack directly at Squirtle. The other Water Pokemon had to avert his attention away from Krabby for a split second so he could avoid the attack. That ended up being Squirtle's mistake because the instant he took his attention off of Krabby the Pokemon reached forward with one of his claws, fast as a whip, and grabbed onto Squirtle. He lifted him into the air and began squeezing the Turtle Pokemon tight with Vice Grip.

Ash knew that Squirtle had to get free from Krabby's grip and called out, "Squirtle retract into your shell using Withdraw and then fire a Water Gun from inside your shell at Krabby's face!"

Squirtle quickly drew into his shell and then fired a strong Water Gun into the other Pokemon's face, making Krabby go temporarily blind as he loosed his grip on Squirtle. Ash saw his chance. "Now Squirtle jump up to get free and then come back down retracted into your shell with Withdraw and hit Krabby on the head with Tackle!"

Squirtle obeyed perfectly and jumped free of Krabby's grip. He went into his shell while in midair and came down fast. Before he could hit his target however, Krabby threw up a large pincer and knocked Squirtle away. Ash's Pokemon flew threw the air and just before he hit the ground Squirtle suddenly started spinning in his shell and turned around in midair. He made his way back to Krabby like a boomerang and hit the Pokemon hard.

Krabby was lifted off of his feet and fell back into the sand, sliding quite a ways. Squirtle didn't stop and kept spinning towards Krabby. He hit the Pokemon over and over again. Everytime Krabby would try and knock the Pokemon away with his pincers or Bubble, Squirtle would go right through it and hit Krabby again. The poor Pokemon looked like a pinball as Squirtle kept hitting him.

Ash knew what this move was and smiled. Squirtle had just learned Rapid Spin.

Krabby was looking to be on his legs now and after one last hit from Squirtle the Pokemon fell to the ground. Squirtle stopped spinning and popped out of his shell. He stood there glaring at Krabby as the Pokemon got up slowly and glared right back. Suddenly Krabby opened his mouth and fired off a rapid round of bubbles, much faster and with many more than a standard Bubble attack. Ash realized that Krabby must have just learned Bubblebeam.

As the attack raced towards Squirtle Ash called out, "Rapid Spin again Squirtle and combine it with Water Gun!"

Squirtle went into his shell and started spinning again rapidly towards the incoming bubbles. He started firing Water Gun from every place there was a hole in his shell. The spinning Water Gun was to fast and powerful for the bubbles and plowed right through them. Krabby could do nothing but stand there as Squirtle smashed into him hard with Rapid Spin again. The River Crab Pokemon flew back into the shallows of the water and crash landed on the ground hard. Ash prepared to end it. "Now Squirtle, spin towards Krabby and then get high in the air by bouncing off the ground! Come back down as hard as you can and then come out of your shell at the last minute and hit Krabby with Tackle!"

Squirtle spun towards the dazed Pokemon and then bounced himself off of the ground and high into the air. He came back down at high speeds and came out from his shell just as he made contact with Krabby's head using Tackle. The force made Krabby's legs buckle and right before he fell to the ground Squirtle jumped off of him and landed back near Ash. The crab like Pokemon just teetered back and forth before crashing down into the shallows unconscious.

Ash smiled and grabbed an empty Pokeball from his belt. "Pokeball go!" He shouted as his Pokeball soared through the air and then hit Krabby on the head. It sucked the abnormally large Pokemon inside of the ball and then rocked back and forth in the shallows for a little bit before going still and 'dinging' completing the capture. Ash grinned widely and walked over to the Pokeball. He bent down and picked it up before turning around and looking at his friends and Squirtle. He lifted the ball up. "Great job Squirtle! We've got another friend to add to the team!"

Squirtle came up and hugged Ash tightly. Ash's friends smiled and after Ash was done hugging his Pokemon he walked up to them. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and sniffed the Pokeball excitedly before getting a big grin on his face. "Pikachu!"

Ash laughed and scratched his Pokemon under the chin. "That's right buddy, we have another teammate now!"

Suddenly the Pokeball began glowing and then disappeared into thin air, being teleported back to Oak's Lab since Ash already had six Pokemon on him, being that he had Fearow with him for the time being. Brock clapped Ash on the back. "Great job Ash, you caught a Krabby. And a very special one to I think."

"Yeah Ash that Krabby was way to big to be normal he must have been a special Pokemon." Misty agreed.

"Your so lucky Ash! I'm very happy for you." Giselle said with a smile.

Ash looked at all of his friends and smiled at each of them warmly. "Thanks a lot guys!" He looked at the sky and saw that evening was nearly upon them. "Let's get going now before it gets any darker." He turned to Brock. "Is there anywhere to stop for the night around here Brock?" Ash asked him.

Brock checked their position on the map before pulling out his guidebook. "Let's see here... ahhh here we go! There's a lighthouse about five miles from our current postion. If we leave now then we can make it there by about ten o'clock."

Ash nodded. "Lighthouse it is then! Let's go!"

The friends then returned their Pokemon and left the beach, headed for the lighthouse that Brock had mentioned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was late at night when Ash and his friends finally made it to the lighthouse Brock had told them about. It was situated on top of a hill that overlooked the sea and at night, like right now, it gave everything a very ominous feeling the way the mist from the water would drift up to high ground and shroud everything in it's thick veil. The lighthouse's beacon slowly turned in a complete circle as it shone it's light upon the ocean.

Our young hero's were currently standing before the entrance to the lighthouse. In front of them was a giant door that looked to be made of gold but was actually skillfully crafted and polished driftwood. On both halves of the door were several intricate carvings of several different species of Pokemon that gave the door a very royal and elegant look to it.

Ash knocked on the door and when no one answered Misty pointed at something on the side of the door that looked like an intercom of sorts. "Hey Ash, maybe we have to use this thing to reach whoever is inside." She volunteered.

Ash shrugged his shoulders and walked up to it. He pressed a button that he guessed was the speaker and talked into it. "Hello? Is anyone here? Me and friends have been traveling for a long time and we're looking for someplace to stay for the night. We're Pokemon Trainers."

Ash waited for a while and suddenly a voice came through the speaker. "Hello it's so nice to hear people's voices again! I live here all alone and I haven't seen anyone or even left this place for some time now because of a little... Problem I have accidentally caused myself."

Ash raised an eyebrow. He then spoke into the intercom again. "Well if you let us in then we will help with your problem however we can. Right guys?" He asked his friends.

They all agreed, even Pikachu gave a chirp of agreement.

The voice spoke again. "That would be lovely! Yes of course your welcome here just give me a second to get the door. Stand back please!"

Ash and his friends did as told and stood back. They watched as after just a few seconds, the doors parted and allowed them entry. They slowly stepped inside and once they did the door shut behind them with a loud 'swoosh!'

They turned around and looked at the shut door before looking back ahead of them. The lights suddenly came on and their surroundings were bathed in a dim and low light. Mostly torch light from torches that were hanging from large pillars that were spaced evenly throughout the hall like room and stretched all the way up to the massive ceiling. The floors, they noticed, were made of stone just like everything else in the lighthouse and all along the walls, pillars and even on certain spots of the floor, were carvings of different Pokemon species just like on the outside doors.

They walked down the long hall until they came to an elevated platform that almost seemed to look like a throne should belong there. Suddenly, the lights on the platform came on and what they saw standing there freaked them all out.

It looked like a giant, man sized Kabuto standing there looking at them. Giselle screamed and grabbed ahold of Ash tightly, hanging onto him like a lifeline. Brock and Misty looked both scared and curious, and Ash just seemed confused.

Suddenly the 'Kabuto' spoke. "Wait! Please don't be afraid, I'm not actually a Pokemon I'm a person! I got stuck in this outfit and now I can't reach the button here in the front of the suit to get it off because of Kabuto's short arms. Can you please help me?"

Ash gently detached Giselle from his arm and went over to the trapped person. He stood in front of the suit and found the button they were talking about. He pushed it and then went back to join his friends.

A moment later the back of the suit 'clicked' and then it opened up. The person came out from the suit in a hurry and took in a couple deep breaths. After the person was done regaining their composure they turned around to face Ash and his friends.

The person was a man that Ash guessed was around his early to mid twenties. He had green hair and was dressed in a fancy red suit that had a green scarf sticking out of the top of it. The man smiled at them and then walked forward to meet them. "Ohh thank you so much for getting me out of that dreadful thing!" The man said with an accent that sounded as fancy and proper as his clothes looked.

He stuck out his hand. "My name is Bill, famed Pokemon Researcher of sorts, technological scientist and one of the many responsible for creating the Poke'Dex. At your service!"

Ash smiled and shook the man's hand. "Great to meet you Bill! My names Ash Ketchum and these are my friends Brock, Misty, Giselle and my partner Pikachu."

Ash's friends greeted Bill and then the man spoke again. "It's good to have visitors after so long! I don't get out much since I'm always studying Pokemon or working on something new for the Poke'Dex. What brings you kids way out here into the middle of nowhere ,if you don't mind me asking, anyway?"

Ash spoke for them. "Actually Bill we're heading for Vermillion City. We stopped and had a day on the beach and then walked here once night fell and it got cooler."

Bill nodded his head in understanding. "Well you are all most certainly welcome to stay here tonight if you want to. I would be overjoyed to have some guests!"

Ash thanked the man and then Giselle asked, "Ummm, Bill... Why were you dressed up like a Pokemon?"

The man smiled and replied. "It's part of my research. I believe in getting into the minds of the Pokemon you are studying and the best way to do that is to act like them and sometimes even dress like them." Bill scratched his temple and looked a little sheepish. "Actually that might be getting a little to involved!"

The kids nodded their heads in understanding. "You know Bill, I'm actually a Pokemon Researcher In-Training under Professor Oak. I'm writing down everything I deem worthy and important into a journal he gave me that will help me learn more about what it takes to be a Researcher." Ash said.

Bill looked at Ash in surprise. "That's wonderful Ash! There are so many things to learn about Pokemon in this world and having another Researcher on the case is always a great thing! You couldn't have picked anyone better to learn from then Professor Oak either! Good luck Ash!"

Ash accepted Bill's well wishes and then Brock asked, "So Bill, you helped to create the Poke'Dex right? How many Pokemon do you think there are?"

Bill sat down on the steps of the raised platform and looked at the designs of Pokemon that were carved everywhere in the lighthouse fondly. "Too be scientific and get right down to numbers..." Bill said. "It comes close to nearly eight hundred species of Pokemon from here in the Kanto region, all the way to the Kalos region way overseas."

Bill stood back up and pulled out a large remote from his pocket. He pressed a button and then a projector came on overhead. It was aimed to towards the high walls above them and instead of seeing bare wall they were now seeing a projection of every known Pokemon so far.

While the kids stared in awe at what they were seeing Bill spoke again. "But if you ask my honest opinion as just another lover of Pokemon I would say that the number is virtually limitless! We will probably never know just how many Pokemon there really are!"

Misty spoke up. "When we passed through Mt. Moon we met a scientist who believed that some Pokemon came from space."

Bill nodded his head. "And that's entirely possible. When it comes to Pokemon there is no such thing as an impossible theory. The mysteries surrounding Pokemon will go on and on indefinitely. That's what makes the job as a Pokemon Researcher so fun and exciting! If you have a theory run with it. You never have any idea just how far it may take you!"

The kids nodded their heads to Bill's words of wisdom and then Ash remembered something. "Would you guys excuse me for a second? I need to call Professor Oak really quick and check to see how my Krabby is doing. I also need to get my Fearow sent back to the Lab so I can have an open space on my team again."

His friends shook their heads and Bill just waved his hand dismissively. "Not all Ash! Do give the Professor my regards. Do you need to use my phone? It's over there in the corner." He said pointing to a video phone in the corner of the room that had a Bellsprout receiver.

Ash just shook his head. "No thanks Bill. I have my own way of calling right here." He said, showing his Xtransceiver.

He then went over to a corner of the room and called the Professor. He looked at his Xtransceiver as it ringed and then the screen came to life, showing Professor Oak on the other end. "Hey Professor how's it going?" Ash asked his mentor.

The Professor smiled upon seeing who it was. "Ahh Ash m'boy good to hear from you! How are you, your friends and Pokemon?"

Ash answered the Professor. "We're all doing good! We've traveling all over the place and me and my Pokemon have been training just as hard as ever."

Oak nodded his head. "Good, good. It sounds like your keeping busy! Your Pokemon here at the Lab are all doing very well. Training as usual! I have a hard time getting them to stop and eat sometimes but they always do. Speaking of which, you've been busy catching Pokemon Ash! I just received your latest capture and I have to say that I was very impressed and baffled! All at once!"

Ash instantly perked up. "You got Krabby then Professor? How is he?"

The Professor just held his hand in the air. "He's absolutely fine Ash! See for yourself." He changed the view on the screen until Ash was looking at his Krabby inside of a water filled glass container with another much smaller Krabby in the same kind of container beside him.

Ash smiled at his Pokemon and then the Professor reappeared back in the camera's view. "See Ash, he's totally fine!"

Ash just sighed. "Good I'm glad, thanks Professor." He then asked. "Who does that other Krabby belong to Professor?"

The old man sat back down in his seat and began stirring up a bowl of tofu he had just made. "That is actually Gary's Krabby. As you can see his is nowhere near the size of yours, which brings me to a question I had for you Ash... Where did you find such a, for lack of a better word I'll just say 'unique' Krabby?"

Ash answered the Professor with pride in his voice that his Pokemon was so special. "I actually caught him in the ocean today on the way to Vermillion City." Ash paused for a second. "Professor... What made Krabby grow so large anyway?"

The Professor merely sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly Ash I don't know. I have been wondering that same thing since you sent Krabby here earlier today but I really don't know. It's a puzzle that I'm still trying to figure out to be honest. My only guesses is that maybe Krabby was just born differently from others of his species and it allowed him to grow to the incredible size he is. It could be something he was taking into his diet or it could have been something he was exposed to in the ocean. We really won't be able to know. The only thing I do know for certain is that when Krabby evolves he is going to get even bigger. Immensely so."

The Professor paused. "This is just a rough estimate but judging by Krabby's size and what we know of how much a Krabby grows from it's original state into Kingler upon evolution, and this is for every Krabby besides yours since the one you captured is so unique, they usually double in body size if not more when they evolve. Your Krabby I believe will grow to be two or three times the size of a normal Kingler."

Ash nodded his head. "That'll be interesting to see for sure. I'll be getting Krabby back soon so I can start his training and his nutrition plan. I have to go now Professor, our host for tonight is Bill the Pokemon Researcher so I need to get back."

Professor Oak looked surprised. "Bill you say? Yes Ash get back in there! He can really help you along with your own training to become a Pokemon Researcher so learn all you can from him. I'll pass on your regards to your mother."

Ash smiled. "Thanks Professor! Talk to you later! Ohhh and Bill sends his regards!"

The Professor waved good-bye. "Take care my boy! Please give him mine as well!"

Ash nodded and then hung up. He went back to join his friends and Bill and found them still listening to Bill talk to them about the many different species of Pokemon there were.

As he walked up to them he said, "Professor Oak gives his regards Bill."

The man smiled and nodded. "Yes thank you Ash! I was just telling your friends all about how as a Pokemon Trainer it is your job to catch as many Pokemon as you can, train them up and build a strong bond with them, just like it's my job to learn and study as much as I can about Pokemon while trying to become their friends all the while."

Ash nodded his head. "It must exciting studying all different types of Pokemon and learning so many different things about them."

Bill nodded his head. "Yes it is. However, there is only one Pokemon I'm searching for right now. One mystery I'm trying to solve. A Pokemon no one has ever seen before, one of a kind. A true wonder."

Ash and his friends seemed confused. "What Pokemon is that?" Giselle asked.

Bill smiled and looked at nothing in particular. "I don't know what Pokemon it is. All I know is that it's a very special and unique Pokemon. One I have been trying to find for a few years now."

He looked at them all. "Come with me to the top of the lighthouse. You'll see what I'm doing then."

Ash and his friends nodded before following Bill through a door and then up a large flight of stairs until they came to another door. He opened it and lead them out onto the top part of the lighthouse.

Ash and his friends were in awe of the view from atop the lighthouse and just stared out into the night at the dark ocean before them. The fog atop the water set an eery yet captivating theme over everything.

Bill came up and stood near the railing. "One night when I was up hear doing some thinking on theories that were bouncing around through my head I heard a strange and yet melodious sound calling out from across the ocean. I was astounded by the sound and listened to it for the better part of ten minutes before it went silent. I knew it had to be a Pokemon and after that night I became obsessed by what I heard."

He fished through his pocket and pulled out a small remote control. "I re-created a similar sound a few weeks later and played it back across the ocean."

He pressed a button on the control and then a sound began coming from the lighthouse and started playing out across the ocean. It sounded just as haunting and beautiful as Bill described the original sound as being. While it played, the lights on the lighthouse began changing colors as they rotated and the sound played.

Bill explained what the recording was saying while it played. "I want to meet you. Let's be friends." He stopped and just listened to the recording play. "That's what I said to it in this recording."

Ash asked. "Why are the lights flashing different colors like that Bill?"

Bill looked at Ash and said, "It's to help attract the very Pokemon I'm trying to contact and bring it here. You see, some time after I first played my recording I received this in reply one night."

He pressed another button on the control and then Bill's recording stopped and was replaced a second later by a truly beautiful, yet ominous and haunting sounding recording. Ash and everyone else felt a shiver go down their spines at the actual sound the Pokemon had made. Bill translated, "The Pokemon is saying, 'Yes I want to meet you to, let's be friends'... Ever since then I have played my recording every night. Hoping to some evening see this elusive Pokemon."

"Will you try and capture it if you see it?" Misty asked.

Bill shook his head. "Why would I want to capture it? Meeting it is enough for me. Besides, I'm not a Pokemon Trainer."

"Do you know anything about the Pokemon besides what it sounds like?" Brock asked.

Bill just shrugged. "The only thing I believe I know about this Pokemon is that it is probably the biggest Pokemon that is out there right now. In this region at least if not the world. Also, I believe it is a Pokemon that has been searching the world for friends. I think it could very well be the last of it's kind and is just searching for someone to care for it."

Ash and his friends just stared across the ocean and continued to listen to the melodious sound that the lighthouse was playing. Ash looked at Giselle. "Care to dance ?" He asked her bowing low.

She blushed and curtsied to him. "Yes dear gentleman I would. Thank you."

Ash grabbed Giselle gently by the waist and pulled her close as they began dancing to the sound of the recording that continued playing.

Brock and Misty just leaned over the railing with Bill and looked over the ocean. All three of them totally content to just stand there and listen to the beautiful sound.

...

Down below the lighthouse, looking up at the group of kids and Bill standing on top of the structure through a pair of binoculars was none other than our least favorite trio of bumbling and idiotic Rockets. Jessie, James and Meowth.

"So Jessie how do you propose we go about stealing the twerps Pikachu? Their way up there and we're down here. We'll never get it with them around!"

Jessie looked contemplative for a second. "I've got it!" she said excitedly. "We'll scale the cliff wall and then climb up on top of that lighthouse. Once we get behind them we'll use our new Team Rocket rocket launcher to scare them! After that we'll sneak up and steal Pikachu while their distracted by the smoke!"

James nodded his head vigorously. "I like it! Let's do it."

Suddenly, Meowth spoke up from where he had been standing. Listening to his partners hair brained scheme to steal Pikachu. "Have yous twos geniuses thought about how we'll get off the lighthouse once we get dat Pikachu?" He asked agitatedly.

The two humans just looked at each other and then Meowth. "Ohh yeah Meowth?!" Jessie taunted. "What's your great plan then huh?"

Meowth just cackled. "We'll use dese!" He said as he held up three back packs that could be converted to hang gliders. "We'll steal dat Pikachu while da twerps are distracted from Jame's rockets and then we'll hang glide outta there!"

Jessie and James looked pleased. "That could work!" Jessie said excitedly.

"Hmm! I say we try it and finally steal that Pikachu!" James said also excited.

Meowth grew impatient. "I don't care how we do it let's just get up dat cliff already!" He said loudly.

"Right!" Jessie and James said as they got closer to the cliff side and put their climbing gear on.

Meowth walked behind them and mumbled. "Would have been a lot easier to just walk up the hill and then go in tru da front door... But no that's to simple!"

Jessie turned back to Meowth. "Bad guys don't take the easy way Meowth! We always do things the hard way!"

Meowth just huffed and then bumped into his teammates who had suddenly stopped in front of the cliff and were looking down at the water below. "Would you twos get moving already!" He yelled.

"Meowth is right James we have to do this for the boss!" Jessie told her partner who was looking at the water below them with an equally unreadable expression on his face.

"Even though..." He gulped.

Jessie nodded her head nervously as well. "Yes even though we're..."

Meowth sighed. "What's da matter with ya's now?"

Jessie and James clasped onto each other tightly. "We're afraid of heights!" They said together.

"What da-" Meowth said in shock. He sighed again and sat on the ground. "Why did I get stuck with two morons for teammates?!" He wined out loud.

...

Ash and Giselle were still dancing on top of the lighthouse to the recording of the mystery Pokemon, with Giselle resting her head on Ash's shoulder.

"It's really romantic up here isn't?" She asked him as she looked up at him.

He smiled at her and replied. "Yeah it really is. Thanks for sharing a dance with me!" He said happily.

She kept smiling and buried her face further into his shoulder. "My pleasure..." She said blissfully.

Ash was getting ready to say something else when suddenly they heard another sound coming from across the ocean. It sounded just like the recording Bill was playing but it was actually coming from in the ocean.

Ash and Giselle parted quickly and went to stand by Bill, Brock, Misty and Pikachu, who was sitting on the railing. "That's the signal!" Bill shouted loudly. "The Pokemon... It's here!"

Ash and his friends went wide eyed and they looked out towards the ocean, trying to see through the thick fog.

Suddenly they saw a dark shape moving through the fog and coming towards the lighthouse. Everyone's breath hitched in their throats and time seemed to stand still.

The shape grew larger and larger and seemed to be rising up out of the ocean. It continued moving towards them slowly, calling out the entire time in response to Bill's recording.

After what seemed like forever the creature finally came to stand within a hundred feet of the lighthouse. It was continuously calling out it's haunting melody, perfectly in synch and harmony with the signal coming from the lighthouse. The Pokemon looked up at the different colored lights that were coming from the beacon and followed them in a slow and graceful movement. It was still shadowed by the dark and all any of them could see was the outline of it's body. It's eyes were glowing blue in the moonlight and it looked like the picture of majesty and grace.

"Ohhh my..." Was all Bill could say.

"Amazing..." Misty breathed out.

"It's so beautiful..." Giselle said in awe.

Ash just remained completely silent as he drank in the sight he was being gifted with.

"It's massive!" Brock said in disbelief. "How tall would you say Bill?" He asked.

The stunned man just stuttered out. "I have no idea..."

...

"Now that's a Pokemon..." James said in awe.

"Yeah..." Jesse said in equal fascination. Suddenly she had an idea. "And a Pokemon so rare and unique should be belong to Team Rocket!" She said looking back at James.

He nodded and pulled out the rocket launcher. He pointed it at the giant Pokemon. "You know Jesse... I do feel sort of bad for preparing to attack such a majestic and fascinating creature." James said somewhat guiltily.

Meowh piped up. "Yeah well stop feeling bad and think about de pay raise we'll get from da boss!"

"Yes James stop being such a wimp!" Jesse shouted.

"Hmmm... I guess so. And the boss will probably even give us a promotion if we can bring him that Pokemon!" James said excitedly.

"Your probably right!" Jesse said with stars in her eyes.

Meowth suddenly shouted. "Just fire dat thing already!"

James took aim and then pulled the trigger. Instantly a large rocket came out of the barrel and went hurtling towards the monolithic Pokemon.

Right as the Pokemon began coming closer to the lighthouse the rocket suddenly struck it right in the side, making it cry out in pain as it stumbled back in pain.

James kept firing salvo after salvo at the Pokemon, each rocket hitting the huge target dead on and making it continue to cry in pain. It began thrashing around in the ocean and started churning up massive waves that started beating the cliff side hard. In the Pokemon's raging fit it came right up next to the lighthouse.

Ash and his friends stared in shock and fear at what was happening. "What's wrong with it?!" Misty shouted.

"I don't know!" Bill called out. "Something has scared and angered it!"

"Watch out!" Ash yelled as the huge Pokemon swung an arm around and struck the top of the lighthouse, knocking the beacon off of it.

"Everybody get down to the ground!" Bill yelled as they all started running down some steps that were on the side of the lighthouse and led down to the ground. As they ran the Pokemon swung it's other arm around and completely took the top half of the lighthouse off.

Ash, his friends and Bill kept running down the steps as fast as they could, dodging falling rubble as it rained down on them in large chunks. Bill, Brock and Misty finally made it down to the ground and looked back up to see Giselle right behind them and Ash behind her.

Just as she nearly made it to the ground a large piece of cinderblock came hurtling down towards her. Ash saw this happening from where he was behind her and jumped forward, grabbing her and hitting the ground just as the cinderblock fell mere inches from them.

"Are you okay?" Ash said panting.

Giselle hugged him after they stood up. "Yes I am! Thank you so much Ash!"

He smiled and hugged her back. They quickly pulled away again and then went over to stand by the others near the cliff as they watched the giant Pokemon continue to thrash around violently.

"What's causing this?!" Giselle yelled out over the sound of the raging waves and the loud cries of the Pokemon.

Brock suddenly pointed at the Pokemon. "Everyone look!"

They did as told and watched as small but fast projectiles exploded on contact with the Pokemon. "Someone's shooting at it!" Bill said angrily.

"Someone's what?!" Misty yelled angrily.

"Who?!" Giselle said as she looked around.

Brock suddenly pointed again. "Down there near the cliffs!" He shouted.

They all looked down and saw Team Rocket firing off round after round of rockets at the Pokemon. "Team Rocket!" Misty shouted.

"That's who it is?!" Bill said in shock and anger.

Ash stared at Team Rocket with pure hatred and fury in his eyes. He felt a terrible, horrible bloodlust rise up inside of him. He felt his blood start to boil as if it were on fire. His vision started to haze over and his eyes began glowing a bright electric blue. He felt utter and complete power flood his systems as a shroud of dark blue energy began surrounding his body. He crouched down and felt the primal urge to destroy what was causing that poor Pokemon so much pain overwhelm him. Ash suddenly reared back up and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"TEAM ROCKET!" The energy around Ash exploded as he screamed at the top of his lungs. The force of energy was so powerful it knocked Ash's friends and Bill back several feet onto the ground and the earth became scorched around his feet where his power exploded.

Ash put his hands together almost mechanically and instantly a bright white sphere of energy began forming in his hands. He reared back and shouted at Team Rocket loudly and with a voice that reverberated with pure power and authority. "YOU DARE HARM THAT INNOCENT POKEMON! YOUR NOTHING BUT VILE FILTH AND YOUR GONNA PAY! THIS ENDS NOW!"

Jessie, James and Meowth looked up when they heard Ash yell at them and their eyes literally bugged out in fear as they saw him standing there on top of the cliff glowing bright blue in a shroud of pure energy that was scorching the ground around him. The look of pure hatred he had in his eyes and the ball of powerful looking energy he had in his hands made them freeze in complete horror.

"I-Is that the t-twerp?" Jessie said terrified.

James dropped his cannon and it fell down into the sea below where it broke into millions of pieces. "I think it i-is Jessie!" James said as he desperately tried to scale back up the cliff wall and run away. "And he looks really angry!"

Meowth's fur was standing on end. "We need to get out of here you guys! Now!" He shouted.

They tried scrambling back up the wall of the cliff but the twisting and violent thrashing of the Pokemon in the ocean who was still in pain stopped them from escaping with it's madly flailing limbs and the massive waves it was creating. Ash reared back. "I'M GOING TO END YOU HERE AND NOW! YOU WILL NEVER HARM ANOTHER POKEMON EVER AGAIN! TODAY YOU DIE!"

Right before he could launch the sphere of energy at the petrified Rockets he felt a pull on his arm. He turned around in a rage and saw Giselle standing there holding his arm back looking frightened. "Please Ash stop this! Your scaring us! Your scaring ME!"

When Ash heard those words pierce his ears he instantly began calming down and the sphere of energy he was holding disappeared. Giselle pulled him into her arms and held him close even though she felt the shroud of blue energy burning and slightly electrocuting her.

She pulled him into her chest and sobbed into his shoulder while holding him. " Please Ash... Come back! Come back to me please! Calm down..."

The energy shroud began disappearing and Ash's eyes started turning back to normal. When he was finally back to normal again he just held onto her and wrapped his arms tightly around her as he fell to his knees. She felt this and looked into his eyes. "I'm so sorry..." He said weakly to her as she continued hugging him tightly. He hugged her back just as fiercely.

She burrowed into his shoulder further. "I'm just glad that your back Ash..."

He looked forward and saw the Pokemon thrash to the side again and smash it's tail into the side of the cliff that the still horrified Rockets were on. When the tail made impact it cratered the cliff and sent the three Rockets, who were to scared from nearly being killed by him to even say their blasting off line, soaring into the sky where they disappeared.

The Pokemon had stopped thrashing around and was now scared from what had happened. It began walking off further into the ocean and started disappearing again. Bill put his hand out and called to the Pokemon while running forward. "No please don't leave! Come back! We're not the ones who were trying to hurt you! Please come back!" He shouted.

Ash lightly pushed away from Giselle and stumbled forward a little bit. Brock was right, when he lost control and that energy consumed him it drained his strength badly. He wasn't going to stop though, he picked himself up and ran towards the cliff. He was not going to let that innocent Pokemon be scarred forever and never trust people again for what Team Rocket did.

He lunged forward and fell to the ground with his right hand outstretched to the nearly disappeared form of the retreating Pokemon. "WAIT!" He shouted loudly.

In that very moment a bright white energy shot out around Ash and his right palm began glowing brightly as the mark that he had seen twice before reappeared again. Ash's friends made to move forward and help Ash but Bill held them back. "Let's see what happens..." He said in shock while watching the strange phenomenon take place with Ash.

Ash's friends learned to be very weary when they saw strange energy around him. Dark blue meant anger, rage and destruction. They didn't really know what to expect here.

The white energy around Ash suddenly focused directly in his palm and then shot out of his hand like lightning across the waters of the ocean. The energy came in contact with the Pokemon just as it's head was about to disappear beneath the waves and wrapped itself around it, stopping the Pokemon in it's tracks.

Ash suddenly felt like he was being pulled towards the Pokemon across the ocean, even though his body was still lying on the cliff. Ash continued to fly forward until he saw a bright light surround the Pokemon he was headed towards. He felt like he was being forced into a bright tunnel and then he saw no more.

...

Ash came to and found himself floating, literally, in midair. He looked around and had no clue where he was.

The entire... Plain, that he was in was not really distinguishable with any actual characteristics because there were actually no physical form to anything. It was all just colors of swirling energy that shrouded the entire area.

Ash noticed that he himself was cloaked in a white veil of energy, similar to what he had seen before on himself when he had a similar experience with Pikachu and Bulbasaur, just much more noticeable and more pronounced. He looked ahead of him and was shocked still. The mysterious Pokemon was also floating in front Ash not even ten yards from him.

It was still shrouded in shadow so Ash couldn't see it's true appearance as it towered over him. Ash noticed that the Pokemon was also cloaked in two strange energies. The first was a yellow, wavering energy that reminded Ash of what Bulbasaur and Pikachu were also shrouded by when this happened to Ash before.

The Pokemon also had a red and much more furiously burning energy around it. This energy was one that Ash had never seen before and it actually looked like it was angry and uncontrolled.

Ash suddenly had a thought and said aloud, "These energies must be the Pokemon's emotions... Yellow is wavering and uncertain which means the Pokemon is nervous and uncertain. The red energy is much more furious and uncontrolled which must mean that the Pokemon is also angry. Understandable..."

He gasped. He was actually talking aloud! He wasn't just speaking in his mind like the previous two times and he also noticed that no memories were being swapped between his and the Pokemon's minds. He then realized that this must have been a different kind of experience than what he had been through the previous two times.

He looked down at the glowing mark on his right hand and clinched it into a fist. "Okay..." He said aloud again. "I just need to keep trying to figure this thing out and maybe everything will go back to normal again and I'll go back to my... body on the cliff."

He looked back up at the large and shadowed Pokemon before him that was just staring down at Ash. He suddenly only had one objective. He had to help this Pokemon! He had to change it's mind about humans and help it get past what Team Rocket had did to it.

He spoke up to the creature. "Pokemon... I don't know how we got here but I believe it has something to do with me needing to help you!"

Ash took a breath and continued. "Listen to me... I am so, so sorry for what happened to you just now! You have to know that it wasn't us who were attacking you and causing you pain, it was a bunch of bad people called Team Rocket that just wanted to control you and take you for themselves. Bill, the man that owns the lighthouse you came to, he has been trying to communicate with you for so long now! He just wants to get to know you and be your friend. So do me and my friends, we want to be friends with you as well!"

Ash looked up at the Pokemon and felt his eyes watering. "No Pokemon, no being at all should spend their whole lives alone and with no one that cares for them... I don't know what all has happened to you, I don't know why you are alone and have no family or friends but I can promise you this... Please come back to the lighthouse and let us meet you. Let us be your friends and let us be the ones to care for you. You don't have to be alone anymore!"

The Pokemon stared at Ash for a long while, considering the boy's words, and then slowly but surely the yellow and red energies around it began vanishing and being replaced with a perfectly calm white energy, like what was surrounding Ash.

He saw the Pokemon nod it's large head and then Ash smiled. "Thank you..."

Suddenly, Ash was jerked away from where he was floating with the Pokemon and felt himself being pulled backwards through the same tunnel from earlier at fast speeds. Everything began to blur around him again and just before he faded out he thought he heard a female voice say to him, '_You have done well my Chosen... I am proud of you' _That was the last thing Ash heard before he knew no more.

...

Ash awoke and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up to see Giselle holding him in her lap and looking at him with worry.

He slowly sat up, supported by her and instantly felt the weakness in his body. "Man... going through two weird energy experiences like that really drains a guy." Ash said lightheartedly as he smiled at Giselle, his friends and Bill, who were standing over him and looking at him with concern.

"Are you feeling okay now Ash?" Giselle asked him.

"Yeah just tired..." Ash answered her.

"Look!" They heard Bill shout. They turned around and looked at him.

He was staring out at the ocean with amazement on his face. They followed his gaze and saw that the large Pokemon was now coming back to them slowly. They all waited with baited breath as the Pokemon got closer.

"What did you do Ash?" Misty asked in wonder as she stared at the massive Pokemon approaching them again.

"Indeed. I would love to know that as well..." Bill said as his gaze was locked firmly on the Pokemon who was getting closer to them.

"I don't know..." Ash answered in a half lie. He really didn't know what he said. Maybe it was just his words that got through to the Pokemon after all?

Finally, the Pokemon came to stand right in front of the cliff they were standing on. It just looked at them with it's eyes still glowing white in the night. As they stared in awe and amazement at the majesty and beauty of the large creature, the moonlight came shining through a break in the clouds, bathing all of them and also the giant Pokemon in light.

When the Pokemon became illuminated by the moonlight everyone gasped.

"It's a..." Misty said in shock.

"How?!" Brock said confused beyond belief.

"But it's massive!" Giselle exclaimed.

"All this time the Pokemon I have been searching for was a..." Bill began.

Ash stepped forward and stood directly of front of the gargantuan Pokemon that was shadowing them all. He looked up at it and the Pokemon looked right back down at Ash. He whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Your a Dragonite..."

The Pokemon merely nodded it's head at Ash. With the moonlight illuminating the great Pokemon they all took in it's features and was definitely convinced it was a Dragonite. It looked exactly like the Dragon-Type species only much, much bigger!

"How can it be a Dragonite though?" Misty said confused. "It's to massive!"

Ash answered her. "Remember Krabby? This is the same thing just on a much larger scale. There must be some species of Pokemon that grow much larger than normal. If we've already seen a giant Krabby and now this giant Dragonite, I guarantee there are probably other species of Pokemon that grow the same way. Their probably just like Krabby and this Dragonite is though... Alone and outcast from the rest of their species."

"That's so sad..." Giselle said with tears in her eyes.

Bill stepped up to Dragonite and looked up at it. "Dragonite... For so long I have wanted to meet you and now I have achieved that very goal. You have honored me with your presence and I thank you for that my friend. I only... Apologize and feel guilty that you were attacked by those horrible people all because I brought you here. I hope you can forgive me..." He said dejectedly.

The large Pokemon cooed softly at Bill. "Drooo." It said in a low, soft and melodious voice.

Bill looked back up at the Pokemon and smiled. "Thank you for forgiving me Dragonite... You are truly a great Pokemon." He said respectfully.

The Dragonite acknowledged Bill and then turned it's attention back to Ash, whom it's was the most focused on. It cooed to him and then knelt it's face down to look at the boy. Ash smiled at the Pokemon and walked up to it.

He stood directly in front of the Pokemon's face and reached out with his hand. He gently touched the bridge of Dragonite's nose and began slowly rubbing it while smiling all the while.

The Pokemon cooed happily and relaxed into Ash's hand as he continued to gently massage it. Ash spoke softly to the Pokemon. "Yeah... See? Everything is going to be alright now. You never have to be alone again. I promise I won't let you get hurt by Team Rocket ever again Dragonite."

Ash's friends and Bill looked at the scene and smiled. It was a heartwarming moment.

When Ash was finished he stepped back and yawned. "Dragonite, me and my friends are going have to get some sleep. We will you still be here in the morning?" He asked.

The Pokemon nodded it's head and cooed in response. Ash smiled and turned back to his friends. "What do you guys say to bed? I'm exhausted..." He yawned again.

His friends mirrored him and then Bill said, "If you go inside and past the entrance hall, to your left will be a door that leads into a small hallway. There are a couple of rooms that you can choose for yourselves if you wish. Mine is the one at the end of the hallway. You are more than welcome to stay here my friends."

Ash and his friends thanked Bill and went to go inside. Before Ash could enter though, Dragonite called out to him. He turned around and smiled at the Pokemon. "I'll see you tomorrow Dragonite, I promise."

Dragonite nodded it's head sadly. It then bent it's face down and nuzzled Ash's face with it's own. Ash smiled and hugged the Pokemon again. "Goodnight Dragonite."

He then went inside and left the large Pokemon and Bill alone. The researcher looked up at Dragonite and said excitedly to it. "I have so many questions for you Dragonite! Would you mind?"

The giant Pokemon tilted it's head to one side and then shook it's head. "Lovely!" Bill said smiling. "Well then here is my first question for you..."

...

Morning came hours later and Ash and his friends were already up and ready to go. They packed up their stuff and left the rooms, saying good morning to each other as they entered the hallway and then went outside.

When they stepped out into the morning sun they felt the cool breeze of the ocean hit them in the face combined with the salt air. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, showing how it was truly a beautiful day.

They looked ahead of them and saw Bill sitting near the cliff talking to Dragonite who had stayed through the night. In daylight they finally got a clear look at the Pokemon and marveled at how gigantic it was. It literally looked like a massively blown up version of a normal Dragonite.

The funny thing was: Dragonite were extremely rare Pokemon. In fact, Lance, the Kanto and Johto region Pokemon Champion and Drake, the leader of a band of gym leaders called the 'Orange Crew' that lived in a place called the Orange Islands, were some of the only well known Trainers that even had a Dragonite as their Pokemon.

If they could see the massive Dragonite that was here right now they would would undoubtedly start salivating uncontrollably.

They walked up to Bill. "Have you been out here all night Bill?" Ash asked.

Bill turned around to greet the children. "Sure have. There were so many things for Dragonite and I to talk about that I just couldn't go to sleep!" He said happily.

They all shared a laugh and then Dragonite quickly bent down to Ash. "Drooo!" It said excitedly as it nuzzled him.

Ash laughed and hugged the Pokemon back. "It's great to see you as well Dragonite!"

He backed away and heard Brock say, "Well guys, how about some breakfast before we go? For you to Bill!"

Ash and his friends cheered excitedly at the prospect of food and Bill smiled. "Thank you Brock, I would love some breakfast!"

Ash turned to his friends. "Let's let the Pokemon out while we wait!"

"Great idea Ash!" Giselle said enthusiastically.

She, Misty, Brock and Ash release all of their Pokemon. As soon their Pokemon appeared and saw the giant Dragonite towering over them all they looked at it warily and with slight trepidation in their eyes. Ash could see the Dragonite get uneasy and he said to his Pokemon. "Guys, Dragonite is a friend okay? Make him feel welcome!" He encouraged his Pokemon.

It took them awhile but eventually they warmed up to Dragonite and then Misty, Brock and Giselle's Pokemon all joined Ash's in making Dragonite feel accepted by them. They all began talking to it in Poke'Speech, making Dragonite smile happily and coo in reply to each Pokemon.

Pikachu ran up the Dragonite's arm and sat down on it's shoulder. "Pika Pika Pikachu Pika Pika Chu Pika!" He said to the Dragonite as it looked at the electric mouse on it's shoulder.

Dragonite began talking to Pikachu in return and soon the both of them were engaged in deep conversation.

Ash took off the jacket of his track suit and called out to his Pokemon. "Time to train guys! Bring it in!"

Pikachu ended his conversation with Dragonite and then went to join his teammates in training.

Dragonite stood there and watched Ash and his Pokemon train with wrapped interest and fascination.

An hour later Ash and his Pokemon were sprawled out on the ground exhausted. A usual occurrence for them after they were done training. It wasn't so much a luxury as it was a necessity. They were always unable to stand after they finished training and would promptly fall to the ground.

Ash stood up and congratulated his Pokemon before looking at Dragonite, who had a longing look in it's eyes. Ash walked up to it and said. "Dragonite, would you like to show me an attack you know?" He asked kindly.

The Pokemon smiled brightly and nodded it's head. Ash smiled and pulled out his Poke'Dex. He pointed it at the Pokemon and got the information for it. He knew Professor Oak would freak out when he saw that Ash had gained info on a Dragonite and it made him laugh to himself.

Dexter then began giving the data on Dragonite.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.149_

_"Dragonite: The Dragon Pokemon"_

_"Dragonite can fly despite it's big and bulky physique. They can fly across the globe in sixteen hours. They are said to make their home somewhere in the sea and guide shipwrecked sailors home."_

_"This Dragonite is female, has the ability Multiscale and knows the moves: Thunderpunch, Fire Punch, Roost, Thunder Wave, Slam, Twister and Dragon Rage._

_"This Pokemon stands at a height of 105' tall and weighs 218,768 Ibs/ or 99 tons."_

...

Ash gaped in shock at the info that Dexter gave him on Dragonite. So did his friends and Bill.

"That is one huge Pokemon..." Brock said in awe.

"Hmm..." Misty and Giselle said dumbly.

Ash looked back up at Dragonite after he put his Poke'Dex away. "Alright Dragonite, give me your Dragon Rage attack!" He shouted.

Dragonite nodded and turned to face the sea. She got a serious and concentrated look on her face. She began building up a mass of bright energy in her stomach that came up into her mouth. She began letting the energy build in her mouth before she reared back her head and released it with a loud bellow. "DRAGOOO!"

A massive cannon of blue energy exploded from Dragonite's mouth. The energy beam was so large that when it hit the water it completely parted the waves, exposing the sea bed beneath it. The attack went into the horizon and disappeared.

Ash and his friends just stared in gaping awe at the power of the attack. "Oh... My... Arceus!" Misty exclaimed.

"Incredible! Such power!" Bill said in fascination.

Brock and Giselle were just silent as stone. Ash was the most impressed however. Being a Trainer and seeing such power in a Pokemon made Ash almost drool. "Dragonite... That was amazing! You are incredible!" Ash praised the Pokemon.

Dragonite just looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of her head. "Dragoo..." She said with a shy smile.

Ash's Pokemon all started calling up to Dragonite excitedly, making her feel even more embarrassed at their praise.

Brock had come to his senses again and went to check on the food. He saw it was done and called out to them. "Breakfast everybody!"

Ash and his friends whipped around and ran over to Brock excitedly. Bill joined them shortly and they all sat down to enjoy a healthy breakfast of eggs, toast, oatmeal and fruit.

Brock called over the Pokemon and they joined them shortly after to eat as well. The Pokemon Breeder In-Training looked up at Dragonite and offered a large bowl of food to her. "Here you go Dragonite. I don't know what Dragon-Type Pokemon eat in Pokemon Food but I did my best." He said as he held up the food to the giant Pokemon.

Dragonite looked touched beyond words at the kind gesture and took the food with tears in her eyes. She ate it quickly and then called out happily, "Dragooo!"

Brock laughed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." He said as went to eat his own breakfast. He didn't get very before he was knocked over by Dragonite nuzzling him as a sign of gratitude.

Ash and the others laughed, along with the Pokemon. Even Brock started laughing. Dragonite just looked embarrassed again. "Dragoo..."

...

After finishing up with breakfast Ash and his friends returned their Pokemon and prepared to leave. They stood before Bill and Dragonite, the giant Pokemon looking very sad for some reason.

Ash went up to Bill. "It was a great pleasure meeting you Bill. Thanks for everything." Ash said gratefully.

"Yeah it's been great." Brock said.

"I learned a lot from you Bill, thank you." Giselle said thankfully.

"So did I! Thanks a lot Bill." Misty added.

Bill just shook his head. "No allow me to thank you. If it wasn't for all of you then I would never have gotten to meet and become friends with Dragonite. She would have disappeared after Team Rocket attacked and I probably would have never seen her again. Thank you so very much!"

Ash shook his head. "No need to thank us Bill. I'm just glad I got to meet Dragonite. She's a great Pokemon." He said this looking at Dragonite who still looked very sad.

He walked up to her. "Hey Dragonite don't be upset, we'll see each other again sometime." He tried to console her.

Dragonite looked at him and cooed sadly. She looked at him and his friends longingly and then looked back down again.

Bill suddenly had a thought and let a small smile cross his face. "You know Ash..." Bill started, making the boy look at him. "I believe that Dragonite would be the happiest if she were to go along with you on your journey."

Ash and the Dragonite's heads popped up at hearing this and Ash looked at the Pokemon. "Would you... Would you really want to come with me and become my Pokemon?" He asked the giant Pokemon.

Dragonite just looked at Ash for a few moments and then bent her head down to him in a bow. "Dragoooo..." She cooed softly from her bowed position.

"Well what do you know?" Bill said surprised and happy all at once.

"What does that mean?" Giselle asked.

Bill explained. "Dragon-Type Pokemon are extremely proud and regal Pokemon. Add to that they are also Pseudo-Legendaries. For any Pokemon like that to bow to a Trainer is a sign of acceptance and respect. Dragonite is showing Ash that she accepts him as her Trainer if he so chooses to capture her. It's a true honor that Ash should feel very fortunate to be presented with."

Brock, Misty and Giselle looked fascinated as they looked back to Ash and Dragonite.

Ash heard what Bill said and asked, "Is that true Dragonite? Would you really accept me as your Trainer? I've not even been on my journey for very long. I'm still a rookie in many ways."

Dragonite raised her head back up and looked Ash dead in the eyes. "Drag! Dragoo!" She said firmly. Showing that she accepted Ash regardless of his status.

He smiled at the Pokemon and touched her head. "Thank you Dragonite..." He looked at Bill. "But what about you Bill? You have been searching for Dragonite for so long now. I don't want to take your Pokemon..."

Bill smiled, walked over to Dragonite and began stroking the side of her leg. "No Ash, Dragonite is not my Pokemon. She is a free spirit that I have been blessed enough to meet. I told you before that meeting her was enough for me. I didn't need to capture her. I never thought in a million years I would actually become friends with her like I am now. That's more than enough for me and is what any Pokemon Researcher dreams of accomplishing. Being able to study the Pokemon they are fascinated with and also befriend them at the same time is a dream come true"

He walked back over to Ash. "Your training to become a Pokemon Researcher also Ash and you will know these joys. However you mustn't forget, you are also a Pokemon Trainer. And you will always be one. Trainers seek to befriend new, special and amazing Pokemon and then wish to capture them so they can train them up to be the best they can possibly be. That's a natural outlook on life for any Pokemon Trainer to have."

He put his hand on Ash's shoulder and pointed to Dragonite. "She is a truly magnificent Pokemon Ash. But yet she also has much room to grow and learn. Under the right Trainer I see Dragonite becoming a truly fantastic Pokemon. Even more than she is now. You are that Trainer Ash, I know it!"

Ash smiled at Bill. "Thanks Bill, I really appreciate your faith in me."

He then looked at his friends. "What do you guys think?" He asked them.

Brock was the first to respond. "Training Dragonite will be far from an easy task Ash. She is an incredibly powerful Pokemon and a Pseudo-Legendary to boot. Even Elite Trainers can have problems raising Pokemon like her... However, if any rookie/greenhorn Trainer could possibly train a Pokemon like Dragonite... I believe it would be you Ash." He said with a smile.

"I agree with Brock, Ash." Misty said. "It won't be easy but I know you can do it!"

Giselle nodded her head. "Yes Ash I believe in you as well. I know you can raise Dragonite."

"Pika Pikachu Pika Pi!" Pikachu said to his Trainer encouragingly.

Ash smiled at all of his friends. "I couldn't ask for better friends you guys... Thank you."

They nodded and smiled at him. Ash then turned to face Dragonite. "Well then Dragonite... Everyone else has faith in me to do this. Do you?"

His reply was getting nuzzled softly by Dragonite and receiving a small coo of affection. He smiled and said, "Okay then Dragonite, I just have a couple of things to go over first."

The Pokemon nodded in understanding and Ash began. "I'm going to train you to be the most powerful Pokemon you can ever be Dragonite. Though, rather you want to battle or not is up to you. I'll give you the choice. You may just want to train to get as strong as you can but not battle and just be peaceful. If that's the case then I'm totally fine with that. In fact, life at the Lab with my other Pokemon could suit you perfectly if that is the case. That would instantly befriend you I know and you would never be alone again. You would see me whenever I came home to visit or when I needed you with me on my journey. Not to mention you would be living in a beautiful and safe place with Professor Oak and all of the other Pokemon. Pallet Town is really a great place to live. It would be a life of calm and peace when you weren't training."

He paused for a second. "If you wish to battle then you have to understand that there will be few battles I could actually use you in. Your a very powerful Pokemon and due to your size and the amount of energy you can put into your attacks you could hurt most normal Pokemon very badly. I will probably only battle with you at League Tournaments if you choose to battle."

He got a goofy grin on his face. "I'm also going to have to make a recipe of Pokemon Food that you will enjoy eating and will also be able to fill you up, while at the same time making sure that you are still consuming close to the same amount of food as my other Pokemon so I don't have to worry about running out of food for you. Since your so much bigger and your body needs so many more vitamins, minerals, protein, fats and calories than my other Pokemon do, thanks to your massive size, I will need to make sure that your food has everything in it that you are supposed to be taking into your diet. And not just to keep you healthy and strong either, but also to make your training as effective as it can be and allow the max amount of growth possible."

Ash scratched the back of his head. "Thank Arceus I trained with mom on how to make any and all combinations of Pokemon Food!"

Dragonite nodded her head eagerly at everything that Ash said. "Are you okay with all of that?" He asked her.

She nodded her head vigorously, making Ash grin. "Alright then!" He reached to his belt and pulled an empty Pokeball out.

He exhaled slowly. "Are you ready Dragonite?!" He called up to her.

She called out excitedly. "Dragoooo!"

Ash smiled wide. "Here we go then..." He reared back. "Pokeball go!" He shouted as he threw it into the air towards Dragonite.

The ball hit Dragonite in the chest and opened up. Dragonite glowed red and then her massive form disappeared into the tiny Pokeball in a flash of energy. The ball fell back down towards Ash and he caught it with one hand.

Ash and everyone else watched as the ball struggled a little in his hand, showing that Dragonite was definitely not used to Pokeballs, before it went still and 'dinged', completing the capture.

The Pokeball began to glow, signaling that it was going to be transferred to Oak's Lab since Ash had six Pokemon already. He quickly did what he forgot to do the previous night after he finished talking to Professor Oak and placed Fearow's Pokeball on the teleporter pad of the Poke'Dex. The Pokeball disappeared and then Dragonite's Pokeball stopped glowing and went still again.

After that was done everyone just looked at the spot where the colossal Dragonite had stood and then the Pokeball in Ash's hand where she was now. It finally dawned on them all at once.

"Ash just captured a Dragonite..." Misty said disbelievingly.

"A massive Dragonite..." Giselle breathed out.

"Only Ash..." Brock said shaking his head in amusement.

"The Pokemon I searched for years for and has been alone for her entire life now has a Trainer..." Bill said in astonishment. "This is what Pokemon Researchers live to see. Two souls and two destinies merging together as one. Amazing..."

Pikachu looked at the Pokeball in Ash's hand as his Trainer did the same. "We just captured a Dragonite Pi... A giant Dragonite!"

He spun around on the spot and began dancing around in glee, with Pikachu celebrating as well. Ash's friends and Bill just shook their heads and laughed at his antics. He may have been a very special and unique person that was showing the signs of being a great Trainer but deep down... He was still just a kid. A very happy kid right now, but a kid nonetheless!

...

Noon had come and Ash and his friends stood on the road that would lead them to Vermillion City.

Bill stood there near the path that lead back up to the lighthouse and smiled at the children. "Good-bye all of you. It has been a true adventure I have learned so many wonderful things. Without you I would never have met the Pokemon I have always dreamed of meeting... and I would never have gotten to witness that same Pokemon find the Trainer she was always meant to have." He said the last part looking at Ash.

Ash smiled and shook Bill's hand. "Thank you Bill. For everything. I promise I'll take good care of Dragonite."

Bill shook Ash's hand. "I know you will Ash. I'll be looking forward to seeing you both in next years Pokemon League as well. You can bet I'll be cheering for you!"

Ash smiled again. "Thanks Bill, take care."

After Ash's friends said their good-byes they set off down the road, heading for their next destination and their next adventure. What they would encounter they had no idea, but after setting their sights on the bright horizon they knew that they would be ready for anything that came their way...

(_End Chapter Six...)_

* * *

A/N: **58,329 words... people, this chapter was a beast! Whooo! I loved writing it! I hope you all love it just as much as I did:)**

**Now, I'm going to address a few things here that I think most people will want to have have answered.**

**1: I am thinking about separating each region into different stories so it's not all one big monster of a story. As you can see, I'm not skipping over shit. I'm taking all of the important things that happened and exploiting them for all their worth! However, I will leave it up to you guys and gals to decide!****  
**

**Do you want me to separate each region and generation into different stories or keep it all together in one story? I'll leave that up to you and your reviews!**

**2: Anybody who has a problem with Ash catching a lot of Pokemon don't say it because I won't hear of it. I have already explained CLEARLY how he goes about training them all, how he has the money to afford all of the food, medicine, Pokeball's... everything! As for not seeing some of Ash's Pokemon very often, know this: Many of them are happy training and living at the Lab. They don't all need to be traveling with Ash at once. He rotates them and also has his chief Pokemon that he uses the most.**

**It's not about him having all of them with him and battling with them all, it's about them being happy. The Oak Ranch is a very wonderful place where they can live, train and grow peacefully. The Ol' Lab will be getting some huh... 'Modifications' that will make life for Ash's Pokemon at the Lab even better eventually! (Don't worry you'll find out;)**

**3: For anyone that wants to even think about complaining to me about how Ash captured Dragonite as a rookie Trainer, think about this: Iris captured her own Dragonite in the show and she was ALSO a newbie Trainer. Plus, Ash is the Chosen-One right? Come on, that's reason enough. **

**4: Some people have been showing hate for that fight scene between Ash and his three mentors, Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan back in the earlier chapters. Let me shed some light. **

**What you all need to grasp and understand is this: Ash did not best those Pokemon with pure strength and power alone. In that field yes, he would have lost hands down against those three Pokemon since they were so much stronger than him. However, if you read back through that fight scene again CAREFULLY you will notice that Ash did not beat them with just brawn alone. He used superior intelligence and cunning strategy to defeat his opponents.**

**Look at the fight with Machamp, he beat him using skill and strategy. Being fast thinking and fast on his feet. Answer me this people: Did he pick up any of them and 'Hulk Smash' them into the ground? Did he pick two up at one time and knock them out against each other? Did he outmuscle any of them? No! He used intelligence! Brain over brawn, mind over muscle! Wins every time! So please, go back and read the fight scene again and remember as well: Ash has powerful Aura coursing through his body. It makes him more superior to other humans physically because of it. Just refer to Ash's outbursts in this chapter!**

**So there we go! I think that's it. Thank you to all of my dear readers for keeping up with this story! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope you return for the next one! Until then... be great, be brilliant and be spontaneous! And listen to the Goo Goo Dolls;) Especially 'Not Broken' I love that song!**

**Till chapter seven! See ya later guys... Ladies;)**

* * *

**Number of Badges Ash has obtained: Boulderbadge, Cascadebadge and Aptitude Badge**

**(3)**

**...**

**List of Ash's Pokemon:**

**Pikachu: Male**

**Charmander: Male**

**Squirtle: Male**

**Bulbasaur: Male**

**Roselia: Female**

**Pidgeotto: Female**

**Fearow: Male **

**Raticate: Male**

**Rattata (2): Female**

**Nidorina**

**Nidorino**

**Butterfree: Male**

**Beedrill: Male**

**Metapod: Male**

**Primeape: Male**

**Clefairy: Female**

**Oddish: Female**

**Weepinbell: Male**

**Paras: Male**

**Magikarp: Male**

**Staryu**

**Krabby: Male**

**Dragonite: Female**


	7. Shockin' The Surge, Rockin' The Anne!

A/N: **Sup' my home readers?! Guess who's back? Come on guess! That's righttttt! It's your favorite and friendly neighborhood 'Forever United, Never We Fall' coming at ya! WHOOO! I'm fucking high on rock 'n' roll and fitness again so let's rock! First things first! Thank you to everybody who is still following this story, offering your great support and amazing ideas! Especially all you guys out there who are helping me become better as a writer by offering your criticism and helping tips! I can't tell you all how much I appreciate each and every one of you! You are A-W-E-S-O-M-E-!**

**Before we start I'm going to address a few things, cool?!**

**1: Brock, Misty and Giselle will be getting more Pokemon. The first two will get strictly canon Pokemon and Giselle will end up with six Pokemon. It will be a slow process since I want to stretch it out and have her obtain Pokemon that really suit her as she travels with Ash too... Umm... Anyway! She will be getting more Pokemon and one of them will effect the story and one of Ash's own future Pokemon greatly. That's all I'm saying! I won't spoil anything.**

**2: I will not be detailing all of the other made up gyms in this story. I will summarize them and that's it. As in: What towns/cities they were in, the gym leaders and what they looked like, the look of their gym, the type their gym specialized in, what Pokemon they and Ash used, who won the battles and what the gym badges look like. (Every gym badge I describe is being modeled after actual un-named badges in the show. You can see the images of them if you go to Bulbapedia and search 'Badges'. Then go to where it tells you about all of the un-named badges. I will tell you with every badge I describe where to look for it on Bulbapedia).**

**It would take way too long to detail every gym that Ash is going to face and it would end up getting kind of boring. That's why I'm doing this. I want to detail things in this story but not make it drag on forever with something like tons of gym battles. I may detail one of the made up gyms battles again later but I'm not sure. I did the first one in the last chapter just to give you all an idea of what was going on in the whole, 'made up gyms' thing. As readers you sometimes only care about the summary of what happened at a certain point in the story. I feel that unimportant gym battles are one of the things you summarize. The canon gym battles I will detail however, just with my own twist;)**

**3: I'm trying to show a new angle of something in this story. And that is this: I wanted to show that Ash can have many Pokemon and that they all don't need to be traveling with him ALL of the time just to be happy. Many times when he catches Pokemon it will be to help them get as strong as they can be, but also to live happy and peaceful lives.**

**For instance: Many of Ash's Pokemon will be totally content and happy with just living at the Oak Ranch where they can train to be as strong as they can possibly be, live in a safe and peaceful place with all of the other Pokemon that Ash has captured, be fed and well taken care of by Professor Oak, and just live a life of comfort without worry. Sure, when Ash needs them they help any time! But when he doesn't need them, they are totally fine with living at the Lab.**

**Ash will obtain a group of Pokemon that are pretty much his constant battlers and traveling Pokemon. Mostly Pokemon we've seen from canon and then a few others that are unique to my story;)**

**Doing things this way allows Ash to catch as many Pokemon as I want him to without concerns that all of them are not getting a chance to travel with him. The Oak Ranch is a great place so many of them are totally ok with staying there while Ash travels the world with his chief Pokemon.**

**They stay behind at the Lab and train hard with the programs that Ash creates for them, all while living the lives that they want to at the Lab. Adhering to their Trainer's call whenever he needs them. Besides, the Oak Ranch will be getting some... 'improvements' as the story goes on that Ash's Pokemon will really enjoy!**

**This answers everyone's concerns on 'neglected Pokemon'.**

**4: Now for something that a lot of people have been asking about: Ash not losing any Pokemon in his battles so far. Believe me my dear readers, this will not stay the case. I have the entire growth and maturity of Ash and his Pokemon planned out in my head so don't worry! As I said, as the chapters roll on Ash will face tough opponents and he will lose some of his Pokemon in battles. That's just a natural and given thing! No Trainer, no matter if they are the best in the world, will go about their career and never lose a single Pokemon in a battle. That's just not realistic and makes no sense.**

**Just be warned: When Ash's Pokemon are knocked out in battle and he just shrugs it off like nothing he's not being heartless. The guy LOVES his Pokemon. He's just very calm and collected and understands that losing a Pokemon in battle is a natural occurrence when your a Trainer. When he goes a whole battle without losing a single Pokemon he wasn't banking on it. It just happened that way. However, he also knows that getting upset about losing a Pokemon in a battle will do nothing to help him win. So he remains calm. Just remember that! **

**Thank you to everybody who has shown concern over this issue but I already had this whole angle planned out anyway so... One step ahead of ya haha;p! ****I have SO MANY things hidden from you guys that you will not see coming... Most of you won't at least;)**

**As I have said before friends o mine! Thank you so much for all of your critiquing and helpful advice! I accept it graciously, *bows low*, however! I will make this clear here and now! THE NUMBER OF POKEMON ASH CATCHES IS DETERMINED BY ME AND ONLY ME! IF HE HAS DOZENS OF POKEMON THEN SO BE IT, IT'S MY DECISION AND MY DECISION ALONE! I HAVE ALREADY EXPLAINED HOW IT WILL WORK WITH ASH HAVING SO MANY POKEMON IN THIS A/N AND WILL CONTINUE TO ADDRESS IT LATER ON IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE STORY! **

**I capped everything so you could see how serious I was about this issue. I'm not being an ass, just truthful and up front. This is one of two subjects I will not be swayed on. **

**4: In the end, I just have two strict absolutes for this story that I will not be questioned on. End of story and conversation. Will not be addressed again. Should anyone PM me about the whole 'catching too many Pokemon' thing, I will not respond. I won't be a jerk and say something hurtful to you, I will just ignore you. **

**Thank you to all who understand this:)**

**6: Now for the last issue! Well, it's not really an issue, just more of something funny and enlightening that I wanted to share with all of you guys and gals, my great readers that keep giving me constant support! Which reminds me! While I'm on this topic I just wanted to say real quick that... I'm only six chapters into my VERY long story and I have over TWO HUNDRED reviews! Over THREE HUNDRED followers and the same amount of favorites! And my story is a part of FIVE communities! And I'm only SIX chapters in! Guys... wow. Just wow! You are all so amazing and I can't thank you enough for being here for me and my story. I truly appreciate you guys, and gals;) very much. Thanks again, I'm going to keep this going for all of us!**

**Now here is where the funny, serious, enlightening thing comes in to play: I have received only two or three flame reviews in my ENTIRE review stack. Now, I know I said before that I would never answer flames and I'm not. I never will. I refuse to give those people the satisfaction of being responded to. However, I will use these individuals as examples to address the community of flamers as a whole.**

**Warning: Too all kids, there is some pretty strong language ahead. You may want to skip this.**

**First things first, I hate bullies. Fucking hate them. Their nothing but garbage who deserve a shot gun blast and a kick in the ass! I've heard about people I care about being bullied physically and also by the most cowardly way to do it: Cyber bullying. I was in a mall with my cousin the other day when some younger teenage boys came up behind the chairs we were sitting at and put a clothespin on the back of his jacket and then ran away, like cowards, to take a picture of what they just did to show to their friends. My aunt saw the whole thing happen and told the kids to take it off and then she scolded them. Teenagers needing to be scolded like kids! I only saw the part with her yelling at them and when I found out what happened I came within an inch of completely losing my temper and giving those ass holes what they deserved. I didn't though because they were still minors and I'm not. I couldn't touch them. They hid behind their age and their mothers just like cyber bullies hide behind the anonymity of the internet.**

**The reason I am associating flamers with cyber bullies is because they are! They don't offer constructive criticism. 'Hey man I was thinking about why you added this or this in your story. I was wondering if you could explain to me why you did it if you don't mind' or 'I noticed your facts on this was wrong. Here is the actual information on what happened here.' When someone offers up ways, methods and ideas that can make you a better writer, those are constructive crtitiscizers. Not the, 'I don't know why you did this in the story or in this chapter it makes no sense', 'This is boring and uninteresting, I don't like the direction of your story!' Reviewers. They are flamers! And some get downright nasty and ugly about it.**

**I call these people flamers because more than once I have seen where those same flame reviews has stopped a really good story that a really talented writer was working on from continuing. Yeah you could say, 'well those writers just don't don't how to take criticism!' Well guess what? Maybe if you had put your inquiries in a more explanatory light and provided rationale for your complaints things would have been different and those writers inspiration wouldn't have been squashed! Anytime you hurt someone, either physically or mentally, when you know that the things you are saying is hurtful and crude, or when you physically cause ANYONE pain out of meanness and spite YOU... ARE... A... BULLY! And I honestly hope you get everything you dished out ten fold! Miserable fucks...  
**

**I take flames with a grain of salt and laugh at them. If you don't like the way a story is going then DON'T READ IT! You not reading a particular story is not going to hurt it. If you don't like the way something is going on in a story then why is it so hard to just leave and not read it anymore?! Do you really think that your complaining is going to change the way that, for instance, I write my story? I'm here to tell you right now that you can bitch, wine and moan all you want, I don't give a damn. This is MY story and I have many readers and fans that love the way it's going and it will remain this way all the way to the end, no if, and, or buts!**

**The flames I have received has been written by winy fucks that has no imagination, can't see or think outside the box and to me seems like people who are so insecure, uncomfortable with themselves and has so little to look forward to, they feel like they need to complain and put down other people's work just to have something to whine about and make themselves feel better.**

**Anybody who wants to see what really well put together constructively critical reviews are, (this means you flamers), read the 215, 218, 221 and 223 reviews by 'Guest', 'AJ' and 'JJ' on 5/14 through 5/17. They did a great job pointing out concerns to me in between their praises that made me actually consider their points because they provided rationale for their questions and/or concerns. They were nice about it and very polite. As in, they actually acted like people who were raised with a sense of respect and manners. Great job dude or lady, you guys rock by the way and I mean that! I have many other great reviews that are positively critical but these are the most recent ones I received that really stuck out in my mind.**

**Ohh yeah! And a huge thank you to 'Sailor T. V'! Your reviews rock! Thanks a ton!**

**Now here's something to think about for all those who are complaining about this: Yeah, my version of Ash is one bad ass Trainer and is only going to KEEP getting even better and more kick-ass! My version of Ash is not just special because he has this great destiny and he is not just winning all of his battles, catching all of the Pokemon he is and crushing his competition because he is Arceus's Chosen. She has nothing to do with him winning his battles and being the best Trainer the world has ever seen. She is ONLY involved with everything that makes him the SAVIOR of the world. He could be a horrible Trainer and Arceus would have nothing to do with it! **

**He is how he is because Ash trains FUCKING hard! He learns, he researches, he trains and he is ALWAYS looking for ways to improve himself and his Pokemon. CONSTANTLY! They train like monsters and I have stated this time and time again in the previous chapters. I don't go in detail because it would be boring as shit to hear me rattle on and on about their training. There is a storyline to follow! Besides, I've already explained in great detail about how he trains his Pokemon and with what methods he uses and believes in. When the occasion calls for it, I'll explain a certain Pokemon's training in greater detail. **

**And here's another thing for you 'rational thinkers' to mull over: If you have a fighter who trains harder than the person they are fighting... Their skills are way better, their strength, their abilities, everything about them is superior to their opponent because they TRAIN HARDER and WANT IT MORE... when they go up against that other fighter in the ring who has not trained nearly as hard as they have and doesn't 'want it' as much as they do, guess who's losing?! **

**Tell me something rational thinkers. Does it make sense to make Ash lose to an opponent who is much less skilled then him and his Pokemon? When they don't train nearly as hard and are levels below them? Just to have Ash lose for the sake of 'just because'? Hell no! The one who wants it more will ALWAYS win!**

**So here's the thing: My story is going to be very weird and very different. My Ash is going to be out of this world because he 'WANTS IT'! He AND his Pokemon 'WANTS IT'! They ARE going to have many tough battles eventually and Ash IS going to catch MANY, MANY Pokemon! In fact, you can refer to my earlier statement in this A/N about how him having tons of Pokemon is going to work out. I'm writing this story for me and all of the fans who have been wanting to read a Pokemon story that is no holds bar and DOES NOT conform to the standard! I refuse to let this story fall into the category of all the other stories people have started that had great aspirations of being different and standing out, only to let a bunch of miserable ingrates come along and ruin their inspiration and drive! I will not change this story and it WILL stand above all the others! I want this story to stand as a beacon to all of the writers out there who just want to let their imaginations go wild and write a story about whatever in the hell they want! No matter how strange others may think it is! I tell all of you people who are reading this to hear my words! Trust and believe in yourself! The only thing that matters in the end is what YOU think of the work your doing! Nobody else! Do it and feel proud!**

**All of you flamers keep hitting me with your pathetic words of hate and contempt. You think I will listen or so much as consider taking even one of your complaints into consideration? Think again! I won't take a single piece of the shit that is your words seriously. This story WILL rise above and WILL break the mold! I have a whole fan base of great readers behind me, what do YOU have?! And guess what? I take HELPFUL suggestions, ideas and criticism from my readers all the time. I have already implemented several ideas into my story in the previous chapters that people have suggested to me and I will continue to do so!**

**Ohhh and by the way, Ash DOES curbstomp some serious ass and he's going to keep doing the same thing! I said my Ash was going to a bad fucker. I wasn't kidding. Now go take your flames and shit eating reviews, bend over and fuck yourselves with them! My story is not going to fucking change!**

**The area is clear of foul language now. All kids can come on back!**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**...**

**NOW LET'S GET ROCKIN' WITH THIS AWESOME, WEIRD STORY MY FREAKY FANFIC FRIENDS!  
**

**P.S. This chapter has been carefully hand selected and approved by a great dragon. (That was for you man! You know who you are... SARGE;)**

**_'The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be: Chapter Seven...'  
_**

**_'Shockin' The Surge, Rockin' The Anne!'_**

**...  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon... but you all knew that;)**

* * *

Ash Ketchum stood on a hill overlooking the port town of Vermillion City, his partner and first Pokemon Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder comfortably but also with an air of constant alertness about himself and a hidden sense of power also radiating from the small Pokemon. Something his Trainer also exuded.

Behind Ash were his friends, Brock, Misty and Giselle, who had just now joined him atop the hill and were now looking over the city with him.

"It's a nice looking city." Giselle commented idly.

Ash nodded his head. "Yes it is. I'm more concerned with the Pokemon Center that they have down there though. My Pokemon deserve a really nice rest." The boy said looking at Pikachu.

It had been two weeks since they had left Bill's lighthouse and in that time he and his Pokemon had trained like monsters, preparing themselves for anything that they would face when they challenged the Vermillion Pokemon Gym.

Ash had been training so hard that he actually FELT his muscles repairing the damage he had done to them over the past two weeks.

All of the Pokemon Ash had with him had grown by leaps and bounds over the past half a month. Especially Pikachu. He had hit another 'power growth spurt' as Ash liked to call his starter Pokemon's insane gains in power he would go through randomly. The little Pokemon just kept getting stronger with seemingly no limits to his gains in strength.

The second Pokemon he had with him was Charmander. The little Fire-Type had also made huge gains in power over the past two weeks. He had learned the new moves Flame Burst and Slash. He now knew the moves: Ember, Smokescreen, Fire Fang, Slash, Dragon Rage and Flame Burst.

Charmander had been growing so fast and so strong with Ash's training program that he wondered what Damian would say if he saw Charmander now.

The third Pokemon Ash had on him was Bulbasaur. The Grass-Type had learned new moves as well but his real accomplishment was on the gains in power he had been making. The Pokemon had been growing stronger very fast and Ash was very happy for him.

He had learned the new moves: Double Edge and Synthesis.

He now knew the moves: "Razor Leaf, Vine Whip, Sweet Scent, Poisonpowder, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Double Edge, Growth and Synthesis.

Squirtle was the fourth Pokemon he had with him and the little Water Pokemon had also grown very much in the last two weeks. He had learned the new moves: Protect and Water Pulse.

He now knew the moves: Tackle, Bite, Water Pulse, Protect, Bubble and Rapid Spin.

Pidgeotto was the fifth member of his team and had grown not only stronger but also even faster in speed over the two weeks they been traveling.

She learned two new moves, one which surprised him. She had learned Roost and shockingly enough, Wing Attack. It was surprising because usually Pidgeotto didn't learn that move until they evolved into their final evolutionary stage, Pidgeot.

The final member of Ash's team was his newest and arguably most special Pokemon... The giant Dragonite that decided to go with Ash and become his Pokemon back at Bill's lighthouse.

It was extremely hard for Ash to design an effective and intense training program for Dragonite. Both because the Pokemon was so large and also because she had such power in her attacks they had to be very careful not to destroy anything important, or injure any stray people or Pokemon. It was also difficult because they had to be careful not to let any anyone or at least as few people as possible see her. Not easy since she was over one hundred feet tall.

In the end Ash decided on two methods for approaching her training: For her physical training Ash had decided to use objects in the environment for her body weights. She would use such things as large trees she would pull out of the ground and large boulders she would pick up and lift for strength training. For her move and power training Ash would have her work on each of her moves for a certain amount of time, having her focus on building the power of her moves and also the number of times she could use them without getting tired. As well as many other methods for working her moves.

To avoid being seen, Ash would always wait to train Dragonite until late at night. He would make up for her missing the training that all of his other Pokemon did during the day by drilling her extremely hard at night.

Many of the physical training exercises Ash would have her do covered everything his other Pokemon worked on. He would have her work her cardio and stamina by taking to the darkened skies at night with large boulders in her arms and then she would fly until exhaustion. Ash would have her go as high in the sky as possible to work on flying in very high elevations. This would make up for the lack of resistance training tools she had available to her because of her size. The sky and gravity was not limited to size which meant that she had a constant form of resistance merely a few wingbeats away. This was especially true if it was raining. Her wings would get weighed down with the water and make it tougher on her to fly. Likewise, if they were lucky enough to get a thunderstorm Dragonite would be able to work on dodging bolts of lightning as projectiles that she needed to avoid for her speed and agility training.

For strength training he would make her fly high into the sky, large trees or boulders in hand and then perform several different aerial exercises that would would fatigue her muscles to exhaustion.

He also had her work all of her moves high in the sky. In fact, if someone were to look up in the sky late at night where Dragonite was training, they would think that fireworks were being set off. Massive fireworks!

In truth, there wasn't any kind of training that Dragonite could actually do on the ground since any time she would move or Arceus forbid jump, it would feel like an earthquake was taking place. Scaring any Pokemon nearby and/or people in towns and cities miles away.

This was okay with Ash and Dragonite since she got a much better workout doing her training in the skies anyway.

If there was thing that training Dragonite confirmed was that he would not be able to use her in ordinary Trainer or gym battles. She was just way to strong for that and ran a serious risk of hurting other Pokemon with her attacks.

Another method of training that Ash actually engaged in with Dragonite was a bonding and trust building exercise. Dragonite would lift Ash up in the palm of her hand and place him on her neck. She would then take off into the air and fly with Ash on her back. He would command her to use several different attacks while they were flying with him on top of her the whole time. This would work her control to extreme levels. If she wasn't careful with how she executed her attacks and with how much power she used then Ash would fall off.

Just the same, Dragonite would perform several different aerial acrobatics while in the air that required Ash to trust that Dragonite knew what she was doing and wouldn't let him fall.

The first time he did this Ash was nervous, but after he flew on Dragonite for the first time he was instantly addicted. It became a perfect bonding experience for Ash and Dragonite to do together and built their relationship beautifully.

What was funny was that from the ground you couldn't even tell Ash was riding Dragonite! He would appear as just a black spot on her back. A tiny spot!

When he was flying with her he would many times look back and try to see where Dragonite's body would end, where her tail was, and he never could. It was like standing directly under a skyscraper and trying to see the top of it with the sun in your eyes. Dragonite was simply to massive to even hope to to find the end of her body when Ash was riding on her.

Pikachu had even taken to flying with them after watching Ash do it a few times. He was just like his Trainer, after Pikachu rode with Ash and Dragonite one time he was hooked! He would always ride in the same spot. Tucked safely back into Ash's lap. Not a single night went by that Pikachu didn't ride with them. Needless to say, it bonded the three of them together even closer and it was safe to say that Pikachu and Dragonite had become good friends.

Ash had tried to get Brock, Misty and Giselle to ride with him and Pikachu but Brock and Misty vehemently denied, saying they were perfectly happy with sleeping safely on the ground while they had their late night flying sessions. They 'appreciated the offer' they had said, which made Ash laugh at them.

Funny enough and on a side note: That was exactly the same thing that Brock and Misty always said when he asked them to train with him. They 'appreciated the offer' but would rather do their own training. And they did train their Pokemon pretty regularly it was just... No where even close to how Ash and his Pokemon trained. Then again, he was shooting for something much bigger than them so he understood.

Thinking of that reminded Ash of the first night that Dragonite took to the skies. When she opened her wings and prepared to take off, the force of her wings flying open caused a large gust of wind to tear through their campsite, scattering everything everywhere and even uprooting a few smaller sized trees in the clearing they were in. They learned quickly to never let Dragonite take off flying anywhere near them if they didn't want to be bowled over by the fierce currents of air that came from her massive wings.

Giselle was actually the only one who went flying with Ash and Pikachu on Dragonite. Just like Ash and Pikachu she was scared her first time but after that she was hooked to it as well. While Brock and Misty slept every night... Ash, Giselle and Pikachu were flying on Dragonite, having the time of their lives.

The funny thing was, Giselle had become Dragonite's favorite person next to Ash. This happened after she started trusting Dragonite enough to actually ride on her. This strengthened Ash's theory that in order to really gain the favor and respect of Dragon-Types you had to show them the same kindness and emotions you wanted them to show you. The same was true for all Pokemon, but Ash felt it even more so for Dragon Types. This was also something that Ash was quick to write down in his Pokemon Researcher In-Training journal. He kept marveling over just how complex Dragon Pokemon were the more time he spent training and bonding with Dragonite. They were extremely hard to figure out, but once you did began to understand them and gain their trust and respect they were amazing Pokemon. Ash could say that Dragon-Types were quickly becoming one of his favorite types of Pokemon.

It went without saying that Ash and Dragonite had a perfect training schedule set up finally. And because of their bonding exercises they did and all of the time they spent together, they were in complete harmony with each other when it came to their relationship. Ash showed Dragonite the utmost respect and took her needs and desires into consideration all the time. He was kind and caring to her but also firm and showed a grit when working with her that was far beyond his years.

He had learned exactly how to train Dragonite to exhaustion and help her perform the training that was most beneficial to her. This had earned Dragonite's respect for Ash. When she looked at her Trainer she didn't see an unworthy greenhorn newbie that was struggling along trying to find his way. No... When she looked at Ash she saw the future of a truly great and amazing Pokemon Trainer that would do astounding things. She was proud to call him her Trainer.

In fact, in just the two weeks that he had trained with Dragonite, she mastered the moves she had known for so long. Her strength, stamina, speed, power and even agility had increased exponentially. She even had managed to learn new moves. She now knew: Twister, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Roost, Thunder Wave, Dragon Rage, Agility, Dragon Tail and Hurricane.

In short, Ash had managed the impossible. Or what so many people would think was impossible. He had earned the complete trust, respect and loyalty of a Pseudo-Legendary. And not just any Pseudo-Legendary either, but a colossal over one hundred foot tall Dragonite! He had created the perfect training program for her with nothing more than his own intelligence and skills, and he did it all as a rookie Trainer.

His friends were very impressed with him. His other Pokemon were also just as proud of Ash and viewed their Trainer with even more respect and reverence then they did before Dragonite came along.

Something else Ash was very glad for was the fact that Dragonite had become totally accustomed to her Pokeball and actually enjoyed resting inside of it. Something he was afraid she would not come to accept since she had never even seen a Pokeball before, save the one that ended up becoming her own.

Another great thing was that she fit into Ash's team of Pokemon perfectly. They had accepted her with no problems whatsoever which made Ash very happy. He had actually swapped some of the Pokemon he had with him around with Pokemon from the Lab during the last two weeks so they could get some bonding and one on one training time in with Ash as well.

They had all grown amazingly well at the Lab, doing their own training programs and had grown much stronger. The former village Pokemon that was cared for by Melanie had also grown much stronger. Especially Magikarp. Ash was convinced that he was close to evolving, which excited him greatly. He had already decided that after he challenged the Vermillion City gym and they left to go to their next destination he was going to swap Pidgeotto out for Magikarp so that when he did evolve Ash could be there for it and then get to work on developing his Pokemon's new training program as a Gyarados.

Ash had actually asked Professor Oak if he could call him when his Pokemon looked close to evolving so he could get them sent over to him, that way he could be there for their evolutions. Of course the Professor immediately agreed.

The greatest thing about getting all of his Pokemon together with him over the last two weeks was that they all got a chance to meet Dragonite. They were only intimidated by her size for the first few moments after they first met the colossal Pokemon and then quickly warmed up to her after that. This made Dragonite extremely happy and made her feel like she finally belonged somewhere and was cared for.

Ash had even managed to finally creat his first perfect batch of Pokemon Food meant for Dragon-Types and was specifically made for Dragonite, including her immense size and training needs. She loved the taste of the food, it filled her large stomach up fast and the best part was... She only needed to eat regular sized portions of food. It just took Ash finding the perfect mixture of Pokemon Food mix, (it had a lot of ingredients from the sea. Not surprising since she she did live in the ocean for Arceus knows how long. One of the ingredients was actually Wailord blubber, leading Ash to believe that Dragonite probably ate Wailord a lot.) The rest of the food was mixed with the best berry combinations that Ash could create.

The ingredient that gave the food it's special property of filling up his massive Dragonite was actually a berry his mother had given him as a present after perfecting his cooking skills before he left home. It was called an Enigma berry (He had no idea where she got it from) and rumors abounded around the region this particular berry came from, (which was Hoenn), that it served the needs of whatever the individual using it needed the berry to offer at the time of use.

Ash guessed the rumors were true. It gave Dragonite's food the special kick it needed to fill her up without using tons of food. Luckily, the rumors about Enigma berries growing fast if you actually got a hold of one and planted it's seeds, were also true. Otherwise Ash would fear losing his 'secret weapon' against Dragonite's hunger. They actually grew almost overnight, shockingly enough, which meant that Ash only needed to plant one in the soil before bed and then we he got up the next day he had freshly grown Enigma berries, usually two or three. One Enigma berry would usually last him days since he only needed to chop off small parts of it to put into Dragonite's food. They were also very hardy growers and could grow in literally almost ANY type of soil. The Poke'Food mix that he mixed the berries with was very popular so he didn't have to worry about running out there either.

On a completely unrelated note, he also found that Dragon-Types apparently liked bitter Poke'Food that had just a hint of sweetness to it. That was exactly how Dragonite's food came out when he was done with it. Or maybe it was just something that she liked personally? He didn't know since he had no other Dragon Pokemon to compare it to.

Either way, Dragonite loved the food, it filled her up and it gave her all the nutrients she needed. Brock pouted and moped around that Ash was able to create the perfect recipe of Dragon-Type Pokemon food, which was very hard to make according to recipe books, when he as a Pokemon Breeder In-Training could not.

Eventually he stopped moping around when Misty clobbered him over the head and yelled at him, saying that Dragonite was hungry and that he either needed to get over himself and feed the Pokemon or get clobbered again so hard he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Muk and an Officer Jenny. Needless to say, Brock's pouting quickly ended after that and he was all smiles again. Well... He was all 'Brock' again. Which included the pervyness unfortunately...

Thinking about Poke'Food made Ash realize just how unique all of his Pokemon really were. Their food all tasted completely different and had it's own special flavoring. Charmander's for instance was made to help him grow stronger and build his firepower to much higher levels. The food smelled almost spicy Ash thought.

On the completely opposite hand, Squirtle's food was made to help him grow stronger and faster on both land and water. It was also really benficial for helping him with building up the power of his water pressure. His food tasted sweet and yet had a slight hint of lemony zest to it that Squirtle absolutely loved!

Yes it definitely amazed Ash with just how different and unique his Pokemon were when it came to something as simple as the food they ate.

One thing that Ash was anxious for was how Professor Oak would take the news of Ash obtaining a Dragonite at such an early stage on his journey. He chuckled to himself. He would know soon enough. Ash planned to tell him when they reached Vermillion City and he called home again.

The last and probably most constant subject on his mind, was Giselle. That girl was constantly shocking Ash with just how... Like him she was becoming over time. Only a day after they had left the lighthouse Ash had been training as usual with his Pokemon during a break for lunch they had decided to take while the others did their usual thing. Brock and his cooking, and Misty reading one of her books on training Water Pokemon. All of their Pokemon were out as usual.

It was a hot day since they were still so near the coast, so Ash decided to workout without his shirt, as usual, and converted his track pants to shorts. He was just getting ready to start his workout when Giselle suddenly came up to him wearing matching teal workout shorts and shirt with her hair pulled back. When he looked at her with confusion she asked Ash if she could begin training with him as well as her Pokemon.

Ash was shocked senseless at her request. Not one of his friends had asked to train with him, purely because what he did was crazy. However, here Giselle was, nervously asking to train with him. He eagerly complied, which brought a huge smile to her face and then she and her Graveler and Cubone trained with Ash and his Pokemon.

By the end of it, Giselle and her Pokemon were utterly exhausted and laid on the ground, unable to stand. For Ash, the sight of Giselle exhausted, sweating, breathing hard and pretty much glowing with the after effect of the workout, did things to him that should not happen to a boy his age.

After she and her Pokemon had recovered from the intense workout she begged Ash to please allow them to start training with him everyday. This shocked him as well, thinking them to be done with his training after just one time, however she surprised him yet again. He eagerly complied, to which she smothered him with a hug, both were soaked in sweat but they didn't care.

After that, and then everyday for the past two weeks, she and her Pokemon trained with Ash and his Pokemon. He taught Giselle how to create good nutrition plans for her Pokemon, with which she did amazing, and taught her how to eat the right way like he did. All in all, he was ecstatic that he had a training partner and even more so considering that it was Giselle. She utterly mystified him at every turn. Not too mention, the strange feelings that he felt growing for her just kept getting stronger and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out exactly what those feelings were. He was suddenly broken from his musings by Brock speaking up.

"Well Ash you only need one more badge after this one to qualify for the Pokemon League." Brock told him as he came up to stand beside Ash.

The boy took a deep breath. "Yeah your right. And I'll still be about eight months ahead of schedule as well. That's why I'm going to challenge all of the other gyms and collect all of the Kanto gym badges before the next conference. It'll really give me and my Pokemon a lot more battle experience and make us even stronger. Not to mention traveling through the entire region will give me a chance to meet unique Pokemon." He explained.

Misty just rolled her eyes. "What Ash, seeing and then CATCHING a GIANT DRAGONITE not good enough for you?" She said in a joking manner.

Ash smiled at Misty and replied back. "It's never good enough Mist, you should know that about me!"

They all laughed at this and then Ash said seriously. "The truth is... A good Trainer never let's anything become good enough for them. They respect and treasure what they have but they always push for more. Dragonite is an amazing Pokemon yes, but I want to find even more fascinating Pokemon that can help teach me more about them and help me become a better Trainer and eventually, Pokemon Researcher."

Misty just shrugged. "If you say so. I just think your catch crazy!"

Ash simply chuckled and shook his head. He took the time to think about the previous three gym battles that he and his Pokemon had battled in since they left Bill's lighthouse.

...

The first place they went to was a small forest town called Andon Town. It wasn't really big and was only a days detour from the main road. They had room for an urban area and a small shopping area and that was it. The gym itself was in a warehouse and was situated further back in the forest, away from the town. In fact, if you didn't know what to look for then the gym would have been very easy to miss.

The inside of the warehouse looked exactly the same as the outside in the forest. There were trees bushes and shrubs everywhere. As well as several webs that were strung up all over the place. The battlefield was about medium sized and was surrounded by crates covered in webs on all sides.

The gym leader was a boy around Brock's age. He had short silver hair that stood up on the end and had green eyes. He wore green pants with lime green shoes on his feet, a long sleeved green shirt and a light green undershirt that was underneath the. long sleeved shirt. He what looked liked spider webs draped over his shoulders and had the designs of black spider webs all over his clothes. He also wore glasses with lenses that were shaped to look like Venonat eyes.

The boys name was Iggy and he specialized in Bug-Type Pokemon. He was a nice boy, if not a little strange the way he talked about Bug-Types like they were all that mattered in his strange little world. He had a high pitched voice and was constantly spouting off different facts about Bug Pokemon.

Ash did his research before he came to this gym and prepared his own team of bugs to take Iggy down with. He wanted to show that his bugs were superior. He didn't disappoint either. The battle started with Iggy choosing a Beedrill as his first Pokemon. Ash used his own Beedrill and the battle commenced. Iggy had trained his Beedrill well and it knew some strong attacks, however Ash's Beedrill was not only stronger and faster from the training that he went through with Butterfree and Metapod, he also knew strong moves that he had perfected.

He knew the moves: Fury Attack, Twineedle, Focus Energy, Rage, Pursuit, Toxic Spikes, Pin Missile, Agility and his strongest move so far... Poison Jab.

After trading a few blows back and forth with things like Fury Attack, Twineedle and Pursuit, Iggy's Beedrill was looking bad. He commanded it to attack Ash's Beedrill with Pin Missile and that's where he messed up. Ash ordered his Pokemon to use Agility and then get in close and hit Iggy's Beedrill with Poison Jab. The attack hit dead center and Iggy's Beedrill was out.

The next match was between Iggy's Pinsir and Ash's Butterfree. Butterfree had learned quite a few moves since Ash last had the Pokemon with him. He had also gotten much stronger. Even more so than Beedrill.

He now knew the moves: Confusion, Sleep Powder, Poisonpowder, Stun Spore, Gust, Supersonic, Whirlwind, Psybeam, Silver Wind and Tailwind.

The battle was very intense. Pinsir was strong and knew powerful moves. It would keep trying to get a hold of Butterfree but the fast Pokemon would just keep avoiding it. Ash would have Butterfree use moves like Gust and Sliver Wind to knock Pinsir off balance and then hit it with moves like Psybeam and Confusion. The battle ended when Pinsir trapped Butterfree in it's large Pincirs and began squeezing him hard. Ash commanded Butterfree to use Sleep Powder while it still could and as soon as the attack hit Pinsir, since Butterfree was raised over it's head, it fell straight to sleep. Ash then commanded his bruised up Butterfree to use a Psybeam enhanced Sliver Wind that struck Pinsir hard and caused a small explosion. After the dust had settled Pinsir was shown unconscious.

The last match was between Iggy's Venonat and Ash's Metapod.

The battle seemed one sided for a long time with Venonat just continuously hitting the Cocoon Pokemon with attacks like Headbutt, Confusion and Leech Life. Ash had commanded Metapod to use Harden to the max and then had him let Venonat hit him all around the field. Every time Metapod would land in a new spot, Ash would have him use String Shot at different places all over the gym. Eventually the whole battlefield was covered in the sticky webbing. It got to the point where Venonat began having trouble getting through the maze of sticky, stringy webbing and not to mention, it had grown tired after attacking Metapod so many times.

When that started happening, Ash commanded Metapod to start springing off of his own webbing towards Venonat and hit it as hard as he could with Tackle. Metapod began hitting Venonat from all over the web infested battlefield with speed enhanced Tackles from launching himself off of the webs. It started looking like a game of pinball and Iggy could only watch it happen. Ash commanded Metapod to launch himself at Venonat one last time and use a Bug Bite/Tackle combination. Metapod executed his move perfectly and when it was over Venonat was done.

With such a big win Metapod had gained all of the experience he needed and evolved into Butterfree. It was a touching moment for Ash when just weeks prior the very Butterfree that floated before him proudly now was just a small and untrained Caterpie when Ash first met him at Melanie's cottage. Butterfree and Beedrill did an amazing job overseeing the new Butterfree's training and Ash made sure to let them know how much he appreciated them by holding a small celebration for them later that night with Pikachu, Brock, Misty, Giselle and their Pokemon. When his three Bug-Types all took off flying together for the first time that night it actually brought tears to Ash's eyes. He was very proud of them and couldn't wait to see how much stronger they would keep getting the next time he got them back from the Lab. Ash was also never more glad that he had gotten the idea to put scarves on both of his Butterfree. It really helped him tell them apart even though his first Butterfree was bigger than his second. His first Butterfree wore a yellow scarf and his second one wore a green scarf.

After Ash defeated Iggy and was praised by the boy for his strategic abilities in battle and the amazing way he raised Bug Pokemon, he awarded Ash with the Cunning Badge. The badge was green and shaped like a big bump. It had four smaller bumps on the bottoms of it with a large orange bump on the top. (A/N: On Bubapedia, go to the unnamed badges section and check the 'unnamed Trainer's badges' out. Their the badges that the boy is holding in the red case. The badge I'm describing is on the top row. If you read my description of the badge then you can't miss spotting it in the boy's case. Just use my description and compare the badges. To make it easier it's the third one to the left on the inside. Or the first badge to the right on the inside if that's how your looking at it. Remember: Top row!)

After that was over and Ash and his friends said good-bye to Iggy they left Andon Town and headed for the next detour on their way to Vermillion.

...

Their next stop had been at Ceras City. It was a bit of a detour from Vermillion but worth it. Ceras was one of the many coastal populaces that you would find in that part of Kanto and was a fairly large city. It had many large buildings, an urban area and a market district. It was surrounded by the mountains near the coast and gave the city a beautiful view from both the front, where the ocean was, and the back, where the mountains were.

The gym was actually located right in the heart of the city and was located in a large, square building that was made almost entirely out of glass. The inside of the building looked like an office lobby and the battlefield was in a big room that had a large field in which to battle on. The walls and ceiling were all made of glass and the room itself was at a higher floor and overlooked the ocean.

The gym leader was a properly dressed man who looked to be in his thirties and wore a pin striped business suit. He had dirty blond hair slicked down with some kind of gel, had a rather thin looking face and wore sophisticated looking glasses that covered his blue eyes.

The man's name was Ethan and he spoke with a very uppity sounding voice. He specialized in multiple types of Pokemon. Ash kept his normal team with him after finding out that he didn't specialize in anything particular.

The first battle was between Ethan's Machoke and Ash's Charmander.

Machoke was very fast and brutal with it's attacks. Hardly ever stopping it's attacks and showing it's endurance. Luckily, Charmander had the same kind of endurance and was able to keep up with all of the Fighting-Type's attacks as they came at him. Using his agility, Charmander had managed to jump over and avoid the attacks and then sneak in and hit the larger Pokemon with attacks like Slash and Fire Fang.

However, Machoke had managed to hit Charmander with a Low Kick and then barraged him with a strong Revenge attack, before punching Charmander hard with a Mega Punch and sending the small Pokemon plowing into the ground.

Charmander had managed to stand up and his eyes began glowing red as he started building up Rage. Ash told Charmander to use Smokescreen to blind Machoke. When the field hazed over Ash commanded Charmander to charge into the smoke and hit Machoke with Flame Burst and then barrage his foe with Rage enhanced Slash and Fire Fang attacks.

Charmander charged into the smoke and began his barrage on Machoke. Blinded by the smoke, Ethan and Machoke could do nothing but let the attack commence.

Charmander jumped back out of the smoke and then Ash told him to use his remaining power from Rage and combine it with Dragon Rage. Charmander charged up a massive and fury filled Dragon Rage attack and then launched into the smoke, causing a big explosion that made them all worry the glass windows and ceilings would break.

When the haze cleared it showed Machoke completely unconscious on the ground.

The next battle was between Ethan's Rhyhorn and Ash's Squirtle.

Rhyhorn was a pure powerhouse Pokemon and relied heavily on his mass and heavy hitting attacks to try and take Squirtle out. Luckily, Squirtle was very fast and light on his feet from all of the training he did on the land and in the water while they had been traveling on the coast and was able to keep up with Rhyhorn easily and dodge all of his attacks.

It's like Ash always said. Speed was a Pokemon's best friend in any battle.

Ash had Squirtle do a lot of jumping and sliding on his shell to avoid his opponent. To attack, Ash would command Squirtle to weave his way inside of Rhyhorns defense by firing either Bubble or Water Pulse at the Pokemon to distract it. He would then come up on either Rhyhorn's sides, or under his stomach and then use Water Pulse to hit the larger Pokemon with a powerful blast of water that would send Squirtle skidding safely away from Rhyhorn.

However, at one point when Squirtle performed this strategy Ethan had Rhyhorn lay on top of Squirtle with Body Slam when he was passing under him. Ethan was going to have his Pokemon lay on Squirtle until it passed out but Ash formed a quick strategy.

He ordered Squirtle to use Water Pulse and Bubble while under Rhyhorn with as much pressure as he could force into it. The Bubble attacks would hit Rhyhorn under the stomach and cause it stinging pain, while the Water Pulse kept trying to lift Rhyhorn into the air. Eventually the Pokemon couldn't take it anymore and rose up slowly, much to Ethan's protest.

At that moment Ash told Squirtle to use Water Pulse as hard as he could at the Pokemon's underside since he had some room to move now. Squirtle did and when the Water Pulse hit the underside of the Pokemon it lifted it off of the ground and up into the air.

Before it could hit the ground Ash commanded Squirtle to use a Rapid Water Spin. Which was a combination of Water Pulse and Rapid Spin.

He began spinning all around the room like a spinning water wheel and started smacking Rhyhorn every which way. The Pokemon never managed to hit the ground because Squirtle's attacks were keeping it levitated into the air.

Ash commanded Squirtle to end it by getting above Rhyhorn while it was still in the air helpless and come down on top of it with as hard of a Pulse Tackle as possible. Which was a combination of Tackle and Water Pulse.

As Squirtle made his way down towards Rhyhorn he began launching strong pulses of water from his back end, which gave him speed, and also directly into Rhyhorn's head. Which kept weakening it. When Squirtle finally made contact with Rhyhorn with a Water Pulse enhanced Tackle, he sent the larger Pokemon soaring into the ground below where it crashed landed and went still. Unconscious.

The last battle was between Ethan's Pontya and Ash's Bulbasaur.

Ash played this battle very much on the safe side because of the huge type disadvantage. He had Bulbasaur stay extremely light on his feet the entire time and never had had him stay in one place to long because of the multitude of Fire-Type attacks that Ethan kept having Ponyta attack Bulbasaur with. Also, being that Ponyta was a fast Pokemon it made dodging it's attacks very difficult for Bulbasaur.

Eventually, It hit Bulbasaur with a Stomp attack that knocked him into the ground. Right as Ponyta got ready to release a Fire Spin attack on the downed Grass-Type, Ash commanded Bulbasaur to use his vines and attach them to the upper rafters.

Bulbasaur used this method to swing himself out if the way just as the attack hit where he had been. Ash had an idea and commanded Bulbasaur to start launching Leech Seeds in the middle of the battlefield while he swung away from Ponyta.

Once he had completed his task and was back on the ground, Ash commanded Bulbasaur to lead Ponyta towards the seeds while dodging the attacks that Ethan kept commanding his Pokemon to use in hopes of catching Bulbasaur.

Right as Bulbasaur made it to the implanted Leech Seeds and Ponyta was charging in to hit him with a Flame Charge attack, Ash told Bulbasaur to use his vines to jump back into the air and leave a wall of Poisonpowder in his wake.

Ethan saw the danger and commanded his Pokemon to stop it's charge. Ponyta did and ended up right over top of the Leech Seeds. Ash then commanded Bulbasaur to activate the seeds and wrap his vines around Ponyta's legs and pull her on top of them.

Ethan wasn't fast enough to command his Pokemon to dodge and Ponyta was to tired from it's constant attacks to avoid Bulbasaur's vines that wrapped themselves around her back legs and pulled her down onto the energy sucking seeds.

Ethan had watched in despair as his Pokemon's energy was stolen from it mercilessly. In the end, Ponyta fell to the ground unconscious from energy drain.

After Ethan congratulated Ash on his victory, battle prowess and his Pokemon's amazingly quick reflexis in battle, he awarded him with the Reflex Badge.

It was a yellow/golden color and was shaped like something between a crescent moon and claw of sorts. (A/N: On Bulbapedia, look up Gary's badges. It's the one on the top row, in the far right hand corner. It's the very last badge on that side).

After thanking Ethan and accepting his badge they left the gym and headed out of Ceras City for their next destination: Kaston Village.

...

Kaston Village was actually a small community that was situated deep within the forests just outside of the coastal towns and cities.

The whole town/village was made to look very wild and untamed. The houses were simple log homes and the shops were just a few small mom and pop groceries. There was a small Pokemon Center and also Poke'Mart located in the community just like was required for for any place that housed a Pokemon Gym. The trees seemed to tower over everything and if one described the small community in one word it would be... Natural.

The Pokemon Gym was actually located in a massive log structure that lead deeper into the forest and had a very wild look to it. The Pokemon Leage emblem above the door actually had vines growing around it.

Once inside the gym they had to follow a few twisting turns until they finally made it out into a wide open clearing that was surronded on all sides by the forest. Boxed in. The battlefield was on a very large and elevated platform that was suspended off the ground by large logs. The entire arena had a huge net draped across it and a wooden bridge led out onto the battlefield.

The gym leader was a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties and had long green hair that was tied back into a ponytail. She wore a brown V-neck shirt sleeve short and grey cargo shorts with a brown leather belt across the waist. She also wore brown hiking boots on her feet. Her face looked excited, wild and looked like she had a hard time standing still.

Her name was Liza and she spoke with a girlish excitement in her voice. She specialized in 'any Pokemon she thought went well with nature' and that was all she said about it when Ash tried to press the issue.

The battle started with Ash facing off against Liza's Parasect with his own Paras.

Ash had actually decided to use the Pokemon he had captured at Melanie's cottage for this gym battle. It was his first time battling with Paras and he wanted to see how strong he was. Professor Oak told Ash that Paras trained extremely hard just like all of his other Pokemon and Ash was excited to see his progress. He knew the moves: Stun Spore, Poisonpowder, Slash, Growth, Leech Life, Fury Attack and Spore.

The battle was constant the entire time. Neither opponent giving an each. Parasect didn't want to lose against it's pre-evolved form and Paras didn't want to lose period.

Parasect kept attacking Paras relentlessly with every move it knew. From Spore, Slash, Fury Futter and even Giga Drain. Paras was fast and managed to dodge the bulk of the attacks but he still got hit with attacks like Fury Cutter and occasionally he would even get caught temporarily in the tendrils of Giga Drain.

Ash would always manage to command Paras to cut itself free from the tendrils using it's Slash attack or Fury Cutter but he knew that he couldn't keep up the game of run away for long. Paras would eventually get tired.

Parasect had already landed a few hits on Paras and he had only grazed Parasect a few times with either Fury Futter or Slash.

That's when an idea hit Ash. Paras didn't need to outmuscle Parasect... Just outsmart it! He had Paras use his speed to get close to Parasect. Liza had her Pokemon use Slash, trying to stop Paras but he just jumped out of the way. Ash then ordered him to get under Parasect's legs and use Slash and Fury Cutter to take the Pokemon's legs out from under it.

It worked beautifully and after Paras had cleared itself from under it's legs, Parasect fell to the ground. Liza tried to get Parasect to use Giga Drain from where it was but Ash was quicker and had Paras get in close enough to launch a Spore attack at the downed Pokemon.

It fell asleep in a matter of seconds and then Paras began glowing with a bluish aura around it. A few seconds later long tendrils were coming out of the energy surrounding Paras and Ash knew that he had just learned Giga Drain.

He ordered Paras to use his new move and so he did. The tendrils wrapped around the sleeping Pokemon and sapped it's energy completely. By the time it was over and it fell back to the ground, Parasect was unconscious.

The final match was actually a double battle. Ash wanted to see how well both of his Rattata battled together since they supposedly were very good at it if what Professor Oak said was true.

Liza was more than happy to oblige and took on his Rattata with her Exeggcute and Tangela.

The entire battle Ash would have his Rattata rely on speed, evasion and tactics to avoid the many attacks thrown their way and also deliver their own. Exeggute and Tangela were both Grass-Types and they knew a lot of energy draining and status effecting moves that Ash was very wary for.

He would keep both of his Rattata running, dodging and attacking away from each other and separate instead of as a unit, so they wouldn't be such easy targets. Since his Rattata both knew the same moves: Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Pursuit, Hyper Fang and Crunch, he would have them attack with separate moves.

When they would get in close after dodging either Tangela's Vine Whips or Exeggute's attacks like Confusion and Seed Bomb, they would both use Quick Attack to get in fast and hit their opponents quickly before one would use either Hyper Fang or Crunch and the other would use the opposite move.

During one of their Quick Attack induced run-ins, Liza commanded her Tangela to use a Razor Leaf and throw them off track. She then ordered it to use Vine Whip on their feet and trip up the Rattata. The attacks worked and while the Rattata were laying on their stomachs she had Tangela trap them in it's vines. She then had Exeggute use Seed Bomb on the trapped Pokemon and pelte them harshly. She commanded both of her Pokemon to use a double Stun Spore and put them down afterwards for her finishing move.

Ash saw the trouble and commanded both if his Pokemon to use their Hyper Fang attacks on the vines holding them. Liza wasn't expecting this and neither was Tangela. Both Rattata chomped down on the vines that held them and instantly, Tangela let them go.

Ash had them use Quick Attack and Focus Energy to escape the Stun Spores heading for them by running down the middle of the field where the attack wasn't coming from, in perfectly combined formation. One in perfect step behind the other.

When they were clear of the attacks Ash ordered them to break off in separate directions. He had one Rattata get close to Tangela and hit it with Pursuit followed by Hyper Fang.

He had the other Rattata hit Exeggute with Quick Attack.

The best thing about fighting Exeggute was that they had one big weakness: There was a single egg that didn't move or do anything and was just a big target. He ordered his Rattata to use Crunch on the defenseless egg, but when Rattata jumped in the air to attack it, the other eggs used Confusion to hold the Rattata in place.

Ash knew she was in trouble and looked over at how is other Rattata was doing. She was still gnawing away at Tangela's vines while the Pokemon tried desperately to shake her off.

He then saw it: There was a small hole in Tangela's vines that Rattata had opened with her teeth. Ash ordered his Pokemon to get INSIDE of Tangela. Rattata did and jumped in the hole provided. Liza stared in shock as Rattata began wreaking havoc on the poor Pokemon from the inside. Ash kept thanking Arceus that he had developed this strategy before when he used it on Brock's Onix with his first Rattata.

He then saw something strange. When Rattata attacked a certain part of Tangela's inner anatomy, he saw it's vines that it used for Vine Whip start swinging around wildly. Ash had a crazy idea and ordered Rattata to take control of those vines again from inside and use them to attack Exeggute.

It took a little bit, but since Tangela was powerless to get Rattata out of it, it could do nothing to stop what was happening. Rattata found a way to control the vines with it's teeth and used them to swing the vines towards Exeggute and wrap the Pokemon up. Exeggute wasn't expecting it's own partner to attack it and just as it was about to toss the Rattata it was holding in the air by Confusion, the vines wrapped the cluster of eggs.

The attack instantly stopped and Rattata was dropped. Not wasting a moment, Rattata lunged at the helpless egg and clamped down on it with Crunch.

Ash then saw why the other eggs that made up Exeggute guarded that one defenseless egg. It was the source of their Psychic power. When Rattata clamped down on it the Exeggute began using Confusion uncontrollably. Ash didn't waste a beat and ordered Rattata to direct that Confusion towards Tangela.

Right as the attack hit, Ash ordered his other Rattata to exit Tangela and then run for Exeggute. The attack hit Tangela and then everyone watched as it was picked up and then slammed repeatedly into the ground, courtesy of the way Rattata would crunch down into the egg it was biting. Biting downward would make the Confusion be directed down, up would make it go up, and the sides would make the attack go in either direction.

After slamming Tangela around Ash then commanded Rattata to use the attack and throw Tangela right at Exeggute.

As Tangela soared in the air towards Exeggute Ash ordered both of his Rattata to get away to safety. Tangela hit Exeggute and caused a small crater in the ground that entangled the both of them together.

Ash then ordered the finishing move by having his Rattata use a combined Quick Attack on the downed Pokemon. They charged at the Pokemon and hit them hard, launching the Pokemon back into the battlefields net and then crashing to the ground.

After the small dust cloud disappeared it showed both Grass-Types unconscious.

Ash was extremely proud of his Pokemon. They had come a long way from being the weak and abandoned Pokemon he had met at Melanie's cottage.

Liza didn't let her loss dampen her invigorated spirits and congratulated Ash on his and his Pokemon's perfect harmony together and battle spirit and said they were like nature: Unpredictable.

She then awarded him with the Nature Badge.

It looked like an upside down triangle that was fitted onto another triangle that was right side up. The whole badge was green. (A/N: Go to Bulbapedia, look up Otoshi's badges. It's on the bottom row and is the badge all the way to the right. The furthest one to the right. Can't miss it. Just refer to my description).

After they had said good-bye to Liza they hit the Pokemon Center in the village, swapped Ash's Pokemon back around and then headed for Vermillion City.

...

Ash was broken from his reminiscing by Misty, who was shouting at him. "Ash?! Ash did you hear me?!"

He looked up at her. "What? Sorry Misty I zoned out." He said casually.

She sighed. "I said, can we head into the city now?"

Ash nodded his head. "Yeah let's go!"

And so, they headed down into Vermillion City.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Somewhere in Vermillion City, waiting for the St. Anne to begin taking passengers, was none other than Gary Oak with his entire posse of clamoring fangirls, roaming the streets and chewing time away until they could enter the ship.

"Hey girls I have to go to the Pokemon Center real quick and get gramps to send me a Pokemon. Don't wait up!" He said pompously.

"Okay Gary!" They said in mindless admiration for the Trainer.

He walked down the street with his arrogant smirk still in place. He hadn't challenged the gym in this city yet and he wasn't planning on it. He had already won a badge from another nearby town and wasn't worried about challenging the Vermillion Gym. He figured he would 'spare' the gym leader here a little embarrassment by not challenging his gym. Besides, Gary heard that the leader was a real obnoxious prick. (Look who's talking).

He made it to the Center and walked up to the phones they had set up inside. He sat down and dialed in the Oak Laboratory's number. A few seconds later the Professor and also Gary's own grandfather, Samuel Oak appeared on the screen.

"Ah Gary! Good to hear from my own Grandson again! It's been awhile, how are things?" The elderly Professor asked his grandson.

Gary just shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "Eh, you know gramps! Catching Pokemon, beating worthless Trainers and humiliating every gym I face. What else?" He said arrogantly.

Professor Oak frowned. "Gary... You need to learn to have some humility about yourself and not be so overconfident. You are a good Trainer, in fact, you and Ash are the most successful Pokemon Trainers out of the four of you that left Pallet. But still, you need to learn to respect all of your opponents and never underestimate them. Your Pokemon are also the reason why you are doing so well on your journey Gary, it's not just you alone. You may be training them well but they are giving their all for you because they want to make you proud. Every great Trainer should remember that it's the bond between them and their Pokemon and the humility they have as a Trainer, no matter how successful they may be, that makes them truly shine."

Gary just waved his hand in the air. "Yeah yeah yeah Gramps humility, be nice and love your Pokemon and all that good stuff, got it. Without me being so amazing as a Trainer my Pokemon wouldn't be half as strong as they are! Anyway, I'm calling because I want you to send over that Krabby I captured a while back. Make it fast to because I'm going to have to be on the St. Anne soon."

Professor Oak just sighed and shook his head. "Give me a minute Gary." He said as he got up from his chair and disappeared out the door of his office.

While he was gone Gary happened to look to the left through of the screen and saw a GIANT of a Krabby in a large glass container filled with water on one of the Professor's tables. He looked shock. "That Krabby is huge!" He said aloud.

Professor Oak had just come back with Gary's Krabby in it's Pokeball and put it on the teleporter. He initiated the send-off and then looked back at the screen. "There you go Gary, your Krabby is on it's way."

Gary seemed like he didn't even hear his grandfather and said demandingly, "Who's that Krabby belong to gramps?!" He said pointing at the large Krabby in the water filled container.

Oak looked at where his grandson was pointing and smiled excitedly. "That's actually a Krabby that Ash captured. He's a true unique specimen among his species! And not just in size. I think that his enhanced body size also makes him grow much stronger and have much more powerful attacks than normal Krabby. I won't know about the growing stronger part until Ash sends to get him and starts training him."

Gary looked dumbfounded. "Ashy boy caught that Pokemon?!"

Professor Oak just nodded his head and smiled. "Yes he did. He even went out of his way to call me and make sure that his Krabby made it to me safely. That boy loves his Pokemon fiercely." Professor Oak added as an afterthought.

Gary just shrugged his shoulders. "Ohh well, I guess even losers have to have some luck every now and again!" He said arrogantly.

The Professor frowned again. "I wouldn't be so quick to put Ash down Gary, he's doing quite well for himself."

Gary shrugged again. "Yeah well like I said, even losers get a lucky break sometimes."

He grabbed his Pokeball and waved a hand quickly to his grandfather. "I gotta go gramps, my girls are waiting for me and so is the Anne. Don't wanna keep em' waiting!"

Professor Oak just sighed sadly and said farewell to his grandson before Gary ended the communication. He walked out of the Pokemon Center and headed back towards his cheerleaders. Hopefully his driver would be waiting for them at Porta Vista by the time the St. Anne made port there so he and the girls wouldn't have to wait around on him.

He had heard that they did Pokemon comparison on the ship and Gary hoped they did. He knew that his Pokemon would win every time. He smirked to himself and kept walking down the street with that same arrogant strut in his stride.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends finally arrived in the city and were heading to the Pokemon Center before Ash headed off to challenge the gym.

"Man this city is busy!" Misty said as she had to get out of the way of someone who was running down the road and nearly bowled her over.

"No kidding!" Giselle said as she wrapped her arm around Ash's and drew closer to him.

"Wonder what's going on?" Brock said curiously.

"I just hope the Pokemon Center isn't too crowded..." Ash said worriedly.

They reached the Center and saw it wasn't crowded at all. "I wonder what's going on if it's not some kind of Pokemon tournament?" Brock said as they walked in.

"I don't know, maybe something else is going on in the city." Ash said as he walked up to the nurse and gave her his Pokeballs. Misty had to restrain Brock as usual when he caught sight of the pretty nurse and went to lunge for her.

Ash decided to ask the nurse. "Excuse me Nurse Joy, I was wondering if you could tell us what is going on today that has the city so busy?"

Nurse Joy smiled and answered him. "The St. Anne is shipping out today."

"The St. Anne?" The kids asked together.

She nodded her head. "Yes, it's a large luxury cruise liner that is setting sail today."

Giselle saw stars in her eyes when she heard this. "A cruise liner?! Ohh that sounds so luxurious and romantic! It would be so wonderful to go on a ship like that!"

"Where does it make port?" Ash asked the nurse.

"It goes all the way through the Gyarados Straight and makes birth at Porte Vista. It's a huge tourist city and is home to one of the best resorts in the entire Kanto region." Nurse Joy answered him.

Ash took a look at Giselle again and after seeing the way her eyes shone when nurse Joy was describing the St. Anne, Ash was suddenly hit with a strong desire to do something. He looked back at Nurse Joy again. "Can you still get on this ship nurse?" Ash asked.

She paused for a few seconds and then answered him. "You can't buy them anymore but they are holding a Pokemon battle contest. The winner receives two tickets to board the Anne and the choice to bring one guest each."

Ash smirked. That was all? To get on board a luxury liner you just had to win a tournament? "Where do you sign up at nurse?" Ash asked.

She smiled again. "Right here actually! Would you like to sign up?"

Ash nodded his head. "Yes please ma'am." He said politely.

Brock, Misty and especially Giselle looked at him in surprise. "Your going to try and win the tournament Ash?" Giselle asked as she tried to hide her excitement.

Ash smiled at her. "I'm going to try." He said charmingly.

She looked at Ash for a few seconds and then looked away with a soft smile on her face. Nurse Joy saw this and smiled knowingly. She personally thought that what he was doing was very sweet and romantic. "Okay then, the tournament starts this afternoon near the harbor. Just let me get your information young man and you'll be good to go!" She said nicely.

Ash gave her his information and by that time his Pokemon were ready. He took them and before they left to head to the gym Nurse Joy stopped them. "You wouldn't by any chance be heading off to challenge the Pokemon Gym would you?" She asked.

Ash turned around and answered her. "Yeah actually, we are why?"

Nurse Joy seemed concerned. "That's what I was afraid of..." She said worriedly.

Ash looked confused. "Why is there something wrong with the gym?"

She sighed. "No it's just that the gym leader, Lt. Surge, has a Raichu that doesn't know how to control it's electrical attacks. I have received several injured Pokemon in just this month alone after they and their Trainers challenged the gym. Please be careful young man, I wouldn't want to see your Pokemon be injured as well."

Ash just have her a thumbs up. "Don't worry Nurse Joy we'll be fine!" He said with a smile.

The kind nurse returned the smile with one of her own. "I wish you luck then."

Ash and his friends then waved to the nurse before setting out for the gym.

...

They arrived at the Vermillion City Pokemon Gym and noticed just how large and flashy it was. The building had lightning bolt patterns all over it. Ash looked at Pikachu. "What do you think buddy? Pretty flashy huh?"

Pikachu just huffed. "Pika! Pikachu Pi."

Ash laughed. "Yeah buddy I agree. A little to flashy in my opinion as well."

They walked inside of the gym and into a large hangar looking area. A couple of guys dressed up in flashy looking punk clothes came walking up to them. "What are you kiddies doing here eh? Looking for the nursery?" A guy with glasses and red hair said rudely.

Ash just raised an eyebrow. "No. Actually I'm here to challenge the gym leader." He said firmly.

The guy looked like he might start laughing at any moment. He looked behind himself and shouted. "Hey boss you've got some... Little baby here wanting to challenge you with his baby Pokemon!"

Out from the back of the gym came a very large man with spiky blond hair and tan skin. He was wearing a punk version of a soldiers outfit and when he saw Ash standing there he smirked widely.

Brock, Misty and Giselle were intimidated by the large and scary looking man, with Giselle getting behind Ash and grabbing onto his shoulder tightly.

The man just laughed. "My names Lt. Surge and I'm the gym leader here. You sure you want to battle me little boy? I don't want to hurt your baby Pokemon."

Ash narrowed his eyes at the gym leader. "How about you worry about your Pokemon and I'll worry about mine Surge." He said in a calm but dead serious tone as he looked Surge straight in the eyes.

The man looked taken aback by Ash's confidence and the fact that he wasn't intimidated by him one bit and just laughed. "Fine kid, it's your funeral!"

...

Ash and Surge stood across from each other. They had decided on the usual three on three battle and after the ref made his announcement they began.

"Voltorb come out and play!" Surge yelled as he released his first Pokemon.

Ash brought out a Pokeball. "Bulbasaur I need your power!"

The Grass Type took to the field and called out, "Bulbasaur!"

Surge smirked. "Little baby Bulbasaur wanna play? Fine, Voltorb use Rollout!" He shouted.

"Bulbasaur dodge to the side!" Ash called out.

Voltorb passed by Bulbasaur just as the Pokemon jumped out of the way and then Surge yelled for Voltorb to attack again but add Thundershock to it's roll. Ash watched as an electrified Pokemon came hurdling at his own and yelled, "Bulbasaur use your vines to hit the ground and launch yourself into the air. Then use Razor Leaf on Voltorb!"

Bulbasaur executed his move and fired Razor Leaves at Voltorb while he was on the ground. Surge ordered Voltorb to use another Thundershock on the leaves and knock them away. Ash used that moment and commanded Bulbasaur to charge in during the confusion and hit Voltorb with Take Down.

The attack hit and Voltorb flew back and rolled around on the ground. Surge quickly commanded Voltorb to use Flash and blind Bulbasaur. The attack was succesful and the whole battlefield was bathed in a bright light. Ash heard Surge yell out, "Voltorb Rollout!"

He couldn't do anything to command Bulbasaur to dodge the attack and a few seconds later Voltorb came barreling through the bright light and rolled into Bulbasaur, knocking him far into the air. Bulbasaur came back down and Surge commanded Voltorb to keep rolling into Bulbasaur and with every hit that came Ash kept trying to formulate a plan. Finally it hit him. "Bulbasaur wait for Voltorb to get close to you again!" He shouted.

Bulbasaur nodded and stood there, wincing slightly in pain from the attacks he took. When Voltorb came around to hit him again, Ash commanded Bulbasaur to jump on top of the Pokemon. This confused Surge and left him to ponder what Ash was planning. When Voltorb almost hit him, Bulbasaur jumped up and on top of the ball shaped Pokemon. He then began rolling on it with perfect balance. "Perfect Bulbasaur! Now, jump up and use Vine Whip to grab a hold of Voltorb, then throw it into the wall!" Ash yelled.

Bulbasaur jumped in the air and wrapped his vines around Volotorb, making the Pokemon stop spinning. He then chucked it hard into a nearby wall. Ash followed up by having Bulbasaur launch Razor Leaf at where Voltorb was.

The attack hit and caused a large cloud of dust to go in the air. When it settled, it showed Voltorb unconscious.

The ref called out. "Voltorb is unable to battle! Will the gym leader please choose his next Pokemon."

Surge looked surprised that his Voltorb had lost but just grumbled about it being, 'Baby's beginner's luck' and returned his Pokemon. "Magnemite go!" Surge yelled as he released his next Pokemon.

Ash thanked and congratulated Bulbasaur before returning him and throwing out his next Pokeball. "Magikarp show your strength!" He yelled.

The Pokemon appeared on the field, but instead of it flopping around helplessly like most other Magikarp would do, he just stayed there on the ground in one spot and stared at Surge's Pokemon intently. You could tell he was very disciplined from Ash's training.

"Magikarp?!" His friends called out simultaneously.

"Why would he choose Magikarp? Against an Electric-Type no less?!" Misty said in disbelief.

Brock just crossed his arms. "Ash has something in mind I'm sure."

"Yeah Misty just watch." Giselle said with complete faith in Ash.

Surge and all of his friends laughed. "What's the matter kid?" Surge taunted. "Your Bulbasaur too tired to battle so you have to send out some weak little fish? Embarrassing!"

Ash stayed silent and didn't say a word. He just narrowed his eyes again at the gym leader. Surge wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and said, "You know I'm right so your just not going to say anything right? Smart move." He raised his arm. "Magnemite use Sonic Boom!" He commanded.

Ash crossed his arms. "Magikarp... you know what to do."

His Pokemon nodded his head and looked back at his opponent. Just as Sonic Boom was about to hit, Magikarp used his tail and launched himself into the air with a powerful smack on the ground. Surge and everyone else, even Ash's friends, stared in shock at the airborne Magikarp.

Surge shook his head. "Magnemite use Thundershock and turn that fish into fried Magikarp!" He commanded.

As the Thundershock was about to hit Ash called out, "Magirkarp Flail!"

His Pokemon used the thrashing moves of flail to get himself out of the way of Thundershock. While he came down towards the ground Ash called again. "Tackle!"

Magikarp slammed into Magnemite and knocked the Pokemon back. Surge was surprised again and started to get frustrated. "Magnemite use Supersonic followed by Magnemite!" He looked over at Ash. "Your jumping fish will never dodge this kid!"

Ash stayed calm. "We'll see." He looked at Magikarp. "Magikarp use Flail to smack yourself off the ground a little and then use Splash to send yourself towards Supersonic!"

Too everyone's surprise Magikarp did just that and sent himself towards the two attacks. Ash then yelled out just before he hit the Supersonic, "Magikarp use your tail to flip yourself in midair over the Supersonic!"

Magikarp listened perfectly and flipped over the first attack with a strong thrust of his tail while airborne, missing it completely. Surge called out. "Nice try kid but Magnet Bomb never misses!"

The attack hit Magikarp and instantly Ash gave his next command. "Magikarp use Flail and shake the attack off before it attaches to you!"

Magikarp performed the attack instantly and knocked the Magnet Bomb pieces off of it. "What?!" Surge yelled out in shock.

Ash smirked. "Magnet Bomb is unavoidable yes... but it can still be shaken off with the right move!" With no break he said next. "Magikarp use Flail again to send yourself towards Magnemite and hit it with Tackle then flip forward and smash it down with your tail!"

Surge was too shocked from what he seen to issue a command before Magikarp had already smashed into Magnemite with Tackle and then used his tail to smash into down into the ground. Ash then yelled out, "Magikarp land on Magnemite and then use Flail combined with Splash to knock you high into the air. Then come back down and hit Magnemite as hard as you can with a full speed and full power Tackle!"

Magikarp knocked itself into the air and then came back down towards Magikarp at high speeds. Surge yelled out, "Magnemite get out of the way!"

But Magnemite was stuck in the ground and couldn't levitate back up into the air before Magikarp came down and smashed the metal Pokemon even deeper into the ground. Magikarp used it's tail to propel itself back towards Ash and then turned around and stared at the crater it had made with a serious and determined look on his face.

The smoke cleared and showed Magnemite unconscious.

The ref called out. "Magnemite is unable to battle! Will the gym leader please choose his next Pokemon."

Surge stared at his Magnemite in shock for a moment before returning it and pulling out his last Pokeball. "Alright kid, play time is over!" He threw the ball. "Raichu come out and win this!"

His Pokemon appeared with a loud cry of, "Raiiichuu!" It stood ready for battle with a cocky smirk on it's face.

One of Surge's friends spoke up. The one with red hair. "Surge is using Raichu!"

A guy with spiky blue hair piped up. "Yeah that kid don't stand a chance!"

"Yeah he only defeated the first two with luck. He don't stand a chance now!" A guy with long orange hair said.

Before Ash could say anything to congratulate his Magikarp the Pokemon began glowing a bright white color.

"Uh oh..." Brock said worriedly. He had been afraid of this since Ash had gotten Magikarp.

"It's going to evolve into..." Giselle started.

"Gyarados." Misty finished. She remembered the time that Ash had saved her from an angry Gyarados back when they first met. She wasn't excited to see another, even if she did love Water Pokemon. Gyarados wasn't just a Water-Type... it could learn almost all of the moves of a Dragon-Type, which was one of the hardest types of Pokemon to raise, and it also had the temper and personality traits of a Dragon Pokemon. Often times she wondered why they didn't reclassify Gyarados as part Dragon-Type. Either way, she just hoped that Ash could handle what was coming in a matter of seconds. He may have been able to train Dragonite and develop a strong bond with it, but she was a sweet and caring Pokemon. Gyarados were mean and headstrong.

Like Ash could sense her worry and read her thoughts he said, "Don't worry Misty... everything will be alright. I've been waiting for this for a while now and I'm totally prepared for it."

He turned around gave his friends a thumbs up and a reassuring smile which they all returned uneasily. "I hope your right Ash..." Misty said softly.

As the evolution continued, everyone watched as Magikarp grew bigger and bigger and began changing form. He started stretching up higher and higher until he was almost up at the ceiling. Through the white glow of evolution everyone could see the nearly complete form of Gyarados. Finally, in a burst of light, the evolution was over. Where Magikarp once was now stood in it's place a very large and powerful looking Gyarados. The Pokemon raised his head to the ceiling and called out loudly. "GYAROOOO!"

Everyone, even Surge, looked nervous in the presence of such a Pokemon. All except Ash. He stood there calmly with Pikachu mirroring his Trainer from his shoulder. Gyarados began looking around everywhere and when his eyes landed on Ash he stopped and just stared at him. Ash slowly, but confidently, walked up to his newly evolved Pokemon. He said loudly and firmly, with authority in his voice. "Gyarados! How do you feel?"

The Pokemon continued to eye his Trainer and called out loudly, "Gyarooos!"

Ash merely nodded his head and looked his Pokemon directly in the eyes. "Good. Now let me explain something to you that you WILL listen to. You have evolved into a powerful Pokemon that can become extremely strong in time. Even more so than a Champion's Pokemon. However, you are NOT invincible! So don't think you are just because you evolved, because you are not! You still have much to learn and much more growing to do. With me as your Trainer you will accomplish all of that and more in due time and with extreme Training. I intend to make your Training absolutely cruel from here on out!" He made sure Gyarados was listening to him before continuing. Once he saw that he had his Pokemon's attention he went on. "I know all about Gyarados's hot temper and 'listen to no one attitude'. I've heard of Trainers that once their Magikarp evolved into Gyarados they no longer listened to them and became unruly... well let me tell you something right here and now!" His voice tone picked up to one of even more authority and power. "You are still MY Pokemon and I am still YOUR Trainer. So as long as that remains the case you WILL continue to obey me and YOU WILL NOT! Under any circumstances! Ever dare disobey me or just, 'do as you please' and/or go on a rage! If you do then I promise you right now Gyarados! I will not hold Pikachu back from releasing as many currents of electricity through you as he wants to until you see sparks in your eyes! Things will continue running smoothly as they always have as long as you don't go 'rocking the boat' just because you may feel like having a little attitude problem. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

Gyarados looked taken aback at his Trainer's harsh words and just stared at Ash for a few moments. Neither wavered in their gazes. Ash all but stared Gyarados down, daring the Pokemon to defy him. Finally, after what seemed like forever and with everyone holding their breath, Gyarados nodded his head and bowed in respect to Ash.

He smiled and walked up to his Pokemon. He began softly stroking his Pokemon's scales as he talked to him. "Look Gyarados, you and I are equals okay? Your my friend and I hope you view me as your friend as well and not just your Trainer. I just wanted you to know that I won't tolerate insubordination. If your going to be my Pokemon then I just want the same respect that I show you. Simple as that. I want to help make you as strong as you possibly can be but in order for that to happen you and I have to be totally in sync. Not just when battling either but all the time. I care about you because you are my Pokemon and I always will. You are a great Pokemon and I know you will become even greater!"

Gyarados looked down at his Trainer who was smiling brightly up at him. Gyarados just nodded his head again in reply and shared a look with his Trainer that Ash could tell by the look in his eyes meant he understood everything that Ash had said and still accepted him as his Trainer. Ash smiled even wider. Everything was good between he and Gyarados. He pulled of his Poke'Dex and then scanned his Pokemon.

_Poke'Dex Entry No.130_

_"Gyarados: The Atrocious Pokemon"_

_"Rarely seen in the wild. Huge and vicious, they can destroy entire cities in a rage."_

_"This Pokemon now has the ability Moxie"_

_"This Gyarados knows the moves: Thrash, Bite, Dragon Rage and Twister"_

He pocketed his Poke'Dex before looking back at his friends while still stroking Gyarados's scales. "Everything's okay guys. Gyarados won't give anybody any problems. I trust him."

His friends looked shock. Brock shook his head. "Only Ash..." He said in disbelief.

Misty just looked surprised above anything else. "He actually tamed Gyarados... in only a few minutes... wow." She said in an almost daze.

Giselle just looked at Ash fondly. "I knew he would do it." She said softly with a small smile on her face.

Ash turned back to Surge, who was gaping like a fish along with the other guys. Surge shook his hand. "It don't matter that your little fish evolved! We'll still beat it!" Surge said confidently.

Ash looked up at Gyarados. "Hey pal would I'm going to return you and use Pikachu for this one okay? I want to teach Surge a little something..." He said with a glint in his eyes.

Gyarados just nodded his head and then Ash smiled at him. "Thanks Gyarados. We'll start your new training really soon okay?" He returned his Pokemon and then smiled at the Pokeball in his hand. He was really glad he decided to get Gyarados sent over to him before he challenged the gym today instead of after he left the gym like he had originally planned. It ended up working perfectly and now that he knew he and Gyarados were still on good terms and he wouldn't have any problems out of the Pokemon, he could start making Gyarados one of the most powerful Pokemon he would ever train.

It sucked that he had to send Pidgeotto away but he would get her back as soon as he showed Gyarados his new training program. After that he would send him back to the Lab so he could continue his training there and then get Pidgeotto back. Ash chuckled at how Staryu and Gyarados would train together now. It would be interesting that was for sure. Those two were really good friends so Ash knew they would work something out.

He looked up to his shoulder. "Alright Pi... let's teach these guys a few lessons and show them just how 'babyish' really are."

Pikachu nodded and then jumped off of Ash's shoulder. He went to stand in the middle of the battlefield and looked at Raichu with an unreadable expression on his face. He cracked his neck and looked Raichu dead in the eyes. "Pikachu..." He said in a low voice.

Raichu just looked at Pikachu like he was nothing. Surge laughed. "You think that little runt of a Pikachu can take down MY Raichu?! Your in for a world of pain kid!"

Ash crossed his arms. "Come on then." He said calmly.

Surge growled out loud. "Raichu use Agility followed by Mega Punch!" He shouted.

Raichu rushed in fast with Agility and appeared in front of Pikachu with his fist glowing white. Ash said one word. "Agility."

Pikachu disappeared instantly, right before the punch impacted the ground, cracking it. Raichu began looking around. "Rai?" It said confused.

It felt a tap on it's back and turned around to see Pikachu standing behind him. Surge shouted again. "Raichu use Iron Tail!"

Raichu swung it's tail around at Pikachu quickly but he just back flipped over the attack. Surge commanded Raichu to barrage Pikachu with Mega Punch, Focus Punch and Iron Tail.

The fully evolved Pokemon started attacking Pikachu with impressive speed. It kept throwing multiple Mega Punches, Focus Punches and Iron Tails madly in an attempt to hit Pikachu. The Pokemon just kept jumping, sliding, feinting, side stepping and swerving around every attack that Raichu threw at him. The Pokemon started to get more frustrated and start attacking faster while Pikachu just started dodging even faster.

Ash watched it all with his arms still crossed. Pikachu trained harder than any of his Pokemon and that was saying something since all of his Pokemon were EXTREME training freaks. Pikachu would dodge attacks excecuted by Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pidgeotto all at once, while they were wearing body weights, him included. Dodging Raichu's attacks was childs play after he went one on four every day.

Raichu stopped his rampage with an Iron Tail that missed Pikachu again and impacted the ground. Pikachu ran to the middle of the field and called over to Raichu. "Pika! Pika Pikachu?!"

Everyone could tell that Pikachu must have taunted Raichu because the Pokemon got extremely mad. Surge was also getting mad. "Raichu use Double Team and Body Slam!" He yelled out furiously.

Raichu made several copies of itself that all surrounded Pikachu and then rushed in to Body Slam him. Ash called out. "Pikachu use Agility followed by Iron Dash!" A combination of Quick Attack and Iron Tail.

Right as the Raichu copies and real one prepared to slam into Pikachu he hit the ground on his back and then began glowing a dull white, signaling Quick Attack, while his tail turned silver, showing he was using Iron Tail.

He then used a combination of Agility and Quick Attack and spun himself around on the ground like a tornado, while his steel hard tail pointed straight up into the air. The copies of Raichu hit the vortex of spinning metal and disappeared while the real Raichu landed on the hard tail and got bounced off, up into the air and then back down onto the ground hard.

Raichu got back to it's feet, sparking angrily from it's cheeks. Ash called over to Surge. "Show us some of Raichu's famous electric attacks why don't you?"

Surge growled again. "You wanna see thunder?! Wel'll show you thunder and you'll regret it! PRaichu use Thunderbolt on that runt!" He called out.

Raichu began sparking all over it's body. "Rai... CHU!" He yelled out as he unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity at Pikachu.

"Pikachu use Agility but faster this time." He said, still as calm as ever.

Right as the huge bolt prepared to strike Pikachu he disappeared again in a blur of speed again. The bolt struck the ground harmlessly.

Surge growled loudly. "Raichu keep up those Thunderbolts until you hit that runt!" He shouted.

Raichu started launching bolt after bolt at Pikachu that he just kept fluidly dodging with ease and grace. Not even breathing hard.

Brock furrowed his eyebrows. "Ash and Pikachu are toying with them." He said matter of factly.

Misty and Giselle looked confused. "What do you mean Brock?" Giselle asked confused.

"Yeah Brock what do you mean Ash and Pikachu are 'toying' with them?" Misty asked equally as confused.

Brock crossed his arms before explaining. "Just look at them: Ash is as calm as can be, well at least... even more calm than he usually is, and Pikachu looks like he's just playing around."

The girls looked at Ash and Pikachu and saw that Brock was right, Ash and Pikachu were just playing around.

He spoke again. "Trust me, things are going to get really ugly soon."

Raichu was sweating and beginning to lose energy fast as it stopped launching Thunderbolts at Pikachu.

Pikachu stopped running and just stood there in the middle of the gym floor, not even looking a little winded.

Surge called out to his exhausted Pokemon. "Raichu use Thunder!"

Raichu gathered up the last of it's energy and lunched a massive Thunder attack at Pikachu with a loud cry of, "RAICHUUUU!"

Ash called out to Pikachu. "Don't move Pikachu... Take it."

"What?!" Ash's friends called out at the same time.

"That guys nuts!" One of Surge's friends said.

"Yeah no Pokemon can take one of Raichu's Thunder attacks head on!" Another one said.

Surge smirked. "It's over runts!"

Pikachu stood in place and watched as the attack came for him. A look of complete calm and concentration on his face.

The bolt struck Pikachu and lit up the entire gym. A large explosion suddenly rocked the whole battlefield and a large cloud of dust was kicked up.

Everyone watched with baited breath. All except for Surge who felt sure it was over. However, when the dust cloud went away everyone was shocked to see Pikachu standing there in a crouched position with electricity arcing all over it's body. He looked up at the exhausted Raichu and gave it a terrifying grin. "Pika..." He said darkly and with a dangerous glint that started taking light in his eyes.

Surge looked dumbfounded. " H-how... it's not possible! No one has ever taken one of Raichu's Thunder attacks before!"

Ash just uncrossed his arms and cracked his neck. He looked straight at Surge with the same dangerous glint in his eyes that Pikachu had. "Yeah they haven't... not until now."

He shrugged his shoulders. "You like to have fun with your opponents Surge? Then let's have some fun." He said in dark humor.

He looked at Pikachu who was now limbering himself up and staring at Raichu with a predatory gaze. "Pikachu... Now."

Like a rocket Pikachu took off towards Raichu in a blur of speed. The poor Pokemon was to tired to move and at that moment Pikachu appeared in front of Raichu and slammed a powerful Mega Punch into Raichu's gut, making the Pokemon double over in pain.

Pikachu then came over the top of Raichu and slammed a powerful Iron Tail onto the Pokemon's back, sending it into the ground.

"Raichu get up!" Surge yelled out.

Raichu stood back up slowly and then Pikachu disappeared in another flash of speed. Raichu looked around wildly for his opponent. Suddenly, Raichu was slammed forward by a hard hit to his back and went skidding down the gym floor.

Pikachu stood where Raichu just had, still glowing a faint white from the Quick Attack that he had just used. He ran forward again and jumped in the air with his tail glowing silver as it turned to iron.

He brought the tail down on top of Raichu, making the Pokemon cry out in pain and the ground to crater. Pikachu began hitting Raichu savagely with his tail still hardened in iron. With every hit Raichu would cry out. Surge watched helplessly as his Pokemon took the brutal beating.

Ash yelled out to Surge. "How does it feel Surge? Watching the same thing happen to your own Pokemon you care so much for when you did the same thing to so many other Trainer's Pokemon?! How does it feel?!"

Surge just looked at Ash and then back at his Pokemon over and over again. Not knowing what to do.

"Surge's Raichu can't take much more of this!" One of the guys dressed in punk rock clothes said.

"Yeah man I've never seen Raichu take such a beating before!" One of the other guys said in shock.

On the other side of the gym Ash's friend's were watching the brutal battle continue. "What's Pikachu doing?! Why doesn't it just finish Raichu off? It's clearly won the battle!" Misty said.

Brock answered her. "Ash is teaching Surge a lesson for all of the Pokemon he let his Raichu get out of hand with. Nurse Joy was wrong when she said that Raichu just couldn't control itself and that's why it hurt all of those Pokemon. As a former gym leader I know that you have to make sure all of your Pokemon are in control of themselves. Surge knows that as well. His Raichu has always been able to control itself. He LET his Pokemon hurt all of those others."

Giselle gasped. "That's horrible!"

Brock nodded. "Yes it is and that's what Ash is letting Pikachu do right now. Not because they are enjoying it but because they are teaching Surge and Raichu a lesson. Ash is trying to get Surge to see the error of his ways. It's obvious that Pikachu far outclasses Surge's Raichu and is just toying with it. Remember what Ash told us some time back? Pikachu has the rare ability Lighting Rod, which makes it too where any electric Pokemon that has this ability will not be effected by any kind of electric attack unless their opponent is stronger than them. Even if Pikachu were too be hit with one of Raichu's electric attacks it wouldn't matter since Pikachu is obviously stronger than Raichu. That's why Pikachu didn't take any damage from Raichu's seemingly very powerful Thunder attack. On any other Pokemon it would have did serious damage but since Pikachu is stronger and has that ability, the attack was void and instead just sucked away the last of Raichu's energy. I think Pikachu was just dodging all of Raichu's earlier Thunderbolts too show just how far outclassed Raichu really was, especially in terms of speed.

Misty and Giselle were dumbstruck at Brock's explanation and purely amazed at the level of strength and confidence Pikachu possessed. Especially being such a young and inexperienced Pokemon.

They all looked back towards the battle and saw that Pikachu had backed away from Raichu and was now crouching in place on all fours as he began sparking with golden electricity. Raichu stood up from the crater it was in and wobbled on it's feet as it stumbled forward.

Pikachu looked sympathetically at Raichu for a second but then masked his face again with a look of indifference.

Ash looked over at Surge. "Surge you can end this now!" He yelled out.

The man just looked at his Pokemon with worry and indecision written all over his face. He didn't say anything and Ash just shook his head. "Fine." He raised his hand and pointed it towards Raichu. "Pikachu... Thunderblast!" This attack was a combination of Thunder and Thunderbolt with twice the power of both.

The glow surrounding Pikachu's body overtook him and blinded all who looked at him. "Pika..." The electricity began dancing around the Pokemon in large and sweeping arcs. "PiKA..." Raichu looked terrified at was about to happen. He had been beaten long ago and he knew it.

"Here it comes..." Brock said, knowing the end was near.

"Pikachu looks terrifying..." Giselle said with a look of fear on her face.

"He's literally GLOWING!" Misty said in disbelief.

On the other side of the gym, Surge's friends were gaping. "Look at that power!" One guy said in awe.

"Raichu's got nothing compared to that!" Another said.

"This is really bad..." The last guy said in worry.

Pikachu was now totally lost in the glow of power that had overtaken his body. The gym windows began to rattle and the wind picked up, blowing everyone's clothes around. Ash kept his arms crossed and his eyes closed. A look of serenity on his face.

Surge looked like he was being torn in two with the situation presented to him and right then... Pikachu let go. "PikaCHUUU!" He shouted as he released a bolt as bright as the sun towards Raichu.

The bolt struck Raichu and the entire gym lit up. The Pokemon cried out in horrible pain as it was electrocuted. Surge watched the spectacle with wide eyes and started shaking. As his Pokemon continued to cry in pain Surge could take no more and took off running onto the field. "Enough! I give up! No more please..."

"Pikachu enough!" Ash called to his Pokemon.

Pikachu ended the attack instantly and Surge ran over to his Pokemon. Before Raichu could fall to the ground Surge caught his Pokemon and knelt down with it, cradling his Pokemon closely to him. "Raichu I'm so sorry... We've been such... I've been such a fool. We shouldn't have taken our battles so far just like I shouldn't have let this battle go so far... Can you forgive me Raichu?!" He asked his Pokemon as he held him.

Raichu smiled weakly at it's Trainer. "Rai...Chu..."

Surge smiled at his Pokemon and hugged it before returning it to it's Pokeball. He turned around and looked at Ash who had been watching the scene with a smile on his face. Surge walked up to him and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. He looked at him and smiled. "Ki- Ash... I'm sorry for insulting you and your Pokemon. I had no right to do that. I know now exactly what I made all of those Trainers who challenged me feel and I was wrong to let my battles get so far. You showed me how wrong I was today Ash and for that I thank you."

Ash just smiled back at Surge and shook his head. "Don't thank me Surge. Just remember to treat others and their Pokemon with more kindness from now on and that will make you a better gym leader, a better Trainer and a better person."

The big man just laughed and clapped Ash on the back. "Your pretty wise for a kid!" He turned more somber. "But you can bet that I won't forget the lesson you taught me today Ash."

He turned and looked at the referee. "Hey ref! I think you have an announcement to make! I did surrender the match."

The referee snapped to attention. "R-right!" He coughed. "Ahem! Since the gym leader has surrendered I hereby declare the winner of this gym battle to be Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and his Pikachu!"

Ash's friends cheered for him and came up to congratulate him, followed by Surge's own posse of rock punk friends. The one that had made fun of Ash when he first arrived came up to him and extended his hand. "Hey man I just wanted to say sorry for insulting you earlier. I was being a real jerk. Any Trainer that can beat Surge like that is an OK person in my books."

Ash shook the man's hand. "Apology excepted. All's forgotten."

The man smiled and stepped back as Lt. Surge stepped up to Ash. "Well kid, you definitely won this battle hands down. And my respect as well. You taught me a lesson I won't forget anytime soon that's for sure."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. "Ash, you've earned this... The Thunderbadge."

He placed the badge in Ash's hands and then stepped back so he could observe his new badge. Ash happily looked at his new badge for a few moments before looking back up at Surge. "Thanks a lot Surge, I had a great battle."

The man shook Ash's hand again. "So did I Ash and thank you for helping me become a better gym leader. Take care of yourself kid!"

Ash nodded his head and then he and his friends said their good-byes before leaving the gym and heading back for the Pokemon Center so Ash could prepare for the tournament. He was anxious to win those tickets for the Anne and now that the gym for this city was out of the way he could focus on nothing but winning the competition.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ash was never one to take opponents lightly or underestimate anyone. However he had to admit, the tournament to win the tickets for the Anne was much easier than he thought. He had battled four times and each one was against ordinary Trainers that really didn't know how to raise their Pokemon.

He ended up using Charmander against a boy's Machop, Bulbasaur against a girl's Poliwag, Squirtle against an elderly man's Growlithe and then Pikachu against a man's Scyther in the last match of the tournament.

Ash had to say that the last match against Scyther was the most interesting and only because the man he battled actually knew how to battle pretty well. It was a battle of speed for much of the match but in the end, Pikachu ended it it with a Quick Attack/Iron Tail combo on an unaware and tired Scyther.

Ash was awarded the tickets by a representative from a company called Silph Co who was actually involved in sponsoring the takeoff of the St. Anne and had organized the tournament for the tickets.

After Ash had received the tickets he walked over to Giselle. "Hey Giselle I Uhhh... It seemed like you really wanted to go on this cruise so I thought I would, you know..." He sighed and held a ticket out to her. "Would you like to go?"

Giselle didn't say anything for a little bit, she just looked at Ash with an unreadable expression on her face. Eventually she smiled softly and warmly at him as she reached out and took the extended ticket from him. She then stepped up to him and gave him a very warm hug. "I would love to go Ash and thank you..." She pulled away and looked at him again. "I know why you entered to win these and that was the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me. Thank you Ash." She leaned in and kissed his cheek, lingering a little longer than was considered completely 'platonic' for two friends and then pulled away.

Ash was a little red in the face but smiled brightly just the same. "Your welcome Giselle and it was no big deal really!" He turned to look at Misty. "Would you please be my special guest Misty?" He asked her kindly.

Misty was surprised. She thought he would ask Brock but he asked her instead. She smiled. "Thanks Ash that would be great!" She said happily. She was a little jealous that he entered the tournament and won the tickets for Giselle but the fact that he wanted her to be his special guest over Brock meant a lot to her and showed that he really valued her as his friend.

"Awesome!" He said excitedly.

Giselle looked at Brock. "Would you be my special guest Brock?" She asked him nicely.

Brock raised an eyebrow and then a goofy smile spread across his face. "Ah Giselle I knew that you wouldn't be able to resist my charms!" He said as he wiggled his eyebrows at her and winked.

The next thing anyone knew Brock was laying flat on the ground with a large lump coming out of his head. Giselle stood over him, huffing in anger and looking like an angry Tauros. "Brock! Stop being a pervert! I asked if you wanted to come and be my plus one on the Anne, as my FRIEND, so you wouldn't have to WALK all the way to Porte Vista! But if you keep acting like some creepo then just forget it!" She yelled down at him.

Brock twitched a few times and then wheezed out while gasping for air. "So sorry... Please forgive me... Won't happen again..."

Giselle just nodded her head. "Good." She walked over to stand beside Ash. "It better not!"

Ash and Misty just shared a look and then started laughing. Giselle looked at them weirdly and once she realized what they were laughing about she began laughing as well. Poor Brock just continued to lay on the ground crying rivers of tears.

After the laughing fit was over they all took off and headed back to the Pokemon Center to wait until it was time to board the Anne.

XXXXXXXX

In an abandoned looking warehouse near the wharf a couple of black vehicles, some large trucks, were parked in the back of the building. Out of sight of any prying eyes. Inside of the warehouse one could see that, at the moment, it was anything but abandoned.

The entire warehouse was absolutely CRAWLING with members of Team Rocket. The Grunts were all moving around doing different things at a hurried pace for some reason. Moving crates around and unloading their contents to reveal strange looking machines that almost looked like backpacks.

In a corner of the warehouse, standing in front of a crate that held a large computer on it's surface, were three Rocket's that were dressed slightly different from the Grunts that were busily working around the building.

One of the Rockets was none other than the same man Ash had defeated in Mt. Moon when they were trying to steal the Moon Stone, Commander Zetson. He looked the exact same and still had that same board expression on his face as he did while at the mountain.

The second person was a woman that was about the same height as Zetson and looked to be in her very early twenties. Whatever her age, she was definitely the youngest out of the three of them. She had long blond hair, straight as a pen, that fell down to about her upper back. She had blue eyes that glowed with mischief and flirtatiousness. Her face was long and perfectly detailed, not to mention flawless and smooth looking.

She wore a VERY tight black top that had the red 'R' for Team Rocket stamped across the chest. The shirt was completely cut away from around her entire mid-section and only stopped right where the very bottoms of her breasts started, showing her toned and taught stomach. The top was also sleeveless all the way up to her shoulders, where only two flimsy pieces of cloth on either shoulder held up the top. It was also split down the middle of her chest ever so slightly, showing her impressive cleavage. She did not have extremely large breasts but one could still tell how perfectly well shaped and full they were from the way they strained the top. One could almost wonder how such a flimsy piece of clothing had kept itself up for so long.

She also wore the usual elbow length black gloves that all Rockets wore, a tight black short skirt that hugged her perfectly shaped rear assets perfectly and black heeled boots that stopped just below her knee so everyone could still see her long, voluptuous legs that seemed to go forever.

All in all, the best words to describe the curvaceous blond beauty was 'beautiful dangerous'. She just carried the aura of a woman who was beautiful, knew it and would use it in an instant. Although, one could definitely tell that from the way she was holding herself she was very proud and any man or woman who were to label her a slut would undoubtedly feel her wrath.

The last Rocket was a very large and burly man, around 6' 4", who looked to be in his mid thirties to early forties. He had long, shaggy blond hair that came down around his shoulders and also had a bushy beard the same color as his hair. His face looked weathered and worn, a complete contrast to Zetson's smooth and calm pretty boy face. He also had intense looking hazel eyes that told the story of a man who had lived a tough life.

He wore a faded black shirt that had an equally as faded 'R' on the chest that really showed his hulking frame, he wore gloves that were of the same type of material as the other Rockets only short and only came up to his wrists. He also had on long black cargo pants that he had his shirt tucked into with a black belt across his waist and worn looking, (just like everything else he wore), black combat boots that came up to his knees and had his pants tucked into them. Yet again, this mans outfit was a complete contrast to the much smaller man Zetson's almost dress looking outfit. In fact, if not for the fact that Zetson wore pants then you probably could say he was wearing a dress.

Zetson was standing there with his arms behind his head, looking bored. The gruff looking man stood ram straight with his arms crossed across his chest, while the woman stood with her hips thrown to one side and her hands placed upon them. Somehow she was able make such a simple placement of her body look like one of the most sensual and teasing positions you would ever see.

Gazing upon the way this blond bombshell held herself when she wasn't even trying to be sexually appealing could only make one believe with everything in them that should any mortal man gaze upon this beauty when she was purposefully trying to be seductive, they would instantly be put to a blissful death and sent to Arceus's Afterworld in complete peace. (A/N: Okay I'm in love with my own character what can I say!;p)

The screen of the computer monitor was currently showing the images of two different individuals, each one on different cameras and in what looked like different locations. The first was none other than Dr. Zager himself. He was sitting behind a desk that was cluttered with papers and had several computers set up on it. Behind him were several pieces of what looked like lab machinery, spread out everywhere and in many different sizes. The old man had his seemingly permanent scowl on his face and looked impatient.

The second image showed a man who was mostly shrouded in shadows. Only part of his body could be seen and what you could see of him showed that he was wearing an all black business suit that had the emblem of Team Rocket over his suits left chest pocket. It looked like he had short brown hair that was cut close and slicked back all over. His face seemed to be somewhat angular and sharp looking. His eyes were invisible in the shadow of the dark office he was in. He was sitting behind his desk, reclined back with one hand on his arm rest while the other hand was stroking a Persian that was sitting beside his chair. The Pokemon was also partly covered in shadow, only the outline of it's features and it's glowing red eyes gave away it's species.

The three Rockets snapped to attention when the man shrouded in shadow spoke to them. His voice was firm, demanding and held an air of superiority to it. "Zetson, Rykon, Alania! Report the status of the mission so far?" He demanded.

The woman, Alania, answered in a somewhat sultry but also strong and firm voice. "Sir! The troops are finishing up preparations for the operation and are fueling up the helicopters in the trucks as we speak. We will be ready to begin the mission when the time comes!"

The man nodded his head. "Good, I'm counting on you so don't let this mission fail!"

"Yes sir!" All three Rockets answered together.

The man then looked towards where he knew Dr. Zager's image was. "Status report Zager! How is the... Project coming along." He said mysteriously.

Dr. Zager huffed. "It's going as well as can be expected Giovanni. We have been having difficulties finding a sample of the specimen we have been looking for."

The man who was now identified as Giovanni crossed his fingers and leaned forward in his desk, still obscured by the shadows. "I see... And do you have the equipment ready for when you DO find a specimen?"

Dr. Zager leaned back in his chair. " We have the biological and scientific means to do it Giovanni, that's not going to be a problem. However, finding the sample we need will be challenging." He paused for a second and then continued. "We have found a clue though as to where we may find the sample we have been looking for. However, I will need one of the commanders here to accompany me and the rest of the team I'm taking on this expedition. We will need someone to oversee the Grunts and I will be busy enough without needing to keep my eyes on them and supervise. Besides, I'm a scientist not a babysitter!"

Alania and Zetson went to shoot back a retort but were stopped by a fierce glare from Rykon. Giovanni leaned back in his chair again and then issued his commands. "Very well then. Rykon!"

The large man snapped to attention. "You will accompany Zager on his expedition after this mission aboard the St. Anne is over with. Understand?!"

The man nodded his head and spoke in a gruff voice. "Yes sir!"

Zager then addressed them. "Come straight back to the hideout here in Celadon after your job is over Rykon. We'll leave immediately after!"

The large man nodded his head. "Yes Dr. Zager!"

The old man nodded. "Good. Now I have to go. I have some calculations I need to go over before we leave. See you all soon." The screen then went black on Zager's side and Giovanni's image then took up the whole screen.

Alania seemed nervous but she asked anyway. "Excuse me sir but... What is this 'project' that Dr. Zager deems so important?" She asked curiously.

Giovanni merely looked at her for a moment and then responded. "Something that will eventually take Team Rocket one step closer to world domination Alania. That's all you need to know."

The female Rocket just raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't say anything else. Very little was kept from them, the Team Rocket Commanders, but she knew that if it was something that was making both Giovanni and Dr. Zager excited as well as this secretive, it had to be very big.

"Yes sir." She said after a few moments.

Giovanni nodded and then dismissed them before hanging up. Zetson turned to Alania. "When can we move out and get this done already?!" He whined.

She sighed and then smacked him upside the head. "Hey my hair! Watch it!" He yelled as he righted himself and began fixing his mussed up hair.

"Focus on the mission at hand!" Alania scolded. "We'll get to it when the time is right! And you had better not screw things up like you did in Mt. Moon or Giovanni will have your head!"

He cringed a little as he remembered how that Trainer had obliterated him in battle. "Fine..." He sighed. "I just hope it's soon!"

Alania turned to Rykon. "Where are those three Grunts that we ordered to give out free tickets to Trainers in the city to board the St. Anne?" she asked him.

He pointed past her toward some crates that were lying on the ground. She looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the three Rockets she was looking for fighting over who got the most tickets. She grew a tick mark on her forehead and shouted out to them. "You three! Get over here!"

The scared faces of Jessie, James and Meowth turned to look at her and then rushed forward to stand in front of her. "Yes Commander Alania?!" They said respectfully.

She pointed at the tickets in their hands. "Get out there right now and start handing out those tickets to any Trainers you see before it's time for the St. Anne to leave port: Now!"

They immediately bowed their heads to her. "Yes ma'am!" They said in unison as they grabbed a large roll of tickets and then sped out of the warehouse, knocking into other Grunts as they went.

She sighed and grabbed the bridge of her nose. "Incompetent fools is all I'm working with..." She turned back to her fellow commanders. "Come on you two, let's finish preparations."

They nodded and then went to work on completing the preparations for whatever it was they had planned.

XXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends were at the Pokemon Center with Ash sitting at one of the video phones talking to Professor Oak.

"So you have defeated four gyms in the last two weeks, including the Vermillion gym, your Magikarp evolved into Gyarados and you managed to tame him after he evolved, you only need one more badge now to qualify for the Pokemon League and are getting ready to board the St. Anne for a cruise to Porte Vista? I must say Ash you are doing amazingly well for yourself!" Professor Oak praised his young apprentice.

Ash just smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks Professor but it's not all me. If it wasn't for my Pokemon and the great friends I have with me I wouldn't be even halfway to where I am now. They support me and give me strength in everything I do. Without them I wouldn't be near as 'successful' as I am right now." He said 'successful' with air quotations.

Professor Oak just smiled fondly at the boy. "And that's a wonderful attitude to have Ash. I'm proud of you for realizing that no great Trainer is what they are without the support, love, loyalty and strength of their Pokemon." He looked over Ash's shoulder at his friends who were still smiling at the kind words Ash spoke of them. "And having great friends like you have here really helps as well Ash."

Ash nodded and smiled while scratching Pikachu behind the ears, making the Pokemon lay his head lazily against Ash's. He smiled at Brock and Misty, who returned it and then grabbed Giselle's hand unconsciously and gave it a light squeeze. She blushed at the contact between them in front of everyone but squeezed his hand in return.

Professor Oak wasn't one of the worlds leading experts on Pokemon for being an unobservant idiot, he noticed things, small details. He had to since his field was in studying the relationship between people and Pokemon. He also noticed these things between people. He saw it at first glance with Ash's parents and not to mention, he had a family of his own. Needless to say, what he was seeing between the two kids on the other side of the video phone right now made him smile with mischief.

"Of course Ash m'boy, having a 'special friend' namely of the lady variety, is not a bad thing to have either you know." He said with grin on his face.

Ash and Giselle looked confused for a second before looking down at their joined hands. They instantly realized what Professor Oak was talking about and turned beat red before separating from each other quickly.

Pikachu, Brock and the Professor laughed out loud while Misty just looked mad. After their laughter died down Professor Oak wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes and addressed Ash again. "Ahhh my boy I'm sorry for my jest! There is nothing wrong at all with young love! In fact, it's healthy!"

Ash just sputtered and Giselle tried to sink down into her jacket like Squirtle withdrawing into his shell. Professor Oak decided to give them a break. "Well... Now that we have had our round of comedy, tell me the reason for your call Ash! As much as I enjoy our conversations I know how busy you are so please do tell!"

Ash looked confused for the change of subject. The situation with Giselle was confusing enough without Professor Oak adding in his scientific explanation of how young love was, 'healthy for you' and how he apparently encouraged it.

Ash cleared his throat before speaking. "Actually Professor, I would like to send my Gyarados back to you and receive Pidgeotto until I find out if the St. Anne has any kind of pool for Pokemon on board the ship that's big enough for Gyarados to train in. Otherwise I'm just going to have to wait until we get to Porte Vista and then send away for Gyarados again so I can get him started on his new training regimen."

Professor Oak nodded his head. "Sure thing Ash. Just place the Pokeball on the teleporter and I'll send Pidgeotto over."

Ash did as told and then waited patiently for his Pokemon to arrive. Professor Oak came back onto the screen a few moments later with a Pokeball in hand and placed it on the teleporter. After he sent Pidgeotto back to Ash the Professor turned back to Ash. "There we are Ash! Pidgeotto is on her way. I already put her under the recovery machine sometime before you called. She and Fearow got into another intense training session. She's all healed up and ready to go as soon as she gets there to you."

Ash smiled. "Thanks Professor." He paused for a second and then asked hesitantly. "Uhh... Professor, you didn't happen to get a capture alert under my Trainer profile about two weeks ago on Tuesday morning did you?" He was referring to the day he captured Dragonite. He wanted to know what the Professor was aware of before he decided to tell him about Dragonite or not right now.

The Professor looked confused. "Well let's see here... If it was in the morning then I was probably out in the corral taking care of the Pokemon. If I did get an alert and missed it then I wouldn't know what Pokemon you captured unless you sent it to me since I only get one alert. Why do you ask Ash?"

Before Ash could answer the Professor, Brock suddenly called out to him. "Ash we have to get moving, the St. Anne will be leaving in about half an hour and if we want to make it there with time to spare and before the ship starts crowding then we need to go now."

Ash nodded. "Gotcha Brock be right there! I'll meet you guys outside okay?"

His friends nodded before saying good-bye to the Professor and then leaving the Center. Ash turned back to the monitor. "Well Professor I gotta go, I'll tell you about what I was going to say earlier. Tell mom I love her please and that I'll call her either on the ship or when we get to Porte Vista."

The Professor nodded his head. "Will do Ash and don't worry, I'll tell your mother. Now go on and stay safe!"

Ash smiled. "Alright Professor bye!"

The old man waved cheerily and then Ash ended the call before heading out of the Center to find his friends.

XXXXXXX

Professor Oak got up from his desk chair after he got off the phone with Ash and then walked over to the teleporter and picked up the Pokeball Ash sent over. "It's a beautiful day out, I think I'll take Ash's Gyarados down to the area where his Pokemon all congregate and train at and release him back into the large pond they have all pretty much claimed as their own. I'm sure Staryu will be glad to have it's training partner back again!" Professor said to himself as he left the Lab and walked out into the fields of the Poke'Corral.

He made his down into the field where all of Ash's Pokemon were always at and saw them all doing the same thing they always did. Training from the time they got up to the time they went to bed. Only relaxing after they had trained themselves into the ground.

The Professor just shook his head. Those Pokemon were just like Ash. They had a one track mind for training and getting stronger. The more time that went on, the more militant they got in personality and the harder they would train. He had to admit, Ash knew how to train his Pokemon and instill values into them. He had also never seen any Pokemon so devoted to their Trainer before. Not even Ash's father Richard's Pokemon were so obsessed with pleasing him. Ash's Pokemon definitely idolized and adored him, that much was for certain.

He made it down toward the pond, passing Nidorina and Nidorino as they sparred. He passed both of Ash's Butterfree and also his Beedrill as they engaged in full on one on two rotation battles. He passed Primeape who was lifting a large boulder for upper body strength training. Clefairy was working on her Metronome attack. Raticate and both Rattata were doing speed and agility drills. Paras, Roselia, Weepinbell and Oddish were all working on their Grass-Type attacks. Fearow was working on flying through the air and performing several aerial acrobatics while wearing body weights, working his speed, strength, stamina, agility and power. Oak suspected that Fearow was still sore from losing his earlier battle with Pidgeotto and was training hard, trying to make up for it.

Professor Oak made it down to the pond and saw Staryu training with Ash's giant Krabby. During the last two weeks that had Ash had worked with all of his Pokemon in rotation he had also worked with Krabby and set him up on his own training program and nutrition strategy. Ash had a similar training program for every type Pokemon that he had currently but it deviated slightly for every Pokemon's unique needs and areas of improvement.

Ash explained to Professor Oak that Krabby's training was meant to make it much faster on his feet, since Krabby and their evolved form Kingler were not known for their speed in battle. Also, it was meant to work his power and strength as well as toughen up his shell so it would be even more resilient to attacks.

Professor Oak was right when he said that Krabby's size would make his attacks stronger. From what Oak had observed, Krabby's attacks were about five times more powerful than a standard sized Krabby. He knew this because he used Gary's Krabby for comparison.

Professor Oak believed that he and Ash had accidentally stumbled onto a whole new field of Pokemon Research. Very little was known about abnormally large Pokemon and the general census was that they were just bigger than normal and that was it. However, after studying Ash's Krabby, which was the first time any of Oak's sponsored Trainers ever actually captured a larger than normal Pokemon, the Professor was now certain that there was much more to, what he and Ash called 'Giant Pokemon', than they had ever thought.

The Professor was very happy that Ash had discovered this interesting field of research so soon into his journey. It was really going to help propel him far in his training to become a Pokemon Researcher. Since he had more time to just study this subject than Ash did being on the road, the Professor would share notes with Ash and go over things concerning his theories on Giant Pokemon whenever Ash made his regular calls to the Professor and Delia.

It really did the kind old Professor's heart good when he saw such an enthusiastic young person taking interest in something that was, as most people would say, as boring as Pokemon Research. Oak knew that Ash would make a fine Researcher some day.

After observing Staryu and Krabby train for awhile the Professor decided that it was time to release Gyarados into the pond. He hoped that Ash really had tamed his Pokemon because otherwise... Things were going to get dangerous.

He threw the Pokeball up into the air and waited for it to open and release the Pokemon inside. However, when the device opened up and began releasing the Pokemon inside of it Oak's face went from calm and stoic, to confused as he saw the energy begin to take form of a Pokemon that most certainly was NOT a Gyarados.

His curious expression quickly turned to that of absolute horror and fear as the shape of the Pokemon began growing, and growing, and growing until it was so tall that it blotted out the sun with it's size and cast a large shadow over the Professor and all of Ash's training Pokemon.

The absolutely gargantuan Pokemon finally stopped growing once it came to full form and threw it's arms out to the sides as the light from the Pokeball burst away from the Pokemon and showed what it really was. Professor Oak fell to the ground on his backside and took in the Pokemon's appearance with his eyes as wide as saucers. When he saw the golden colored body and white, scaly stomach. The large two antenna that poked out from the top of it's head, the dragon like face, clawed hands and feet, long tail and gigantic wings, he instantly knew what the Pokemon was in his mind but the Professor couldn't organize his thoughts into anything that actually made sense.

He felt as though his eyes were betraying him and that it was just a trick of the light or a dream even. He even thought that maybe his age was starting to effect him even though he was still very spry and well of mind... At least he thought he was well of mind until now. His mind had shut down and his eyes just stared up at the face of the massive Pokemon. So large that it put many tall buildings to shame! He couldn't really see the Pokemon's face very well because it's face was so high up in the air but he didn't need to. He slowly mumbled one word. Almost not believing the words as they left his mouth. "D-D-Dragon-n-night..." He sputtered out.

The Giant Pokemon stared down at the small Professor, at least small in her eyes, and then let out a loud bellow that shook the Ranch. "Dragooo!"

Professor Oak stood up and continued to gape at the Pokemon in shock and disbelief. "How?!" He asked aloud.

Ash's Pokemon all seemed to know Dragonite well, he observed, as they rushed up to greet her. Professor Oak continued to stare in shock at what was going on and then had one thought pass through his mind as he said aloud. "That boy has some serious explaining to do..."

XXXXXXXX

As Ash and his friends finally arrived at the harbor they stopped and took in the spectacle that was the St. Anne, before them. "Wow... That's one big ship!" Ash said in amazement.

"Yeah no kidding..." Brock said in awe.

"I built a model of the St. Anne once when I was a little girl." Misty told them. "Wait until you guys see the inside."

"This is going to be sooo much fun!" Giselle squealed as she latched onto Ash and began hugging him fiercely. "Thanks again so much for doing this Ash!"

He smiled and returned the hug. "No problem Giselle, it was my pleasure. Besides, this is going to be an experience none of us will ever forget!"

She released him and then then walked up closer to the ship to get a better view. Ash looked to his right where he was hearing some voices and saw three people dressed up in seamen's suits, giving away tickets to passing people. Ash guessed by their appearance that they worked for the St. Anne but something didn't feel right to him. Who would give tickets to a luxury cruise liner away to people for free?

Ash instantly summarized that the people were probably just a bunch of jerks disguising themselves as workers from the St. Anne, getting people's hopes up by giving them 'free' tickets and then when the people went to hand the tickets in they would be told they were fake and denied access onto the ship. It was just a way to be mean. If they dared tried to come Ash's way he already made his mind up that they would receive a VERY...unkind response.

Still, Ash couldn't shake the feeling that the three looked familiar... They were covered up really well so he had a hard time telling for sure but they seemed very similar to someone Ash had seen before. They were all wearing hats and glasses that completely covered up their eyes and hair. The shortest of them, VERY short, was wearing the same but had a very bushy beard on his face. Ash just couldn't shake the feeling...

He was shaken from his thoughts by his Xtransceiver suddenly going off. He looked at it and saw it was Professor Oak calling him. This confused Ash since he had just spoken to the Professor a little while ago. He answered the device. "Hey Professor is something wrong?" He asked concerned.

The Professor had a very serious look on his face. "Actually Ash... I was thinking that maybe you could explain something to me."

Ash looked confused. "Sure Professor what is it?"

Oak leaned forward in his chair. "I was hoping that maybe you could explain... THAT IMMENSE DRAGONITE OF YOURS!" He said loudly.

Ash's eyes grew wide. "How do you know about Dragonite Professor?" He asked shocked.

The Professor explained what happened to Ash and then the boy understood what happened. "I'm so sorry Professor! I must have accidentally sent over Dragonite instead of Gyarados!"

Oak just waved his hand dismissively. "I don't care about that Ash! Just tell me... How did you capture such a Pokemon?!"

Ash took a deep breath and then explained everything that happened involving Dragonite. When he was done the Professor looked shock beyond belief. "My my my... Ash my boy that is purely fascinating! You have without a doubt captured the most amazing Pokemon I have ever seen in all my years! This takes the theory of Giant Pokemon to a whole new level!" He paused from his excitement for a minute and then got serious. "Now Ash you must realize something... Dragonite are Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon as you well know. She is not going to be easy to train at all, especially for a rookie Trainer such as yourself. Even elite level Trainers can have serious troubles when it comes to raising Pokemon like this and your Dragonite is not just a normal Pseudo Pokemon. I would wager that she is the only one of her kind being this size, which will make training and feeding her very difficult. Your father had a Dragonite himself that he raised from a Dratini and when she evolved into Dragonite she no longer listened to him. He WAS an elite level Trainer and she still wouldn't obey him..."

Ash stopped Professor Oak with a raised hand. "Professor, I think you need to hear this..." He then went on to explain how he had already created the perfect training program for Dragonite. How she had already bonded with him through the flying sessions they had every night. How his other Pokemon had already accepted her and even how he had created the perfect nutrition strategy for her.

When he was done explaining the Professor was wide eyed. He didn't speak for a few moments and when he finally did he just chuckled and shook his head. "Ash m'boy you never cease to amaze me. Be it any other person, let alone a greenhorn Trainer, I would have never believed a word of it. However, after seeing how Pokemon act around you and the certain... 'way' you have with him, I believe you completely and I'm very proud of you Ash. Not to mention happy for the accomplishment you've made only just starting out on your journey when your father couldn't even do what you have done in all his years as a Trainer!"

Ash just scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Thanks Professor I really appreciate it."

The old man smiled and then grew a funny looking smile on his face. "Now Ash, I know you only sent Dragonite to me on accident but I was wondering if... Maybe you didn't need her for the time... If I could perhaps keep her here at the Lab for awhile and study her. There is so much I could learn about Giant Pokemon from her and very possibly her origins as well!"

Ash laughed. He knew that the Professor would get like this when he found out about Dragonite. Ohh well, Ash couldn't blame him. He would be the same way right now if he was in Professor Oak's shoes. "Sure Professor to ahead. I'll keep Gyarados here with me. Maybe the Anne will have a pool for Pokemon that I can train her in after all."

The old man grew an extremely giddy look on his face and smiled widely. "Thank you Ash my boy and don't worry! Dragonite will be in good hands!"

Ash nodded his head and smiled. "I know she will Professor! Hey I gotta go now, the guards are getting ready to start letting people on the St. Anne now."

Professor Oak nodded his head. "Take care Ash, have a good trip!"

Ash acknowledged the Professor's words and then ended the call and walked back over to his friends so they could wait in the fast growing line to get on the ship. They seemed curious as to what Professor Oak had wanted so Ash set to work explaining to them what happened.

...

Jessie, James and Meowth had just finished giving out the last of the tickets when James suddenly got the other two's attention. "Hey guys isn't that the twirps?" He said as he pointed at where the group of friends were waiting in line to get on the Anne.

Jessie looked at where James was pointing. "Your right James it is!" She said excitedly.

"That means we may have another chance to steal Pikachu!" James exclaimed.

Meowth suddenly stepped in between them. "Not right now you guys! We gotta get back to the rest of da team now dat we're done handing out dem tickets. Oderwise Alania's gonna be really mad again!"

The three Rockets shivered in fear at the thought of their commander when she was angry before Jessie spoke. "Your right Meowth! We won't make a grab for Pikachu yet, we'll wait until we start the invasion of the Anne and then we'll steal Pikachu!"

Right!" James and Meowth said together. They then headed back to the warehouse to join the rest of the Rockets for the execution of the mission.

...

Ash and his friends finally made it past the checkpoint to enter onto the Anne and made it onboard with the many other passengers. They were greeted by a friendly young woman dressed in a dark blue blouse, skirt and heels. She had green eyes and short, curly brown hair. "Hello everyone and welcome aboard the St. Anne! My names Katie and I will be one of the many attendants you can all go to should you need anything during your stay with us! If you will please follow me I will show you all to your cabins!" She said cheerfully.

They followed the young women as she led them up onto the deck and as they made their way up onto it they were stunned by the sight before them. The deck was huge! There was an observation area near the end of the deck where large telescopes were set up that people could use to gaze out over the ocean and into the far horizon. There was also a large pool in the middle of the deck, complete with a large water slide and hot tub. There was also a sunning/lounging area near the pool that people could just relax at and soak up some sun. There was also a mini bar set up in one corner of the deck where drinks and food could be ordered.

They drank in the amazing sight of everything before them until Katie led them back down off of the deck and in through a door that lead them into a large and very sea themed hallway with doors that lead to the many cabins throughout the ship. She lead everyone to their rooms, Ash and Brock shared a room and the other one was shared by Misty and Giselle.

The rooms themselves were very elegant and were also sea themed. The walls and ceilings were painted blue and had designs of Water Pokemon carved into the walls. There were two king sized beds near the front of the room and a bathroom to the right of the room. The girls cabin was designed the same way as the boys was.

They settled into their rooms and got dressed in swimwear, Ash and Brock put on their trunks and left their shirts on for the time being while the girls put on their bikinis and wore shorts and T-shirts over them. After they were done they exited their cabins and were informed by Katie that take off would be happening any moment and the get together for all of the guests and their Pokemon would be at 8:00 that evening.

Before the woman left to oversee preparations for the evening festivities Ash stopped her. "Excuse me ma'am, does the ship have another pool anywhere just for Pokemon?Specifically for training purposes?" He asked politely.

She smiled again and answered him. "Why yes in fact we do! The Pokemon training facility is set up on the lowest level of the ship just for dedicated Pokemon Trainers such as yourself! If you follow the deck around to the other side of the ship you will find a door that leads down to it."

Ash nodded his head. "Thank you ma'am."

"Your very welcome!" She said as she walked away.

Ash and his friends made it out onto the deck just as the ship began pulling out from the port. They watched from the deck as the ship began getting further out to sea and Vermillion City eventually began getting smaller and smaller in the distance. The friends just stayed where they were for a time and watched ocean as the ship continued to sail. They saw several Pokemon swimming in the ocean. Some Goldeen, Seaking, Magikarp and Tentacool.

As more time passed, Giselle asked aloud. "I wonder if we'll be able to see any Gyarados when the ship starts heading through the Gyarados straight?"

"Most likely not." Brock answered. "Gyarados are very elusive Pokemon and don't like dealing with humans or even other Pokemon. When they sense the ship coming they'll probably just head into deeper water."

Giselle nodded and then spun around. "Come on guys let's go hit the pool!" She said excitedly.

"Yeah let's go!" Misty agreed, just as enthusiasticly.

Ash and Brock followed the girls as they headed back to the pool. Once they reached the deck they picked out a spot in the lounging area to lay out their stuff and then proceeded to take off their outer clothes so they could go swimming. Once Ash was done he let Pikachu get back up on his shoulder and then turned back to his friends.

Brock was also ready to go and now they were just waiting on the girls. Misty took off her red shirt and blue shorts and revealed the same red bikini that she wore when they had their day at the beach. Giselle took off her tight white shorts and black top and revealed a black bikini underneath that hugged her very well developing assets perfectly.

Yet again, Ash found himself staring at Giselle's body in awe. The way her silky brown hair fell down around her shoulders, her well developing chest, flat and smooth stomach, her hips that were beginning to curve nicely and her long legs... Everytime he saw her like this he would find himself staring at her with this weird feeling that he couldn't describe.

Brock saw Ash staring at Giselle and smirked. "Why don't you take a picture Ash? It'll last longer."

Ash blushed red and began trying to stutter out a reply. Giselle came up to him, oblivious to his embarrassment and grabbed him by the arm. "Come on Ash let's go!" She said happily as she pulled him towards the pool.

Brock and Misty followed them and then they all got in the pool. For the next two hours they all swam and had fun in the water while Pikachu floated around the pool on a red innertube, happily drinking on a smoothie that Ash had ordered for him from the bar.

After they were all done swimming they returned back to their spots at the lounging area and laid out on the sunning chairs. Pikachu laid by Ash's side and quickly fell asleep in the warm sun. Brock and Misty went to get something to eat at the bar, leaving Ash and Giselle by themselves.

Giselle looked across at Ash, who was sitting right across from her. "Ash..."

"Umm?" He said drowsily from the suns warm rays.

"Thank you so much for making it possible for us to do this. I really, really appreciate it. You were so sweet for doing this for me..." Giselle said as she smiled at him.

Ash opened his eyes and looked at her. "How did you-"

She cut him off by laying her hand on his cheek. "It was only after you saw how I reacted to Nurse Joy telling us about the St. Anne that you signed up in the competition Ash. I know why you did all of this and I'm... I'm really grateful for it. No one has ever done something so sweet for me before. I know I've already said that but it's true."

He smiled at her. "No problem Giselle. I'm glad this made you happy, I really am."

She reached down and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers together across the short distance that separated them. "I'm glad I'm with you Ash."

He didn't miss how she said that she was glad she was with HIM and didn't refer to the others as well. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. She blushed bright red, considering he had never did such a thing before, and he then smiled softly at her before speaking. "So am I Giselle... So am I."

They looked into each others eyes for a short time before they were suddenly interrupted by someone calling out to Ash. "Well if it's not Ashy boy!"

They turned their heads to see who had just called to Ash. Though Ash already knew. Standing there in front of them, wearing a purple beach shirt, tan shorts and brown sandals on his feet, was Gary Oak.

"Well look who it is? Little Ashy boy and who's this, some girl you payed to pretend to be your girlfriend? I'm surprised your on this ship Ash, I would have thought that the only thing you could afford to be on was a little dingy!" Gary said snidely as he walked up to them.

Ash kept his hand intertwined with Giselle's as he replied back to Gary, completely ignoring everything that the other Pallet native had said previously. "Hey Gary how's it going?" Ash asked his rival politely.

Gary seemed surprised that his harsh words didn't so much as faze Ash, but he quickly covered his confusion with a smirk. "Eh, you know... Winning battles, catching Pokemon, dealing with the stress of being such a great Trainer!"

Ash raised his eyebrows. "That MUST be hard Gary, I'm sorry for the burden you have to carry. Life is so cruel ain't it?" He said this with his voice dripping in sarcasm and Gary could tell. "Ohh yeah Ashy boy?! Well why don't you tell me all about what you've accomplished!" He demanded.

Giselle didn't like that this guy was trying to put Ash down and instantly got a bad taste in her mouth for him. She went to tell him off and tell him everything that Ash HAD accomplished but he stopped her with a light squeeze of his hand. She looked into his eyes and saw what he was trying to tell her. '_I've got this.'_

She nodded her head and let Ash handle the situation. He looked at Gary and said nonchalantly. "Ehh... You know Gary, not a lot. Just a few badges and Pokemon really. Can't really say much more."

Gary just smirked. "Yeah well... Not everyone can be as great of a Trainer as I am Ashy boy! Keep trying and maybe just maybe you'll make it into the prelims of the Indigo League when it comes around, though no promises!" He laughed onbnoxiously as he walked away from Ash and Giselle.

She looked at Ash. "Why did you tell him that Ash? You made it sound like you haven't accomplished anything yet and that's far from the truth!"

Ash sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chair. He looked at Giselle as she sat up as well. He smiled at her and grabbed her hand gently again. He softly stroked her hand with his other and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. "Giselle my dear, sometimes the less of your own accomplishments you talk about can actually take you further ahead than bragging about them idly. I don't know when I will face Gary in battle, but when I do I want him to underestimate me as much as possible so when I beat him it will be as humbling and as much of a learning experience for him as it can be. He needs a serious attitude adjustment and I will be the one to give it to him. However, the right time has to come first. He needs to be at a spot in life where he is ready to learn the lessons I'll teach him in our battle. Anything before then will just be wasted. That... Is why I downplayed myself dear." He finished his explanation with warm smile directed towards her.

Giselle blushed and then asked. "How did you get so wise Ash? You sound like an old Professor!" She teased him gently.

Ash just laughed and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "When you spend every day with Professor Oak for five years you kind of pick up a few things and grow up quick." He said with mirth and a smile at the thought of his wise mentor.

Giselle smiled as well. "Well I like what he did to you Ash."

Before he could say anything else Brock and Misty came back to them. "Hey guys we just found out that they have a large area here in the ship where vendors sell all kind of cool stuff!" Misty said excitedly.

"Really?!" Giselle said with wide eyes.

"Yeah really!" Misty said, equally as excited.

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go change and then get down there!" Giselle said as she and Misty were already half way off the deck.

Ash and Brock just looked at each other and sighed, shaking their heads. Ash looked to Pikachu on the chair. "Come on buddy, let's go."

Pikachu bounded up on Ash's shoulder and then the boy turned to Brock. "Let's get this over with Brock."

Brock followed Ash after they gathered their stuff and started heading off the deck with him. "We're going shopping with two girls Ash... We probably won't come back!" He said half jokingly and half seriously.

Ash laughed while a large sweat drop ran down his back. "Thanks a lot Brock..."

XXXXXXXXX

Down in the large shopping area of the ship where all of the vendors were set up, three very familiar Rockets dressed up in disguises that made them look like average vacationers were milling around amongst the small shops.

"I can't believe Commander 'thinks she's better than everyone else just because she's beautiful' Alania put us here on the ship instead of with the rest of the team!" Jessie ranted silently to her two teammates.

"She probably just wanted to make sure that they had eyes on the inside in case something went wrong before they began the raid." James tried to placate her.

Jessie just huffed. "No, she just likes to flaunt her superiority all over the place!"

"But isn't that what you do with us Jessie?" James said without thinking.

The next thing he knew, the poor man was on the ground with a large lump growing out of his head. Jesse stood over him with her fist still raised and a tick mark on the side of her head. "No one asked YOUR opinion James!" She said hotly.

Meowth spoke up. "Yous both needs to be quite! Do you want de whole ship knowing about da mission?!"

Jessie turned her head to the side. "It's not my fault James was being stupid! Now come on, I want to start scoping out Trainers with the best Pokemon possible that we should steal first thing."

"Right, let's split up den!" Meowth said.

He and Jessie began walking in opposite directions while Jame's slowly peeled himself up off the ground. He started walking around the amongst the many vendors set up, trying to find Trainers with worthwhile Pokemon to steal. Suddenly, he heard someone frantically out to him. "Hey you! Hey you sir! Come over here!"

He turned around and saw a short looking man with a big nose, black hair and wearing black pants, white shirt and wooden sandals. He walked over to the man calling to him. "Were you talking to me mister?" He asked confused.

The short man looked excited and slapped a rolled up piece of paper he had down on the counter of his booth. "You bet I am!" He said is fast talking and very sells like voice. "You know, you seem like a very smart man who knows all about the finer things in life! Someone who see's things differently and isn't afraid to take chances! Am I right?!"

James looked even more confused. "I guess so. What's the point of this?"

The man grew a wild grin on his face and slapped the paper back down again. "I knew it! Then I have a deal for you guy! Look here in this tank and tell me what you see!"

He lifted a sheet that was over a large, water filled container and showed a Magikarp just floating there in the water. James looked utterly lost. "It's just a Magikarp."

The man hit James over the head with his paper. "Hey what was that for?!" James asked angrily.

The continued to wave his paper around in the air frantically. "You don't understand! This may seem like an ordinary Magikarp but it's not! This Magikarp is very special I tell you... It's a very rare Red Scaled Magikarp! The most valuable of their species! People would pay hundreds just to see this Pokemon, let alone it!"

James, being the idiot he was, looked interested. "Really?! Say, that IS a special Pokemon!" He said excitedly as he eyes the fish.

The man's eyes gleamed. "That's right but met me tell you something even better! This Magikarp reproduce by the hundred every year! If you sell them every year for just two years you could make millions, billions even!"

Jame's was starry eyes now. "That it is amazing!" He looked confused again. "Then why aren't you keeping this Magikarp?"

The shook his head vigorously. "Because I lIke you guy! I could see something special in you! I want you to succeed and because of that, I'll discount this Magikarp! You can have it right now for the discounted price of only 1000 Poke'Credits!"

James looked unsure when he heard the price. "But that would be all my friends and I had!" He complained.

The man raised his paper. "But just think! In a few months time this Magikarp will pay for itself! Come on guy, this is a one time offer!"

James was to tempted and blinded by stupidity. "You have yourself a deal hombre!" He handed the man a card that he, Jessie and Meowth kept all their credits on.

The man grabbed it so fast that after image of the card was left behind. He quickly scanned it and drained the card of it's money. He threw the card back to James and then spoke again. "I like your guts guy and I'll you what! I'll even throw in this..." He grabbed an object from under the counter that was round and covered in a piece of cloth. He unveiled the object and showed a 'golden' Pokeball. "I will throw in this genuine golden Pokeball for free!"

James's eyes went to the size of saucers. "Thanks hombre!"

He took the ball in his hand then threw it into the tank. The device captured the Magikarp in no time at all and then he held the ball in his hands and looked at it greedily. He laughed crazily. "I'm going to be rich!" He said excitedly.

'Hombre' had a small smirk on his face. "Yes guy you said it! Your going to be very surprised with what you are going to receive out of this purchase..."

James didn't even hear him. "I have to go show Jessie and Meowth this Magikarp! We're going to be rich!" He said excitedly as he ran away.

The man watched Jame's disappear and then aloud. "Sucker!" He laughed aloud and then packed up his vendor at the speed a Pidgeot flies before disappearing into the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXX

The day had passed by quickly for Ash and his friends in a blur of fun and excitement. Well at least... The first part of the day past quickly for the two shopping maniac girls, while Ash and Brock were pretty much holding each other up out of exhaustion. After the girls had finished their VERY long and exhausting shopping trip, from which they bought NOTHING, they all decided to to spend the rest of the day exploring the ship and seeing what all else it had to offer. There was an arcade which had all of the best games. 'Whack-A-Diglett', 'Angry Pidgey's', 'Pack-Gulpin', 'Plusle and Minun Bro's', 'Big Game Trainer: Stantler Season' and the most popular by far 'Temple of Arceus Run'.

They also had a huge rec room where you could play several different games. Table tennis, wall tennis, basketball, air hockey. They also had a small theater where movies were being shown. Favorites like, 'Finding Goldeen', 'Granbull &amp; Me, 'I Was A Teenage Ninetails' and one of the most successful movies: 'Swoobatman Begins'

There was even a small museum in another part of the Anne that was an exact replica of the 'Museum of Kanto History' that was located in Celadon City. This look-a-like museum told all about the rich history of Kanto and also the history of every known Pokemon in Kanto. Of course, Ash already knew all about the histories of Kanto Pokemon from his years of studying, but he didn't know all about the history of Kanto itself. Something he was eager to learn.

Basically, Kanto's history in a nutshell was how settlers from far away regions came over seas, led by a man named Christian Ketsum and made their home in what was now the Kanto region. They sat up towns, government, laws, agriculture, everything. However, a civil war broke out amongst the people. The region was divided into two parts: West Kanto and East Kanto. West Kanto believed that Pokemon should be treated as equals and not forced to do hard labor as slaves like East Kanto believed they should be.

The fighting was endless and bloody until two leaders from both sides of the war came up with a great compromise that would put the war to a stop. They suggested East Kanto cross the great mountain that separated the Kanto region from another unknown land just on the other side of the mountain. It was unexplored and undiscovered. West Kanto was selected since they lived much closer to the mountain than East Kanto did. In fact, if East Kanto would have been selected to make the travel they would have had to pass through West Kanto territory, which would have been a very bad idea considering tensions were so high.

In the end, West Kanto agreed and crossed the mountain that they later named 'Mt. Silver' in honor of a great silver flying Pokemon who was native to the newly discovered region and helped guide them over the mountain and into the new land they made their home. The new region was named 'Johto' which translated into 'region of rainbows' in honor of another great flying Pokemon native to Johto that helped guide them through the new land and provided hope in the form of glorious rainbows when rain came pouring down upon the traveling people, seeking to dampen their spirits.

After this region was established, the people of Johto realized the error of their ways and made peace with the new species of Pokemon in the Johto region. The guidance and kindness of the 'Great Duo of the Johto Region' when they first came to their new home, showed them that Pokemon were their equals and needed to be treated as such.

They even constructed two large towers in the heart of the Johto regions very first settlement, later named Ecruteak City. The towers were named the Tin Tower and the Brass Tower and were constructed in honor of the Legendary Duo that helped lead the once was lost and struggling people to form their new home and establish the Johto region.

Over the next many years the people of the newly created Johto region and newly re-formed Kanto region made amends amongst themselves, established peace and became close friends. They shared in trade with each other as well the newly discovered native island people of a nearby chain of islands that they called the 'Orange Archipelago'. Strong relationships were formed between the three nations and their respective Pokemon, allowing all to prosper and grow. Many people and families also migrated between Kanto, Johto and the nicknamed 'Orange Islands', creating a permanent link between all three nations and sharing, as well as mixing, in each other's rich culture.

The two leaders who were responsible for ending the 'Great Kanto Civil War' and inadvertently bringing about the formation of todays modern Kanto and the entire Johto region were actually brothers. Xanlon and Kyson Ketsum. Descendants of the discoverer of the Kanto region Christian Ketsum.

Throughout the formation and history of the Kanto and Johto regions, the descendants and families of Xanlon and Kyson had played instrumental roles in the politics, creation of new laws and regulations, deals with other regions and the growth and expansion of both regions. In fact, history books placed the Ketsum family as one of the most prominent and oldest families of the Kanto and Johto regions. Sadly though, their line was said to have died out about two hundred years prior. The last surviving Ketsum, Armanus Ketsum, died with no children left behind that were known of.

By the end of the day and when evening time rolled around, all of the friends and even Pikachu were tired. In a good way, but still tired. They had all dressed back into their normal clothes and Brock and Misty had went to the on-board Pokemon Center so they could get their Pokemon healed up. Giselle and Ash's Pokemon were completely healthy and didn't need need any tending to by Nurse Joy, so they just ended up wondering around the ship together.

"Let's to up onto the deck and stare out at the ocean now that it's evening time Ash." Giselle said as she turned to face him. "I'm sure the sea is beautiful at this time."

He smile at her softly. "Yeah Giselle let's go." He said as he grabbed her hand and lead her to the deck.

They eventually reached the top of the deck and went over to the railings. The sight before them truly was mesmerizing. The waves were calm and gently rolled on top of one another in a look of black silk being stretched out and then rolled back in. The moonlight was shining brightly down on the water, casting a beautiful glow on the ocean.

Suddenly, they saw several lights began begin shining in the water. Dull, pulsing lights, like mini stars twinkling in the water. A few moments later the two of them saw several Staryu and Starmie begin surfacing to crest the top of the water. They began circling around one another in an enchanting dance of glowing lights, making the sea before them look like the sky had dropped into the ocean and was now staring up at them.

Giselle's eyes sparkled at the sight as she leaned slightly over the railing and stared at the sight with undisguised awe. "It's beautiful Ash..." She said quietly and with her voice full of wonder.

Ash however had only stared at the spectacle long enough to have it memorized so he could jot it down in his Researcher's journal. He was now staring straight at the girl before before him, mesmerized by the way the moonlight made her eyes shine like diamonds. Her whole form seemed to glow like she was celestial and in that moment who was thanking Arceus that she had brought Giselle into his life.

Yes Brock and Misty were amazing and great friends, and his Pokemon were beyond special to his heart as well but with Giselle... It was something different that he couldn't describe.

He answered her softly. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen..."

Giselle turned to face him and saw that instead of him looking at the Pokemon in the water when he said what he did, he was staring at her. She blushed a deep red that was noticeable even at night once she realized he was talking about her. Ash didn't care, he found her blushing to be the cutest thing in the world.

She said shyly. "Thank you Ash..."

He just stepped closer to her. "I'm being honest Giselle. I thank Arceus all the time that we stumbled across Joe that day in the woods and how that lead us to meeting you."

She huffed. "Yeah and I was a real bitch when you first met me." She looked down.

Ash took her chin with his finger and raised her eyes back up to meet his. "That doesn't matter to me Giselle. You have become a completely different person than who you were when we first met and I am so happy that you went with us. Your a treasure Giselle, you really are."

She looked him in the eyes and said, "How did you become such a romantic at such a young age Ash?" She asked teasingly, but sweetly.

He smiled softly at her. "Well, when your raised by your mother your entire growing up you learn a few things. Like how to be polite and kind to a lady." He grabbed her hand. "And how to make them feel special about themselves." He paused for a second. "My dad was never around so it was just mom and I. She has taught me so many things that I can't even begin to thank her for. If helped me grow up a lot quicker I guess."

Giselle placed her hand on his cheek. "I think she has done a fine job with you so far Ash Ketchum. And that..." She poked his chest. "Is coming from a lady."

He smiled at her again and then wrapped his arms around her, hesitantly at first, until he felt her get over her surprise and relax in his arms. "Thank you my lady, your complements are very well received." He said jokingly.

She lightly slapped his shoulder playfully. "I was being serious you clown!"

He smiled wider and held her tighter. "So was I." He said simply.

They both just stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever. Eventually, and without either of them noticing what was happening, they began slowly leaning into each other. His eyes were locked firmly onto her's in a glazed over trance and she was mimicking him.

Ever so slowly they inched towards one another. It seemed as though an eternity passed before they finally came within inches of each other's faces. He was staring directly into her eyes as she stared into his. Their noses were centimeters apart when slowly, Ash began closing the little distance remaining between them. He felt as though his mind had shut down and his body was on auto-pilot. He closed his eyes as she did the same. He could smell her sweet scent as he inched closer to her luscious and full lips...

Right as their lips made contact and had begun to interlock they suddenly heard Brock calling out to them. "Ash! Giselle! Where are you guys?!"

They instantly flew apart and turned back towards the sea, praying that Brock and Misty hadn't seen what nearly happened between them. The two aforementioned friends suddenly appeared on the deck with Pikachu in tow.

"There you two are!" Misty said exasperatedly. "We've been looking everywhere! The main hall doors are about to open and start letting people into the room so they can start releasing their Pokemon and enjoying the celebration."

Ash just scratched the back of his nervously. "Yeah uh...sorry guys. Giselle and I got sidetracked and lost track of time."

"That's alright Ash, we just wanted to remind you about the party so you didn't forget it." Brock said. He had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on between them prior to his and Misty's calling for them, but he decided to keep silent.

"Yeah guys sorry! I'm coming down right now." Giselle said as she stopped leaning on the railing and waited for them to lead the way.

"Actually guys, you go ahead and I'll be down in about two hours. I want to take my Pokemon down to the sorely underused training area on the ship and get our workout in before heading to the party. It'll probably last forever so I'll be up with time to spare."

His friends nodded their heads. "Okay Ash. We'll talk to you later!"'Brock said as he began walking off the deck.

"Yeah Ash see you down there." Misty said to him with a smile as she followed Brock.

Giselle came up to him and touched his shoulder gently, running her fingers down his strong arm softly. She looked into his eyes. "We'll talk later ok?" She said softly and with a warm look in her eyes.

Ash just nodded his head, entranced by her. "Yeah definitely..." He said thickly.

She smiled and then placed a burning hot kiss on his cheek before following after Brock and Misty. Ash stood there stock still, rubbing the cheek she just kissed like it was a priceless treasure. He couldn't believe it! He had almost KISSED Giselle! Their lips actually made feather soft contact before they were interrupted. One crazy and dangerous thought went through his mind like a speeding Dragonite: He desperately wanted to kiss her for real! That sealed it... He definitely liked her as more than just a friend.

He looked at Pikachu, who was staring up at Ash in confusion at his Trainers bewildered look. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm too young for this Pi..." He said exasperatedly. Sometimes he hated how fast he grew and matured.

Pikachu just continued to stare at his Trainer with his head tilted to the side in confusion. "Pika?"

Ash sighed again. He forgot that Pikachu was young just like he himself was, he didn't understand. "Trust me Pikachu, you'll understand one of these days..."

Pikachu just shrugged and climbed up onto his Trainers shoulder. Ash then turned around and headed for the training area.

XXXXXXXXX

(One Mile Due East)

"Commander we see the St. Anne in the distance! Are we ready to begin the operation?!" A Grunt who was flying one of the Team Rocket helicopters asked Alania, who was in the helicopter with the two other commanders and a handful of Grunts.

She nodded her head as she, the other commanders and the Grunts all stood up and began attaching harnesses to themselves. The Grunts put on some strange looking backpacks and then stood at attention. She walked over to the driver of the helicopter and activated the radio linking the choppers together for communication. She spoke loudly and firmly. "Attention all Rockets! Full speed ahead to the St. Anne! I want all of you prepared and ready for the drop ASAP! As soon as we touch down on that ship our mission begins!"

She received a loud reply of, "YES COMMANDER!" Coming back over the radio from all of the other Rockets.

She turned back to her fellow commanders. "Well boys, here we go." She looked at Zetson. "Do not screw this up!"

The fancied haired Rocket just huffed. "I won't! Lay off already bossy!"

Before Alania could reply, Rykon growled out. "You've already screwed up once Zetson. We can't trust you to not mess up again and this operation can't fail."

The pretty boy Rocket flipped his hair. "I got it already! Sheesh!"

"Get ready! We're almost there!" Alania shouted to them as the ship got closer.

It was time for the mission to begin...

XXXXXXXX

"Gyarados use Dragon Rage!" Ash commanded.

The huge Water Pokemon began building up a large amount of energy in his mouth before firing it into the pool. The attack hit the water and made it part where the cannon of powerful energy hit.

Ash whistled when he saw how damaging the attack was. It had actually cracked the bottom of the pool somewhat. He looked up at Gyarados and saw that his Pokemon was breathing heavily and looked exhausted. He wasn't surprised, they had all been training for right at two hours, just like he told Brock they would be. He was also exhausted.

Gyarados was a strong powerhouse and Ash could definitely tell that he would he only end up becoming stronger and stronger as time passed. Ash could see Gyarados becoming one of his strongest Pokemon with enough training and experience. That much he was certain of.

Before Ash could do anything else he suddenly got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Like something was going to happen. Something bad. His suspicions were confirmed when he noticed his Pokemon all to start to tense up. After training them constantly on vigilance and always staying alert he wasn't shocked to see them reacting the way they were.

He hopped out of the pool and and went over to his track suit. He put it back on, not bothering to dry himself if there was trouble, and turned back to his Pokemon. "Okay everybody, until I find out if something is going on or not I need you back in your Pokeballs. Return!"

His Pokemon disappeared back into their balls and then he looked at Pikachu. "Come on buddy, let's go!"

"Pikachu! His Pokemon answered as he hopped up on Ash's shoulder.

The boy then ran out of the training room, hoping against all hope that his gut was wrong. However, something was telling him in his mind that he was not going to be granted with such luck.

XXXXXXXXX

As the celebration went on at full swing up in the main gathering hall Brock, Misty and Giselle were all wondering where Ash was. "Do you think something happened to him?" Giselle fretted to her friends.

Brock shook his head. "He probably just got caught up training with his Pokemon. You know how Ash gets when training."

"Yeah let's not worry too fast..." Misty said, not as certain as Brock was.

They suddenly heard the captain addressing them all and then everyone in the hall, Brock, Misty and Giselle included, all looked up at him. He was standing up on the balcony with a microphone in his hand and had some of the crew behind him. He was a slightly pudgy old man and had short white hair and a mustache. He was wearing a white captains suit that had gold looking trimming around the edges of it. He was wearing his captains hat on his head to complete the look.

"Attention dear guests of the St. Anne! My name is Augustine Gotterwaldt, the captain of this fine vessel. I would like to thank each and every one of you for choosing to sail with us on this fantastic voyage! I hope you and your Pokemon have a wonderful night and enjoy the festivities! Thank you again for choosing the St. Anne for your cruising experience, everyone have fun!" The captain finished his speech and a loud applause broke out.

At that very moment a loud 'CRASH!' Suddenly sounded in the hall and everyone looked up to see falling glass coming from the roof. Out of the many skylights above came several people dressed in black, all propelling themselves down ropes. The many doors to the halls also burst open and in came pouring even more people dressed in black.

The intruders surrounded the guests on all sides as the people began screaming in fear and started trying to get away. Brock, Misty and Giselle all drew close to together and stared in disdain at the people they recognized in front of them. "Team Rocket." Misty said angrily.

"I hate these guys!" Giselle said hotly.

"Yeah but these guys aren't the three we're use to dealing with..." Brock said looking at all of the Rockets. "This are Team Rocket's actual forces. These guys aren't bumbling idiots like those three are, their cold and ruthless." Brock explained.

"Yeah these guys are real trouble..." Misty said as she eyed them.

"Why are they here?" Giselle said asked.

Before anyone could answer a bunch of Rocket Grunts suddenly surrounded the captain and his crew and forced them to their knees. "What are you villains doing here on my ship!" The captain demanded angrily. "I command you to leave this instant!"

Suddenly, the largest door to the hall was blown off of it's hinges and in walked three Rockets who looked different than the rest of the Grunts. They were tailed by their own squad of Grunts and when the lead person, a woman, came up to the nearest Grunt she asked loudly and with her voice filled with authority. "Status report!"

The Grunt in front of her shot to attention and then answered her. "Commander, we have successfully invaded the ship and taken complete control! Everyone who was on this ship is now here in the hall and we have them surrounded as you can see. They tried to escape at first but we quickly subdued them! We have sent out more of the team to go and raid the cabins and anyplace else that looks like it may hold valuables. They have orders to steal anything that looks of interest!"

He finished his report and the woman smiled. "Very good! Now, I think it's time we introduce ourselves!" She walked up to the podium the captain was knelt on, followed by her fellow commanders and the Grunts who followed them in. When she came to stand in front of the captain he looked up at her and began saying angrily, "I demand that you criminals leave this ship at once! Otherwise I'll-"

He was stopped when the woman slapped him across the face hard. "Or what? What will you do old man? We have your entire crew incapacitated and every single guest in this entire hall here in one room. We also outnumber you by the dozens. You have absolutely NO RIGHT to be commanding us!"

She reached down and plucked the microphone from the captains hand before giving the large man beside her a signal of some kind. The very large man picked the much older one up by his shirt collar with one hand and then dangled him over the balcony. Without a seconds hesitation he dropped the old man and he went plummeting down towards the floor below at fast speeds. He crashed onto the snack table, making it break and collapse under the combined force of both the captains rather large amount of weight, and the height in which he fell from. The old captain just lay there covered in food and wrapped up in the table cloth, groaning in pain.

"Well the fall didn't kill him... Such a shame." The smaller and very bored looking man standing beside the large man and the voluptuous woman, said disappointed.

The woman stepped out to the edge of the balcony and addressed the crowd, who was still staring in shock at the brutality they just witnessed. "Attention dear guests of this glorious ship! My name is Alania and these are my fellow commanders, Zetson and Rykon. And we... are Team Rocket! Now don't fear for your lives... yet. Just do as we say and everything will be just fine. For the most part." She laughed cruelly, making all of the guests cringe in fear and the other Rocket's to laugh as well.

"W-what do you want!" A young boy asked from the corner he was in.

Alania looked down at at him and smirked. "Why... We're for your Pokemon of course!"

All of the Trainers shouted out their protests and Alania gave the microphone to Rykon. He growled into the device loudly. "Everyone shut up!" They all stopped and looked up at the large man on the balcony in fear. Alania got the microphone back from him and spoke again. "Now, here's what is going to happen: You are all going to place your Pokeballs on the ground and then step back. The rest of our team will... relieve them of you afterwards."

Suddenly, Gary Oak stepped up. "And why should we give our Pokemon to a bunch of crooks like you huh?! I think we can take you! I know I could!"

The woman merely raised an eyebrow and then jumped over the balcony. She landed as nimbly as a Persian and then sauntered her way over to Gary. "Is that so little boy? Well let's just see then!"

She stepped back away from him and then walked over to the other side of the room. " We'll have a quick little battle to see if you can really match those tough words. Do you accept?" She asked as she stared him in the eyes like a predator getting ready to kill her prey.

Gary strode up confidently. "Of course I accept your challenge! Get ready to lose, your battling Gary Oak now!"

She just smirked and flipped her hair. "Well... Let's see what you've got then."

Gary smirked as well, feeling sure that this would be easy, and then drew a Pokeball from his side. "Nidorino go!" His Pokemon appeared with a loud cry of, "Nido!"

Alania just pulled out a Pokeball and then threw it into the air. "Vaporeon come out and play!" She said calmly. The Water Pokemon appeared from it's ball in a flash of light. "Vaporrr!"

Gary raised his hand. "Nidorino use Headbutt!"

Alania lazily said. "Vaporeon, dodge it please."

As Nidorino closed in, Vaporeon just jumped out of the way, almost casually. Gary seemed surprised for a second but then recovered himself. "Nidorino use Focus Energy and then Double Team!"

His Pokemon raised his energy and strength levels as it made several copies of itself that surrounded Vaporeon. "Now, use Poison Sting!" Gary yelled.

His Pokemon fired off multiple Poison Stings at Vaporeon, who just stood there. Alania flipped her hair and ordered her Pokemon. "Vaporeon use Aqua Tail."

The Pokemon spun in a circle and then, in a swirling wall of water, the poison barbs hit the water and disappeared. She commanded again. "Now expand it outward and take out all of those clones!"

The Aqua Tail came around in a powerful sweeping motion and hit all of the Nidorino copies. Gary yelled out. "Nidorino jump over the water!"

As his Pokemon made to leap in the air and dodge the attack Alania commanded again. "Take Down Vaporeon!"

Her Pokemon came running though the water wall it had created and jumped into Nidorino, hitting the Pokemon hard and sending it flying into the floor. Vaporeon landed gracefully and watched as Nidorino struggled to get up after one hit. Gary called out to his Pokemon. "Come on Nidorino stand up!"

His Pokemon did as told and slowly stood on on it's feet. "Use Double Team again and take off running at Vaporeon!" He shouted.

Alania just laughed again. "Really? Vaporeon use Aqua Tail again!"

Gary smirked. "Not this time! Nidorino have your copies charge in towards Vaporeon while you jump that Aqua Tail!"

The move was executed as the Nidorino copies rushed towards Vaporeon while the real Nidorino jumped the Aqua Tail. Alania commanded her Vaporeon to use it's own Double Team, followed by Bubblebeam. The Vaporeon clones were instantly formed and used Bubblebeam on the Nidorino clones.

Gary ordered his Nidorino to use Poison Sting on the copies of Vaporeon and the incoming Bubblebeams. The attacks met in midair and clashed together, canceling each other out. However, some of the bubbles and poison barbs made it to the clones of both Vaporeon and Nidorino and hit them. Making them vanish instantly.

By this point, the real Nidorino had snuck up on Vaporeon and when Gary yelled out, "Nidorino use Poison Fang!" The Pokemon instantly leaped at Vaporeon and clamped down on it with it's teeth. Vaporeon cried out and then used Aqua Tail to try and shake it off. Gary didn't want his Pokemon being hit with that attack and ordered Nidorino to release the Pokemon.

When Nidorino had returned to Gary he expected to see Vaporeon poisoned and weakened from the previous attack, but was stunned to see that the Pokemon was fine. "How?!" He said shocked.

Alania just smiled. "Before your Pokemon used it's attack, Vaporeon cloaked itself in a barely noticeable Water Veil and protected itself from the attack. So sorry..."

Gary grit his teeth. "Okay then Nidorino use-"

"Vaporeon use Agility into Quick Attack and make it full power!" Alania said quickly, interrupting Gary's command.

Vaporeon disappeared and then reappeared in front of Nidorino, hitting it hard with Quick Attack sending the Pokemon sliding back on the floor and to Gary's feet. When Nidorino reached him, it was unconscious.

Gary just stared at his Pokemon stunned. He kept wondering how Vaporeon had moved so fast when it hadn't been the entire battle. He then thought that maybe she was toying with him but he quickly shook that thought out of his head. No one played with Gary Oak.

He returned his Nidorino and Alania called out to him. "Ready to give up yet boy?" She said tauntingly.

Gary shouted out. "No way!" He drew another Pokeball. "Growlithe go!" He yelled.

His Pokemon appeared and then he shouted, "Agility into Quick Attack and combine it with Flame Charge!"

As his Pokemon charged Alania's she merely called out. "Water Sport and then rush in to meet that mutt with a Water Veil cloaked Quick Attack. Turn up the power!"

Both Pokemon ran at each other while Growlithe became cloaked in a cloak of fire and Vaporeon was cloaked in water. As it ran, Vaporeon used Water Sport and let it rain down on Growlithe, instantly cooling down the Pokemon and ending it's cloak of flame as it ran. Vaporeon met Growlithe head on, but since Growlithe was now just charging in with no extra power, it was no match for Vaporeon's fast and powerful Quick Attack, cloaked in water.

The Puppy Pokemon was hit hard and sent flying back and landed near Gary's feet, also unconscious.

Gary was getting extremely frustrated as he returned Growlithe and chose his next Pokemon. "Go Squirtle!" He said as his starter Pokemon took to the field.

...

Up in the stands, Zetson was watching the fight with amusement. "Alania's just toying with the whelp! This is rich!"

Rykon just remained quite, as usual.

...

Down in their corner Brock said aloud so Misty and Giselle could hear him. "She's just messing with Gary. He doesn't stand a chance against her."

Misty and Giselle nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, she's taken out two of his Pokemon with only one so far..." Giselle said amazed.

"That Vaporeon is really strong." Misty mused aloud.

...

Back at the ongoing battle, Gary commanded his Squirtle to use Rapid Spin.

Alania turned her head to the side. "Vaporeon, root yourself and wait for it." She said coolly.

As Squirtle neared the other Water Pokemon and was prepared to hit it she called out. "Now use your tail and bat it away. Add some Quick Attack speed to it while your at it."

As the turtle came close to hitting Vaporeon, it spun around in a blur and used it's tail to smack the Pokemon back in reverse and sent it hurdling away. Alania quickly issued the next command. "Now go meet Squirtle before it reaches it's Trainer by using Quick Attack combined with Agility, then use Double Team to encircle it!"

Vaporeon ran towards the spinning Pokemon in a blur and appeared in front of it. Vaporeon made several copies of itself and then smacked the Pokemon again with it's tail. Squirtle flew back into another Vaporeon who used it's tail and smacked Squirtle again. This started a twisted game of 'Squirtle Ball' as the Pokemon was smacked between Vaporeon and it's copies like a beach ball.

Alania watched in amusement, while Gary watched in disbelief. Finally she called out. "Vaporeon, hit it with a Water Gun and knock it up into the air! Then jump up and smash it back into ground with your tail!"

Vaporeon hit Squirtle with a Water Gun as it came back and knocked it up into the air. Vaporeon's copies then vanished as it jumped into the air and swung it's tail around, hitting Squirtle on the back of the shell and sending it crashing into the ground. The graceful Water Pokemon landed near Alania and sat down.

When the smoke cleared it showed Gary's Squirtle out cold and finally out of it's shell.

The boy merely raised his Pokeball and returned his defeated Pokemon with an angry look on his face. Alania called out to him. "Yoohoo! I know that Trainers are allowed to carry up to six Pokemon you know. That means you still have three Pokemon to battle with. Are you going to continue or not?" She said as she taunted him with a smirk on her face. "Stupid little boy, you could never defeat me! Why not just give up now?"

Gary continued to glare at her without saying anything, clearly not knowing rather to continue or not in this one sided battle. If he continued then he could lose. If he didn't continue then he would instantly lose. Alania got fed up with waiting and said, "Fine then. You obviously aren't going to battle me so..." She snapped her fingers. Suddenly, a Grunt came up behind Gary. He hit the boy in the back and sent him sprawling onto his back.

She spoke again. "I'll take your silence as a forfeit. That means we can continue with stealing everyone's Pokemon, starting with you!"

The Grunt reached down and grabbed ahold of Gary's Pokeballs. The boy tried to get up but the Grunt kept his foot pressed into his back. After the Grunt took Gary's Pokeballs he looked over at Alania while holding the Pokeballs in his hand.

She turned to address the crowd of frightened Trainers. "All of you will place your Pokeballs on the ground and step back from them. Anyone who tries to be a hero will receive the same treatment as this boy." She pointed to Gary, who was laying on the ground with the Grunts foot on his back. He was trying desperately to scramble free and get his Pokeballs back but the Grunt just twisted his foot further into the boys back, making him go still.

None of the other Trainers wanted to feel the same kind of treatment that Gary had received, so they all started pulling their Pokeballs out and began placing them on the ground. Alania smiled. "Lovely!" She waited until the last Trainer had placed their Pokeballs on the ground, overlooking Brock, Misty and Giselle since they were in a far off corner pretending they weren't Trainers, and then ordered all the Grunts in the room. "Alright boys! Suck em' up!"

The Rocket's all activated the strange packs that were on their backs and then two large tubes came out from the sides of the machines and came around in front to be held by each Grunt. They all grabbed ahold of the tubes in front of them and then pushed down on two red buttons that were on the tops of both tubes.

Instantly, a powerful vacuum like suction began coming from the tubes and started sucking up all of the Trainers Pokeballs that were on the ground. Gary's Pokeballs were sucked away right in front of his eyes and the Pokeball he was still holding was trying to be sucked into the tube. He was holding onto it for all he was worth while the Grunt that had his foot on Gary's back pressed down harder, trying to get him to release the Pokeball.

"No way are you getting away with my Pokemon!" He yelled out.

Alania shook her head. "Such foolishness... Ah well, it's a good show at least!" She laughed and it sounded like bells being rung, yet also cruel and terrible at the same time. "Come now little boy, just give up!"

Gary continued to hold onto his Pokeball. "Get lost!" He yelled again.

XXXXXXXXX

Ash was cautiously making his way through the St. Anne as he was looking for the source of the loud commotion he heard just moments before. He looked at Pikachu. "I have a really bad feeling Pikachu..." He said to him.

"Pika, Pikachu Pi." The yellow mouse replied, nodding his head.

Ash heard someone coming from further down the hall and he automatically ducked behind a corner. He then saw three Team Rocket Grunts come running by. They stopped in the middle of the hallway and Ash noticed that they all had sacks slung over their shoulders. One of the Grunts spoke. "Man look at the haul we got guys! Those rooms were full of loot! Who thought Trainers could have so many valuable possessions!" He said excitedly.

"Yeah I know! All those badges we stole should sale for some massive cash! The organization is going to turn over a huge profit for this mission!" The second one said.

The third Rocket spoke last. "Lets get back to the main hall and show the Commanders what we got!" He said eagerly.

Ash saw red enter his vision when he saw that it was Team Rocket and felt that familiar feeling of rage and hatred start to boil inside of him. When he started to feel that strange power start to rise to the surface he knew he had to get control. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. The last thing he needed was to lose control now when he didn't even know what was going on, besides the fact that Team Rocket were behind it.

One of the Grunts spoke again. "Maybe we'll even get promoted for everything we got! I hate being stationed at that damn Pokemon Land!"

Another Grunt looked excited at that prospect. "Hey maybe we'll even get stationed at HQ!"

The last Grunt just shook his head. "I doubt that even if we get promoted for gathering these valuables, no matter how much they be worth, we'll get stationed in Celadon. The city already has enough of us stationed everywhere and I don't think the Commanders or the Boss wants to draw too much attention to our presence there by scattering more of us around the whole place."

One of the Grunts just sighed. "Man you sure are a buzzkill!"

"Yeah dude not cool!" The second Rocket said. "I HATE Pokemon Land! I'de give anything to be put anywhere else but that boring shit hole! Even Saffron City! And those guys are just sitting around over there scoping out the area for when we pull that really big job at-"

He was suddenly elbowed in the ribs hard by one of his teammates. "Shut up idiot! You know talking about that operation anywhere in public is completely forbidden! It's going to be Team Rocket's biggest job ever and if we screw things up by blabbing about it and someone hears then we are going to be in MAJOR trouble!"

"Probably with the Boss himself..." One of them said.

The Grunt who almost slipped up, shuddered in fear. "Yeah right... I don't want to get on the Boss's bad side."

Ash was wide eyed at everything he had heard so far. Pokemon Land? Celadon City? Huge operation? He didn't know what any of that meant but he was going to find out.

He took three Pokeballs from his belt and quietly released the Pokemon inside them. Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander appeared in front of him. He instantly put his finger to his lips to make sure they didn't make any loud noises. "I need your help guys." He said quietly. "Team Rocket has invaded the ship and we need to find out what's going on. There are three Grunts just on the other side of this hallway. So here's what I need..."

His four Pokemon nodded their heads in unison after he finished explaining to them what he needed. "Okay good guys, now let's go!" He whispered to them.

"Alright you three let's get out of here!" One of the Grunts said.

"Right!" The other to said.

Just as they prepared to take off down the hall, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot past the Grunts, nearly hitting them. They all stopped. "What the-" one of the Grunts said as he turned around. At that moment a foot connected to his jaw and lifted him off of his feet. He was sent soaring back into a nearby wall and hit it hard. The Grunt groaned loudly as he slid to the floor and grabbed his head in pain from where it hit the wall.

Ash landed on his feet gracefully from the jump kick he just executed and crouched down low. The other two Grunts looked at who was responsible for attacking their teammate and right as their eyes landed on Ash, several fast leaves suddenly flew up to the ceiling and hit the lights above, knocking them out and consuming the hallway in darkness.

"What's going on?!" One of the Grunts said.

"I can't see anything!" Another said.

They suddenly saw a light that looked like a flame coming from down the hall in front of them. "There they are!" A Grunt yelled.

"Let's get em'!"

Two of the three Grunts took off running for the light they saw when one of them were suddenly tripped up and fell to the ground. The standing Grunt stopped and started looking around. Suddenly he felt someone reach behind both of his knees and apply firm pressure on the pressure points behind his knees. He cried out in pain and then fell to his knees. He then saw a fast moving foot come swinging around at his face but he was too slow to react. The foot connected on the left side of the Grunts face, instantly breaking his nose and sending him skidding into the nearby wall on his side.

The Grunt who was tripped up earlier stood back on his feet and looked in the direction of his attacker. Before he could move forward he was blast from behind by a powerful torrent of water and was sent flying forward. His travel was stopped after he had been airborne for about ten yards by strong vines wrapping around his neck, stopping him in midair with a loud 'THWACK!' and making him fall to the ground, gasping for air.

The shadow of a figure standing over him was suddenly seen, but before he could do anything a fist came down like lightning and hit him in the face, driving his head into the ground hard and making him fall unconscious.

The figure stood up and then heard someone running up behind him. The Grunt who had been kicked earlier reached the person and went to kick them in the back. He smirked triumphantly as his foot prepared to make contact. Just as it nearly did however, the figure twisted to the side like lightning and grabbed the Grunts foot in a tight hold just as it missed it's target.

The figure stepped inside of the Grunt's guard in the blink of an eye and placed both of his hands on the Grunt's leg. With one downward, twisting thrust over the figures thigh, the Grunts leg was broken leg a twig and he fell to the ground on one knee like a stone as he cried out in pain. "AHHHH!"

The figure sidestepped around to the Grunts other side and kicked the back of the knee that the man was resting on. Just as his good leg gave out and he began to fall he felt arms wrap around his neck. The figure stepped behind the Grunt and then twisted him around in full circle. The Grunt struggled in the hold while his good leg kicked out in front of him. One well placed chop to the back of the man's neck instantly stopped his fighting and made him go unconscious.

The shadowed figure stood up and released his hold on the Grunt's neck, letting him fall to the ground like a stone. He slowly turned around and looked at where the one Grunt that was still conscious was struggling to stand up, while leaning against the wall. His nose was still gushing blood from where it had been broken and as he stared down the hallway at the shadowed figure through blurry eyes, the dim flame that was keeping the hallway illuminated somewhat, went out.

The Grunt just leaned heavily against the wall and tried desperately to see through the darkness. The dim light suddenly flashed back on and the Grunt saw the figure standing there looking at him. He went to gasp in fear until the figure suddenly brought their leg straight up in the air in a crescent circle and brought it down on the Grunt's collar bone, instantly crushing it and making the Grunt fall back down to the ground with a scream of pain.

As the Grunt laid there on the ground he felt strong hands grab ahold of his shirt and hoist him up to a sitting position and slamming him against the wall. The Grunt just stared in terror at the person in front of him... If it was even a person at all. The figure was being slightly illuminated in the faint red glow of light that was coming from the flame that was now right beside of them. The portion of hallway they were in looked incredibly ominous and spooky the way that it was only being illuminated by a small flame of light.

The figure just stared at the Grunt with shadowed eyes. He snapped his fingers and the dim light suddenly got bigger and brighter, brightening up more of the hallway and showing the Grunt exactly who was hovering in front of him. The Grunt saw Ash kneeling in front of him, staring at him with hatred in his eyes with Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle standing near him with equally distasteful looks on their faces. Charmander had his tail flame burning brightly as it gave off the light that the Grunt had seen.

His eyes widened when he saw Ash. "Y-your the kid from Mt. Moon! You messed up our plans for the Moon Stone!" He said as he pointed a finger at Ash. "I remember you!"

Ash just brushed the finger out if his face roughly and stared at the Grunt with an unwavering glare. "Yeah, that's me. Now there are things I want to know and you are going to tell me. Understand?" He said calmly. Too calmly.

The Grunt laughed. "Yeah like what?!" He said snidely.

Ash answered him, ignoring the Grunt's tone. He said simply. "Pokemon Land. Celadon City. Operation in Saffron. Talk. Now."

The Grunt's eyes grew wide in fear. "How do you know about those things?!" He asked loudly.

Ash smirked. "You've got a loud mouth. Might wanna be more quite next time."

The Grunt's eyes narrowed. "You aren't getting a damn thing out of me runt!" He said with venom in his voice as he pointed his finger in Ash's face again. The boy got tired of having a finger shoved in his face and then, as fast as a Seviper, reached up and grabbed ahold of the Grunt's finger and knuckles. He used his thumb to curl itself around the finger and then, using the leverage of the Grunt's own knuckles against him, snapped his finger back, breaking it at the base.

The man went to scream in pain but had his mouth covered over by Ash's hand. He let go of the man's hand, leaving the finger where it was, flopped back on the Grunt's knuckles at a disgusting looking angle.

Ash took his hand off of the Grunt's mouth and spoke in a voice as cold as ice. "Now then... Why don't you start talking. Starting with Pokemon Land please."

The Grunt spat in Ash's face. "Never!"

Ash wiped the spit off of his face calmly and then grabbed the Grunt's right hand again. Seeing the scared look on the man's face he said in a falsely kind voice. "Don't worry, I'm not going to break another one of your fingers."

The man looked at him wearily as Ash looked at Charmander. "Increase the flame on your tail Charmander, bigger and hotter if you please!" He said cheerfully to his Pokemon.

The Grunt grew wide eyed when Ash forcefully ripped his glove off and went to hold his hand over the now white hot flame that Charmander had burning at the end of his tail. "No no wait please! I'll tell you just please... Please don't do that!" He pleaded with Ash.

The boy smiled and smacked the man on the cheek. "Atta boy!" His eyes narrowed and then he growled out. "Now talk!"

The man nodded his head vigorously. "Pokemon Island! You wanted to know about it right?!" He asked desperately.

Ash just nodded.

The Grunt took a deep breath before continuing. "Pokemon Island is an actual island about twelve miles from out current position. It's owned by us, Team Rocket or more specifically, our Boss. It fronts as an amusement park, a hot spot for families to go to. There are all kinds of attractions set up there and the park has been nicknamed the 'Island of Giant Pokemon' because of the giant robotic Pokemon that we built to roam the amusement park and attract more visitors. They look very realistic and that's the point of it, the realer it looks, the more people want to come and the more money we make."

He paused for a second, nervous to go on. Ash glared murder at the man and he instantly continued. "But like I said, it's just a front! We actually use the island to smuggle Pokemon we steal to buyers who come aboard ships or planes. We do it in broad daylight so people don't get suspicious. The people who come to the amusement park never think anything of all the ships and planes because they most likely think it's just business executives coming to visit the park. Between the amusement park and the smuggling operation we run out of the island, Pokemon Land is one of Team Rocket's biggest sources of income."

Ash's eyes glowed a faint blue color when the Grunt finished explaining how they smuggled Pokemon, terrifying the Grunt, who remembered how Ash got in Mt. Moon when he got mad. "I don't smuggle them though! I'm just a guard for the main control center on the island where everything takes place! I swear!"

Ash calmed down and his eyes returned to normal. He said coldly. "Keep going. Celadon City, what's going on there?"

The Grunt knew better than to deny the boys demand and told him what he wanted to know. "Celadon City is where our hideout is located. It's directly underneath of the Celadon Game Corner. We have agents posted all over the city in disguise just in case any law enforcement becomes suspicious. They throw them off the trail and keep our headquarters safe. The Game Corner is also a front just like Pokemon Land. Besides the profit that we turn over from the slots we also use the Game Corner as a way to move stolen Pokemon all over the region and even overseas..."

The Grunt stopped talking and was reluctant to go on. Ash knew why. The Grunt was about to give away some very important information when it came to the Game Corner and he intended to find out what. "Keep going." He demanded calmly.

The Grunt just shook his head. "I can't... I've said too much already!"

Without a moments notice Ash snapped his fingers and then Charmander brought his tail flame back to full power. Ash instantly grabbed the man's hand and shoved it into the flame. The Grunt went to give off a blood-curdling scream but Bulbasaur slapped his vines over the man's mouth, silencing his wails of pain.

When his hand began to really burn Ash withdrew it from the fire before any permanent damage could be done. He threw the man back against the wall and looked into his glazed over eyes. "Talk. Right. Now." He said with anger pouring from his words.

The man nodded and Bulbasaur released his mouth. He took a couple deep breaths and held his burning hand. "The... Game... Corner... Is..." He stuttered out through deep breaths. Ash let him regain his breath before the Grunt continued. "It's... Probably our organizations biggest source of cash flow. Our Boss depends on the Game Corner and that's why we set up our HQ there. To keep it safe..."

Ash processed the information and then spoke again. "What this 'big operation' in Saffron City?"

The Grunts eyes grew wide and he shook his head. "The only I know is that we have several agents posted in the city scoping it out for something. I don't know what it is honestly! I'm just a Grunt, I don't know anything of great importance that goes on inside of the organization. That information is only known and shared by our Boss, Dr. Zager and the Commanders: Zetson, Alania and Rykon. I've told you all I know I swear!"

Ash was silent for a few minutes. Finally he spoke again. "What's going on up there?"

The Grunt looked exhausted but he replied. "We ambushed the St. Anne by helicopters. Their parked on top of the ship. We planned on stealing every Trainers Pokemon on this ship and any valuables we came across. We're using a new kind of back-pack suck cannon to suck up all of the Pokeballs that the Trainers hand over. Our Commanders are here to..."

He began fading out but Ash slapped him back awake. "Almost done. Last thing I need to know. How big is your hideout in Celadon and how do you get in?"

The Grunt started to go unconscious but Ash shook him. Groggily the Grunt responded. "Big enough... Need... Floor plan... Back room... Poster... Persian..."

He then sunk to the ground, unconscious. Ash released him and stood up. He then turned to his Pokemon after a few moments of silent contemplation. "Alright guys here's what's happening! We need to free the Anne from Team Rocket, rescue any Pokemon they may have stolen so far and get back any valuables. Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, you'll come with me. I'll need your help to beat these guys."

His Pokemon their heads and then he turned to Pikachu. "Alright buddy, here's what I need you to do. Go up and climb up onto the top of the St. Anne, then sneak inside of the helicopters. If there any Grunts either sneak around them or put them down with one of your electric attacks. Once your done, get inside of the helicopters using Iron Tail if you need to bust in and then use your electric attacks to fry the choppers wiring system and Iron Tail to destroy the controls if you need to. Once your done just meet me up on the deck ok?"

Pikachu nodded his head firmly. "Pika Pikachu!" He said confidently.

Ash hugged his Pokemon and then put him down. "Good luck Pi!"

His Pokemon nodded and then took off. Ash looked back at his other Pokemon. "Come on guys, let's get up to that hall!"

They called their agreement and then followed Ash as he ran to help his friends and the rest of the passengers on board the ship.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Gary was still struggling violently against the strong force of the vacuum like machine as it tried to suck up his last remaining Pokeball. He finally lost his grip and the Pokeball left his hands. It began heading straight for the machine. "No!" Gary yelled out in despair.

Right as the Pokeball went to disappear into the machine a long vine suddenly came out of nowhere and grabbed ahold of the Pokeball tightly, keeping it from entering the tube.

A flurry of Razor Leaves suddenly came out of nowhere as well and cut off the tubes that were trying to suck up the Pokeball. A few more sharp leaves sliced into the base of the machine on the Grunt's back and spilled all of the Pokeballs it was holding.

A strong blast of water suddenly shot forward and nailed the Grunt in the chest lifting him off of his feet and launching him backwards several feet before he hit the ground and rolled before coming to a stop, groaning in pain.

Everyone in the entire room turned to look at the source of the interference and saw a smokescreen filling the doorway. Out of the smoke walked Ash, tailed by his three Pokemon, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander.

Brock, Misty and Giselle grew wide eyed. "It's Ash!" Giselle said happily.

"It's about time! I thought something happened to him!" Misty said angrily, but also relieved. Very relieved.

"I just hope he has something up his sleeve..." Brock said worriedly as he looked at how every Rocket in the room was no staring at him. "Otherwise he's in trouble."

Gary looked shocked. "What are you doing here Ash?!" He said as he temporarily had forsaken his nickname. Now was not the time for jokes.

Ash looked at Gary, who was now standing up since the Grunt that had been keeping him on the floor backed away when Ash and his Pokemon entered the room. "Hey there Gary. Hope I'm not too late and missed out on the fun!" He said jokingky. Well maybe there was room for jokes after all.

Gary just seemed startled before he said, "Get out of here Ash! These guys are tough, especially her!" He said as he pointed towards Alania.

Ash looked at the person Gary was pointing to and saw for the first time the attractive woman standing there near the middle of the room. At least, he may have found her attractive if it wasn't for the fact that she had a big red 'R' on her chest.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. The woman finally broke the silence. "So who are you cutie? Your obviously a Trainer because of those three adorable little Pokemon standing behind you. Did you come here to hand them over to me in person dear?" She said in a clearly fake sweet voice.

Ash just glared at her and spoke in an icy tone. "I'm here to stop you and the rest of your team. Either give back the Pokemon you've stolen or else I swear... You'll regret it." He said the last part in a very calm, yet serious and authoritative voice that made him seem much older than he was.

Alania just laughed. "Ohh really?! You make me laugh sweetie! Do you really think that you can stop all of us?" She said with a tone of superiority in her voice.

Ash looked confident and strong as he met her gaze. "I know I will."

She laughed again, harder this time. "Well then little man... Show me what you got." She said tauntingly.

Ash raised his hand and pointed at her. "Three on three."

She looked at him in surprise for a moment before smirking. "Fine by me." She drew two new Pokeballs out and threw them into the air. "Ninetails, Vileplume, show this kiddie why you shouldn't mess with a beautiful, deadly flower!" She yelled as her Pokemon appeared in bursts of light.

They stood beside Vaporeon, ready for battle. Ash looked at his Pokemon. "Let's go guys! I know you can beat her, believe in yourselves and trust each other, understand?!" He encouraged them loudly.

Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur called their names out loudly as they readied themselves for battle.

Alania just laughed again. "Do you really think those runts stand a chance against me and my gorgeous Pokemon?! Your sadly mistaken!"

Zetson suddenly called down to her from the balcony. "Alania! Don't underestimate this kid! He beat me remember!"

She just waved her hand dismissively at him. "Yeah yeah yeah, I remember all about how you whined and moped that some kid had wiped the floor with you. However, I'm not you. My skills are far superior and this... Child, stands no chance in beating me!" She said overconfidently.

She looked back at Ash. "Let's begin!" She pointed to her Pokemon. "Ninetails Flamethrower! Vileplume Petal Dance! Vaporeon Water Pulse!"

Ash quickly commanded his Pokemon. "Squirtle use Water Pulse to fight back that Flamethrower! Charmander use Flame Burst to evade that Water Pulse and stop Petal Dance! Bulbasaur use Razor Leaf on Vaporeon!"

Charmander jumped in front of Squirtle, out of the way of Water Pulse, and charged towards the incoming Petal Dance attack. He cloaked himself in flame and stood against the leaves, burning them before they ever reached Squirtle.

Squirtle fired off his own Water Pulse attack that clashed with Ninetail's Flamethrower, making an explosion kick up and cancel both attacks.

Bulbasaur fired Razor Leaves at Vaporeon. Alania commanded her Pokemon to use Aqua Tail and knock the leaves away, which it did.

Alania then commanded her Pokemon. "Ninetails use Take Down! Vileplume Sweet Scent! Vaporeon Ice Beam!"

"Squirtle use Rapid Spin combined with Water Pulse to stop Ninetails from charging Bulbasaur!" Ash yelled. "Bulbasaur get behind Charmander!" He looked at Charmander. "I need you to use your strongest Ember attack and fight back both, Ice Beam and Sweet Scent Charmander!" He knew that if Sweet Scent hit his Pokemon it would majorly effect their senses. Which would be very bad.

Squirtle spun his way in front of Ninetails, spouting water all the while, making the Fire Pokemon stop it's charge and begin bouncing away from the blasts of water heading towards it.

Bulbasaur jumped behind Charmander and then the small Fire-Type opened his mouth and fired a strong Ember attack at the two incoming attacks. The flames began burning through Sweet Scent and was managing to hold it's own against Ice Beam, slowly pushing it back.

Suddenly, Alania commanded her Ninetails. "Stop running from that annoying little turtle and meet it head on with a swing of your tails!"

Ninetails stopped running and turned around to face the spinning Water Pokemon that was coming for it. It met Squirtle's spin head on with it's tails and launched the smaller Pokemon backward and into the ground. Alania then yelled to her Pokemon. "Ninetails use Flamethrower against that little fire snake's puny Ember!"

The fox opened it's maw and fired a large stream of flames from it's mouth that contacted with Charmander's much smaller and weaker Ember and began pushing it back. Charmander continued to fight back valiantly against the powerful Flamethrower but it just continued to push him back.

Just as the attack was about to connect with Charmander, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and called out loudly, "CHARRR!" As the flame coming from his mouth became bigger, hotter and much more powerful.

Ash looked shocked for a moment but then smiled. Charmander had finally learned Flamethrower!

Alania looked shocked as she saw her Ninetail's Flamethrower start getting overpowered. She quickly commanded her Pokemon to disengage and jump away from the powerful flames.

Ninetails hopped out of the way, just as Charmander's flame had completely overpowered and consumed it's own.

Vileplume was not so lucky however and was caught in the flames of the intense fire. She became burned and started rolling around on the ground in a mad frenzy, trying to extinguish the flames on it's body. Alania ordered her Vaporeon to put Vileplume out with Water Gun while Ash kept the momentum going. "Bulbasaur use Vine Whip and hold Ninetails in place!" He looked at Squirtle who was now standing back up after being thrust into the ground by Ninetails earlier. "Squirtle use Water Pulse on Ninetails!"

Bulbasaur wasted no time and shot out his vines at Ninetails. Alania wasn't about to let that happen. "Vaporeon use Ice Beam on those vines and stop them!" She shouted.

Ash called out. "Charmander use Flamethrower on that Ice Beam!"

Charmander used his new and powerful attack on the beam of freezing ice, burning straight through it and making Alania curse. "Damn! Ninetails use Agility to keep away from those vines!"

As Ninetails continued to hop away from Bulbasaur's vines with Agility, she unknowingly placed herself in Squirtle's range. Ash smirked. "Squirtle use Water Pulse now!" He shouted.

Neither Alania, or Ninetails were prepared for the surprise attack and because of that, it hit Ninetails directly and sent it falling back to the floor. "Nine!" The Pokemon called out in pain.

Ash called his next attack. "Charmander use Flamethrower towards Vaporeon! Squirtle use Water Pulse!"

Alania laughed. "That will never work! Vaporeon use Aqua Tail to create a swirling water shield around yourself!"

Both attacks came speeding towards Vaporeon and hit the wall of water, knocking themselves out. The water wall was taken down though by the force of the attacks and Ash saw this moment as an opportunity. "Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to hold Vaporeon in place and then run in with Take Down while hitting it with Razor Leaf!"

Bulbasaur shot his vines out again lightning quick and caught the unaware Pokemon by surprise. The vines wrapped tightly around it's prey and then Bulbasaur came charging in while firing multiple Razor Leaves at the Water Pokemon. Each one hit, causing the Pokemon to cry out in pain. Bulbasaur finally made it Vaporeon and slammed into it hard with Take Down. He released it from his vines and the Pokemon went hurdling back into it's comrades where it crashed into them.

Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander all regrouped near Ash and watched as Alania's Pokemon stood back up. All three of them looked hurt and angry. Vileplume was burned up from the Flamethrower she took earlier, Ninetails was soaking wet from the Water Pulse she took and Vaporeon was beat up from the onslaught she took from Bulbasaur.

Alania growled out at Ash. "Your gonna pay for that you brat! No one hurts my Pokemon and gets away with it!"

She looked at her Vaporeon. "Use Mist Vaporeon!" She called to her Pokemon.

"Darn it." Ash said, knowing this was trouble.

A thick mist suddenly shrouded the whole room, making everyone in it completely blind to what was going on around them. The last thing seen was Vaporeon's glowing blue eyes as it finished the move, causing her and her comrades to vanish.

Now blind to everything, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander were now looking around everywhere for their opponents. Suddenly they heard, "Water Pulse now!"

A strong jet of water came rushing through the mist and blasted into Charmander's chest. The Pokemon cried out in pain and was sent hurdling back into the mist somewhere.

Another shout of, "Petal Dance!" And Squirtle was struck in the back with the powerful leaves and sent hurdling into another part of the mist.

The last thing that Bulbasaur saw was a large shape come barreling at him through the mist and smash into him, lifting him off of his feet and then threw the air before he came crashing back down on the ground. Hard.

Ash couldn't see his Pokemon anywhere but he could hear Alania's voice as she called out attacks and then his Pokemon's cries of pain as they were struck blind by the attacks. This went on for a few minutes and Ash knew that something needed to be done or else his Pokemon wouldn't last.

He suddenly had an idea. It was crazy but he had to try it. He called out into the mist, "Charmander! Can you hear me?!"

Somewhere in the thick mist Charmander heard his Trainer's call just as he was smacked into by another Aqua Tail from Vaporeon. The Pokemon hit the ground and skidded away. He struggled back to his feet breathing hard and called out. "Char! Charmander Char!"

Ash smiled. Charmander was still fighting. He called out loudly, "Charmander listen to me closely alright?! I need you to ignite the flame on your tail as hot as you can! Then I need you to fire Flamethrower up towards the ceiling! Make the fire as hot as you can and spread it around the entire room! We're going to dry up all the moisture in the air!"

Charmander nodded his head and began burning the flame on his tail as large and hot as he could. He looked towards the ceiling and opened his mouth wide. With a loud cry of, "CHARRR!" He unleashed a massive fire stream that launched itself up towards the ceiling and then Charmander began turning his head in different directions so the whole room was covered in the hot fire.

Eventually, the whole room and even the most itself started to turn red and began getting very hot. It became hard to breath and no one was able to sweat from the intense heat. Slowly, the mist began fading away as the fire in the room grew hotter.

When the mist was all gone everyone was able to see again and looked towards where they had been hearing the battle wage. Ninetails was getting ready to charge into Bulbasaur again, but since he could see again he jumped out of the way and used his vines to trip up the Pokemon and send it sprawling into the ground.

Vileplume was about to use Mega Drain again on a very exhausted Squirtle but he saw her getting ready to do it now that visibility had been restored. He became very angry and in that moment his tail began swirling and talking the form of a vortex of water. He swung around his tail and hit the surprised Grass-Type with the newly learned Aqua Tail.

Charmander was standing there exhausted and had finally stopped Flamethrower. He wobbled on his feet a little but stood strong.

Alania looked dumbfounded that Ash had found a way to beat back Mist but didn't let that stop her from commanding her Pokemon. "I've had enough of you brat! Ninetails use Fire Blast on that little Grass runt! Vileplume use Solarbeam on that midget turtle! Vaporeon use Blizzard on that annoying Charmander!"

Ash called out to his three battle worn Pokemon, who were standing side by side again. "Are you guys ready to win this and send Team Rocket packing?!"

His Pokemon looked back back at him and nodded their heads determinedly. They called their names loudly and turned back towards their opponents, ready to end this battle.

Ash smiled proudly at his Pokemon. They may have been tired and worn down but they weren't going to give up. They were going to win no matter what it took. He called out loudly, "Then let's do this! All three of you huddle together!"

They huddled together as close as they could and waited as the powerful attacks drew closer towards them. Right as they were about to hit Ash called out, "Use Combined Defense!"

Charmander opened his mouth and released an inky black smoke from it. The smoke came over the three Pokemon and completely concealed them from view just as the three mega attacks hit the smoke cloud a few seconds later. A loud explosion sounded as the attacks hit and a large cloud of smoke rose into the air.

Everyone in the hall waited with baited breath for the smoke to clear. When it finally started to clear everyone looked to where the attacks had hit and expected to see a giant crater with unconscious starter Pokemon in them. Especially Alania who said aloud and with a flip of her hair. "I told you that you and your weakling Pokemon stood no chance against me little boy!" She said smugly. "Ohh well... I guess you just had to learn the hard way."

Ash's friends were gaping in horror at what they just saw. "Ash...no..." Giselle said sadly while looking at Ash.

"There's no way those three could have taken those attacks. What was Ash thinking?! Smokescreen?! That's not even a defensive move!" Misty said, trying to vent her frustrations at Ash's apparent loss.

Brock didn't say anything and just looked at Ash. "I'm not so sure guys... Look at Ash." He said pointing at the boy standing opposite Alania.

Misty and Giselle both looked at Ash and were surprised to see no emotions on his face whatsoever. He was just staring intently at the center of the room where the smoke was still clearing. "He doesn't look worried or upset at all..." Giselle said, confusion evident in her voice.

"Yeah what's the deal?" Misty said, just as confused.

Brock shook his head. "I don't know... Let's just see what happens."

Up above on the balcony Zetson was looking smug and leaning his head back in his hands. "I knew that kid stood no chance against Alania! Heck, the only reason he beat me was because I was worried about my hair getting messed up in that damp cave, I was distracted is all! Some rookie kid actually beating a Team Rocket Commander fair and square? Yeah right!" Zetson laughed loudly. "It's too rich!"

Rykon just said in his low and gravely voice. "Of course he could never beat Alania. He's nothing more than a child who's pretending to be Champion. This was a waste of time, we should be back at base right now, reporting the success of the mission to Giovanni. Not wasting our time battling snot nosed brats who don't know their place."

Zetson just gave Rykon a funny look. "You really need to get like... A day off or something man. You take life wayyy to seriously! Learn to live a little!" He said nonchalantly.

Rykon merely glared at Zetson in reply. The smaller man just shrugged. "Suit yourself Mr. Serious."

Back down in the middle of the room Gary just shook his head. "I knew he couldn't beat her. If I couldn't defeat her then there's no way someone like Ash could." He said as he looked over at Ash.

Alania looked at Ash's stoic face, just staring at the crater where his Pokemon would soon be revealed and she taunted him further. "What's the matter little man? Upset that your- what the?!" She said in shock as the smoke finally cleared away completely and showed the sight of something that baffled everyone in the entire hall. Even the usually emotionless Rykon went wide eyed.

"What is that?!" Giselle asked in complete bewilderment.

"I've never seen anything like that before..." Misty said, wide eyed in amazement.

"Neither have I..." Brock muttered.

"Is that some kind of attack?!" Gary said in disbelief.

"What the fuck?!" Zetson exclaimed loudly.

In the center of the room was a small dome of swirling fire. It was wildly and furiously spinning around in different directions but somehow it was also perfectly controlled and stable, instead of spreading out and burning everything it touched.

The fire slowly began to fade away and when it did another amazing spectacle beheld everyone's sight. A dome of water, spinning around furiously and yet somehow... calmly at the same time, was churning underneath of where the dome of fire previously burned.

Slowly, the water began to calm down and then stopped spinning before splashing to the ground. Underneath of the water dome was an even more amazing sight: All three starter Pokemon were huddled against one another with a mass of vines suspended over their heads. Bulbasaur had one vine holding up the smaller vines and he had his other one draped over Squirtle and Charmander.

The small vines above their heads slowly crumpled and fell to the ground at their feet. Upon closer inspection you could see the pod of a Leech Seed under Bulbasaur that all of the tiny vines were connected to.

All three Pokemon had their eyes closed but opened them as soon as the strange looking... Shell that was around them, fell away.

Alania was standing there with her mouth agape. "H-how?!"

Ash didn't answer and took advantage of the situation. "Bulbasaur Razor Leaf on Vaporeon! Charmander Flamethrower on Vileplume! Squirtle Water Pulse on Ninetails!"

His Pokemon instantly shot into action and bolted at their opponents, firing their attacks at them quickly. Alania was still responsive enough that she commanded her Pokemon to counter attack. "Ninetails use your own Flamethrower to counter the other one!" Vileplume use Growth and then Giga Drain on that Squirtle! Vaporeon use Agility to dodge Razor Leaf and then Ice Beam!"

Ash wouldn't have it though. No sooner than the attacks collided in midair he commanded. "Squirtle use Rapid Spin to avoid Giga Drain and then smash into Vileplume and hit it with Aqua Tail!" Charmander use Flame Burst to get close to Ninetails, then use Smokescreen in it's face followed by Slash! Bulbasaur use Growth to gain power and speed, then dodge that Ice Beam and use Vine Whip to grab ahold of the upper railings of the balcony and swing yourself towards Vaporeon. While your in the air hit it with Razor Leaf and then smash into it with Take Down!"

His Pokemon obeyed and carried out their attacks perfectly. Squirtle dodged Giga Drain by using Rapid Spin to jump and spin in the air, over top of the tendrils. He then spun directly towards the Grass-Type and smashed into it hard, still spinning. He then brought his tail around in a swirling vortex of water and smashed into Vileplume even harder, making the Pokemon fly back into the ground and cry out in pain.

Charmander charged in towards Ninetails, cloaked in flames and right as he was on top of the Pokemon Alania commanded her Pokemon to use Confuse Ray. Before the attack could take effect, Charmander opened his mouth and spewed black smoke into the other Fire-Type's face. Ninetails tried to see through the smoke but couldn't. Charmander elongated his claws and jumped forward at the fox. He slashed his claws down across the Pokemon's face, gaining a shrill cry from Ninetails. He then brought his tail around while in midair and smacked the Pokemon across the face. It hit the ground and skidded back several feet.

Bulbasaur used Growth and raised his power and speed. Quick as could be he threw vines up to the top of the balcony and wrapped them around the ballast's. He swung out of the way of Ice Beam and let go of the railings when he was over top of the startled Vaporeon. He came hurdling down towards the Pokemon firing off a salvo of Razor Leaves that struck Vaporeon over it's entire body. "Vaaa!" The Pokemon cried in pain.

Bulbasaur then came crashing down on top of Vaporeon's head with Take Down and cratered the Pokemon into the ground.

Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur were standing right over their downed opponents, giving Ash the perfect opportunity for his next commands. "Guys! Switch opponents now! Type formation! Bulbasaur, three Leech Seeds! Tie them down!"

Like a well oiled machine, all three Pokemon instantly switched opponents in the blink of an eye. While Bulbasaur was in the middle of his transition he shot three fast Leech Seeds, one after the other in quick succession, at the three downed Pokemon. The seeds opened up as soon as they made contact and wrapped themselves around the Pokemon before Alania could even think of commanding her Pokemon to use a move so they could escape.

The Pokemon began moving around frantically, looking for an escape and at that moment, the vines began sucking their energy out in large amounts. They cried out in unison as their energy was sapped. Bulbasaur had been working on increasing the power of Leech Seed and the intense, repetitive training was paying off now.

While the Pokemon were trapped in their energy stealing 'nets', Ash's Pokemon positioned themselves over their opponents. Charmander was now standing over Vileplume, Squirtle was over top of Ninetails and Bulbasaur was standing over top of Vaporeon.

Alania knew her Pokemon were in serious trouble and could do nothing but watch as Ash slowly raised his hand and prepared to give his next commands. The entire room was silent and staring in anticipation at what would happen next.

"Shit this is bad!" Zetson shouted as he gripped the railing tightly.

Rykon looked calm but if someone were to look closely at him they could tell that he was flexing every muscle in his body in anxiousness for what was about to happen.

"This is it..." Brock said ominously.

Ash yelled out. "Bulbasaur Giga Drain! Squirtle Water Pulse at full power! Charmander use Flamethrower!"

His Pokemon called their names loudly as they charged their attacks.

"BULBA!"

"SQUIRTLE!"

"CHARRRR!"

They unleashed their attacks on the defenseless Pokemon furiously. As Flamethrower, Water Pulse and Giga Drain hit their targets the Pokemon trapped in the vines of Leech Seed cried out loudly in pain.

Ash's Pokemon jumped back away, knowing what was going to happen when they stopped their attacks. They jumped in perfect unison and landed back near Ash just as they ended the onslaught, causing the attacks to explode.

When the dust cloud passed after the explosion, Alania's Pokemon looked to be on their last legs. Ash looked at Charmander and his Pokemon looked back at his Trainer. They shared a silent conversation with their eyes and then Ash nodded. "Do it Charmander. Just be careful and don't hurt them too badly." He told his Pokemon.

The Fire-Type nodded his head and then looked at his two teammates, motioning to them. They understood and moved away from him.

He looked back at his downed opponents and stepped his legs apart. He began growling loudly and started channeling energy. His stomach began to glow blue, as well as his eyes, as a swirling mass of energy began to grow in the Pokemon's now open mouth. His whole body began to glow blue and the energy started to make a loud whistling sound, so loud it made everyone in the large room cover their ears.

He reared back and then flung his head forward, releasing the pent up energy with a loud cry of his name. "CHARMANDER!"

The blue energy flew forward at impossible speeds and started to take the form of an ethereal dragon. Alania and her Pokemon stared in undisguised horror at the powerful Dragon Rage attack heading for them.

The attack struck the three Pokemon and upon impact a loud 'BOOM!' Was heard as the ship rocked back and forth from the power of the attack and everyone in the room struggled to stand on their feet.

Charmander's eyes returned back to normal and he collapsed onto his back end, exhausted. "Charmander..." He said tiredly.

Squirtle and Bulbasaur walked over to their friend and helped him up by supporting him on either side. Charmander looked at his friends and smiled weakly at them. " Char, Charmander Char..." He said gratefully.

"Bulba." Bulbasaur said with a smile.

"Squirt, Squirtle!" Squirtle said smiling as he patted Charmander on the back.

Ash walked up to his Pokemon and knelt before them. He wrapped the three of them up in his arms and hugged them tightly. "You guys are the best... I'm so honored to be your Trainer." Ash said as he fought back tears. The strength, determination and willpower the three small Pokemon fought with to not just please Ash, but save him and everyone else on the ship from Team Rocket was, for Ash, touching beyond belief. "I will ALWAYS be proud to be your Trainer." Ash said as the three Pokemon in his arms looked up at him.

Tears formed in their eyes as they hugged their Trainer tightly. After the moment was over and he placed them back on the ground his face went back to one of seriousness and cold indifference as he looked back towards where Alania's Pokemon were. The large smoke cloud from the powerful attack Charmander unleashed finally dissipated and showed the condition of the three Rocket Pokemon.

Ninetails, Vileplume and Vaporeon were all seen tangled up together on the ground, completely unconscious.

Alania stood there in complete shock at what she had just witnessed happen before her very eyes. "I-I lost... I lost..." She repeated to herself disbelievingly. "How could I lose to a kid? A child beat me... It's just not possible..."

She absently returned her badly beaten Pokemon and slunk to her knees as she stared off blankly into space. From where he was watching everything happen on top of the balcony, Zetson looked like he had seen a ghost and was trembling. "It's exactly like what happened to me..." He mumbled to himself as he zoned out.

All of the Grunts in the entire room looked absolutely stunned that one of their Commanders had been defeated in battle. They looked unsure and nervous, which only intensified when Ash stepped further into the middle of the room. He looked at all of the Rockets and spoke in a cold, dark tone. "I told you all to get out of here earlier and give back all of the Pokemon and valuables you stole. You didn't listen but now you will. Give back everything you took and then get off if this ship!" He said loudly.

The Grunts were afraid now and looked like they had lost their nerve. Rykon saw how fast they were beginning to lose control of the situation and since Zetson and Alania were wallowing in their own despair and self pity, he knew he had to swing things back in their favor or risk busting the entire operation. Something that would not go over well at all with Giovanni. He spoke loudly in his gruff voice. "Get ahold of yourselves you pathetic swine! He's one child with three Pokemon! Your grown men and have dozens of Pokemon between you all! Use them to beat down that little bastard or else! Because if we fail it's on each and every one of you and then you can explain to the Boss why we failed!"

Hearing what Rykon told them, none of the Grunts wanted to face their Boss's wrath. The memories of what he did to the squad that failed at Mt. Moon was still fresh in their minds.

"Yeah he is just a kid!" One Grunt said.

"And we have all of our Pokemon to best him with!" Another said.

"Let's show him!"

They all drew Pokeballs out and threw them. Several different Pokemon like Rattata, Raticate, Zubat, Koffing, Ekans and even Grimer came out of the balls.

Ash stared down the small army of Pokemon before him and just looked down at his three Pokemon. "You guys ready?" He asked.

They nodded their heads firmly at their Trainer and stared down their opponents with no fear in their eyes. He quickly commanded them. "Alright good! Squirtle use Rapid Spin! Charmander use Flame Charge and Slash! Bulbasaur use Razor Leaf!" Instead of pointing at the Grunts Pokemon he pointed directly at the Grunts themselves. "Aim your attacks for those packs they have on their backs and free all of the Pokeballs they stole!" He said loudly.

His Pokemon took off in bursts of speed, weaving and ducking around all of the Rocket's Pokemon that were trying to stop them on command from the Grunts. None of them were fast enough though as Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur began using their attacks on the packs that the Grunts were wearing.

Squirtle was using Rapid Spin to come up behind the Grunts and slice the back of the packs open, making the Pokeballs it was holding all come pouring out. Charmander would get behind them and use Slash to slice the packs open and Bulbasur would use Razor Leaf.

No matter how hard they tried, the Grunts and their Pokemon couldn't stop Ash's from freeing all of the Pokeballs from the containers they carried on their backs. The Pokeballs had all been freed and now lay scattered on the floor everywhere in piles. With no way for the Grunts to steal them again since their packs had been spilt open, Ash turned to look at every Pokemon Trainer in the whole room. He spoke loudly, firmly and with a voice full of authority.

"Trainers! Your Pokemon are free now! I ask you to pick them up and call out your Pokemon! Help me fight off Team Rocket! I know you may be scared at seeing so many of them and I know that you may think that you can't defeat them, but I'm telling you now that you can! Let the bonds you have forged with your Pokemon take hold and use it to fight off of these criminals! Let's show Team Rocket that they can't just try and steal what's precious to us and get away with it! Fight with me!"

All of the Pokemon Trainers in the room became roused by Ash's uplifting speech and called out loudly:

"He's right!"

"Yeah let's show Team Rocket!"

"No one tries to steal my Pokemon and gets away with it!"

"Let's kick these guys off the ship!"

Even Gary, who was still shocked that Ash had managed to beat Alania, agreed and decided to help fight off Team Rocket.

All of the Trainers ran towards their Pokeballs and found which ones belonged to them. They then released all of their Pokemon at once with loud shouts of encouragement to them. The entire room was filled with bursts of light from multiple Pokeballs and a loud chorus of calls from the many Pokemon that had been released.

The Pokemon ranged from common Rattata and Pidgey to more rare and powerful looking Pokemon like Machoke, Magnemite, Sandslash and even several Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander.

The Trainers and their Pokemon fell in behind Ash and then Brock, Misty and Giselle came to stand beside of Ash as well, releasing their own Pokemon. The Grunts all took nervous steps back and their Pokemon looked scared at all of the angry Trainer Pokemon who wanted revenge for getting captured by Team Rocket.

With loud shouts of multiple different moves of several types, strengths and abilities, the battle began and the Grunts and their Pokemon were viciously assaulted by the powerful and merciless attacks.

Ash called out loud. "All Charmanders together! Same for Bulabsaurs and Squirtles!"

The Trainers listened to the savior of their Pokemon and ordered their Pokemon to come together. The Charmanders, Squirtles and Bulbasaurs all formed a pyramid like shape, with Ash's own three starters at the very top of the assembled Pokemon.

Ash and the other Trainers called out their attacks loudly. "Charmander Flamethrower and Ember!"

The Charmanders all expelled hot blasts of either Ember or Flamethrower at the Grunts and their Pokemon. The villains all cried out in pain as they were struck by the combined attacks.

The onslaught continued with Ash and the Trainers of the Squirtles and Bulbasaurs calling out the next barrage of attacks:

"Squirtle Water Pulse/Water Gun!"

"Bulbasaur Razor Leaf/Leech Seed!"

Attack after combined attack hit the Grunts and their Pokemon, giving them no time to counter or protect themselves.

After the brutal beat down was finished, all of the Grunts were either on the floor or barely standing up. Burned, cut and soaked to the bone. All of their Pokemon were unconscious and laying around them in heaps.

Rykon cursed under his breath. They had completely lost all control and since the brat had rallied all of the Trainers together, the Grunts and all of their Pokemon had been beaten. He wasn't foolish, they had been defeated. Badly. Making a bitter decision he called out loudly to all of the Grunts and also brought his radio up to his mouth so any other Rockets that were anywhere else on the ship would hear as well.

"This mission is a failure! Everyone retreat back to the helicopters!"

The Grunts didn't need to be told twice and instantly returned their Pokemon before running up the stairs to the balcony, heading for the large double doors that would lead them outside and up onto the deck of ship, where the helicopters were parked on top of the Anne.

Rykon received several 'affirmatives' in response over his radio from the other Rockets scattered throughout the ship. He looked down at Zetson, who was still in his own little world of shock and desapir, and picked him up by his shirt collar. "Get ahold of yourself you damn fool!" Rykon growled at him. "We're leaving. Now!"

Zetson shook his head and then nodded in understanding. "Right... Got ya." He said absently.

Rykon grunted in disgust and threw the other Commander towards the doors that the other Rockets were filing out of as fast as they could. He shouted down to the still kneeling Alania. "Get on your feet Alania! This operation is a bust, we're getting out of here now! Get to the choppers!"

She registered the words slowly and then nodded her head before standing up in a daze and taking off up the stairs. She stopped for a minute and looked back at Ash, who was watching the Rockets flee with a stoic expression on his face. She gave him an unreadable look for a few moments and then shook her head before running the rest of the way up the stairs and following her fellow Commanders out the doors that lead out onto the deck.

The other Trainers in the room began cheering loudly and started hugging their Pokemon, relieved beyond all words that they were safe. Ash quickly turned to his friends. "I'm following Team Rocket. Their going to attempt to escape but they won't be able to. I'm going to make sure they stay put until Officer Jenny and the rest of the coast guard can get here to arrest them. I don't want these guys getting away, they need to be in prison after everything the've done."

Without waiting for a reply he ran over to the captain of the ship, who was just now struggling to get back on his feet with the help of some of the crew. When the old man saw Ash approaching he instantly began thanking him profusely. "My boy I can't thank you enough for what you did here today! I thought for sure that-"

Ash stopped him with a raised hand. "I appreciate the gratitude sir but you have to listen to me! Team Rocket is attempting to escape they way they got here, by helicopter. Their going to find out that they're not going to be able to however. I had one of my Pokemon go up to where the choppers were resting on the roof and disable the electrical system. Those helicopters are completely useless right now. I need you to call Officer Jenny and the coast guard and get them down here right now!"

The captain nodded his head in understanding. "I can do that young man. I'll go to the control room and make the call!" He turned to his crew. "All of you follow me, quickly!" He yelled.

He then took off out of one of the doors of the room, with his crew following close behind him. Ash looked down at his three Pokemon, who looked utterly exhausted. He smiled at them. "You guys did an amazing job and I am very proud of you. You deserve a nice rest."

Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur smiled up at their Trainer before he returned them to their Pokeballs. He then looked back at his friends. "I'll be back soon guys!" He said as he started to run after Team Rocket.

Giselle stopped him. "We're coming with you Ash!"

"Yeah your not chasing after them alone!" Misty agreed.

"We're your friends Ash and that means we're in this together." Brock added with a smile.

Ash smiled at his friends and nodded his head. "Thanks guys. Let's go!"

He took off after Team Rocket, followed closely by his friends.

XXXXXXXXX

Down in one of the ships many cabins Jessie, James and Meowth were currently raiding the room, trying to find any kind of valuable item that they thought would catch the eye of their Commanders.

They suddenly heard Rykon's voice coming over their Team Rocket radios. "This mission is a failure! Everyone retreat back to the helicopters!"

They all stopped what they were doing. "What does he mean the mission has failed?!" Jessie said shocked.

"Maybe the coast guard showed up and stopped the team?" James suggested.

"No way!" Meowth intervened. "We planned dis operation for weeks! De Commanders knew all about where da coast guard would be when we invaded da Anne. They weren't supposed to be anywhere near here."

"Still, if the Commander said to retreat then we better listen!" Jessie nervously. "We don't want to get on their bad sides again."

James merely laughed. "It wouldn't matter if we did Jessie! In fact, it wouldn't matter if they fired us!" He said as he continued to laugh.

Jessie and Meowth looked at James like he was crazy. "What are ya talking about James?!" Meowth said in disbelief. "Without dis job we got nuttin!"

"Yes James, care to explain your sudden disinterest on rather or not we get fired from the team?!" Jessie demanded.

James just chuckled. "Because... I bought something here on the ship that will make us billionaires!"

His teammates looked stunned. "What did you buy?!" Jessie asked, extremely interested in what James claimed to have purchased. Especially if it could make them so rich.

"Yeah James spill da beans!" Meowth urged impatiently.

The blue haired man continued to chuckle as he pulled out a 'solid gold' Pokeball and shows it to them. Jessie and Meowth shot forwards and eyed the ball. "Is that solid gold James?!" Jessie said excitedly.

He nodded his head. "Hmm. But that's not the best part! You haven't seen what's in here yet!" He said pointing to the Pokeball.

"Is it an extremely rare and powerful Pokemon?!" Jessie asked anxiously.

"Or a sweet Pokemon that da Boss we'll promote us for?!" Meowth asked, just as anxiously.

James shook his head. "Even better guys!" He then opened the Pokeball and released the Pokemon inside of it. Out came Magikarp, flopping around helplessly. A complete stark contrast to how strong and well trained Ash's Magikarp was before he evolved.

Jessie and Meowth stared in disbelief at the Pokemon before them while James looked smug as can be. "James..." Jessie said, desperately trying to make sense of the situation. "Why in the world did you buy a useless Magikarp?!"

"Yeah what's da deal?!" Meowth demanded.

James just waved his hands in front of himself, placating his teammates. "Just wait until you hear how special this Magikarp is you guys!"

He then went on to explain everything about how he came to buy Magikarp from the pushy salesman. Jessie and Meowth listened to James in undisguised shock at his stupidity. When he was finally done he said happily. "Isn't it great you guys! We will be filthy rich in just one to two years! We can quit Team Rocket!"

Meowth jumped up and latched onto Jame's shirt. "You big idiot! There's no such thing as a 'Red Scaled Magikarp'! Their all red scaled!"

James just shook his head. "Ombré said that it was special and since it could breed so fast we could sell the babies and make hundreds in Poke'Credits off of them!" He tried to convince them.

Jessie shouted at James. "You were swindled James! It's just an ordinary Magikarp that wouldn't sell for a rotten berry! There are millions of Magikarp all over the world just like the one flopping on the floor uselessly here in this very cabin!"

Magikarp didn't care for being called useless and began slapping it's tail angrily on the ground at Jessie while calling out, "Karp Karp! Magikarp!"

Meowth translated for them. "He says dat he's not worthless and your just a nasty old..." He trailed off, not wanting to have Jessie's anger directed towards him.

Jessie grew a tick mark on the side of her head. "So the slimy little fish wants to insult me huh?!" She said, raising her foot over the Pokemon. "Well let's see how it likes being a smushed fishcake!"

Magikarp just stared at her bravely and without fear. The Pokemon definitely guts, that much was for certain. James just stuttered out. "B-but what about the Pokeball it's solid gold!" As he said this the ball slipped from his hand and hit the ground. Upon impact the 'gold' suddenly chipped and began to fall away from the Pokeball, showing a normal white and red ball.

James looked utterly mortified as he stared down at the Pokeball and then dropped to his knees. He picked the ball up and just stammered. "It was supposed to be gold! Magikarp was supposed to make us rich!"

Jessie stepped away from Magikarp and pulled James up by his shirt. "How did you pay for this James?" She demanded.

He looked nervous and began fidgeting around. "I dipped into our... Team Rocket savings fund..." He mumbled out, terrified of what was to come.

Jessie looked like she might evolve into a Salamence at any second and blast James away with Dragon Rage. "How much of our money James?" She asked as she threw him to the floor and then cornered him along with Meowth.

He backed further into the corner. "Maybe... Half." He muttered meekly.

"Half?!" Jessie screeched loudly. "You spent half of our savings on a pathetic Pokemon that won't be able to anything more than flop around helplessly?!"

"What were ya's thinking James?!" Meowth said furiously.

James just held his hands above his head. "Maybe ombré will give me a refund!" He said as he stared up at the angry eyes of his teammates.

Jessie picked James back up and put him in a choke hold. "He had better James! Or else I'm going to beat every last cent out of you!"

"And I'll shred ya's so bad you'll like a Grimer when I'm through wit ya!" Meowth piped in.

James stood up. "But how can we find Ombré? We're supposed to meet up with the rest of the team before they leave without us!" He fretted.

Jessie clobbered James over the head. "We're not leaving until you get our money back! The rest of the team won't miss us, now get moving! We'll help you search!"

James got up quickly and nodded his head before returning Magikarp to it's Pokeball and then running out of the room with Jessie and Meowth following close behind.

XXXXXXXXX

Ash ran out onto the deck only to find that it had started raining. And it was coming down, hard. He ran up to the top of the deck, followed closely by his friends and then looked up towards the top of the ship where the helicopters that Team Rocket came in were supposed to be parked.

He saw all of the fleeing Rockets climbing up to the choppers and then begin filing into them one after the other. Ash stopped running and just looked up at them, his friends caught up with him. "Why are you stopping Ash?" Misty asked as she came to a stop beside him.

He just smirked. "You'll see guys."

At that very moment Ash heard, "Pika Pi!"

He turned around and saw his very first Pokemon bounding down from the roof, out of sight of the Rockets, and running towards Ash. Pikachu jumped into his outstretched arms. "Pika! Pika Pika, Pikachu Pi!" His Pokemon said as he nuzzled Ash.

Ash laughed and hugged his Pokemon tightly. "It's great to see you to Pi! Did you do it?" He asked Pikachu.

His Pokemon nodded and called out in affirmative. Ash smiled and scratched his Pokemon behind the ears. "Great job buddy! I'm proud of you."

"Where was Pikachu at Ash?" Giselle asked curiously.

He looked at her after Pikachu had taken his place back on Ash's shoulder. "I sent him to disable the electrical system in Team Rocket's choppers before I came up to the main hall. He told me that he succeeded so we'll see what happens now." Ash answered her.

Brock raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure it was such a good idea to strand Team Rocket here Ash? Their dangerous even in a defeat."

Ash shook his head. "I don't care Brock. Justice needs to be served to Team Rocket and whatever I can do to make that happen I'll do it. Besides, almost all of their Pokemon are beaten and exhausted and I still have Pikachu and Gyarados in case I need them. I'm not worried."

Brock nodded his head in understanding and then they all turned their heads back to the retreating Rockets. Ash watched with a strange sort of amusement as the Rockets tried to turn on the helicopters only for them to not turn over.

"What's going on?!" Zetson said in shock as he tried to start the chopper he was in. He used the radio in his helicopter and called over to the other two choppers right beside his. "Guys something's wrong! The chopper won't turn over, it's totally dead!" He said as he started to panic.

"Mine won't either!" Alania answered back, also on the verge of panicking.

"Something has also prevented my own helicopter from activating. I am stuck." Rykon answered back in his usual gruff and stoic voice.

Ash called up to them. "Having problems up there?"

Rykon and the other Commanders, followed by the Grunts, stepped out of the choppers and looked down at Ash and his friends. "You are the one responsible for this?!" Rykon snarled down at the boy.

Zetson and Alania just looked scared to see the Trainer that had beaten them only moments after they thought they were going to be able to get away.

Ash just grinned. "Maybe I was mountain man! I'm sorry, did it make you upset? I do apologize, that wasn't my attention!" Ash gave a mock bow to the quickly enraging Commander.

"You insolent little... Do you really think that you can keep us here?!" He shouted.

Ash shook his head. "Only until the coast guard gets here. Which should be any minute since I had the captain call them a little while ago."

All of the Grunts look terrified at the mention of the coast guard while Zetson and Alania's eyes went wide. Rykon looked both worried and furious now. He quickly pulled something out of his pocket that Ash barely saw him grab and then yelled out. "Do you think that you capture Team Rocket so easily boy?! No pathetic coast guard is going to capture us!"

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll see. For now you and the rest of your team are stranded here so I suggest you get comfortable."

Rykon sneered. "I don't think so brat!"

The next thing anyone knew they all heard a loud sound coming from in the ocean. A few moments Ash saw bright lights begin to flood the deck of the Anne. Out of nowhere it seemed, a giant flying machine came rising up out of the water. It was all black and had the Team Rocket emblem on it's sides. It had four giant turbines that kept it hovering in the air and had a scoop like nose. The best way to describe the machine however was MASSIVE. It was dripping wet which led Ash to believe that it must have just came from the ocean.

It slowly descended down towards the top of the Anne where all of the Rockets were at and then hovered in the air not twenty feet above their heads. A giant ladder came down from the belly of the machine and with a 'Get moving!' By Rykon, the Grunts began climbing the ladder and disappearing into the flying machine.

Soon all that was left on the roof was Rykon as Zetson and Alnania had already climbed up the ladder. The large man smirked widely and held up the device he had in his hand. It was a beacon of some sorts and was flashing red. The man laughed loudly and then shouted down to Ash over the roar of the machine. "What do you think of our Team Rocket sea to air hovercraft?! It's pretty useful in a pinch like this don't you think? It seems as though we won't be sticking around for the coast guard after all boy!"

Ash grit his teeth and clinched his fist as he glared up at the man. Rykon began climbing the ladder and just before he disappeared into the machine he called back down to Ash. "I would like to say that we will have our revenge for what you've done to us brat, but after tonight neither you or anyone else on this ship will ever breath a word of has what happened here on this ship!" He laughed maniacally and then vanished inside of the machine, the entrance closing up behind him.

"What did he mean by that?" Giselle asked worriedly as she grabbed onto Ash's arm. The boy just stared up at the machine as it began flying off, angry that Team Rocket had gotten away but also concerned as to what Rykon had meant by his last statement.

"I don't know but I don't think it was anything good..." Ash said wearily as he subconsciously pulled Giselle closer to his body and continued to stare at the flying machine.

Right when the Rocket aircraft had gotten a few dozens yards away from the ship it turned around suddenly, faster than any air vehicle should have been able to. The front end of the craft began shifting and then two panels moved away, exposing two large cannons. The weapons were pointed right at the ship and in that moment Ash knew what was about to happen.

Brock knew as well because his eyes suddenly grew wide and he stepped back a little. "Ahh... Guys, this is bad!" He said fearfully.

Misty just stared in wide eyed horror. "Ohh no..." She muttered.

The cannons suddenly lit up and then, without any warning, began launching a salvo of missiles at the ship. Several of them hit the front and sides of the St. Anne, rocking the ship violently and throwing Ash and his friends off balance. Pikachu had to dig his claws into Ash's shoulder just to stay hanging on.

They fell to the ground and rolled around around the deck as missile after missile hit the large ship, making it swerve and rock around violently in the water. They managed to stand up and at that moment Ash saw a few missiles heading for the top of the Anne, where the abandoned Team Rocket helicopters were.

Ash grew wide eyed and knew that when those missiles hit the whole entire top half of the ship was going to topple onto the deck below it, helicopters and all. He shouted to his friends. "Get as far to the front of the deck as you can guys! Hurry!"

They didn't need to be told twice and they all began running for the front of the ship. Just as they finally made it the missiles struck the top part of the ship and instantly it began to topple. "Everyone get down!" Ash yelled.

They all hit the ground and then, out of pure instinct, Ash grabbed Giselle and pulled her tightly to his chest. He rolled on top of her and shielded her body with his own as he stuffed Pikachu in between their bodies, keeping the small Pokemon safe.

The top of the Anne fell down to the deck below and they just listened as large pieces of the structure crashed onto the deck, smashing everything into pieces that it hit. The helicopters hit the deck with a loud sound of metal being crunched and one of them even fell into the pool, splashing a large wave of water everywhere.

The choppers eventually exploded and caused a deafening 'BOOM!' As they did. When everything was over, Ash stood up, helping Giselle to her feet and letting Pikachu hop back onto his shoulder. Brock and Misty also stood up and they just gaped at the utterly destroyed and wrecked scene before them. The entire deck was destroyed and their were small fires burning here and there from where the choppers exploded. The entire top half of the Anne was now missing.

Ash felt the ship begin to shift and he knew that water must have been pouring into the haul from the massive holes that the missiles had undoubtedly left. The Team Rocket aircraft was also long gone, having left them to their fate.

Ash looked back at his friends. "Come on guys, let's make our way back to the main hall. I'm sure the captain is going to want to know what happened and we need to tell him to start evacuating people into the lifeboats now!" He said to them hurriedly.

"Right!" They agreed.

The group of friends then took off and headed back into the ship, praying to Arceus that everyone would be able to get out of the ship before it undoubtedly sunk.

XXXXXXXX

They reached the man hall again and saw everyone looking around in fear, probably from the sound of the missiles hitting the ship. Ash ran up to the captain. The old man turned around and addressed Ash. "There you are young man! I called Officer Jenny and she and the coast guard are on their way! What was that Arceus awful racket we were all feeling earlier? The ship was tilting like I've never felt!"

Ash quickly explained to the captain everything that happened. The captains eyes grew wider and wider as Ash told him the story of what Team Rocket did. "You have to get everyone off of the boat before it sinks sir! I know those missiles had to have broke through the ships haul!" Ash finished.

The captain nodded his head. "Yes young man your right! We'll begin evacuating the ship immediately!"

He went and stood atop the stairs and then called down to everyone in the room. He also used a radio that had a direct link to the ships intercom system so the whole ship could hear his announcement. "Attention passengers of the St. Anne! First let me tell you all not to panic, calm and orderly is going to be key in this situation!" He paused and let his words sink in before continuing. "It appears as though those villains from Team Rocket have attacked this ship with missiles and have breached the haul. This vessel is going to go down unfortunately and there is nothing we can do to stop it." The captain looked around sadly at his beloved ship before going on. "We have several lifeboats prepared for just a situation like this. I am going to ask all of you to accompany me and the rest of the crew to the lifeboats in a calm and orderly fashion. If everyone can stay calm and collected then EVERYONE will get out of this alive! Do you all understand?"

He looked out over the sea of faces and even though everyone was scared, they nodded their heads in understanding. The captain smiled and continued. "Very good! Now, we will be taking the hallway past the cabins to get to the lifeboats. Everyone will have no more than five minutes to retrieve their belongings. We have already done the math for such a situation and this ship has approximately twenty minutes before it becomes mostly submerged. We will be long in the lifeboats and well away from the ship by the time this happens if everyone follows mine and the crews directions! Now let's go!"

The crew marsheled everyone together after they had all returned their Pokemon and then began ushering them out of the hall and towards the cabins and lifeboats. The captain came back down the stairs and as he passed Ash and his friends he stopped and turned back to them. "Come on youngsters we need to get off of this ship!" He said hurriedly.

Ash just shook his head. "I'm leaving off of this ship a different way captain. I need to do something envolving Team Rocket and to do that I need to go on my own way."

The captain looked stunned. "Young man I can't let you go off on your own! Everyone on this ship is my responsibility and as such, I need to make sure everyone gets off of this ship safely!"

Ash sighed frustratingly. "No offense captain but I wasn't asking your permission. I'm going off on my own either way, I just wanted to let you know so you didn't have any unaccounted bodies to deal with. I and my Pokemon were the ones that ran Team Rocket off of this ship and saved you, your crew, all the passengers and their Pokemon. You said that anything I needed all I had to do was ask. Well, I'm asking. Don't make any mention, or your crew, that I was ever on this ship. I don't want my mom and the people that care about me back home to worry. I need you to do this captain. You wanted to do something for me in return? Here it is. Besides, I have two Pokemon with me right now that are more certain to keep me safe out at sea in this storm than your lifeboats are. Will you do this?"

Ash stared the captain dead in the eye and after a few moments the old man sighed and nodded his head. "Alright young man, I'll do you this favor. Just please be careful!" He urged.

Ash smiled and nodded to the old man. "Thank you sir."

Giselle suddenly latched onto Ash's arm. "I'm going with Ash. Where he goes, I go!"

Brock stepped up beside Ash and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm going to. We're a team and we're friends."

Misty took Ash's other side. "Your definitely counting me in to Ash! Your not going off on your own."

"Pikachu Pika Chu!" Pikachu said resolutetly from his perch on Ash's shoulder.

Ash looked at his friends and shook his head. "It's too dangerous guys, where I'm going and what I'm going to do is going to make me huge enemies with Team Rocket when they find out that I'm alive and didn't go down with this ship. I don't want you guys getting involved and putting yourselves in danger."

Giselle put her hand on Ash's cheek and turned him towards her. "Ash you big dummy! We're already in this with you! Team Rocket knows we are your friends and knows that we support how you are fighting against them. Besides, if your so insistent on starting a war with Team Rocket and bringing them down, your going to need your friends." She looked down and whispered so quietly that Ash barely heard her and he was the only one who did. "Maybe even... More than a friend."

Ash blushed slightly and gave her a soft smile as Brock spoke up. "Yeah Ash, we're your friends and you need us just as much as we need you. I'll follow you wherever man. Even if it is into some war with Team Rocket."

Misty smiled at him. "You were my first friend Ash. I'm not letting Team Rocket take that away from me!"

Pikachu patted his Trainer on the head. "Pika! Pikachu Pi!"

Ash smiled at his friends and felt slightly teary eyed. "Thanks a lot guys... I don't know what else to say." He looked up at the captain again, who was gaping in shock. "Looks like you got three more to add to that favor cap!" He said smiling.

The captain recomposed himself and just stayed silent for a while. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. "Fine... You all were never on this ship as far as me and the crew are concerned. None of the passengers know your name so we don't have to worry about them talking about you in name."

Giselle looked concerned. "But Ash... Gary is on the ship as well. Won't he tell everyone about all of us and what you did?"

Ash just shook his head. "No, not Gary. If I know him then he is going to forget that any of this ever happened and go back to being his usual pompous self. Besides, there's no way that he'd tell anyone that I was able to succeed where he failed. He'll forget that as well and the next time I see him it'll be like he never saw us on this ship and never encountered Team Rocket. That's just Gary's way."

Giselle nodded in understanding. The captain placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "You be careful now young man." He looked at all of the kids. "You all as well, take care of each other." They nodded at his request and then he looked back at Ash. "Never before have I met someone at your age with such strong beliefs, morals and courage. Your going to go far son. Just make sure that your careful. I think that a kid going after an organization like Team Rocket on their own like you are is a very foolish thing to do. However, if your set on this then just be careful young man and go with all of my luck."

Ash nodded at the captain. "I will sir and thank you. Take care of all the passengers and their Pokemon please. Especially Gary Oak. He may be arrogant and look at me as nothing more than an annoyance but I still see my old childhood friend in him somewhere."

The captain smiled and nodded. "You got it m'boy. I'll see you around."

Ash nodded his head and then he and his friends took off for the opposite side of the hall. They disappeared out the door that lead onto the deck and the captain just stared after them. He looked up at the ceiling. "Arceus, please watchover those kids and ensure that I made the right decision."

He then turned around on his heel and ran off after his crew and the passengers. Much more spry than an old man who had previously endured a large fall from the top of a balcony should be able to. As he ran he shouted out. "This old captains still got some life in him! If those youngsters burn with the fires of so much youth then so can I!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Down in the shopping section of the ship, everyone was quickly scattering around and vendors were abandoning their stands so they could all make it to the lifeboats in time James walked around in a slump as he looked out over all of the heads of running people, trying to find the short swindler that fooled him into buying Magikarp. Everyone was so scared at the fact the ship was going down and was so busy trying to make it to the lifeboats, that no one noticed James walking around in his white Team Rocket uniform.

"Hey Ombré!" James was yelling out, looking utterly depressed and defeated. "I want my money back! You fooled me!"

He continued to scan the many people who were running around and saw no sign of the man he called 'Ombré'. James sighed and slumped his head down. "Jessie and Meowth are going to kill me." He muttered.

James suddenly heard someone calling out to him from behind one of the stands. "James! James over here! Quick!" The person whispered out to him.

James turned his head around and saw Jessie and Meowth motioning to him from behind a nearby stand. He walked over to them and they pulled him behind the stand before he knew what was happening.

The instant he was facing his teammates James instantly began bowing down to them while stammering out apologies. "I'm so sorry you guys! I couldn't find Ombré, please don't beat or scratch the money out of me!" He begged.

Jessie just shook her head irritated. "We don't care about that right now James! The ship is sinking and we need to find a way to get off of this deathtrap!" She snapped.

James looked up in confusion. "The ship is sinking?!" He said terrified.

"Yeah!" Meowth piped up suddenly. "Apparently de rest of da team attacked the ship with missiles from one of the Team Rocket sea to air hovercrafts before dey left!" He said angrily. "And dey just left us here!"

James looked between both of his teammates nervously. "What are we going to do?! How are we going to get off here?! We can't use the lifeboats that everyone else is using, they'll capture us and then hand us over to the coast guard!" He fretted.

Jessie just smacked him over the head. "James we're criminals! We'll just steal one!" She simply.

James's eyes grew wide. "But how?!"

Jessie smirked. "I believe that we can think of something..." She told James with a devious smile that was mimicked by Meowth.

James gulped. "I don't like where this is going..." He said nervously.

He didn't get to say anything else however, as his teammates jumped him and began initiating their plan. The only that could be heard behind the stand was James's muffled pleas of protest.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had went through the hallway where their cabins were at on the way to the deck and grabbed their packs that they luckily hadn't unpacked to much out of yet. It was a simple matter of throwing a few things in their packs and then they were gone.

They had finally made it out onto the destroyed deck just as they felt the ship start to tilt and rock violently. They had to grab onto the rails of the deck to steady themselves as they continued forward to the very front of the ship. "We need to hurry up Ash!" Brock called out to him. "The ship will start sinking any moment!"

Ash looked back at Brock as he continued forward. "I know Brock! Just a little further!" They were actually having to shout at one another because of the tilting and thrashing of the ship. Not to mention the violent rain torrent that was pouring down on them and the sound of the loud and violent waves crashing at the sides of the sinking ship, desperately awaiting to drag the vessel down to their endless depths.

They finally made it the front of the ship and Ash looked down at the raging sea below them. He drew a Pokeball from his belt and silently said a prayer to Arceus as he threw the Pokeball into the air and shouted, "Gyarados I need your help!"

The great water serpent appeared down in the ocean with a loud bellow of his name. "Gyroooo!" He shouted over the sound of the storm.

Ash shouted down to his Pokemon. "Gyarados! I need your help, can you carry me and my friends on your back?! The ship is going to sink!"

Gyarados instantly reared his head up and called out loudly in response to Ash when he heard that his Trainer was in trouble. "Gyrooo!" He bellowed, nodding his head.

Ash looked at his friends. "Guys..." He started.

Misty seemed to know where Ash was going. "Ohh no Ash... Don't tell me that we have to..." She groaned out loud.

Ash just nodded his head. "I'm afraid so Misty... We have to jump."

Giselle looked like someone had just told her that her favorite perfume was about to go out of stock. "We're what?!" She yelled.

Ash grabbed ahold of her shoulders. "If we don't Giselle then we'll go down with the ship."

She looked over the edge and her eyes grew wide. "But it's such a long way down..." She muttered fearfully.

Ash pulled her into his arms. "We'll jump together okay? Just keep your legs straight no matter what."

She nodded her head nervously and Ash just smiled at her reassuringly. "Everything will be okay, I promise." He said soothingly.

She smiled at him weakly. "I trust you Ash." She said scared, but firmly.

He looked up at Pikachu. "Get inside my track suit buddy, you'll be safe there."

Pikachu nodded and then Ash unzipped his jacket. Pikachu hopped in and then Ash zipped it back up so only Pikachu's head was sticking up. He looked at Brock and Misty. "Are you guys ready?" He asked them.

They both nodded their heads, looking very nervous. "Good." Ash said. "Now as soon as you get in the water swim for Gyarados, he'll pull you up onto his back."

They nodded and then Brock stepped up to the railing. "Here goes nothing." He said as he plugged his nose shut and jumped over the edge of the deck. He fell like a stone and hit the water far down below with straight legs. He surfaced a few seconds later and then swam for Gyarados, getting knocked around badly by the waves. When he got close enough Gyarados reached down into the water and carefully picked him up with his teeth and lifted him out of the water. He turned his head around and placed Brock on his back, where the young teenager grasped onto the Pokemon tightly.

Misty stepped up next and looked down at the water far below her with fear visible in her eyes. "Misty!" Ash called over to her, making the girl look at him. "You got this Mist. Just jump and trust me."

Misty smiled at Ash and nodded her head slightly. "Thanks Ash..." She said as she looked back down at the water. She mimicked Brock and plugged her nose up before jumping off of the deck and into the water below. Ash and Giselle watched as Misty swam to Gyarados and the Pokemon repeated the same action as he had for Brock.

Ash looked at Giselle, who was clinging tightly to him. "Are you ready Giselle?" He asked her softly.

She looked up at Ash with fear and determination in her eyes. "Yeah... Let's just get this over with."

Ash smiled and nodded and then went to move them towards the edge. Giselle suddenly stopped him before he could get within eye view of Brock and Misty below. "Ash..." She began. "About earlier... I just wanted you to know that... I meant it when we almost kissed." She looked away for a second and then continued. "But if you didn't mean to and were just confused or something I... Understand. I just-"

She was silenced when he placed his hand under her chin and made her look at him. "I meant it." He said simply and firmly.

Before she could say anymore he suddenly brought his lips down upon hers in one swift motion. She squeaked in surprise, but quickly got over her shock and began kissing him back. Since it was both of their first kisses it was a little awkward at first, however they quickly got into sync with each other and began moving their lips perfectly in time with each other. They brought their lips apart temporarily and then brought them back down upon one another immediately. Ash pulled her closer to himself as poor Pikachu was trapped in between the two of them, looking awkward and confused.

When they separated, both were blushing slightly and looking a little embarrassed. Ash smiled and brushed his hand against her cheek. "Let's do it." He said without breaking eye contact from her.

Giselle smiled warmly at him and hugged him tighter. "I'm ready." She said with no hesitation.

Ash turned back towards the edge and then stepped up to it with Giselle. "Here we go..." He said to her.

She nodded her head and Pikachu burrowed down deeper into Ash's jacket. The two jumped over the edge and instantly straightened their legs. Ash subconsciously pulled Giselle closer to him and tucked his head protectively over hers as they plummeted. They hit the cold ocean water and instantly sunk beneath the waves. They paddled hard and eventually crested back above the surface and started swimming fiercely for Gyarados. The waves were extremely rough and kept trying to drag them back down below the water. It didn't make it any easier that they had their packs on their backs weighing them down either. However, Ash could say that he was very happy his pack was waterproof, otherwise the water would have made his pack even heavier.

They finally reached Gyarados as the large Pokemon reached out and went to grab his Trainer first. Ash shook his head and pointed to Giselle. "Her first Gyarados!" He shouted over the waves. Gyarados obeyed and delicately picked Giselle up out of the water and sat her on his back, in front of Brock.

He reached back down and even more carefully picked his Trainer up out of the water and sat him down in front of Giselle so Ash was closest to the front. Gyarados liked all of Ash's friends, but his first priority was his Trainer.

Ash patted his Pokemon on the neck. "Great job buddy now get us out of here! Start heading north!" He shouted to his Pokemon over the roar of the rain.

Gyarados bellowed loudly and then took off. "Pika?" Pikachu asked as he raised his head and squinted at Ash from where he was in his jacket, trying to avoid the rain.

Ash smiled down at Pikachu. "It's okay buddy you can stay in there where it's warm and safe." He told his Pokemon.

Pikachu nodded happily and then burrowed back into Ash's jacket. He zipped it totally up so that Pikachu could stay as warm as he could. He called back to his friends loudly. "Are you guys okay?!"

Brock answered back first. "Doing fine Ash!"

"Yeah just wet and... Really wet! Besides that I'm fine!" Misty called back as her and Brock looked out at the violently churning sea around them.

"Y-yeah... I-I'm f-fine!" Giselle answered back, shivering majorly.

Ash looked back at her and then began shifting around on the Pokemon's back. "W-what are y-y-you doing A-Ash?!" She asked confused while still shivering.

Ash didn't answer and just kept shifting around until he was sitting directly behind her. She looked confused and when she looked at him questioningly he just wrapped his arms around her midsection tightly and pulled her close to his chest. "What are you doing Ash?" She finally asked him, instantly feeling herself getting warmer being pressed against his body.

Ash just smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear, glad that Misty and Brock were too focused on the storm around them and couldn't hear what he said. Not they would have been able to anyway, the storm was too loud to hear anything over it unless you were shouting. "Well I have to keep my girl warm don't I?" He said softly in her ear as he gently kissed the side of her cheek.

She blushed bright red. "So I'm your girl now huh?" She teased him back silently. Not that there was any need for silence in such a loud storm.

Ash looked at her more seriously. "Yes... You are. That is, if you want to be..." He said as he looked in her eyes. Giselle just blushed and leaned back into his arms. "I think... I can be okay with that." She said with a smile as Ash leaned his head on top of hers and smiled as well.

They looked back at the sinking St. Anne and Ash said worriedly, "I hope everyone got off of the ship okay..."

XXXXXXXXX

The captain had managed to sort every one of the passengers into the lifeboats and was now lowering them all down into the water. A task that was proving to be difficult since the ship was rocking around so badly. They could definitely tell that the ship was sinking because they felt the entire ship drop nearly a whole level, which meant that the entire bottom floor of the Anne was probably submerged in water right now.

One of the crew members was getting ready to prepare another lifeboat for the next set of passengers when suddenly, two people came walking up to him. They were dressed up in travelers clothes and were pretty covered up. The 'man' was wearing tan pants and a floral pattern button up shirt with sunglasses on and a straw hat. 'He' had a red mustache on his face and because of the hat, you couldn't see his hair.

The second was a 'woman' and wore a long purple dress, purple light over coat that showed her 'pregnant' stomach, wore sunglasses as well and a sun hat. You couldn't tell 'her' hair color either.

"Excuse me son, would you mind clearing out of the way? The ship is sinking don't you know and my dear wife here is pregnant with our first child." The 'man' said in an oddly pitched sounding voice for a man.

"Yes young man would you please allow us that lifeboat to ourselves? I would greatly appreciate it." The 'woman' said in high pitched voice that didn't sound quite right.

The crewman nodded his head. "Of course! Quickly, get into the boat!" He ushered them hurriedly.

The two people obliged and stepped inside of the boat. The crewman then lowered the boat down into the water below. After the boat had been in the water for a short time and had begun to move away from the ship that was now halfway submerged and the other lifeboats, the last of which had finally left the ship, the odd 'couple suddenly threw off the clothes they were wearing.

"What a trusting fool!" The now revealed Jessie said as she laughed.

James removed the last article of his disguise and removed the 'bump' in his stomach that was actually revealed to be Meowth, curled up. He glared at Jessie as Meowth unfurled himself and shook his fur out. "Never speak of that to anyone ever again!" He said angrily to her as he continued to glare at her. "Why couldn't you have played the pregnant woman?! You ARE a woman Jessie!"

Jessie just scoffee. "And even pretend to have this perfect body out of shape and deformed in anyway?! I don't think so! Now stop whining James, we got off the ship completely unnoticed thanks to MY brilliant plan!" She said arrogantly.

Meowth suddenly came into the conversation. "Your brilliant plan?! It was my idea!" He said while waving his fists in the air.

Jessie just waved her hand in the air. "What does it matter Meowth? We're a team and that means we share credit for everything we do. Except for when James makes an idiotic decision on the spur of the moment! Like buying a worthless Magikarp!"

James got up and pointed his finger at her. "You should know not to give me free excess to the bank account Jessie! I never make good decisions!" He shouted back.

The two teammates began arguing until they were interrupted by Meowth. "Uhh guys... We need to get further away from de ship. Da tides trying to pull us back towards da other boats."

Jessie and James stopped bickering and looked ahead at the now almost completely submerged ship and lifeboats that were gathered back a safe distance away from it. "He's right!" Jessie agreed. "We have to something! James use the oars for the lifeboat and get us out of here!" She demanded.

James seemed confused and looked around. "But Jessie, there are no oars."

Jessie suddenly grabbed him by the throat and started shaking him back and forth. "You let us get on a boat that no oars?! What's the matter with you James!" She shouted.

Meowth suddenly got in-between them. "Will you guys knock it off!" He shouted. "I got a plan!"

Jessie shopped strangling James and looked at Meowth expectantly. "Well?!" She said impatiently.

Meowth walked over to where James was and grabbed some rope that was in the corner. "We'll use James's Magikarp since it's a Water-Type and have it get into da water. We'll tie dis rope to it and have it pull us away from here!"

Jessie nodded her head. "Your a genius Meowth!" She looked at James. "You heard him James! Bring out that Magikarp!"

James quickly fumbled around for Magikarp's Pokeball and then called out the Pokemon once he found it. "Magikarp help us!" He said as the Pokemon appeared in the lifeboat in a flash of light.

"Karp Karp Karp! Magikarp!" It said as the Pokemon floundered around the boat.

Everyone sweat dropped and then James tied the rope to Magikarp before throwing him in the water. "Now get us out of here Magikarp!" James commanded.

The fish just continued to flounder around in the water as it was being pushed around by the harsh waves. Jessie just sighed. "Well... So much for that." She said defeated.

Meowth just stared in disbelief before placing his head in his paws and shaking his head. "We're done for..." He said hopelessly.

James stared at his Pokemon in shock for a little while before losing his cool. He started shouting at Magikarp. "What kind of Water Pokemon can't swim in water?! Your useless Magikarp! I can't believe that I ever let that swindler talk me into believing that you were a special Pokemon!" He raised Magikarp's Pokeball into the air. "I don't want to be your Trainer anymore you pathetic fish!" He yelled as he threw Magikarp's Pokeball onto the bottom of the boat and stepped on it with his boot, crushing it.

He realed the rope back in and untied it off of Magikarp and then held the Pokemon out in front if him. "Get lost you poor excuse for a Pokemon!" He shouted as he punted Magikarp off the boat and into the ocean a few yards away.

Magikarp floundered around helplessly and began calling out in fear, "Karp Karp!" As it was beat around by the waves. Suddenly, the Pokemon began glowing a bright white. Jessie, James and Meowth watched in disbelief as Magikarp changed form before their very eyes and became a larger, taller and much more fierce looking creature. The new Pokemon towered above the waves and as the light finally died down the Pokemon bellowed loudly. "GYROOO!"

As the three Rockets stared in awe at the newly evolved Pokemon it turned it's head and looked down at them. The fury and rage that was burning in it's eyes terrified the three teammates. Meowth sputtered out. "I don't tink you shoulda kicked it when it was a Magikarp James!" He said frightfully.

Jessie latched onto James's arms and shouted at him. "Do something James! It's your Pokemon!"

James shook his head to clear it and looked up at the enraged Pokemon. "G-Gyarados!" He said, his voice trembling in fear. Which was not something you ever wanted to show in front of a Pokemon like Gyarados. Especially when they were angry. "A-as your Trainer I c-command you to calm d-down!"

The Pokemon just swung it's massive tail around and sent a huge wave at the three of them, nearly capsizing the boat. Meowth clawed James's face angrily. "Ya numbskull! You destroyed it's Pokeball remember!" He shouted. "Your not it's Trainer anymore!"

James looked down at the shattered Pokeball and gulped. "Ohh yeah... Right..." He half squeaked out.

The furious Gyarados opened it's massive mouth as a swirling blue energy began gathering in it's maw. Meowth looked like he might jump out of his fur as he shouted out. "D-Dragon Rage! Get us out of here yous two!"

Jessie and James put their hands in the water and began desparetly trying to paddle away from the unstoppable blast of energy that was soon to strike them. "Paddle faster!" Meowth shouted again as he put his own small paws in the water and began paddling.

Gyarados reared it's head back and then lunged forward, the powerful blast of bluish energy streamed straight at the fleeing Rockets. It struck their boat head on and a loud explosion rocked the area as the water exploded around them and sent the boat hurdling into the sky. "James you idiot! You had to buy that Magikarp!" Jessie yelled as they were flying through the air.

"I'm sorry!" James whined back.

"Your both idiots!" Meowth shouted.

The last thing that could be heard before the three Rockets disappeared into the night sky was, "We're blasting off again!"

Gyarados staired angrily at where they disappeared for awhile before plunging beneath the churning sea.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The storm had begun to pass slightly by the time that Ash and his friends were about a mile away from where the Anne had undoubtedly by now sunk. The sky was still dark, or at least... Darker than it would normally be at any rate considering it was night time. The sea was still unsettled and from what he could see, Ash could tell that even if it was daylight he wouldn't be able to see down below the water because of the murky debri that the storm had washed up to the surface from the bottom of the ocean.

He looked around at his surroundings and then checked the navigation on his Xtransciever to make sure they were heading the right way. He had no idea exactly where Pokemon Land was, except for the directions that the Grunt he had interrogated had given him and they were vague. Merely 'Twelve miles north' was all he had been told. He had told Gyarados to head north so he was hoping that Pokemon Land was actually on the main land mass and not some island or otherwise... They would be looking around forever.

He suddenly felt Giselle tighten her hold on him and then let out a small sigh as her breathing returned to a slow and even pace as she pushed her head further into his chest. He smiled. She must have fallen asleep sometime back and was now resting comfortably. Since he had the time he contemplated his newfound relationship with Giselle.

He couldn't really say that he was surprised that they had ended up where they had. He had felt a special connection when he first met her back at Pokemon Tech and saw how she acted around him ever since they had started traveling together. It was obvious from the very beginning that they connected on a level much more than friends but still, they were both young and this was uncharted territory.

Ash was very mature for his age and Giselle grew more and more mature herself with everyday that she traveled with them. Either way, he should have know that they would have eventually ended up as more than friends eventually. The attraction between them both was just to strong. The circumstances on the Anne just escalated their relationship and made the unavoidable happen sooner.

Ash was happy about it though. He felt so... connected to Giselle. He was extremely grateful for Brock and Misty as well, they were amazing friends but it was just that... With Giselle, he had a totally different kind of relationship with her that he couldn't compare to anyone else in his life or either of his two other friends. Of course, he never kissed either of them and the thought of that alone made him shudder.

It was obvious why with Brock, he was a guy! But with Misty... She was like a sister to him. Or least, he had come to see her as one. However, he was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that Misty was beginning to look at him in a different way and he dreaded the possible conversation he may have to end up having with her. If he did, that would involve him revealing his and Giselle's relationship. Which he was afraid would make Misty develop hard feelings for Giselle and that was the last thing he wanted. Especially since the two of them had finally started to form some kind of friendship.

He put the thoughts from his mind for now and turned back to more pressing matters. He pulled out his Poke'Dex and then pulled out one of his Pokeballs. He wanted to do a transfer because he felt like, for some reason, he was going to need the Pokemon that he was sending away for sometime very soon.

He placed the Pokeball on the transporter and input what Pokemon he was asking for before sending it away. He decided on sending Pidgeotto away since the Pokemon he was getting in return would also be able to fly.

He sent away the Pokeball and waited in anticipation, hoping that Professor Oak was up and could complete the transfer. After a few minutes of waiting another Pokeball suddenly appeared where Pidgeotto's had disappeared. Ash smiled, Professor Oak must have been up after all. He took the Pokeball and spoke to it. "I might end up needing you girl."

He put the Pokeball away and then pocketed his Poke'Dex before closing his eyes and falling into a light sleep, the sounds of Giselle's light breathing lulling him into slumber.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash stirred lightly in his sleep as he felt bright light shine down onto his closed eye lids. He felt very hot for some reason and it wasn't until he finally opened his eyes that he remembered where he was. He saw the large head of his Gyarados bob up and down as the Pokemon swam swiftly through the water.

He looked up and saw the sun shining down brightly on the wide open ocean that surrounded them on all sides. He had to squint from the brightness of the sun and after he did he looked around. He couldn't see land anywhere nearby which meant that Gyarados must have stopped sometime in the middle of the night to rest. Otherwise, Ash knew that they would have reached land long before now.

He was amazed looking out over the expansive ocean. Just last night the sea was vicious and unsettled. Today it was calm and serene, like no storm had occurred at all. The sun was shining down upon the water and made it look like the water was sparkling. The waves gently lapping against Gyarados's side as he glided through the water.

Ash felt someone groan against his body and felt them move around slightly. He looked down at the beautiful young lady in his arms. Giselle had her arms wrapped tightly around him and had her head pressed into the crook of his neck. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. She yawned cutely and then looked up into Ash's face with eyes still blurry from sleep.

He was smiling and spoke softly to her. "Sleep well?" He asked her, still smiling.

She returned the smile and unwrapped her arms from around Ash to stretch them above her head. When she was finished she wrapped her arms back around Ash and placed her head back in the crook of his neck. She sighed happily. "Morning..." She mumbled contentedly.

Ash chuckled softly and turned his head around so he could see if his other two friends were still sleeping or not. He saw that Brock and Misty were still fast asleep so he reached out and gently began stroking her hair. "I'm glad. I didn't how you would sleep considering where we are." He said as Giselle sighed again at the feeling of him running his fingers through her hair gently.

"I slept very well, especially since I had a very comfortable pillow." She replied back with a smile.

At the angle she was staring up at him Ash was mesmerized by how the sun hit her and seemed to make her glow. He lifted her chin up to his face a little closer and Giselle must have known what he was going for because she tightened her grip around him and brought herself closer to him. She brought her face up close to his and then Ash closed the remaining distance between them and connected his lips with her own soft ones.

The kiss was soft and quick, but as they as they pulled away they brought their lips back together again and shared in a longer and deeper kiss. Ash brought her as close to his body as possible and Giselle wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could.

They pulled away after a short time and rested their foreheads against one another for a moment. They suddenly heard Brock and Misty begin to stir and quickly separated, turning back around to face front.

Brock and Misty yawned and stretched as they awoke and looked around at their surroundings. "Where are we exactly?" Misty asked as she stretched the kinks out of her neck.

Ash finally reigned in his emotions from kissing Giselle and spoke without looking over his shoulder. "We're heading north to a place called Pokemon Land. It wasn't too far from the ship but I think that Gyarados must have stopped for the night."

"Pokemon Land?" Brock asked confused.

Giselle answered for Ash. "It's this really big and exciting amusement park!" She said with glee in her voice. She had also gotten over the racing emotions she felt at kissing Ash by now. "Every semester break at Pokemon Tech, several of the students would go to Pokemon Land with their friends and family and come back saying how amazing it was. I went one time before with my own parents and younger brother and sister one summer." Stars appeared in her eyes as she continued to describe the amusement park. "The attractions are so amazing and they even have these giant mechanical Pokemon that roam the park and amaze all of the visitors. They look so real that at first glance you actually think that they ARE real!"

"Wow!" Misty said with wide eyes. "Sounds like an exciting place."

Brock nodded his head. "Definitely sounds like someplace my own younger siblings would love to go." He said thoughtfully.

Ash spoke up. "Well after today no one will be going to that amusement park anymore. I'm going to be shutting it down."

Giselle looked shock. "Why on earth would you want to do something like that Ash?!"

He turned back to his face his friends. "Because it's owned by Team Rocket, that's why." He answered her.

Giselle seemed stunned. "How do you know that?!" She asked him in disbelief.

Ash then explained everything that the Grunt he had interrogated on the ship told him. Especially the part about Pokemon Land being one of Team Rocket's biggest sources of income.

After he had finished explaining all about the dirty operation that Pokemon Land was covering up, his friends looked mortified. "That's horrible! Pokemon trafficking?!" Misty said in anger and utter shock.

"I never would have guessed..." Brock said, equally as surprised.

Giselle looked the most upset by the news. "Me and my family went to that park and gave our money away... Too Team Rocket?! Just so they could keep up their trafficking ring?! I feel terrible..."

Ash reached back and placed his hand on her leg comfortingly, but just out of sight of Brock and Misty. "You couldn't have known Giselle. Neither you and your family, or any of the other families who have visited that park knows what's going on there. I guarantee that if they did then no one would ever visit Pokemon Land again. I'm not going to let Team Rocket keep smuggling Pokemon out of that amusement park and that's why I'm going to destroy it."

Giselle looked confused. "But how?"

Ash just grinned. "Ohh trust me, I have an idea." He said mysteriously.

Giselle, Brock and Misty went silent then, knowing that Ash wouldn't tell them anymore yet. After a while of silence, Brock finally broke it. "I was wondering something Ash." He asked the younger boy.

Ash tilted his head back in Brock's direction. "Yeah Brock?"

Brock shifted on Gyarados a little before asking his question. "Back on the the ship when you were battling that Team Rocket Commander's Pokemon with Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander and they were attacked by those powerful three attacks... what was that strange elemental shield they used? I've never seen anything like that used in a battle ever, and I've watched nearly every League match over the years and I was also a gym leader."

"Yeah Ash so was I and I never saw anything like that before either." Misty chimed in.

"I was top student at Pokemon Tech and learned everything there was to know about different types of strategy counters and team counters in tag battles. I've never seen anything like what Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur did back on the Anne." Giselle stated as she shifted closer to Ash.

Ash raised an eyebrow at his friends curiosity but answered their question. "It's just a counter shield really. Or my own version of a counter shield at least..."

"A counter what?" His friends asked together.

Ash laughed a little before answering. "It's basically an offensive move that I've taught my Pokemon how to use as a defensive move. The one you saw back on the Anne is one that I've been working on with those three for quite awhile now actually."

Giselle suddenly interupted him. "So all of those times that you would disappear during training with those three you were..."

"That's right." Ash interjected. "We've been working on that move a lot. It starts out with Charmander using Ember, or I guess now Flamethrower, to create the fire dome around them that you saw first. Charmander had to really learn how to control his fire for that part of the move. Then Bulbasaur plants a Leech Seed directly beneath their feet and huddles Charmander and Squirtle close to him. As the seed sprouts and begins to ensnare the three of them, Charmander stops Flamethrower just as the vines reaches him first and begins to sap his energy."

Ash stopped and made sure that his friends were following him so far. When he saw they were he continued. "Then Squirtle immediantly uses Water Pulse and creates the dome of water that you saw after the fire dome dissipated. It's basically like a second shield."

"But Ash..." Brock interrupted. "How does the fire dome not go away once Charmander stops feeding fire to it? He can't even get his flame through Squirtle's water dome once it comes up."

Ash held up a hand. "I'm getting to that trust me." He collected his thoughts and then continued. "You see, Leech Seed plays a big role in the success of this move. I worked with Bulbasaur tirelessly on learning how to manipulate and use the energy that he gathers from other Pokemon using absorption attacks like Leech Seed. Sort of like... Re-directing the flow to suit his needs if you follow me. He's like a medium, he channels the energy through himself and then into whatever he needs to use it for. The Leech Seed that's inside the water dome with them sprouts and covers the entire inside of the dome. The vines attach to Charmander and Squirtle and sucks their energy out. That energy is then fed into the fire and water domes. Charmander's energy is fed into the fire dome surrounding the water dome and Squirtle's energy is fed into his water dome. Since energy is not solid it can pass through anything. Meaning that Charmander's energy can pass through the water dome and contact the fire dome. Since Charmander's energy signature is the same as the fire that came from himself to make the fire dome in the first place, the energy acts as a fuel line and keeps the fire dome going without Charmander needing to feed it directly with his flame. His energy does the fueling for him. The same exact thing is done with Squirtle and his water dome."

He paused to catch his breath before going on. "Bulbasaur is like the energy restorer for this technique. He uses Growth during this whole process and then the Leech Seed vines shares Bulbasaur's increased power from Growth with Charmander and Squirtle during this very energy consuming defensive maneuver. Now your probably wondering how the fire and water domes spin and swirl around in perfect control right? Well, it works like this: The energy that Charmander puts off for his fire is different than the energy that Squirtle puts off for his water. When they both feed their energies into their respective domes at such close proximity the energies react to one another. It's like an opposites attract sort of thing. Both energies push and pull one another from their respective domes and this causes rotation, which is what causes the spinning and perfectly controled movement you see in the domes. Their not being controled by the Pokemon, it's just the natural reaction that both energies are having with one another. They are opposites and want to overcome the other."

He stopped again. "The coolest thing about the energy that's being fed into the element domes is this: Since both of Charmander and Squirtle's energies are nothing but pure power and life force, the energy gives sort of like a physical covering to the fire and water domes, making them even more resilient to attacks than normal."

When he finished all three of his friends were gaping like fish. "That's... Amazing." Brock stammered out, at a loss for other words.

"No kidding..." Misty said.

"I never would have thought of something like that before..." Giselle said in a daze.

Ash just scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Yeah well... You didn't see the whole thing either." He admitted sheepishly.

"There's more?!" They all said at once.

He nodded his head and continued. "Pikachu is part of it as well. He didn't get to though because I had him go off to sabotage Team Rocket's helicopters."

"What does Pikachu do?" Brock asked curiously.

Ash looked down at the little yellow Pokemon that was now sleeping in his lap after he had crawled out from his jacket and began scratching the Pokemon behind the ears, earning a happy and muffled "Cha..." From him.

Ash then explained. "He does the same kind of energy transfer that Charmander and Squirtle does, only he has much more energy than they do. This means that he feeds electricity to both the water AND fire domes. Basically, sparks of electricity are seen arcing over the two domes. Since Pikachu's energy is neutral compared to Bulbasaur and Charmander's, his energy acts like a moderator between the other two energies and keeps the whole thing more stabilized and in harmony. His energy also adds more power and resistance to the dome. As you've already seen, they don't need Pikachu but it makes the whole thing MUCH more effective when he's involved."

Ash stopped scratching Pikachu and stared off into the distance. "This is just level one though. We're actually working on making it to where Pikachu's electricity actually becomes able to absorb the power of attacks and send it right back to their opponents. Kind of like how a meteor hits our atmosphere and skips off."

Ash got a wide grin on his face. "The real fun is going to begin once Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur evolve the first time. They will have much more energy to put into the Element Shield, making it bigger, stronger, more powerful... You name it! The possibilities with this technique are limitless! They could learn how to move while in the shield, see through the shield and even launch moves through the shield! It's all dependent on how the energies are manipulated. Simple as that. We'll be be able to make big improvements on the shield when they evolve into their second stages, but the really amazing improvements are going to happen once they reach their last stages of evolution and have full access to their energy reserves. For now the only thing they can improve on is getting Pikachu's electricity able to redirect attacks and that's it."

Ash's friends were still in shock by the time he finished and Brock just shook his head. "Only you Ash... Only you." He said smiling.

"That's just... Wow Ash! Wow..." Misty said in dumbfounded amazement.

Misty and Brock looked out at the sea on opposite sides to clear their heads and at that moment Giselle leaned up next to Ash's ear. "That's my... Ashy." She said flirtatiously as she kissed the side of his lips quickly. "You never cease to me impress me." She whispered to him before leaning back against him and looking out in front of her towards the ocean

Ash blushed red and coughed slightly before focusing on something unseeable in the distance. Giselle giggled quietly at his reaction before they were all suddenly thrust forward as Gyarados abruptly stopped moving.

After they had righted the themselves Ash leaned over and looked at the side of his Pokemon's face. "What's the matter pal? Is something wrong?" He asked concerned.

Gyarados didn't respond and instead just looked around in every direction, very unsettled and on high alert. Ash was confused as to why his Pokemon was acting the way he was, but Ash soon understood why. The answer to his unanswered question came rising up out of the ocean around Gyarados on all sides. Ash and his friends went wide eyed at the sight before them.

Positioned around Gyarados in a tight circle, offering no way out, were several other Gyarados. At least five of them were surrounding Ash and his friends in a tight circle, with no chance of escape available. They all looked angry and were staring them down with fierce looks in their eyes. Especially the one that was in the middle. It was staring down at the humans before it with such anger and rage in it's eyes that Ash had to wonder if humans had done something before to anger it so badly.

Ash's Gyarados looked between all of the Gyarados in turn and growled loudly at them, warning them to stay away from his Trainer. The wild Gyarados ignored the trained ones warning and opened their mouths. Several blue spheres of energy began to take shape in their mouths and Ash knew what they were instantly. "Get us out of here Gyarados! Dive below the water and come up on the outside of the other Gyarados!" He commanded hurriedly.

Gyarados reared back and prepared to dive down into the water. "Everyone hold on!" Ash yelled back to his friends.

Giselle wrapped herself around him like a vine and Brock and Misty laid down on top of Gyarados and grabbed onto his scales tightly. Gyarados dove beneath the waves just as the other wild Gyarados unleashed their Dragon Rage attacks on the spot where the objects of their rage just were. The combined attacks exploded in the water and caused a giant explosion that kicked water into the air at least thirty feet high.

Gyarados resurfaced about twenty yards from where the other Gyarados still were at. Ash and his friends were soaked to the bone but ultimately glad that they had managed to avoid Dragon Rage.

Ash sputtered water out of his mouth and shouted to Gyarados while patting him on the side to show how important what he was about to say was. "Swim fast Gyarados! Get us out of here!"

Gyarados took off without a seconds hesitation and rocketed through the ocean at impressive speeds. Misty looked back behind them. "Guys their following us!" She shouted loudly over the sound of the rushing waves that Gyarados was making as he swam as fast as he could through the water.

Ash called back loudly. "Gyarados are very territorial! They won't stop pursuing anyone who invades into their territory!"

"Why are their so many Gyarados?!" Giselle shouted.

"Because we're in the Gyarados Straight!" Brock answered her. "This stretch of ocean contains more Gyarados than any other body of water in the Kanto region!"

Ash kept looking and saw that the Gyarados were still following relentlessly. He knew they weren't going to stop and he suddenly had a plan. Granted, a very insane and hairbrained idea but still... an idea nonetheless.

"I have a plan guys! Whatever happens don't fall off of Gyarados!"

He looked down at his Pokemon. "Gyarados, I need you to keep heading north until you reach land okay?! Take care of my friends!"

Gyarados looked sideways at Ash while he kept speeding through the water and just nodded his head. Ash smiled and looked up at Pikachu. "You coming buddy?" He asked his starter.

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu answered affirmatively, like it should have been obvious.

Ash smiled and made sure Pikachu's grip on his shoulder was tight before standing up carefully on Gyarados. "What are you doing Ash?!" Misty yelled at him.

Ash kept his eyes on the water as he answered. "Distracting those Gyarados so you guys can make it safely to land!"

Giselle reached up and grabbed Ash's hand. "No Ash! It's too dangerous! Those Gyarados could... Could..." She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

Ash lifted her chin up to his face. "I'll be fine Giselle, I promise. Besides, those Gyarados aren't going to be any match for the Pokemon I'm using to help me."

Giselle stared at him for a little bit with a wavering look in her eyes. She hugged him tightly and whispered to him. "Please be careful Ash..."

He hugged her back tightly and responded. "I promise Giselle."

He unlatched from her and turned to Brock and Misty. "I'll see you guys soon!" He said as he gave them a two fingered salute. They nodded at him and wished him luck before he looked down at Gyarados. "Stop for a minute Gyarados!"

His Pokemon came to an immediate halt that jerked them all around. Ash looked back at the fast approaching Gyarados. He drew a Pokeball from his belt and spoke to it. I need your help girl." He reared back and threw the Pokeball high into the air. "Dragonite I need you!" He shouted loudly.

The Pokeball opened up over the water and out came a blast of white energy that quickly formed into the colossal form of Dragonite. When she was fully formed she raised her head to the sky and bellowed loudly. "Dragooo!" The sound waves of her call actually shook the water around Ash and his friends, making large waves form that pushed Gyarados around in the water.

Her form actually blotted out the sun behind her as she looked down at her Trainer. Ash called up to her. "Dragonite I need your help! There are several Gyarados chasing us! Can you help me fight them off while my Gyarados takes Brock, Misty and Giselle to safety?!"

Dragonite looked furious when she heard about the Gyarados that were trying to harm her Trainer and nodded her head. "Dragoo!" She answered him.

Ash smiled and yelled back. "Thanks Dragonite! Lift me up then!"

Dragonite reached her large, clawed hand down and gently scooped Ash up. She placed him on the top of her head and then Ash yelled down to his friends. "Get going guys!"

Gyarados heard his Trainer and instantly took off again in a burst of speed. Ash looked towards the approaching wild Gyarados. "Get ready Dragonite!" He called to her.

She nodded her head and stepped herself out wide wide, her whole body spanning a great distance as she stood as a barrier between the approaching Gyarados and where Ash's friends were escaping.

The Gyarados finally made it to them and stared up at the massive Pokemon before them with anger in their eyes. They quickly formed several Twister attacks that took the shape of large funnels of water. They sped towards Dragonite and Ash quickly commanded her. "Dragonite use Dragon Tail and kick up a large wave to destroy those water Twisters!"

Dragonite swung her already glowing, large tail around and hit the water in front of them, kicking up a huge tidal wave that knocked the Twisters down like nothing and hit the Gyarados, knocking them under the water.

The Gyarados resurfaced a few moments later looking angrier than ever. They opened their mouths and began forming blue spheres of energy in their mouths. Ash smirked. "Dragonite... Take it."

His Pokemon nodded her head and stood tall and firm. The Gyarados released the attacks and as they rushed towards Dragonite they combined to make one large Dragon Rage. The attack hit Dragonite dead center and caused a large explosion that shrouded Ash and the Giant Pokemon from view.

When the smoke cleared it showed Dragonite still standing where she was previously, looking like the massive combined Dragon Rage never hit her. She reached down to her stomach, where the blast had hit, and scratched it absently. Ash grinned ear to ear. "Great job girl! Now... Show them YOUR Dragon Rage!"

Dragonite opened her mouth and began forming her own Dragon Rage in her mouth. The sphere looked exactly the same as the Gyarados's only much, much bigger. Her whole body began to glow as she reared her head back. In one fluid motion she thruster her head forward and released the massive pent up energy.

It rocketed towards the Gyarados that were all huddled together, the size of the beam of energy looking three times the size of the Gyarados's combined Dragon Rage. The attack struck the Gyarados and caused a massive explosion that made thirty yards of the ocean around where the attack hit to dip down low and then explode high into the sky, well over sixty feet high.

When the attack passed, the Gyarados resurfaced from below the water badly singed and battered looking. They were completely out cold.

Ash sweatdropped and patted Dragonite on the head as he continued to stare down at the furiously churning waves that were kicked up from the blast. "Great job girl but uhh... I think you overdid the power on that attack a wee bit too much..."

Dragonite scratched the back of her head and cooed embarrassingly. Ash patted her again and smiled. "Don't worry girl you still did great!" He praised.

Dragonite stood proud with her chest puffed out as Ash looked back down at the injured looking Gyarados that were now floating unconscious in the ocean below. He sighed. "Arceus... I can't leave them there like that. They need to get treated and I only know one way to go about it in this current situation..." He contemplated what he was about to do for a few seconds and then made his decision. "Man Professor Oak is going to be surprised..."

He reach back into his pack and counted the number of Gyarados there were. He counted five and so he pulled out five Pokeballs. "Hey Dragonite can you lower me closer to the Gyarados please?" He asked his Pokemon.

Dragonite lowered her head down towards the Gyarados and when she was close enough Ash stopped her. He enlarged the Pokeballs. "Here goes nothing..." He said to himself.

He threw the Pokeballs at the unconscious Pokemon and then watched as all five were sucked into the balls. After they were sucked inside the Pokeballs floated back to Ash and rested right in front of him on Dragonite's head. All five balls were together in a cluster as they started shaking back and forth. Ash and Pikachu watched with baited breath as the balls continued to shake and roll around.

Eventually they stopped shaking and 'dinged' all at once while sparking off little bursts of energy, signyfying that the captures were complete.

Ash released the breath he was holding and looked up at Pikachu. "Well buddy... That makes six Gyarados. We're in for a lot of work..."

Pikachu nodded his head. "Pika... Pikachu Pi." He agreed.

Ash watched as the five Pokeballs glowed white and then suddenly vanished into nothing a few moments later. "Here they come Professor Oak..." Ash said as he patted Dragonite's head. "Take flight Dragonite! Get high in the clouds and head north please. We have to meet up with the others."

Dragonite nodded and rose out of the water. She beat her powerful wings and took off into the air. She entered into the cover of the clouds high above and then headed north for Pokemon Land.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Oak Pokemon Laboratory: Pallet Town)

Professor Oak was sitting at his desk going over some research notes when he suddenly received an alert on his computer. _'ding ding ding!' "Trainer profile update for: Ash Ketchum."_

Professor Oak rolled his chair over to the computer and checked what the update was about. "Let's see what Ash has accomplished now!" Oak said to himself as he pulled up Ash's Trainer profile.

When he saw the number of Ash's Pokemon increase he became curious and looked to see what Pokemon the boy had captured. When he saw the spot under Ash's Gyarados that said 'Number of' he was shocked to see the number jump from one to six.

"What the?!" He said loudly.

A few seconds later the teleporter in the Lab activated and a Pokeball appeared. Professor Oak walked over and picked up the Pokeball. A few seconds later another one appeared. He picked that one up as well and then another and another until he was holding five Pokeballs in his arms. The Professor just sighed. "Ash's Pokemon are going to need a bigger pond... Or lake." He said to himself as he went to perform the routine medical check-ups he did for every new Pokemon he received.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash finally begin to see the familiar sight of land through a break in the clouds that Dragonite was flying through. He could see what looked to be large roller coasters of some kind further in land which lead him to believe that he had finally reached Pokemon Land.

He looked down near the shores of the beach and saw a small blue speck that Ash guessed was Gyarados floating in the water. "Head down towards the shore Dragonite but be careful not to be seen. This place is run by Team Rocket and I don't want them knowing about you yet if I can avoid it."

She nodded her head and then slowly descended down towards the beach. Brock, Misty and Giselle looked up towards the sky from where they were on the beach and when they saw the giant Dragonite coming towards them they instantly began calling out to Ash.

The huge Pokemon landed gracefully in the shallows of the water and then lowered her head down and allowed Ash to hop off of her. When his feet were on the ground Ash turned around and called up to Dragonite. "Thanks for your help girl! Take a nice rest." He returned the massive Pokemon to her Pokeball and had no more than turned around to face his friends when he was tackled and squeezed into a tight hug.

He looked down and saw Giselle hugging him tightly and he wondered how she appeared so fast. "Thank Arceus your safe Ash!"'she exclaimed happily.

He hugged her back. "I'm glad your safe as well Giselle." He replied back as he hugged her tightly.

He released her after a few moments and looked to his friends who had finally made it over to them. "Ash! We were worried man!" Brock said to his friend.

"Did you and Dragonite take care of those Gyarados?" Misty asked.

Ash kept a loose hold on Giselle's waist that both Brock and Misty noticed but didn't say anything. He answered them. "Sorry I worried you guys, Dragonite took care of it though. The Gyarados were pretty banged up after the fight so I captured them and let them transfer to Professor Oak so he could heal them up."

His friends seemed surprised. "You captured all of those Gyarados?!" Misty asked him in shock.

Ash nodded. "Yep. They needed to get healed up and I wasn't about to leave them just floating in the middle of the ocean unconscious."

"You always seem to get sucked into catching Pokemon Ash." Brock said amused as he shook his head. "Most Trainers have to search far and wide for Pokemon, but yours seem to just fall in your path."

Ash just shrugged. "I really don't question it too be honest. I suppose it's just Arceus willed or something maybe."

Brock nodded. "So what now? How do you plan on taking down Pokemon Land?" He asked curiously.

Ash looked out over the forest in front of them. "Well the first thing is to find the main control building of the park that controls everything, especially the giant mechanical Pokemon. If we can destroy the control building and the giant mechanical Pokemon then we will cripple Pokemon Land. I'm going to get some evidence of Team Rocket's smuggling operation here and then, if I get enough useful information, I may make an anonymous call to the police and get them over here to arrest the members of Team Rocket that I'm sure are here. I may even be able to get some more info on the Pokemon trafficking that Team Rocket is doing from the Game Corner in Celadon if I'm lucky."

"How are we going to get around unnoticed?" Giselle asked.

Ash pointed to the tree line. "We'll stick to the cover of the trees for the most part and then once we get to the control building we'll break away from the trees and sneak in."

His friends nodded their heads in agreement. "We're with you Ash!" Misty said resolutely.

"We got your back man." Brock said with a smile.

Ash looked at Giselle and she have him a 'really?' Look with a raised eyebrow. "You know I'm with you Ash." She said with a small smile.

"Pika Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu said from Ash's shoulder.

Ash smiled at his friends and then looked out at Gyarados who was still floating in the shallows. "Great job buddy! Thanks for getting everyone here safely."

Gyarados nodded at his Trainer's praise before Ash returned him to his Pokeball. He then turned back to his friends. "Let's go guys."

The group of friends headed into the forest, intent on ending Team Rocket's undercover Pokemon smuggling operation.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

They had walked for sometime now in the cover of the forest. They stayed right at the edge of the tree line with Ash constantly scanning the environment for cameras or any other kind of security.

They saw the entire park as they went on and saw many people all enjoying the many different attractions. They also saw of the many different attractions the park offered. Carnival games, roller coasters, shopping areas, food stands, ferry rides across the river that ran throughout all of Pokemon Land. It was hard to believe at first glance that any place so... Fun and exciting could be run by such a terrible organization like Team Rocket.

Ash knew better though and he was intent on ending this part of their organization today. They wanted to mess with innocent people and Pokemon? Ash would do whatever it took to end them. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about getting involved with ending Team Rocket the way he was. Maybe it had something to do with his destiny? He didn't know the answer to that but he did know one thing: If someone was mistreating innocent people and Pokemon then he would get involved and he WOULD stop it. His age be damned.

They suddenly saw a large shadow fall over them and when they looked up they saw a gigantic Blastoise walk past them just fifty yards or so from where they were. "Wow that thing is gigantic!" Misty exclaimed.

"No kidding." Brock said as he looked up at it as well. "How do those things even walk?"

"Their not walking." Ash answered the question that was on everyone's mind. "If you look closely then you'll see that their all on tracks. Just really cleverly concealed."

They looked at where Ash was pointing and saw that he was right. They could just barely see the tracks that the mechanical Pokemon were on, sticking up out of the ground ever so slightly.

They heard a loud and mechanized sounding shrill cry and looked up. They saw a giant Moltres flying by over their heads. "Okay then Ash." Misty asked him. "How is THAT flying?! I'm pretty sure there aren't any tracks in the sky!"

Ash just shrugged. "Those flying Pokemon are a lot more advanced than the other mechanical Pokemon on the ground are. They probably have guidance chips implanted in them that are controled remotely and allow them to fly like they are. Either way, they are still going to be controled the same way that all of the other mechanical Pokemon are. You bring down the main controls and they'll come down to. All of them." He said confidently.

Misty then looked at Giselle. "How many kinds of giant mechanical Pokemon are there in the park Giselle? You've been here before so don't you know?" She asked.

Giselle nodded. "Let's see... There's the Blastoise and Moltres we just saw. Then there is a Venasaur, Charizard, Kabutops, Rhydon, Zapdos and even a Pikachu."

Pikachu perked up at hearing that he had a giant mechanical counterpart. "Pika Pika?"

Giselle scratched Pikachu behind the ears. "That's right cutie! You have a giant robotic cousin!" She cooed to him with a smile.

Pikachu callee out happily and relaxed under Giselle's 'magic' fingers. He never liked being coddled. Mosty because Ash never coddled him or any of the other Pokemon. Ash was extremely kind and caring to them and made all them feel like his friends and part of his family, but he drew the line at coddling. Ash believed that it would interfere with training and the militant and battle ready attitude he was always trying to instill into them.

So needless to say, Pikachu didn't like being coddled. However, he made an exception for both Giselle and Misty since he liked them so much. Even though he did like Giselle a hair more than Misty. He allowed them to coddle him and that was it. Ash didn't say anything since he didn't want to deal with Misty's fierce temper and he never said anything to Giselle since... Well since he had a major soft spot when it came to her.

Pikachu knew how much his Trainer liked the female and he was very glad that they had... Did whatever they did with their mouths back on the ship that seemed to make both of them very happy. Even though, to Pikachu it was odd. Why would you suck on each others mouths when you could rub cheeks together and share electricity? He just shook his head. Human courtship rituals were strange and could apparently last a VERY long time before the pair actually got together. He was just glad that it happened quickly for Ash and Giselle.

"That's a lot of robotic Pokemon." Brock said, bringing everyone back to the conversation at hand.

"And their all going to be destroyed just the same way." Ash said with a tone in his voice that showed just how serious, sure and confident he was feeling.

They all fell silent after that and kept walking through the forest, hoping they would soon find the main control building.

...

After some time they came to a large fence that had barbed wire on the top. It was cleverly positioned right in the very back of the park, hidden away by all of the coasters, tents and everything else that was meant to draw the most attention. If anyone did see the big fence that was at the very back of everything they would most likely think that it was for employees only or maybe for maintenance.

Ash knew better. He had a very good idea of what really lay beyond the fence and he wasn't going to let a small barrier get in his way.

He knelt down and inspected the fence. After sizing it up he stood back up and looked at Pikachu. "Use Iron Tail on a small section of the fence Pikachu!" He commanded his Pokemon.

Pikachu nodded and jumped off of Ash's shoulder. His tail turned to iron and then he swung it around as hard as he could. His tail made contact with the fence and a good portion of it was broke in, revealing a decent sized hole they could get through.

"Come on guys." Ash said as he went throught the hole in the fence.

His friends followed and they started heading deeper into the restricted area of the park. They walked for awhile until they started getting out of the thick forest they had been walking through and eventually saw a large building in the center of a large open area. There was another fence around the building and an electrical station near the side of the large building.

The building itself looked very much like a large maintenance facility where everything that ran the park would reside. Ash grinned to himself. They had found the main control building!

He motioned for his friends to follow him as he ran out of the cover of the forest and to a nearby tree that was rigt beside the next fence. He walked up and inspected the fence. It was much stronger looking than the last fence so he knew that the same method for last time wouldn't work.

He had an idea and released Charmander and Squirtle. Ash commanded Charmander to use Flamethrower on the fence to heat the metal and then commanded Squirtle to use Water Pulse and cool the metal down.

When they were done Ash looked at Pikachu. "Okay buddy, the metal should hopefully be weaker now. Try Iron Tail!"

Pikachu nodded and turned his tail into solid iron again before swinging it at the metal. Ash's theory was correct and the fence broke away and revealed another hole, larger than the last one, for Ash and his friends to get through.

After returning Charmander and Squirtle Ash motioned to his friends to remain silent and then follow him. After crawling through the fence Ash instantly made a dash for another tree inside the compound and ducked behind it, his friends mirroring him.

He motioned for them to look where he was pointing and when they did they saw what he was pointing at. There were several security cameras set up on the walls of the building.

Ash pulled out another Pokeball and released Bulbasaur. Ash spoke quietly to his Pokemon. "Bulbasaur I need you to do something okay? See those camera's on the walls of that buildings?"

Bulbasaur peeked around the side of the tree and saw the camera's. He looked back at Ash and nodded. "Bulba!"

Ash nodded. "Good. I need you to use Razor Leaf and knock those camera's off the wall alright? Can you do it?"

Bulbasaur nodded again. "Bulbasaur!"

He got into position and Ash stopped him. When Bulbasaur looked at Ash confused the boy just pointed at Pikachu. "Pikachu use Iron Tail and angle it towards the camera's. Keep your tail in Bulbasaur's line of sight so he can see. Your going to use the clear reflection of your tail when it's in iron form to show the image of the camera's to Bulbasaur so he doesn't have to step out from behind this tree."

He looked at Bulbasaur. "Just focus your Razor Leaves on the images of the camera's that you'll see in Pikachu's tail. You'll do fine, just relax."

Bulbasaur nodded and then Pikachu got into position. He focused the images of the camera's in his tail and then Bulbasaur got ready. He focused on the camera's and then breathed out slowly before releasing a small salvo of leaves at the security camera's.

Ash watched with anticipation and grinned widely when he saw every single one of the leaves strike the camera's, slicing them off of the walls neatly. Ash reached down and patted Bulbasaur on the head. "I knew you could do it buddy!" He praised his Pokemon.

Bulbasaur smiled widely. "Bulba!" He said happily.

Ash smiled at his Pokemon and then returned Bulbasaur. He looked at Pikachu. "Great job to you as well buddy!"

He looked back at his friends. "Come on guys let's slip inside." He whispered to them.

They nodded their heads in reply and followed Ash as he dashed towards the building and then crouched down by the side of the wall. Brock, Misty and Giselle joined him and crouched down beside of him.

He spoke to his friends quietly. "I'm willing to bet that there's a ventilation shaft up on the roof of this building. I'm going to have Bulbasaur use Vine Whip and latch onto the roof. Once he's up he'll drop his vines down to us and we'll use them to scale the wall up to the roof."

"Right." They answered together.

Ash called back out Bulbasaur and explained to him what to do. After Bulbasaur had reached the top of the roof he pulled up Ash and his friends one by one. When they were all on the roof Ash looked around and saw a large vent, confirming his theory to be true. He instructed Bulbasaur to yank the grate off with Vine Whip and after it was gone he thanked Bulbasaur before returning him and then looking at his friends.

"Are you guys sure your ready for this?" He asked them.

"Of course we're sure Ash!" Giselle said like it was obvious. "We've already came this far, let's finish this!"

Brock and Misty offered their own words of certainty and Ash smiled. "Alright then, let's go. Follow me."

He went over to the large vent and stepped inside of it. He slowly inched his whole body inside and then disappeared into the darkness, Pikachu riding on his back. Brock, Misty and Giselle followed soon after and disappeared into the dark ventilation network after Ash.

...

After crawling through the vents for some time and passing many room and offices below them, all of which were filled with Rocket Grunts, they finally wondered above an empty storage closet.

Ash quietly removed the vent covering and dropped down into the closet, followed by Brock. He grabbed Misty's hand and helped her down and when it was Giselle's turn he reached up and had her drop into his arms. He grabbed onto her hips and pulled her close to him as she fell. After lowering her feet to the floor he looked into her eyes for a moment and smiled at her softly before turning away from her and walking over to the door of the supply closet.

He cracked the door open and looked out into the hallway on the other side of the door. It went in two different directions he observed and after he was done taking in his surroundings he shut the door and turned back to his friends. "Alright guys, there's two different ways to go. Giselle and I will go one way and you two go the other way okay?"

"What are we looking for?" Brock asked.

"Your looking for any control rooms or any other kind of room that may look important. Specifically, if you see any rooms that have a lot of controls and seems like it may control something important in the park. Also, any information you can find on Team Rocket that seems like it's important. Like info on their Pokemon smuggling rings, team rosters, possible future oparations and schemes, biggest sources of profits and anything else that may seem crucial to taking down Team Rocket."

Brock and Misty nodded in understanding. "Good! Let's head out, we'll meet back here in one hour." Ash said as they excited the closet.

Brock and Misty followed the left hallway and Ash and Giselle followed the right. They walked in silence for some time, being as quite as possible the whole time. They passed several offices and rooms on the way that they would stop by and search if it was clear of Rockets.

So far they had found nothing of interest but had run onto many members of Team Rocket. They were literally swarming all throughout the building and on more than one occasion they nearly found Ash and Giselle. Only clever concealment and quick thinking saved them.

They finally came across a door at the end of the hallway that was guarded closely by two Rockets. Ash ducked inside of a room and pulled Giselle in with him. "That door probably leads to exactly what we're looking for." Ash said quietly.

"But how are we going to get past those two Rockets?" Giselle asked.

Ash smirked. "Leave that to me honey." He told her with a wink.

She blushed at his affectionate name for her but quickly concealed it and punched him in the arm. "Well then get going Mr. Casanova!" She urged him.

Ash chuckled and then stepped up to the door and looked up. Above the door was a window that was at level with some pipes on the ceiling out in the hallway. The pipes lead over to the door that the Grunts were standing guard in front of and went behind them.

Ash rubbed his hands together and backed up a bit. He took off running and jumped up towards the door frame. He grabbed ahold of it and lifted himself up towards the window. He pushed it open and then crawled through it. When he was on the other side of the door he silently jumped for the pipes overhead and grabbed ahold. He swung himself up on top of the pipes and then walked across them silently.

Giselle watched in utter amazement as Ash scaled the pipes as nimblly as a Mankey and as deftly as a Persian. He was now standing directly over the Rockets and they had no idea. He dropped down behind them as silent as death and then crept up behind them. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around the first Grunts neck. He locked him up in a grip like a Seviper and began choking him.

As the man started to struggle his partner turned around. When he saw what was happening he made to lunge at Ash, but the boy jumped up, using the Grunt he was holding onto for leverage and wrapped his legs around the other Grunts neck.

He whipped his body around in a twisting motion and all three of them tumbled to the ground. Ash was on his back with the Grunt he had his arms wrapped around laying on top of him. The Grunt he had his legs wrapped around was writhing around under Ash's legs

After a few intense moments of struggling, both Grunts passed out unconscious from lack of oxygen. Ash slowly released his hold on them and then stood up. He brushed his track suit off and motioned to Giselle, who was still watching from the door of the other room with wide eyes.

She walked over to him and nervously stepped over the unconscious Rockets. "Are you okay Ash?! I was really scared when that other Rocket came at you!" She said with worry still clearly written on her face and also a little bit of anger.

He looked at her in confusion for a few seconds but then smiled softly when he realized that she had just been worried for him and that was what was making her act this way. "Hey I'm totally fine okay. Nothing's wrong, not even a scratch!" He lifted her chin up to meet her eyes with his. "But thanks for being concerned about me, it really means a lot to me." He said gently to her.

Giselle scoffed. "Well how else do you expect me to act?! I'm your girlfr-" She trailed off suddenly, looking embarrassed by what she was about to say.

Ash blushed himself a little and just brought his lips down on her's for a sweet and gentle kiss. He didn't have to ask her or try to get her to tell him about what she was about to say a moment ago. They both knew what she was going to say and they were both completely alright with it.

He separated from her and then turned back to the door. "Shall we?" He asked with a mock bow.

Giselle rolled her eyes. "Alright funny guy let's just go already!"

Ash chuckled and then opened the door. When they stepped inside of the room they were greeted by the sight of what they had been looking for the whole time.

The room was not very large and was mostly black in color and atmosphere. Much like the rest of the building was. There was a large control panel in the front of the room that was decked out everywhere in controls of every kind. Suspended above the controls were several monitors that showed images of every inch of the park.

In one corner of the room was a table that had several pieces of paper scattered all over it. There were also filing cabinets against the walls and bookshelves that Ash felt certain held records of not just everything to do with Pokemon Land but most likely, the manifests and records of Team Rocket's smuggling operation at the park.

Ash just gaped like a fish at the possible diamond mine of valuable information he had just stumbled upon concerning Team Rocket's heinous crimes. He quickly turned around and one by one, grabbed both Grunts he had incapacited and brought them in the room with he and Giselle.

After he was done dragging them in he shut and locked the door and then threw the Grunts in the corner. He left Pikachu to watch them with strict orders that if they were to awaken then he was to shock them back into unconsciousness. A command that Pikachu was only TOO happy to comply with.

Ash turned to Giselle. "I'm going to go and see how I can use the parks main controls to our benefit here. You go and sift through the papers, filing cabinets and record books and then tell me anything you find that seems important okay?" He asked her.

She nodded her head. "You got it Ash!"

They both then set to work, trying to find out anything else they could on how to not just take down Pokemon Land but eventually, the whole of Team Rocket themselves. After sometime of messing around with the controls, Ash finally had a plan formulated that would help cripple the corrupt amusement park.

He went over to Giselle just as she was coming over to meet him. "Guess what I found?!" They both said together.

Ash laughed. "You go first."

Giselle nodded and began. Good news and bad news! Bad news is: We don't have nearly enough info to bring down Team Rocket with just the papers and files that are here. Mostly everything is just files on Pokemon Land and the smuggling operation that Team Rocket runs out of the park. We have more than enough evidence for Officer Jenny and the police to bring down this place permanently and even put away all of the many Rockets that work here at Pokemon Land. However, Team Rocket's boss and accountants are very smart. They managed to cover their tracks really well so that in the unlikely event that this park was exposed, shut down and every Grunt here was arrested, the higher ups and rest of the team would be protected."

Ash processed what she told him and then motioned for her to continue. "Go on."

She took a breath and then continued. "The good news is this: If we shut down Pokemon Land it will really hurt Team Rocket's wallet and stop about half of their smuggling operation. Even though Team Rocket has wide influence all over the whole Kanto region, their biggest set-ups are here and at Celadon City. That brings me to my next point: We may not have enough info and evidence to bring Team Rocket down with what we have here at Pokemon Land, but I know where we can find it!" She said excitedly.

"Where?!" Ash asked, just as excited.

She smiled widely at him. "Celadon City! If we can infiltrate and take down their base of operations and Game Corner, which is what they use to smuggle a large percentage of Pokemon with, then we can literally cripple and destroy Team Rocket with all of the data, files and recorded accounts of all the horrible acts they have ever committed that's down in that base. From what I've read here in this room so far about the Celadon HQ, you can get information on anything and everything their doing and planning to do! Including top secret projects! The police could BURY Team Rocket with everything they keep hidden at their HQ!"

Ash took a thoughtful pose and then said after a few moments. "Well then we'll just have to... 'pay' a visit to their HQ won't we?" He said misheviously.

Giselle sighed. "I knew you'd say that..."

Ash have her a sly grin. "Ohh come on sweetheart you know you love my reckless attitude." He did a terrible eyebrow wiggle and Giselle laughed. "Your impossible!"

Ash shrugged but leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Maybe, or maybe I just don't like to get bored!"

He took her hand. "Now come over here, I want to show you the plan I cooked up!"

Giselle smiled and shook her head but followed him over to the control panel. "Okay, here's what I have." Ash began. "All of these controls command everything here in the park, as you can see by the monitors above us." He said, pointing to the monitors overhead. "If you overide these controls then you can get anything you want in the park under your control. Even the giant mechanical Pokemon."

Giselle looked suspicious. "What are you getting at Ash?"

He grinned like a cheshire Delcatty. "I plan on overriding the mechanical Pokemon's controls and then have them destroy Pokemon Land."

Giselle looked horrified. "You can't do that Ash! There are people here, families! With children! They'll be killed!"

Ash just placed his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down Giselle. I know that there are families here and I would never put innocent people's lives in danger."

She crossed her arms. "Then what are you going to do then?"

He brought his hands up and placed them behind his head, looking smug. "I'm going to use the intercom system from in here and tell everyone that the giant Pokemon are out of control and that they need to leave at once."

Giselle's eyes softened. "I'm sorry Ash, I know you wouldn't hurt innocent people intentionally."

Ash just waved her apology off. "Hey I understand, believe me! I'm glad that you care about people's safety. I would hate it if my girlfriend had no sense of conscious whatsoever."

Giselle nodded her head. "I know I just... G-GIRLFRIEND?!" She shouted with wide eyes and her mouth agape.

Ash just winked at her and gently closed her mouth. "Might not wanna stand there with your mouth open wide like that honey. You might catch a Flygon." He said jokingly.

She closed her mouth the rest of the way and blushed furiously. "A-anyway! So what are you going to do after the giant mechanical Pokemon destroy the park? Aren't you going to destory them as well?" She asked curiously.

Ash smiled so wide that Giselle thought his mouth would literally rip off. "I'm going to leave that... To Dragonite."

She looked utterly perplexed. "Dragonite?! How?!"

Ash turned back to the monitor and typed in a few keys on the keyboard. All of the smaller images on the monitors disappeared and was replaced with one big image of a large warehouse looking hangar that had something giant right in the middle of the room with a large covering thrown over it. There were several large lifts around the mysterious object and a few computers as well.

"What is that?" Giselle asked him.

"It's another giant Pokemon their working on I'm pretty certain. This makes the alibi for Dragonite showing up and destroying the other giant Pokemon perfect. Everyone will think that she's the new Pokemon they were making in the hangar below this building, became activated by the malfunctioning controls and went haywire along with the rest of the mechanical Pokemon. The way that thing is being kept secret, I doubt any of the Grunts actually know what KIND of Pokemon that the new giant one is supposed to be so know one will suspect Dragonite hopefully.

"When are you going to do it?" Giselle asked him.

Ash turned away from the monitor and walked towards the door. "First thing we need to do is find Brock and Misty so we can all be together when the destruction of the park starts. I don't want us all getting separated when that happens, especially since we're going to have to get out of here as soon as it's over. Since we don't have any good information to give the police that could take Team Rocket down all at once I won't get them over here like I originally planned. I'll do that once we infiltrate their main headquarters and get everything we can against them. Even if the police arrested all of the Grunts here at Pokemon Land now, since there is still a whole organization left they would just break them out of prison in no time.

Giselle nodded her head. "Well then, Misty and Brock are probably waiting for us back where we came in by now, we can probably find them there."

Ash smiled at her. "Great thinking! Let's go." He looked over at Pikachu who was still keeping watch over the unconscious Grunts. "Come on Pikachu let's go! I'll leave Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur to keep watch over those guys."

Pikachu ran over and jumped on Ash's shoulder. He released his three Pokemon and ordered them to keep watch over the Grunts. Bulbasaur bound them up with his vines and then he and the other two kept their eyes glued on the criminals.

Ash smiled at his Pokemon's discipline and willingness to please him before thanking them and running out the door with Giselle, intent on finding Misty and Brock so they could initiate the plan.

...

They found Brock and Misty waiting for them in the closet they had come from just like Giselle speculated they would. After Ash explained what was going on and the plan he had for taking down Pokemon Land, they headed back to the control room.

Upon entering they found Ash's Pokemon exactly how they left them and the Grunts still unconscious. Ash turned around and faced Brock and Misty. "Did you guys find anything worthwhile?" He asked.

Brock shook his head. "Not a thing. We came across a bunch of Rockets and nearly were seen a few times but we managed to stay undetected." He answered.

"Yeah it's a good thing that you guys found all of this or otherwise this would have all been a bust." Misty said.

Ash walked over to the control panel and began messing around with the controls. "It's time to start guys. I'm going to override the control system and then put the plan into action."

Misty tilted her head to one side. "How do you even know how to do this stuff Ash? Those controls and that computer system looks pretty advanced."

Ash kept furiously typing away on the computer and working with the many different controls as he answered her without looking up from what he was doing. "The five years I spent training with Professor Oak that's how. He taught me a lot about a lot of things. Computers, programming and tech was one of them." He answered absently.

"Wow..." Giselle said dreamily as she looked at him.

Sometime later Ash stopped what he was doing. "Alright guys I'm about to re-boot the system. All of the power in the whole park is going to go down for a few seconds while everything is re-programming itself. This is where Team Rocket is going to find out that something is going on."

"Shouldn't we be worried about that?" Giselle asked confused.

Ash shook his. "They won't be able to stop it. By the time they figure out what's happening it'll be too late. I've ready implanted the commands to destroy the park into the mechanical Pokemon's mainframes. Once the main system comes back online their new commands will download to their personal mainframes a few minutes later. This will give me time to announce what's happening so all of the visitors can get out of the park and flee to safety. "

"But I thought that the mechanical Pokemon couldn't walk on their own?" Misty asked confused.

Ash put the finishing touches on the new programming and then turned back to Misty. "Well... From what I've found here in the system, they do have the ability for free range movement and they also have attacks commands based on each Pokemon their modeled after. No doubt something that Team Rocket built into them just in case a smuggling job went bad or the police came snooping around for any reason." Ash said bitterly. "They created machines that would be harmless until they decided otherwise. Eh! Won't they be surprised when their own money makers turn against them?" He said with a dark chuckle.

He then turned back to the computer. "Beginning re-boot... Now!"

Ash pressed the 'enter' key on the computer and instantly the entire room went black as the power shut down. For several minutes they all waited in silence and darkness until the lights suddenly flashed back on. The computers and control panel came back online and Ash ran over to them. When the intercom system came back online, Ash shifted the view of the monitors to the main view of the park where he could see all of the people in the park. He spoke loudly and clearly into the speaker that was in front of the intercom.

"Attention all Pokemon Land staff and visitors! This is a warning to evacuate! The control systems that control the park have have went haywire. We believe a virus has affected it. We have lost all control over the parks mechanized attractions! This includes the giant Poke'Bots that roam the park! They are malfunctioning and starting to attack the park itself! Evacuate now! I repeat! EVACUATE NOW!"

When he was done Ash stepped back and stared in satisfaction as the entire park went into a mass panic. Every single monitor was filled the with the sights of fleeing patrons and staff as they ran for the main gates of the park.

Just as the last few people had finally made it through the gates, the giant mechs came back to life. With the new commands implanted into their hard drives the robo Pokemon broke free of the tracks that confined them and began rampaging through the park.

Ash got an excited look on his face and raised his hands in front of him in anticipation. "And here... We... Go!" At that very moment, the destruction began.

Every single structure the giant mecha Pokemon came across was either smashed under their massive weight or blasted away with one of the attacks that they had built into them. Ash watched with a smug look on his face as every monitor he was staring at showed the sight of Pokemon Land being destroyed by the very machines that made it so successful in the first place.

The mechanical versions of the Legendary Birds Zapdos and Moltres flew around the park, burning and electrocuting everything that was in their path. Venasuar, Charizard and Blastoise were currently smashing their way through the heart of Pokemon Land, destroying everything from small shops to large roller coasters along with the other giant mecha Pokemon Pikachu, Kabutops and Rhydon.

Ash grinned even wider when he saw several Rocket Grunts run out into the park from the very building they were in now, trying in vain to stop the destruction that was taking place.

Ash finally turned away from the monitors and turned to his friends and his Pokemon. He thanked Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur for keeping watch over the Grunts and then returned them. He then addressed Brock. "Help me grab these two Grunts Brock." He asked his friend.

Brock nodded and then went over to the unconscious Rockets with Ash. "Let's take them outside for phase two of the plan. The building is probably empty of Grunts now so we should be able to walk out unseen through the front door. Most of Pokemon Land is probably destroyed by now and that means it's time for Dragonite's part. Even though I don't like them, I still don't want these Grunts in this building when Dragonite destroys it.

He paused for a second and looked back at the monitors that were still showing the utter chaos happening in the park at that very moment. "If I want Pokemon Land totally destroyed then Dragonite has to destroy this place as well so that unfinished mecha the've been working on downstairs never get's completed. If everything here is destroyed then Team Rocket won't decide to rebuild, which will really hurt their organization."

"That make sense Ash." Brock said as he reached down and grabbed one of the Grunts by the arms while Ash grabbed the other. They dragged them out the door and then began walking through the hallway, heading for the door.

After they made it outside they dumped the Grunts on the ground a few yards away from the building and took off running out through the hole in the fence that they had came through earlier. Once they had made it back into the forest, out of the way of the chaos that was ensuing, Ash pulled a Pokeball from his belt. "Dragonite I need your assistance!" He shouted.

The TRUE Giant Pokemon appeared in a burst of light and towered over the trees as she called out loudly. "DRAGOOOO!"

Ash looked around and wasn't surprised to see that none of the Grunts had noticed Dragonite come from her Pokeball. They were all much to preoccupied with the mechanical Pokemon that were wreaking havoc everywhere.

Ash called up to his Pokemon. "Dragonite! Do you see all of those giant Pokemon that's destroying everything right now?!" He shouted.

Dragonite looked out over the landscape and saw the mecha Pokemon scattered around, destroying everything they saw. She also saw the many Rocket Grunts running around on the ground, trying to stop them. Her eyes narrowed when she saw them and a low growl erupted from her throat.

Ash waved his hands up at Dragonite to get her attention. When she looked down at him he shouted. "I know your upset at seeing Team Rocket Dragonite but I need you to ignore them for now okay?! I need you to destroy those Pokemon you see!"

When he saw the confused look on Dragonite's face he explained. "Their not real Pokemon! Their machines that Team Rocket built! Can you destroy them for us and then destroy that building there when you done?!" He asked, pointing from the mecha Pokemon to the main control building.

Dragonite nodded her head eagerly when she heard that what she would be destroying was property of Team Rocket. Ash grinned. "Then Dragonite... Smash!"

Dragonite smiled viciously. Gone was the kind and sweet gentle giant. Now a Pokemon of unimaginable power and size that was absolutely pissed at Team Rocket, stood in her place.

She beat her wings powerfully and then took to the air. She bolted toward the action at much faster speed than a Pokemon of her size should be able. Ash's training for her really was working wonders.

She met with her first victim almost immediately, the mecha Blastoise. She rushed into it, knocking the machine down to the ground. With a powerful jerk of her arms she ripped the head off of the mech and then turned and faced the Charizard mech.

Seeing her as a target and enemie, the mech opened it's mouth and fired a stream of hot flames at Dragonite. Still holding the head of the Blastoise mech, she threw it as hard as she could and it soared straight through the flames. Dragonite jumped in the air and avoided the false Flamethrower headed for her.

The head of the robo Blastoise struck the Charizard in the face and knocked the covering off of it's face, exposing machine parts beneath the surface. Dragonite suddenly appeared from up in the sky and came crashing down on top of Charizard. She grabbed it's wings and pulled hard, ripping them off. She then raised both fists high into the air and brought them down on the machines back with a loud bellow of "DRAGOO!"

After her fists had impacted with the machines back and destroyed it she turned around and was blasted by a Solarbeam. She skidded back in the ground and dug herself into the earth. She looked up at the source of the attack, saw the mecha Venusaur in front of her and growled loudly.

She reached down and grabbed a large steel beam that was laying on the ground where the Ferris Wheel once was. She took off running at Venasaur. It fired off several Razor Leaves at her but she started twirling the steel beam in a circle. The leaves hit the spinning beam and were all stopped in their tracks. As Dragonite drew closer, mecha Venusaur tried to hit her with Vine Whip. She stopped running and dropped her beam to the ground. When the vines reach her she grabbed ahold of them both, one in each hand and held them in place. She fell to her back and pulled back on the vines hard. Venasaur flew forward towards Dragonite and right as it passed over top of her she threw her legs up into it. She then flipped them around in midair and landed on it's back. She grabbed the loose vines now hanging by Venasaur'a side and wrapped them around it's neck. She stood up and tightened her grip on them.

She began spinning around in a circle and lifted Venasaur off the ground. She continued spinning the mech Pokemon around and when she saw robo Moltres flying towards her from high in the sky, she finally released Venasaur and sent it hurdling towards Moltres. The false Fire and Grass-Type machines collided together and made an explosion in the air. The now mangled and destroyed machines came plummeting out of the air in a flaming ball of metal. They were right over top of the mecha Rhydon and crashed down on top of it, driving the other machine into the ground and causing another explosion that rocked the earth. When the smoke cleared, all three mecha Pokemon were destroyed.

Dragonite reached down and grabbed the steel beam again. She turned her head and saw the mecha Pikachu and Kabutops looking at her. One in front of the other. She tilted her head and gave them a hard glare. Being machines, they just stared back and then prepared to attack her. She tossed the steel beam in the air and then caught it in her hand. She twirled it quickly before stepping forward slightly and throwing the beam hard. It sailed like a javelin and hit Kabutops directly in the abdomen. It impaled the machine and then came out the other side and impaled the mecha Pikachu, also coming out the other side.

While both machines stumbled around Dragonite jumped and flew in the air towards them. She landed right on top of the beam that was connecting both machines together and pressed down hard, splitting them down the middle like they were butter. She grabbed ahold of the beam and yanked it from them in one fluid motion. As they fell to the ground she dropped the beam and grabbed ahold of them before they could hit the ground.

She looked up into the sky and saw the final mecha, Zapdos, flying towards her. She crouched down and glared up at the flying machine. Keeping a tight hold on both mecha's in her hands, she jumped high into the air and chucked them at Zapdos. The machine swerved right and left, avoiding the large projectiles, and kept coming towards Dragonite.

She spun around in midair and brought her tail around in a powerful Dragon Tail. Right as Zapdos reached her she hit it hard in the face with Dragon Tail, knocking it's head off and sending the machine rocketing towards the main control building. It hit with an earth shattering 'BOOM!' And caused a massive explosion.

When the smoke cleared sometime later it revealed both Zapdos and the building to be utterly destroyed. Dragonite turned around and took in all of the destroyed mech Pokemon with satisfaction before looking down at all of the Rocket Grunts that were staring up at here in fear.

She released a loud bellow. "DRAGOOO!"

Dragonite stomped her foot on the ground hard and caused a tremor that knocked several of the Grunts off their feet. The Rockets all turned around and took off running in terror, out of the ruined and utterly destroyed amusement park and away from the furious Dragonite that looked like she could kill them all any second if they stuck around in any longer.

After they had disappeared into the forest, away from the annihilated park, Dragonite smirked to herself. She would not have actually hurt those pathetic excuses for humans since Ash had told her to leave them alone but still... It felt good to scare them. They deserved it in her opinion.

She lumbered back over to where Ash and his friends were. They were now standing out in the open area where the main control is... Or was. It was now just rubble and Ash was sitting on one of the large pieces of concrete that had been scattered across the field. He had a wide grin on his face and when Dragonite came into the clearing Ash called up to her. "That was an amazing job Dragonite! Those mechs didn't know what em!"

Dragonite smiled happily at her Trainer's praise and cooed out happily. "Dragoo!"

Giselle walked up and put her hand on Dragonite's foot. "Ash was right Dragonite! Watching you fight those mechs was amazing to watch!" She said sweetly to the Dragon Pokemon.

When Dragonite saw who was touching and talking to her she smiled brightly. "Droo Droo Dragoo!" She cooed to the girl.

Brock and Misty just stayed back and smiled at the scene. They were also very impressed but they knew that Dragonite preferred Giselle over either of them, so they just kept their distance. They knew that she would never hurt them, Ash had trained her too well for that, but they still didn't want to get too close to her.

"Pikachu! Pika Pika Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu called up to Dragonite, congratulating her.

After he finished praising his Pokemon, Ash returned Dragonite and then turned to his friends. "Well guys... That's it. I really wanted to say thank you for helping me through this and standing by me... It really means a lot." He said sincerely.

Brock smiled and waved off his friends words. "Ash we're your friends. That means we'll follow you down through whatever you do."

"No matter how crazy and dangerous it may be!" Misty teased him with a smile.

Giselle came up to Ash and grabbed his hand gently and held it close to her. "I'll stand by you no matter how many evil organizations you make enemies with." She said looking into his eyes with a smile.

Ash laughed out loud and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well that's good Giselle because after today I think Team Rocket's gonna be after my head. If not now then definitely after I take down their base in Celadon and they find out that I really didn't die when the St. Anne wen down. " He said this with complete seriousness and had a look of worry on his face. "I don't want you guys getting hurt..."

Giselle placed her hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. "Everybody has to make sacrifices and put themselves in danger for the greater good Ash. If this is what it takes to bring Team Rocket down then we'll stand by you through whatever happens. I promise I will. Besides..." Giselle's face turned into one of excitement and playfulness. "I'm dying to see what the Kanto region says when a group of 'kids' brings down a powerful criminal organization like Team Rocket!"

Ash laughed again. "Well I'm glad all of this excites you!" He said with a smile.

Giselle smiled warmly back at him and Ash found himself lost in her eyes again. They looked at each other and both were wishing they could show their affection for one another so badly. But they knew they couldn't with Brock and Misty standing right there.

Brock suddenly coughed and the two stopped staring at one another. They looked away with light blushes on their faces and then Misty asked something that shocked both of them. "Ash, Giselle... What's really going on between you two?" She asked hesitantly but firmly.

Brock chimed in. "Yeah guys we're not stupid. We know that something is going on between you two and it's easy to tell that you have strong feelings for each other."

Ash and Giselle blushed madly and Giselle began stuttering. "W-what d-do y-you m-mean?!" She squeaked.

Misty sighed agitatedly. "Ohh come on Giselle! Anyone with eyes and a brain can see you that you like Ash! And the same goes for you Ash!" She said pointing at him.

Brock interjected more calmly. "Look guys it's just... We're your friends and if something is going on between you two then we want you to feel comfortable telling us about it. We don't want you feeling like you have to hide wanting to be together or even being together now if you already are."

Ash and Giselle looked at each other and then back at Brock and Misty. He sighed. "Your right guys and I'm sorry. The truth is... Giselle and I kissed back on the Anne for the first time and ever since we..." He looked at Giselle and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. He looked at her with pure adoration on his face and she returned his look with just as much affection. "We've wanted to be together but... We were worried about how you guys would react to it."

Brock nodded and then spoke. "I can understand that Ash. You were worried that we wouldn't accept it." He walked up and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. "If you and Giselle want to be together Ash then you have my support."

Ash and Giselle smiled at Brock. "Thanks Brock." They both said together.

Misty walked up and stood in front of Giselle. "Promise to take care of him Giselle and you have my okay." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice and in her eyes.

Giselle nodded and gave Misty a quick hug. "I promise Misty. I'll always be here for Ash just like I'll be here for you two. Your my friends." She said with a smile.

Misty gave a small in return and then looked at Ash sadly for a moment before looking away again. Ash decided to break the silence in the air. "Well guys, what do you say about heading out for Porta Vista and taking a little vacation after all this stuff with Team Rocket?" He suggested.

"That's sounds great!" Giselle said as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"Ohhh that would be amazing!" Misty said with stars in her eyes.

"Pika!" Pikachu said excitedly.

Brock nodded and pulled out his map. "Sounds good to me Ash! And it looks like Porte Vista is only about two days journey from where we are now."

Ash smiled. "Then lead the way Brock-O! Let's head to Porte Vista!"

The friends cheered and then Brock lead the way out of the ruined amusement park and towards the main road that was only a short ways away from where they were currently.

As Ash and Giselle brought up the rear, walking side by side down the road that was still close to the coast where they could actually see the ocean to their left side. Ash reached out to slip his hand into Giselle's and she eagerly complied, letting him pull her close to him as they walked. "Well... I guess there's nothing stopping us from being together now Giselle." Ash said as he looked at her.

Giselle looked back at him and smiled as well. "I guess there's not is there?"

Ash fiddled with their intertwined fingers a little bit and then said. "You know Giselle... I know we're young and we haven't known each other for a long time so... If you don't want us to be together then I would understand and we could be just friends if you-"

He was stopped from his rambling when Giselle suddenly halted and pulled Ash towards her. She locked her lips with his and kissed him hotly. He eagerly complied and kissed her right back, pulling her as close to him as he could.

They broke off the kiss and she looked him in the eyes intently. "Ash Ketchum! We just received permission from our friends, which was the only thing keeping us apart, too become a couple! Now dammit! Pluck up that courage you use for everything else and have fought Team Rocket with and ask me to be your girlfriend already!"

She placed her hands on her hips and took a pose that Ash found to be both very cute and incredibly attractive. He grinned goofily and bowed jokingly to her. "Ohh my sweet and fair Giselle! Would you do me the honor of entering into a relationship with me? I can promise that it will be filled with romance, adventure, laughs and on occasion a slight hint of danger and strange Pokemon."

Giselle giggled and pulled him up to face her. "Let's make a limit on the danger and and an increase on the romance and you have yourself a deal mister." She said with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Ash chuckled and pulled her close to him. "You my dear... Have yourself a deal." He pulled her back in and they kissed again. They took their time and held onto each other tenderly as their lips continued to glide across the others in an elegant dance of affection.

They pulled apart a short time later and rested their foreheads against one another. Brock suddenly called out to them. "Hey lovebirds ya coming?!"

"Yeah we're going to Porte Vista how about you?!" Misty shouted back to them as well.

Ash and Giselle parted from each other and laughed. "Coming guys!" They said together. Ash tightened his grip on Giselle's hand and then they took off running after their friends, anxious to reach Porte Vista and have a relaxing vacation.

XXXXXXXXXXX

A Rocket Grunt walked nervously down a long, dark hallway until he came to a door that was guarded by two other Grunts. He sputtered for permission to enter and they let him pass.

He entered into a dark office that had no light anywhere. Sitting in a chair behind a desk, with a Persian sitting by his side, was a man draped in the shadows of the office. He had his fingers crossed and was staring intently at the Grunt, who seemed to shrink under his gaze.

The man spoke in a low and smooth voice. "I have been expecting someone from the St. Anne operation to report to me on the status of the mission. I expected one of the Commanders to give me the details on the operation, but I guess they had better things to do than give a status report on a mission of such importance to their leader."

He leaned back in his chair. "So... Speak!"

The Grunt visibly jumped at the shadowed man's command and began sputtering. "Y-yes sir! Y-you see... W-we didn't... It's j-just... I-I..."

"Stop stuttering and speak clearly you imbecile!" The man growled out.

The Grunt jumped again but immediately started speaking clearly. "Sir! I'm sorry to inform but the St. Anne operation was... It was a..." He stopped and gulped.

"Yes?! Go on!" The man ordered. Losing his patience.

The man breathed in deeply and then exhaled before continuing. "Sir... The St. Anne operation was a failure. Are team was forced to retreat."

The man leaned forward and pounded his fists into the table. "What?! How is that possible?!" He shouted.

The Grunt jumped in the air but didn't dare start stuttering again. "Apologies sir! We had no choice in the matter. Our forces were overcome by a boy who rallied the rest of the Trainers on the ship together and beat us back. After he defeated Commander Alania in battle she and Commander Zetson fell apart. Commander Rykon ordered us to retreat and we did. Unfortunately, the boy somehow disabled the choppers we used to get on the ship. We were forced to leave on one of the the sea to air hovercrafts that we had waiting in the wings for back-up."

The man breathed heavily from his seat. "So you mean to tell me... That a child was able to defeat the entire squad of Grunts I sent for that operation and one of the Commanders?! How?!" He demanded.

The Grunt shook his head. "He was a very skilled Pokemon Trainer sir and he had very strong Pokemon with him. We were just no match for him..."

The man continued breathing heavily and the Grunt began fearing for his life. "If it helps sir, we hit the ship with missiles from the hovercraft. The Anne has been confirmed as sunk by the news stations. Undoubtedly the boy and his troublemaking friends are dead sir. We won't have to worry about him anymore."

Before the angered man could say anything further the door to the office burst open and another Grunt came running in. "Giovanni sir!" He shouted as he came to a stop.

The man who was revealed to be Giovanni shot up from his chair. "What do you think your doing bursting into my office Grunt?! You had better have a good reason for your intrusion or else! I'm not in the best of moods!"

The Grunt gulped and hesitated before blurting out. "Pokemon Land has been destroyed sir!"

Giovanni slammed his fist down on the desk again, hard enough to leave knuckle prints. "DESTROYED! WHAT DO YOU MEAN DESTROYED?!

The Grunts cringed in fear. "Sir... Something went wrong with the control system of the park. The mecha Pokemon went haywire and destroyed the entire park. Some new mecha Pokemon that was still under construction was activated during the rampage and then destroyed the other mecha Pokemon!"

Giovanni walked over to the closed window of his office and stared out through the closed blinds. "Leave me!" He shouted.

The Grunts were gone as soon as the last word left his mouth. He continued staring out the slight crack of the blinds and had one thought pass through his mind. '_The cloning project Dr. Zager is working on and the Silph operation cannot fail! The St. Anne operation not succeeding and Pokemon Land being destroyed were definitely unforeseen complications. Half of our smuggling operation has been lost along with it! It's all on the Game Corner in Celadon now. There can be no more problems with this organization. Luckily that... Boy is out of the way now. Ohh well... Once we succeed with the Silph operation and Dr. Zager finishes his cloning project, Team Rocket will be unstoppable! The world will be ours! These misfortunes are mere bumps in the road. Everything else from here on out should be smooth sailing if the commanders get their act together! With that boy dead, I feel are problems are now past. '_

Giovanni continued to stare out the blinds of the window. Foolishly thinking that most likely, the worst of their problems were over. If only he knew...

_(End Chapter Seven)_

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**And fucking done! Ha! Now that was one long ass chapter huh people? Over 72,000 words! I didn't think that I would be able to beat my last chapter's word count but what do you know? I obliterated it lol! **

**I apologize to any who may have found this chapter boring in any way. I had to put everything in this chapter that I did for a reason so... Anyhow! I have something VERY important that has to be said for this chapter! To anyone who thinks that Ash and Giselle became a couple too young and fast let me remind you of some things:**

**1: Keep in mind the same pretense that I have set for Ash throughout the entirety of this segment of the story. The early stages if you will. Ash is very mature and much older MENTALLY than he really is. I don't need to explain why because you have all seen why. He is much more mature when it comes to everything and this INCLUDES relationships.**

**Giselle is the same way. Over the course of her travels with Ash she is going to grow much more as well and become much more mature than her age currently is. Which reminds me: Giselle is about 2 years older than he is. Remember that! Anyway, Giselle is very mature just like Ash is so their views and feelings on relationships is much more advanced then others their own age. They don't view relationships and intimacy as being weird, especially with each other. Their just naturally attracted to one another. After they finally sorted out what feelings they had for each other then they were totally comfortable and ready to enter into a relationship with each other. So in short, expect for them to treat their relationship like an older couple would. Just like how they treat everything else.**

**2: As for the both of them getting together too soon, think of this: Sometimes people do have to know each other for a long time or be friends for a certain amount of time before they find they are compatible. This is true. However, sometimes two people only need to know each other for a short time until they become a couple. They just click together and they naturally start out with feelings that transcends friendship. This is Ash and Giselle.**

**3: They will NOT be stepping over any lines together and doing anything that's not age appropriate for them. Kissing, cuddling, holding each other close and the basic 'lovey dovey' is as far as they will go for now. Yes they are attracted to each other but I won't really start exploring their physical attraction to each other until they both get older and start getting more 'physical' in their relationship. However, that won't happen until they both get quite a bit older. I will not write about two young teens having sex or engaging in other sexual activities.**

**So! That should be it. I don't think I missed anything but if any of you great readers of mine come across anything that you want to mention or if you have any ideas for me then PM as usual! Thanks again to all of you for all of your amazing support and reviews! Keep looking for chapter eight because it's coming!**

**Stay awesome my beautiful readers and take care! Until next time peoples!**


	8. Coastal Battles and A 'Peaky' Encounter!

**PLEASE READ THIS AND THE LAST A/N AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER! I HAVE SOME VERY IMPORTANT THINGS TO DICUSS IN THEM!**

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A/N: **Welcome back dear readers! I have another exciting installment of this fantastic little story for you great people, so please enjoy! I really wanted too show a different kind of side to Ash and his friends journey so I'm going to be writing about them enjoying a nice little vacation in Porte Vista for the first section of this chapter.**

**The action will pick up again later on but for the first half I really want to explore some fluffy moments between Ash and Giselle (Who's last name I just went back and changed to what it actually is in the show. Her real last name is not 'Seiyo' but actually 'Yūtō'). Anyway, they just became a couple last chapter and I really want to delve into that deeper now. **

**I may end up having Ash win one or two more badges at some point in this one but I'm not exactly sure yet. Like I said, I really wanted to explore Ash/Giselle fluff in this chap. Remember though people: Just fluff! There will be no underage horse play! Now hey, can you blame me? What would two kids know about the finer 'physical arts' of a relationship huh? They would just fumble around and make fools of themselves so why write about stuff like that anyway right now, am I right;p**

**By the way! Just in case any of you were wondering, I didn't just pull those five Gyarados out of my hat. I actually got those Gyarados from the episode 'Shipwreck' in the original series of Pokemon. Remember when those Gyarados attacked Ash and his friends on that raft? That's where those Gyarados came from. Just thought you should know.**

**I really want of thank all of the great readers out there and all of the amazing support that is being constantly given to me. You guys and gals rock! And to 'Commander Sky', 'AJ' 'JJ', 'naruto rai', 'hendriejoseph', 'InfernoChomp4444', 'xxBurlesquexx', 'fawx999' and an extra thank you to 'PokeLoverTJC' for his fucking awesome views on everything, the awesome source of convo he his and his great support! Everyone needs to read his stories if you like Pokemon fics like mine, especially 'Ascension to Pokemon Mastership, Ash Ketchum's Greatest Voyage'! Again, thank you all so much for your humbling and fantastic reviews and support, you guys are fucking awesome!**

**Next: I will NOT be putting ANY focus on pairings beside the main pairings that involve Ash. I personally can't stand reading stories that has other pairings beside the main character pairing, especially if the secondary pairings have women in them that I also like being paired with the main character in other stories.**

**For instance: Naruto/Mei is probably my favorite Naruto pairing for all Naruto fans out there who understand what I'm talking about. As such, any story where Mei is paired with someone else literally ENRAGES me and I have to stop reading the story. Especially those Zabuza, Chojuro, Ao and Sasuke ones... Man those piss me off.**

**That's how I am with stories I read myself, so my own stories will not have any focus on secondary pairings. Sorry to anybody out there who likes multiple pairing stories.**

**Next thing: I went back to the first chapter and changed the time that Delia and Richard were together from six years to two years. They got together when she was nineteen and he was in his early twenties. He left to go journeying again after they had been together for two years which made Delia twenty one at that time. The same time she got pregnant with Ash. Ash started his journey ten years later on his tenth birthday, making Delia still a younger parent at the age of thirty-one as of currently in the story. Richard is thirty-four. I changed the ages of his parents for a purpose that you will all understand later on down the road in the story.**

**Now I will really quickly explain some things about the 'siege of Pokemon Land' last chapter for everyone who wants to know.**

**1: Ash was originally going to call the police anonymously from his Xtransciever but decided against it after he and Giselle went through the information collected in the control room and found out that they didn't have enough information to take Team Rocket down with just what they found in there. **

**That's why Ash made the call to wait and not call the police for the destruction of Pokemon Land. He didn't want Giovanni being suspicious at all so he made the decision too wait until he and his friends raided the Rocket Hideout in Celadon before he called them on Team Rocket. I actually wrote this out explaining this last chapter.**

**2: None of the Rocket Grunts were arrested from the Pokemon Land fiasco that day at all. If everyone remembers correctly, they all escaped into the forests, fleeing away from Dragonite after the attack. Again, the police and news crews didn't show up at the scene until AFTER everything was over and the Grunts, Ash and his friends were long gone. The sight of smoke rising in the sky and the destruction of Pokemon Land would have alerted people to what happened eventually and that's how they found out.**

**3: Ash and his friends snuck past all of the outside cameras and defenses using the methods I described last chapter. If you all recall correctly, Ash and his friends entered the building through the ventilation shaft at the top of the roof. Once inside they SNUCK around the entire interior of the building, keeping a close eye out for Grunts, cameras and any other kind of security. This is how they weren't caught inside.**

**As to how no one saw Ash and his friends fleeing the building since they clearly weren't sneaking anymore and were intent on just fleeing the building before it too was destroyed... Please let me explain: Ash explained to his friends right before he gave the mecha-Pokemon their commands to attack the park that as soon as he started messing with the computer system and implanted the command, the security censors would go off and everyone would know that something was going on. However, he explained that it wouldn't matter because at that time the mecha-Pokemon would be destroying the park, turning every single Grunt's attention to stopping the attack and saving Pokemon Land so Giovanni didn't kill them.**

**They didn't have a chance to think about anything besides stopping the destruction that could have killed them all. Plus, for all they and the people of the park knew when Ash made that warning announcement, the Grunts just assumed it was another Grunt who caught onto the problem and was trying to warn everyone. The people in the park just thought it was an employee warning them to evacuate. No one knew it was really Ash.**

**None of the cameras in the building seeing Ash and his friends flee mattered in the slightest because no one was IN the building to see it and the CONTROL ROOM is where Ash and his friends had just came from. Remember those guards that Ash took care of outside of the room that he and Brock drug outside to safety so they building didn't fall in on them? That was the control room. ****No one would ever see the security tapes because the building was DESTROYED and everything in it during the battle.**

**4: The reason why no one came forth to tell Giovanni about what the actual identity of the last mecha was that everyone claimed had 'destroyed the other mecha-Pokemon' but was really destroyed along with the control center by Dragonite, is simple: Upon the destruction, chaos and the bad news that Giovanni was receiving after the fact, it didn't warrant him the time to be considering anything else that MAY have really happened. The explanation he received from the Grunt that reported to him gave a sensible and very POSSIBLE explanation for what happened. **

**He didn't have the time or inclination to seek out the engineers of the mecha-Pokemon JUST too find out if the identity of the last machine really was a Dragonite or not. No one from Team Rocket, including Giovanni, even knows Pokemon as big as Dragonite even exist! Why would he or anyone else for that matter question the fact if she really was a machine or not? That the destruction of Pokemon Land was really planned out and by KIDS no less?! Also, the mecha-Pokemon were built with the capabilities of free movement, attacks and combat ability. Giovanni and everyone else knows this and the Grunts themselves watched the other mecha-Pokemon fight back so again, Dragonite being another mecha was VERY believable for them. The possibility of a glitch, a bug affecting the systems? Very possible and believable. Much more believable for narrow minded people like Giovanni to believe than a more than one hundred foot tall Dragonite and a ten-year old boy and his friends singlehandedly bringing down his park!**

**Besides, with everything that Giovanni has planned and going in the near future... that it is where all of his focus is going. Now, after the 'incident' at Celadon happens don't expect Ash to remain anonymous in Team Rocket's sights any longer.**

**So there you go anybody who cares! My explanation for what happened last chap! Of course, anybody who knows me and my story knows that I'm always thinking multiple steps ahead so... Sa'll good haha!**

**...**

**Now the last thing: I know some of you are having problems reviewing my chapters now and I wanted to let you know that I combined chapter 1, the prologue or pre-story A/N, with chapter 2, where my story really begins. I did this so each chapter I released was actually numbered the way I recognize them. I never counted the pre-story A/N as a chapter so all of you and I were always on different understandings of what labeled chapters I released. So just remember! Chapter 1, or the 'Prologue' is now merged with the real Chapter 1, 'The Birth of The Chosen One', or as many of you have come too know it, 'Chapter 2'. So hopefully this fixes any of the problems you're all having with reviewing my story in some way.**

**BEFORE I FORGET! To anyone out there who loves my story and wants to read more that are in the same kind of classification, you all HAVE to read a story by a writer named 'Saber364' called 'Chronicles of The Chosen One: Pokemon Master'! This story actually inspired me to begin writing and it's finally being updated again. So all of you: READ THIS STORY!**

**...**

**Anyhow my friends! Please read and enjoy the latest chapter of this great story! **

**P.S. There is a somewhat mature scene in this chapter. It's not rape, (Never would I write something so horrible) but it is a more mature scene. However it won't go beyond at the most... a T-rating. I'm going to give you all a heads up when it gets close to the part, so if you read on even after my warning and you don't care for it then it's not my fault. I provided the precaution. Now enough jaw let's get this fucking show on the road!**

**...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

_**'The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be... Chapter Eight: 'Coastal Battles and A 'Peaky' Encounter!'**_

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Ash Ketchum and his friends were walking down a beautiful coastline road, on the final stretch to the luxurious city of Porte Vista. The sun was high in the sky and the air was warm. A slight breeze blowing, which ruffled Pikachu's fur from where he was sitting on Ash's shoulder, made the whole walk a very enjoyable and relaxing experience.

Giselle walked beside Ash, her hand in his, something that they were able to do openly now that they were a couple. Brock was behind them, reading the guidebook on the Kanto region. Misty brought up the rear and was just enjoying the pleasantly blowing breeze and fresh salt air that was reaching them from the ocean. Both Brock and Misty were a little ways away from Ash and Giselle, giving them time to themselves.

They crested the final little hill that was in their path and when they did they saw the sprawling city of Porte Vista, home to the Kanto regions most luxurious resort, Acapulco, laid out before them. "Look at that Ash! We finally made it to Porte Vista!" Giselle yelled out happily as she hopped up and down, still holding onto Ash's hand.

He laughed a little and grabbed Giselle by her waist, pulling her tightly against him and resting his chin on her shoulder while she continued to eye the city with excitement from his grasp.

"Yes my dear we finally made it! However, we aren't going to make it INTO the city if you trip in your excitement and roll down this hill, breaking something on the way. Just calm down and we'll get there." He said in good humor as Giselle stopped squirming in his grasp and sighed.

"Your right I'm sorry... I'm just so excited to get to the beach!" She said as she started getting excited again.

Ash chuckled. "Okay miss enthusiastic! But we have to wait for Brock and Misty to catch up first."

At that moment Brock and Misty came up and stood beside of them. "Finally here!" Misty exclaimed happily.

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu chirped in excitement.

"It didn't take as long as I thought it would to get here either." Brock stated. "I thought it would have taken two days but it only took one."

Ash nodded his head and then looked at Giselle, who was still squirming ever so slightly. "Come on guys, let's head down and hit the beach before Giselle stampedes like a crazed Tauros down this hill and takes me with her!" He said jokingly.

Giselle turned around and gave him a dirty look. "Watch it mister or you won't be kissing me for a week!" She said threateningly.

Ash's grin quickly faded and was replaced by one of fear. "Yes dear!" He said with a bow of the head.

Gisele smiled widely again and then kissed Ash on the cheek. "Good boy!" She said with amusement and jest in her voice.

The friends then headed down the hill together and made their way into the large coastal city.

...

After making it into the city and stopping by the Pokemon Center so they could heal up their Pokemon, they headed out onto the palm tree covered, white sandy beaches of Porte Vista. Upon arriving at the beach all of the kids stared in amazement.

"The water looks so blue and clear!" Misty said in awe.

"No kidding." Brock said in equal amazement.

Giselle couldn't take it anymore. "Come on guys! Let's release our Pokemon and then head into the water!"

"Yeah let's do it!" Ash yelled as they all released their Pokemon so they could enjoy the day on the beach as well. Giselle grabbed Ash by the arm and practically drug him down into the water, followed by Brock, Misty, Pikachu and a couple of the other Pokemon.

No sooner than Ash stepped into the water did Squirtle come jumping over his head and into the ocean, his tail smacking Ash on the back of the head, making him fall in head first.

Ash got up out of the water and opened his eyes after clearing the salt water from them. He felt something on top of his head and reached up to feel what it was. He felt something slimy and wiggly and instantly jumped in fright while shouting and flinging the object, which was just seaweed, off his head. He glared at Squirtle, who was looking very sheepish while floating in the water ahead of him and heard all of his friends bust out laughing. He turned around and looked at them. Giselle was nearest to him and was laughing so hard she was holding her side in pain. Misty was in tears and Brock was struggling too stand from laughing so hard.

Ash wadded over to Giselle with a devious smirk on his face. "You thought that was funny huh Giselle?" He said with an ominous tone to his voice.

She wiped her eyes and nodded, not looking at him. "It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen!" She said while continuing to laugh.

He continued coming closer. "Ohh really?" He asked.

She finally looked up at him and saw how close he was coming to her. When she saw the smirk on his face, she knew that she was in trouble. Her attitude instantly changed. "N-now Ash, let's just talk this out okay?!" She pleaded while backing up.

He didn't listen and kept coming closer. He reached his arms out. Giselle frantically began trying to back away but she wasn't fast enough, Ash wrapped his arms around her with lightning speed and hoisted her above the water. "Ash!" Gisele screamed, both afraid at the prospect of being dunked in the water and impressed at her boyfriend's strength. "Don't you dare drop your girlfriend in the water!" She warned him with fear in her voice.

Ash whispered in her ear. "Aww... You know you'll forgive me!" He said as he released his hold and dropped her in the water.

Ash began laughing like a maniac. Giselle slowly rose up out of the water and pulled the hair away from her eyes. She gave him a burning look and he instantly stopped laughing. "Come on Giselle it was just having some fun!" He said with his hands in the air.

She got a frightingly calm look in her eyes. "I know Ash and it's okay. Come here... I want to hug you and SHOW you how OK everything really is!" She said in a voice that definitely betrayed her actions.

Ash went to run away but Giselle jumped out of the water like a Water Pokemon and landed on his back, pushing him below the water. She raised his head up and began dunking him over and over again. He finally was able to get a hold on her arms and right as she went to dunk him he flipped forward and she went soaring into the water.

He lunged at her and the two commenced into a fierce water duel. Brock, Misty, Pikachu and the other Pokemon just looked at each other and then shrugged their shoulders. "Shall we?" Brock asked Misty in a mock bow.

Misty just smirked. "Yes Brock... Let's..." Quick as a whip she shouted out. "Goldeen Water Gun!"

Brock was suddenly blasted in the face and sent careening into the water by Goldeen as she jumped up from underneath the waves and launched her attack. That was it. Everyone began an all out battle of 'last Trainer standing."

The fight was vicious, with no one giving an inch. Water was thrown around in massive amounts and dunking was performed more times than anyone could count. Eventually they all reached an exhausted impass and just stared at one another. "Truce?!" Ash called out.

Everyone else nodded their heads. "Truce!" His friends said as the Pokemon gave their own calls of agreement.

They all trudged out of the ocean and then collasped on the beach. Exhausted. After some time had passed, the friends decided to just lay out and relax in the sun. Brock and Misty laid out on their towels and then began reading their own books. For Brock it was, 'Guide to Pokemon Breeding' and for Misty it was, 'Training Water Pokemon: Myths and Facts'.

Ash and Giselle laid out their towels side by side and then lay down. Stretching out and enjoying the relaxation. Giselle reached out and grasped Ash's hand. "It's such a beautiful day out isn't it?"

Ash nodded his head. "Yes, yes it is..." He said drowsily.

The two of them laid there for a few more minutes and then slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

Sometime later the two awoke and stared up at the still brightly shining sun. Brock and Misty were also just now stirring awake and Ash decided to check the time on his Xtransceiver. It showed it too be a little past noon and he decided it was time too train.

While the others packed up their stuff, Ash walked over to his Pokemon and got them together. "Hey guys, you go ahead and start exploring the city if you want. I'm going to stay here and train. I really need to work with my new Gyarados as well so it may be awhile." He said.

His friends nodded in understanding and then finished packing up. After they were done they bid Ash goodbye and then started to leave. Giselle walked up to him. "I'll see you later ok?" She said as she kissed him.

He savored the taste of her lips before responding back in kind. "Yeah I'll see you guys later."

She kissed him again before following Brock and Misty off the beach. Ash turned around and went back to his Pokemon.

Ash, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Pidgeotto and his first Gyarados trained hard for about two hours and once they were finally finished Ash returned the other five Pokemon before walking over to his track suit and dropping down beside of it. "Man training in the sand is difficult!" He exclaimed as he started rooting through the pockets of his suit.

Pikachu lay where he was in the sand beside Ash, just as exhausted as his Trainer was and replied. "Pika...Pika Pika, Pikachu Pi..." He said tiredly.

Ash finally found what he was looking for and withdrew his Poke'Dex. He looked at Pikachu. "Well buddy... It's time that we train our new Gyrarados."

Pikachu looked nervous at the prospect of having all five of the freshly captured Gyarados in one spot here on the beach but just shook his head and trusted that Ash knew what he was doing.

Ash temporarily sent over all of his Pokemon except for Pikachu and his first Gyarados and then waited for Professor Oak to send him over the Pokemon he wanted. Not five minutes later, five Pokeballs appeared on the transporter pad of the Poke'Dex, one after the other.

He put his Poke'Dex away and then walked over to the water. He released his trained Gyarados into the ocean and once the Pokemon appeared he began explaining to him what he needed. "Gyarados! I'm going to be training the five Gyarados that I captured the other day. When I release them they are most likely going to be very upset and angry. I need you to be ready to fight them and prove just how much they can benefit from having a Trainer. Hopefully getting beat by you will show them just how well trained you are becoming as my Pokemon and maybe it will make them want to obey and train under me as well. Can you help?"

Gyarados nodded his head and called out loudly, ready to show the other Gyarados just how big of a difference there was between him, a trained Pokemon and them... Wild and untrained.

Ash took a deep breath and then pulled out the other five Gyarados's Pokeballs. He threw them in the air and released the Pokemon. In several bursts of light the five Gyarados appeared with loud bellows of their names.

After getting a good look at their surroundings and then laying eyes on Ash and the trained Gyarados the Pokemon grew extremely furious looks on their faces and their eyes started burning with anger. Ash knew he had too do something before they began rampaging and he ran out into the shallows and stood before them, he shouted up to them just as he saw the middle one prepare to attack. "WAIT!" He shouted.

The lead Gyarados stopped his movement and the others followed his lead. Ash's own Gyarados, who was preparing to jump in and defend his Trainer at any moment, calmed down as well but stayed on alert.

Ash yelled up to them. "Before you attack me and go on a rampage please listen to what I have to say first Gyarados! If you don't like what I have to say and you refuse my deal then you have my permission to attack!"

The Gyarados looked between one another until they finally reached a decision. The lead Gyarados just looked at Ash intently. He took this as a sign to begin so he did, quickly. "Look, I don't know why you attacked me and my friends the other day! I don't know if you have been treated badly by humans before or if you are just angry Pokemon. All I know is this: After Dragonite defeated you I looked and saw just how badly damaged you all were! I care about Pokemon with everything in me and I was not about to leave you injured in the ocean! I captured you so I could get you all sent away somewhere to be healed and it worked! Your fine now aren't you?! That's because I captured you and had you healed!"

He stopped and looked between each Gyarados, making sure he had their undivided attention. When he saw he did he continued. "I see the anger and hard feelings that you have against me and I'm not going to dare say that your wrong to have those feelings towards me because I don't know what humans have done to you that has made you this way. All I can say is this: If you want to become as strong as you possibly can. If you aspire too want to become more than just wild Pokemon that do as you please and become something truly great, then I offer you this opportunity. I can train you too be the best you can ever be. You will grow too become stronger than you ever thought possible and the only thing I ask is that you obey and respect me. I know respect comes with time but I want your obedience from the start!"

He looked at his trained Gyarados and then back at the other Gyarados. "I'll make you a deal. You five battle against my trained Gyarados. I want you to see just what the difference is between a trained and non-trained Pokemon. If you win then I will release you right away. If you lose then I will give you the option of either staying with me and becoming strong and trained Pokemon, or if you prefer I will still release you. In the end I just want you to be happy and that's all. What do you say?"

The Gyarados looked between one another for a while and then looked back at Ash. The lead Gyarados nodded it's head in acceptance of the challenge.

Ash looked up at his trained Gyarados. "Ready buddy?" He called up to him.

Gyarados just nodded and eyed the others as they surrounded him. "Just battle with your instincts Gyarados!" Ash yelled as he ran back a safe distance until he was safely on the beach.

At that very moment, the five Gyarados swung their tails simultaneously. Gyarados waited until the tails were right on top of him and then dove into the water. He came up a second later and smacked one of the other Gyarados right under the chin, making it bellow in pain and fall back into the water.

Another Gyarados swung it's tail around at the trained one. He brought his own tail around and met it head on. He formed an Aqua Tail and blasted it into the other Gyarados, causing it to back away and shake it's head.

Two Gyarados rushed him at once and he just stayed where he was. Right before they hit he used his tail and spun himself around in the water quickly, forming a Twister that he kept himself inside of. Both of the other Gyarados hit the Twister and got sucked into it's powerful vortex. It spun them around before flinging them out in opposite directions where they hit the water and caused massive waves to form up around them.

One of the Gyarados formed a Dragon Rage in it's mouth and fired it at the trained one. He quickly formed his own and fired it at the other. They both collided and began battling for dominance. The trained Gyarados knew how to get more out of his attacks however and increased the power output. His Dragon Rage pushed forward and overcame the other Gyarados's attack, causing an explosion that knocked the other Gyarados back through the water.

It slowly rose back out of the ocean and then four of the Gyarados surrounded the trained one. They began forming Twisters of their own and then got in close to Gyarados as they launched them. The trained Gyarados looked at the incoming Twisters calmly and then spun around fast. He formed another Twister around himself and then smacked his tail into the water hard. Using the force of his tail and the power of his own Twister he launched himself high into the air and avoided the other Twisters that had just hit where he was previously floating in the water. From his vantage point high above the other Gyarados he quickly formed a massive Dragon Rage in his mouth and fired it down onto the cluster of other Gyarados in the water. Because they were so close together the blast hit them all and caused a huge explosion that launched a massive wall of water into the air.

When the waves calmed down somewhat and the smoke cleared away, four of the five Gyarados were struggling to stay upright and looked badly beaten up. The trained Gyarados landed back in the ocean after his Twister had dissipated and glared at the other four. Daring them to keep going. They all bowed their heads to him and backed away in surrender.

Gyarados then turned his head around to face the lead Gyarados. It was staring at the trained one with rage in it's eyes and then slowly, made it's way over to him. Both Gyarados stared each other down and circled each other in the water slowly. Suddenly, the lead Gyarados lunged at the other. The trained Gyarados launched himself forward as well.

They collided together and then began writhing around in a tangled mass of tails and large bodies. The ocean around them was churned up and large waves were formed as the two fought. A blur of blue scales and sharp teeth were the only things that were seen.

Ash and the other four Gyarados watched the battle with wrapped attention. Ash was impressed with the battle prowess of the untrained Gyarados, but he knew that his would still win hands down.

The lead Gyarados lunged forward again and tried to bite down on the trained ones neck but he just spun his body around, causing the lead Gyarados to miss. The trained Gyarados took advantage of the situation and brought his tail around and smacked the other one in the side, making it stumble forward. He then brought his tail up and around before bringing it down on top of the other ones back, sending it into the water.

He backed away and waited for the other Gyarados to rise back up. When it finally did, the lead Gyarados had a look of pure rage in it's eyes as it swung it's tail around in a wide arc, it's tail consumed in a swirling vortex of water as it prepared to use Aqua Tail.

Just before the attack could hit, Gyarados dove beneath the water and let the attack pass over him. The other Gyarados started looking around at the water beneath it, trying to find where the other one was at. It began firing off multiple Dragon Rage attacks into the water, hoping to hit it's foe.

Eventually it grew tired and stopped using Dragon Rage and just stayed where it was, looking around for the hidden Gyarados. It suddenly heard something and turned around to see the water behind it swirl like something had just passed beneath it. The lead Gyarados fired another Dragon Rage at the spot and then waited to see if it hit the other Gyarados or not.

The Water-Type looked shocked when nothing happened. The attack just passed right though the water unhindered by the body of it's target. The lead Gyarados turned around and at that very moment the trained Gyarados came bursting from underneath it and wrapped his tail around it's body.

The lead Gyarados began lashing around frantically and the other Gyarados just tightened his grip on it's body. The trained Gyarados then began thrashing his head into the neck of the lead Gyarados, ruthlessly beating the Pokemon.

He formed a powerful looking Dragon Rage in his mouth, unwrapped himself from his opponent and backed away as he fired the attack. It struck the other Gyardos in the face, knocking the large Pokemon down into the water deeply.

He stared at the spot where the other Gyarados was now submerged and as soon as he felt the other Water Pokemon start to rise he made his way over to it in a blur of speed and brought his tail high up into the air. It began swirling in a powerful vortex of water and as soon as the lead Gyarados surfaced, looking battered and bruised, he swung his tail around. It impacted with the side of the unaware Pokemon's head and sent it flying through the water towards the shore.

The trained Gyarados made his way over to his opponent, who was now lying in the shallows of the beach, utterly defeated. The lead Gyarados struggled to get up and when it turned it's head it saw the other Gyarados towering over it.

The trained Gyarados looked down at his opponent and gave it a glare that clearly said to stay down. Knowing it was beaten the lead Gyarados lowered it's head in submission and looked away.

The trained Gyarados looked out at the other four and saw that they had been just as subdued. He looked back at Ash and nodded his head, almost as if saying that he had 'tamed the rebels'.

Ash nodded and then walked over to the beached Gyarados, who was looking down in shame from being beaten. He walked up to it slowly and cautiously. When he was right in front of the Pokemon it looked up at him with a wary and angry look in it's eyes.

Ash held his hands up and knelt down in front of the Pokemon. "Gyarados... Why are you so hurt and angry? What happened to you?"

Gyarados looked away and refused to look at Ash. He suddenly had an idea and began focusing on his palm that held the strange mark that sometimes formed on his hand when he went through those strange 'Mind/Emotion Links' with Pokemon. He began thinking about just how much he wanted to know what was wrong with Gyarados and what made it so mistrusting and angry towards people.

He kept his eyes closed as he stretched his palm out. He didn't see the mark appear on his palm and he didn't see the faint white glow that began to surround him. Before Gyarados knew what was happening Ash placed his palm right in-between the Pokemon's eyes.

Instantly, he felt the familiar pull of the strange 'link' that came along with the activation of the white mark.

When Ash opened his eyes he was experiencing the same thing that occurred with Dragonite. The only difference was that Gyarados was in front of him surrounded by nothing but the furiously spinning and violent looking red energy.

The Pokemon was glaring at Ash angrily as the boy stared up at him. Ash raised his hand out, almost unbidden and then said in a voice that was not entirely his own. "Gyarados, show me your memories!"

No sooner did he say those words, he was barraged by memories from the Pokemon. The first memory he witnessed confused him greatly because it showed James of Team Rocket. He was hovering over a tank, looking in on Gyarados as a Magikarp. He was talking to some short man and then, what Ash figured was a deal of some kind, was struck. Ash saw through Magikarp the man handing James an obviously gold painted Pokeball and then James throwing it into the tank and catching Magikarp.

The next memory was of Magikarp being released from it's Pokeball and seeing Jessie and Meowth looking at it with a look of shock and disbelief on their faces. He saw them begin insulting Magikarp and calling it worthless as they then backed James into a corner and yelled at him. Ash felt Magikarp's anger at being called worthless and his thirst to prove himself and become powerful at Team Rocket's hurtful words. He then witnessed Magikarp start flopping around and begin calling up to Jessie, trying to defend itself and show it's spirit. Ash watched in disgust as Jessie raised her foot and prepared to bring it down on top of Magikarp, intent on squashing him. Something had stopped her at the last minute however and she turned away from Magikarp. The last emotion Ash felt from Magikarp in this memory was the anger it began to grow towards the Rockets.

The last memory Ash saw was of Magikarp being released into a small lifeboat, James tying a rope to it and then throwing it into the ocean. Ash felt the fear Magikarp felt while it thrashed around and then the relief when James brought it back into the boat. The relief didn't last long as James suddenly lost his temper with Magikarp and smashed it's Pokeball into peices with his boot before grabbing ahold of Magikarp and them kicking it back into the ocean, shouting that he didn't want too be a Trainer to such a 'pathetic' Pokemon.

Ash felt furious at James's actions but that went away when he felt all of the emotions coming from Magikarp as he hit the raging water and began desparetly trying to keep itself afloat in the raging sea. He felt the fear Magikarp felt at being beat around by the vicious water, the sadness and betrayel at Jessie, James and Meowth and most of all... The rage it began too grow in it's heart. Ash watched as a sudden explosion of power came from Magikarp as he evolved into Gyarados. He felt the hatred Gyarados felt towards the Rockets as it blasted them away with Dragon Rage and the gaping hole that was filled with sadness and bitterness he felt afterwards. He watched as Gyarados disappeared and then found the other four Gyarados that he later become the leader of. He watched as Gyarados fought against all four of them for dominance and then the satisfaction and pride he felt at beating them and becoming the alpha. He also felt the extreme protectiveness that Gyarados developed for the other four and the close bond they all shared.

The last thing Ash felt from Gyarados was the shock of being beaten by Dragonite, the rage and reluctance of being captured again and now the shame of being so thoroughly beaten by Ash's trained Gyarados.

After the memory transfer was done, Ash just looked up at Gyarados with unshed tears in his eyes and a feeling of strong sympathy and affection for the Pokemon. He spoke to Gyarados, who was still shrouded in the red energy that showed it's anger and inner pain, in a thick voice. "Gyarados... You didn't deserve any of what happened to you. James is from an organization called Team Rocket, who mistreats Pokemon and uses them for their own selfish gain. You didn't deserve to be treated the way that Jessie, James and Meowth did! From what I've seen of you, your a great Pokemon that has tons of potential! With the right training you, and all of the other Gyarados could become very strong Pokemon, I know you could! Don't you ever dwell on the things that those three said to you Gyarados! I believe in you and I know that you have the makings of greatness in you! I know it!"

He paused and then looked down. "I was foolish to think that I could ever hope to understand you Gyarados. The things you were put through by Team Rocket... They're is no understanding. You have a very valid reason to mistrust and dislike people and Trainers. I know it doesn't change anything but I apologize for every ounce of worthlessness and pain James and the others made you feel."

He stopped and looked down before continuing. "I will release you and the other Gyarados. Your healed now and you don't need too be my Pokemon anymore. I'm truly sorry I caused you more grief and anger by catching you. I apologize again."

Ash kept his head down the entire time and resigned himself to returning back to the waking world. As he began to fade out of the weird looking mindscape he never looked up at Gyarados too see that the red energy that had surrounded him previously was now all but gone and was now replaced with a calm white energy, like what was shrouding Ash. The Pokemon's face had also changed from one of anger, rage and mistrust, to one of surprise, contemplation and... Hope.

...

Ash was thrust back into the real world and stumbled back on the sand until he fell down on his backside. He looked up and saw Gyarados looking at him. The other four Gyarados had also come closer to the shore and were watching the exchange between their leader and Ash. His trained Gyarados was a little off to the side, watching everything transpire with a wary gaze, ready to jump to his Trainer's aid at any moment. Pikachu was also by Ash's side by this point and was looking between his Trainer and the Gyarados with trepidation, not knowing what was going too happen but ready to defend his Trainer at a moments notice.

Ash got up and walked over to Gyarados slowly. He looked up at the big Pokemon and just stared at him. He looked out over the other four Gyarados and then spoke to them as a whole. "I'm so sorry for everything that has happened to all of you. I don't know how much this will mean but I apologize. For everything that has been done to you and for every human that has hurt you. I want you too believe me when I say that I didn't catch you too command you around, order you too fight against your will and lose your freedom... I did it too help you, too get you healed. I said that if you wanted too stay with me then I would train you too be the best you could be but... Maybe I was being selfish even thinking that you would want to remain my Pokemon. I didn't stop too think that you probably enjoyed your life of freedom, doing as you please. I'll release you guys so you can return to your lives in the ocean... I'm sorry for causing you more grief and making you even more bitter towards people..."

Ash turned away from them and walked over to where the Gyarados's Pokeballs were lying. He hated the idea of losing five new possible good friends and great Pokemon but he would never force any Pokemon to stay with him if they didn't want too. He grabbed the Pokeballs and then pulled out his Poke'Dex. He was just about too begin the process of releasing them when something heavy suddenly pushed itself into his back, knocking the items he had out of his hands.

He turned around and saw the lead Gyarados hovering over him slightly. It didn't have the same angry and mistrusting look in it's eyes that it did earlier. Now it had more of an intent look on it's face as it stared at Ash. The other Gyarados were mimicking their leader and had come closer to the shore now.

Ash seemed confused and looked up at Gyarados. "What's wrong Gyarados? I was just getting ready too release you."

Gyarados shook it's head, mirrored by the other four. They all came as close as they could to Ash and looked at him intently. One by one they each of them took their tails and gently rolled the Pokeballs on the ground, their Pokeballs, back towards Ash.

He suddenly had realization hit him. "Do... Do you want to stay my Pokemon and be my partners after all?" He asked with a little hope in his voice.

The Gyarados looked between each other, knowing that the decision they made now would effect them for the rest of their lives, at the same time they all came to the same conclusion. They looked at Ash and nodded their heads in confirmation.

The boy stood there with his mouth open for a few seconds before closing it and then letting a wide grin stretch across his face. He reached down and picked the Pokeballs up and then looked back up at the large Pokemon. "I promise that none of you will ever regret your decision. As of this moment your now a part of my team, your my friends and your a part of my family. I promise that I won't ever let any bad people hurt you five ever again. Your not just my Pokemon, your my equals and my comrades. That means that no one will ever mess with you again. I promise you that!" He said with intent and fire in his voice.

The Gyarados all looked shocked at Ash's declaration that he held them at such a high value. They overcame their shock after a few moments and then looked between one another again. They gave another nod to each other, as if agreeing that they had picked the right and ONLY person to be their Trainer.

Ash spoke with a renewed determination in his voice. "Well if you guys really want to be my Pokemon then that means one thing! I'm going to make you guys the strongest Pokemon that you can possibly be! It's not going to be easy at all and the training I'm going to put you through is going to be extreme! Can you handle it?!" He shouted.

The Gyarados, who were uplifted by Ash's promise of getting stronger, bellowed out their names loudly in the sign of an obvious yes.

Ash grinned widely and gave them a thumbs up. "Alright then guys! Whadya you say we start training now?!"

The Gyarados called out again in excitement. "Alright let's do it!" Ash shouted enthusiastically. He charged out into the water where the Gyarados were at and then went to work starting them on their own training programs.

...

One hour later Ash dropped to the sandy shore completely exhausted... Again! While he lay there catching his breath he looked over his shoulder at the five Gyarados he had just finished training. They were all floating in the water with their heads just barely cresting the surface. The training had been intense and they were just as exhausted as Ash. His first Gyarados had even joined in the training too assist and help out his fellow Pokemon when he could. This made his second intense training bout for the day so he was utterly finished as well.

Before he had worked with them all he scanned them with his Poke'Dex and learned that, surprisingly enough, they were all male. They all knew the same moves. Twister, Dragon Rage, Aqua Tail, Thrash and Ice Fang. Their abilities consisted of Intimidate for the first four and the fifth one, the former leader and James's old Pokemon, had the ability Moxie like Ash's first Gyarados.

Ash had too say that he was very impressed with his new group of Gyarados. After they had worked out their differences and started obeying Ash and made a unified decision to remain his Pokemon willingly, they all trained and worked extremely hard. Especially James's old Gyarados. He still wanted to prove himself to be something special and so he trained hard during their session.

He set them up on the same training program as his first Gyarados. He worked them on speed, agility, strength, power and endurance drills for the first half of their training and then for the second half of their training he worked them on perfecting their moves and getting more power out of them. Another method of training he was excited about trying was multiple partner sparring.

Since there were six Gyarados they could all fight at one time and get used to fighting multiple opponents, working on their teamwork and combined attacks and generally learning how too work as a unit. The only problem Ash saw right now with team drills was that the other five Gyarados were still unsure about his first Gyarados. They were torn between having respect for the other Gyarados since he did beat them all at one time and the slight anger they still felt at being defeated, which wounded their pride. And if one thing was for certain, it was that Gyarados were VERY proud Pokemon. Again, just like a Dragon-Type.

Still, in the natural order of Gyarados when one defeated the current alpha, let alone the WHOLE group, that Gyarados instantly became the new leader. Ash knew that the same thing applied here, he just suspected it would take time before the other five Gyarados accepted his first one as their new leader. Ash figured that some bonding time together at Professor Oak's lab, in a nice and calm environment, would be just what they all needed to become closer. He just hoped that there would be room for six Gyarados in the small pond his Pokemon had all laid claim too in their section of the ranch.

Ash smiled to himself. The more he thought about his first Gyarados the more proud of him he became. When he first met Gyarados at Melanie's cottage he was just a weak little Magikarp flopping around in the pond in front of her house. Now he was a strong Pokemon that was well on his way to becoming one of Ash's toughest and strongest Pokemon eventually and he was now the leader of a group of Gyarados. He couldn't be any happier for his Pokemon even if he tried to be. He just hoped that the other Gyarados would come to accept him in time as their leader. Of course, Ash wasn't worried. He knew that if they tried to get out of line under his first Gyarados from here on out he would just beat them into submission again.

Ash pulled himself off of the ground and then put his tracksuit back on, leaving the sleeves off of the jacket and converting the pants to shorts since it was so hot out. He walked over to the water and called out to his Gyarados. "Hey guys it's time too go!"

They swam over to him and then floated before him side by side. He smiled at them before speaking again. "How would you guys like to spend some time at Professor Oak's lab? He has a nice pond that you guys can continue to train in and I figured that it would be good for you all to get some bonding time with my other Pokemon? What do you say?!"

The Gyarados looked between each other and then did something that shocked Ash. They looked towards his first Gyarados, who was a little away from them, almost as if they were asking for his final say.

Ash was shocked that they were already looking at his first Gyarados as their new leader, especially the former lead Gyarados. He thought that the former Rocket Pokemon would fight Ash's first Gyarados at every turn for dominance but he wasn't.

Gyarados acted like a true leader when they turned to him for guidance. He swam up until he was in the center of the other Gyarados and looked at each of them in turn before looking back at Ash and nodding in reply to his question.

Ash smiled at them again and then reached down and grabbed their Pokeballs. "Alright then! I'll get you guys sent over to the lab as soon as I can!"

He returned them to their Pokeballs and then called Pikachu up onto his shoulder before he left the beach. The training with Gyarados went extremely well today. He had earned their respect, gained their obedience and added five more hard training Pokemon to his ranks. He would set them up on the same general nutrition program as he did his first Gyarados and then make it to fit their individual needs.

He finally got on the main street that was just off of the beach and then took off for the coastal market of the city in hopes of finding his friends and girlfriend without, hopefully, too much trouble.

XXXXXXXXX

Ash made his way down the crowded market street, looking for his friends. He passed several stands on the way with people trying to stop him and get him too buy something too which he would politely decline.

He finally caught sight of his friends not far away from where he was at. They were sitting at a table near a snack stand and were eating some ice cream. Ash walked up to them. "Pika Pi!" Pikachu called out to them.

They all looked up and smiled when they saw Ash walking up to them and waved him over. He made it to over to them and then took a seat at the table. "How's it going guys?" He asked them.

"Not bad Ash. You've been gone awhile." Brock said.

Ash pulled his chair closer to Giselle's and wrapped his arm around her as he replied. "Yeah I had to do my training and then work with Pikachu and Gyarados. After that I worked with the other five Gyarados I just captured."

"How did that go?" Misty asked nervously. She had all the faith in the world in Ash but five freshly captured Gyarados was a lot to handle at one time. Even someone like Prima or Wallace would have difficulties raising so many Pokemon that were known for having such attitudes and anger issues.

Ash smiled and nodded his head. "It went really well actually Mist! Gyarados fought the five of them and beat em' all! Needless to say, it was a really big attitude adjuster for them."

"That's all you needed to do to tame them Ash?" Giselle asked as she looked up at him from where her head was resting on his shoulder.

Ash shook his head and then explained to them everything else that had happened concerning the Gyarados. His friends listened with wide eyes as he told the story and when he was done they were all sitting there with surprise etched onto their faces. "Wow Ash... Taming one Gyarados is one thing but taming five at one time is just...amazing!" Misty exclaimed.

Ash smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just glad Gyarados came around and decided to remain my Pokemon. I can tell that they are going to become very strong and loyal Pokemon and I'm very lucky to call them my own." Ash said modestly.

They sat there for a while after that in silence as Ash's friends continued to eat their frozen treats. Giselle eventually broke the silence. "Did you want any ice cream Ash?" The girl asked as she continued eat her own, which was in a cone.

Ash just shook his head. "Me and sweets don't get along to well Giselle. When I was five years old my mom accidentally made a cake with sour milk and it made me sick all night long. Ever since then I associate anything sweet with something that we will make me sick. I know it's weird but I can't help it."

Giselle looked at Ash sympathetically. "You know Ash, what I'm eating here is Miltank Moo-Moo Frozen Yogurt. Completely natural and low Calorie. Since I'm followiing the same nutrition program as you now I didn't want to eat anything sweet and junky so I ordered this. It's not got any dairy in it and it tastes completely different from ordinary sweets. Taste it!" She urged him.

Ash looked weary. "I'm not sure Giselle..."

She gave him a pair of Growlith puppy eyes so wide he felt himself melting right then and there. "Please Ash, just try it... For me." She pleaded.

Ash just sighed and shook his head in amusement. "Give me a spoon full." He relented.

Giselle eagerly lifted her cone up to his face and placed the vanilla soft serve right below his nose. Ash reluctantly took a lick of it but after he wallowed it around in his mouth for awhile his eyes grew wide. "Ohh... My... Arceus..." Ash said dazedly. "That was..."

He paused and his friends leaned closer towards him over the table in anticipation. "The greatest thing I've ever put in my mouth!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Giselle smiled widely. "I knew you would love it!"

Ash shot up from the table and then ran over to the window of the snack stand. He came back a few minutes later with a cup of vanilla yogurt and then say down to enjoy it. He sighed happily as he ate and Giselle just watched him with a satisfied smiled on her face as Misty spoke. "Only you could get Ash to actually try like something like that Giselle." She said as she shook her head.

Giselle merely shrugged. "I guess I just know how to get Ash to try new things." She said smugly.

After Ash had finished eating his yogurt in blissful relaxation he stood up from the table. "Let's head out to the Pokemon Center guys. I need to send over my Gyarados so I can get my other Pokemon back."

His friends agreed and then stood up from the table. They all left the snack stand and began walking out of the market district towards the Pokemon Center, which was located in the heart of the city.

Too get to the heart of the city they had to pass through the harbor and on the way they stayed next to the edge of the water so Misty could keep her eyes open for any Water Pokemon.

They were now passing through an open stretch of harbor where several ships lay docked. The water before them stretched far and wide before it finally widened out into the open sea. As they continued down the harbor they suddenly heard someone shouting. "No! Wait! Please stop!"

They whipped their heads arounds and stared across the harbor. A couple of men dressed in what looked like white outfits were running towards a tethered down speedboat. An old man was running after them, calling out for them to stop. Ash looked at his friends. "Come on guys!" he shouted as he took off running towards where the old man was trying to catch the white dressed men.

Ash finally made it around to the other side of the harbor just as the old man collapsed onto the ground. Ash ran to his side and knelt down. "Sir are you okay?! What's going on?!" Ash demanded.

The old man looked up at Ash and coughed. "No! Those men are getting away! They have all the money from my restaurant..." He coughed again and struggled to get up.

Ash pushed him back down and looked the man in the eyes. "I'll stop them sir. You just rest here... I'll be back." He said as he looked up at the retreating men and narrowed his eyes. The men were almost upon the speedboat they were running towards as the old man reached towards them again. "My speedboat!" He gasped as he began coughing again.

Ash stood and faced his friends. "Watch him!" Ash commanded as he began running after the the crooks. He started running faster and he felt his legs start to pump faster and faster. He grinned. He had never given chase to anyone before and he had never been able too test just how fast he was... Until now.

He started flying down the dock towards the boats at blurring speeds. One of the men looked back and saw Ash rapidly gaining on them. "Guys there's some kid right behind us and he's catching up! Fast!" He said in fear.

"We're almost to the boat! Keep going!" The lead man shouted as he kept running towards the boat.

They put on all of the speed they had into running for the speedboat and finally made it. They jumped into the boat as the last man untied it from the dock and another one started it.

They started pulling out into the harbor at fast speeds just as Ash made it to where they were moments before. He wasn't even breathing hard as he glared at the escaping boat.

"He's giving up guys! We're home free!" One of the men yelled out over the roar of the motor boat.

They started laughing triumphantly, thinking they had gotten away.

Ash's face remained stoic as he withdrew a Pokeball from his side. "Gyarados! I need you, show them what we do to criminals!" He shouted as he released his large Pokemon from the confines of his Pokeball.

Gyarados burst forth from his Pokeball with a loud bellow. "GYAROOO!"

The fleeing criminals looked behind themselves when they heard Gyarados's call and their eyes nearly bugged out when they saw Ash suddenly jump on it's back and then rocket towards them at super speeds. Hurtling through the water like a bullet.

"The fuck?!" One of them yelled.

"That thing is fast!" Another shouted.

"He's gonna catch us!" A man next to the driver shouted in fear.

Ash and Gyarados were coming up fast on them and in no time were only a few yards behind them. "Get right up beside them Gyarados! Don't destroy the boat though, just stop it!" Ash commanded.

Gyarados began to pull closer to the criminals and in that moment the driver panicked. He whipped the wheel of the boat around in a tight circle, trying to evade the Pokemon. However, he turned the wheel too far and fast and the boat tipped sideways into the ocean faster than anyone could follow with their eyes.

Ash instantly stopped Gyarados and looked down into the water. The crooks were flailing around helplessly, fearing for their lives. Ash shouted to his Pokemon. "Gyarados you pluck those men out of the water and Pikachu!" He looked up to his shoulder at Pikachu. "You keep them on top of Gyarados! If they move you shock them! Understand?!"

His Pokemon nodded in understanding and then Ash stood up. He spotted where the bag of credits/money was sinking into the water and did a perfect dive in after it.

He surfaced a few seconds later with the money bag strapped around his arm. He looked around and saw the speedboat sinking completely under the churning waves. He frowned at the sight of the old man's lost boat and then spotted Gyarados just a few yards away. The criminals were sitting on his back shivering and Pikachu was crouching in front of them, sparking his cheeks. The crooks were badly singed, showing that Pikachu did in fact have to shock them after all.

Ash swam over to them and let Gyarados pick him up with his teeth and place Ash on his back. He turned around to face the crooks and gave them a hard glare, daring them to try anything as Gyarados swam back to the docks.

Upon returning Ash saw that all of his friends were waiting anxiously for him to return along with the old man, several police and Officer Jenny herself.

Ash hopped off of Gyarados after they had reached the docks and then walked over to his friends and the old man while the police retrieved the crooks off of Gyarados, albeit nervously and with much trepidation. Only once Gyarados received the okay from Ash did he let the police remove the passengers from his back.

Ash was immediately tackled in a hug by Giselle as soon as he walked over to them. She kissed him on the cheek. "That was extremely brave Ash! I'm so proud of you!" She cheered him with a smile.

Ash responded by kissing her on the cheek and hugging her tightly. "Thanks Giselle. I'm glad to know that I impressed you." He said with a grin.

"You most certainly did!" She chirped.

Ash grinned wider and then released her. He greeted Brock and Misty and then walked over to the old man. He held out the money bag to him. The man looked at Ash with disbelief in his eyes and took the bag of money with shaking hands. "Young man I... I can't... There are no words." He said as he reached out and grasped Ash's hand.

"Thank you young man so much... I can't even begin to express my gratitude to you! What are your names young people?" He asked them.

Ash withdrew his hand from the old mans grasp and replied. "My names Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet Town. This is my buddy Pikachu." He said pointing to his Pokemon that was back on his shoulder again.

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.

"My names Brock and I'm from Pewter City." Brock introduced himself.

"I'm Misty from Cerulean City!" Misty greeted the old man.

"And my names Giselle!" She introduced herself kindly. "I'm from Viridian City."

The old man nodded his head and shook each of their hands in turn before stepping back and introducing himself. "My name is Moe and it is a pleasure to meet you all!" He said warmly.

Ash took a second to take in Moe's appearance. He was a tall and skinny man with a rather long face and white beard. He wore a tan straw hat, green and orange striped beach shirt, cream colored shorts and brown sandals.

The old man spoke again. "I know that they're is really nothing I can do to repay you all for your extreme kindness and brave deed but please, I own a restaurant not far from here and I would be honored if you would let me treat you to something to eat for what you just did for me."

Ash looked at his friends and then back at Moe. "We really don't want too impose Moe and you don't owe us anything, really. We wanted to help you and that's all there is to it." Ash told him.

Moe just shook his head. "No young man please, I insist! This is the least I can do."

Ash looked at his friends again and they shrugged their shoulders. He looked back at Moe and smiled. "Sure thing Moe, we would appreciate it."

The man smiled. "Then please follow me kids, I'll take you to my restaurant."

Before Ash and his friends could follow they were suddenly stopped by Officer Jenny. "Excuse me young man!" She called over to him.

Ash stopped and turned around to face the woman. "Yes ma'am?"

She walked up to him, Misty having to restrain a starry eyed Brock from lunging for the female officer, and gave him a salute. "On behalf of the entire Porte Vista police department I want to say thank you for catching those criminals." She said gratefully.

Ash laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "It was really no problem officer, we just wanted to help honestly."

She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Well it was a very brave thing to do and we are very grateful. If you ever need anything all you have too do is ask!"

She went back and joined the rest of her squad. "You all have a great day now!" She told them as her and the other officers led the crooks away.

Ash turned back to Moe and his friends. "Well? Shall we?" He asked.

He and his friends then followed Moe out of the harbor and to his restaurant.

XXXXXXXXXX

As Ash and his friends settled down at one of the tables in Moe's restaurant and started eating the delicious food he had prepared, Ash asked Moe a question that had been on his mind for sometime. "Moe, I was wondering if I could ask you a question?"

Moe nodded. "Of course young man feel free!" He encouraged.

Ash leaned a little forward in his chair before speaking. "Who exactly were those men that stole from you Moe? And why did they target your restaurant specifically?"

Moe looked down in shame before replying a few moments later. "I actually hired those men as help for this restaurant about two weeks ago. I'm in a crunch to make money fast and I need more help around here to make the place more successful so it'll attract more customers. I never dreamed that they would steal from me like they did... Sometimes you never know people." He said sadly.

Ash looked confused. "If you don't mind me asking Moe, why do you need money so badly? I'm not trying too pry I'm just curious."

The old man sighed. "No Ash it's totally fine... The truth is: There is another retaurant right across the harbor from mine and is my diner's biggest competitor. The woman who owns it, Brutella, loaned me some money when I was in a tight spot a while back. She has been hanging it over my head and demanding, almost threatening me, for her money back in full ever since then. I told her that I would have it back by the end of the month but Brutella is a very shrewd person. I learned from all of this that if she helps you it comes with a huge price. She is not understanding and doesn't get that it takes time to earn back over fifteen thousand credits, especially with just my restaurant being the only source of income I have. I'm a man of honesty and my word. I would never stiff Brutella and not pay her back no matter what would happen. However, she doesn't see it like that. I hired those men to help me earn the money back faster by making this place better but... You saw what happened there." He paused for a minute before continuing. "The worst part is that... I've always had a dream of buying a small cruise boat and sailing around the world but... That won't happen now. I'm going too have to use all of my life savings too pay her back at the rate my luck is going..." He finished dejectedly.

Ash just sat there feeling horrible for the old man. After a few moments he came to a decision of something he wanted to do. One look at his friends and Ash knew that they were thinking the same thing.

He spoke to Moe firmly but kindly, showing that he meant what he was about to say. "Moe, if you have a dream don't ever forsake it! Do whatever it takes to make it come true! You may have lost those crooks as your help but if you would accept us then we would be happy to help you out here in the restaurant and earn that money back you owe to Brutella. Maybe after all of that is over with you can use the money you've been keeping away as your life savings and then buy that boat and go on your trip!" He finished with a very serious and resolved look on his face, trying his best to make Moe believe that he could make his dream come true if he really worked for it.

Moe looked between each of the kids in turn and upon noticing their determined and smiling faces, offering their help freely he just smiled weakly. "That is extremely kind of you all to offer your help like this. I normally would refuse but seeing as I'm in such a tight spot I accept your help."

Ash nodded his head satisfied. "When do we start!"

XXXXXXXXX

Out in the harbor and below the churning waves, an odd looking Gyarados could be seen swimming further into the bay. The weirdest thing about it was the telescope that was sticking up out of the water. It wasn't until one were to follow the source of the telescope and found it attached to the Gyarados itself that one would then see it wasn't a real Gyarados at all. Just a machine.

Inside of the machine, sitting behind three separate control terminals that were in a triangle formation, was Jessie, James and Meowth. They're were several advanced looking controls built into the panels in front of them and Meowth's seemed too be the most advanced looking.

"It's a good thing we found this Gyarados themed Team Rocket submarine before the police got to what remained of Pokemon Land and confiscated everything that had too do with the organization." James said as he finished his checks on the weapons system that he was in control of.

"Yes who would have thought us washing up on that beach just after Pokemon Land was destroyed would have been such great luck! Finding this submarine stowed away inside one of the caves near the shore of the island was the best thing that could have happened to us!" Jesse said in excited agreement as she checked the radar and their current location on her own control panel.

"Hey yous twos pay attention to what your doing! I can't control dis ting all by myself!" Meowth shouted at them while he piloted the sub from the lead terminal.

"We still wouldn't have had to steal this thing at all if James wouldn't have bought that Magikarp, forcing us to be left behind by the team on the Anne and then blasted away into the ocean by that same Pokemon when it evolved into Gyarados!" Jessie said with a scowl at James.

The blue haired man stopped what he was doing and shook his fist in Jessie's direction. "Would you let that go Jessie! I've apologized over and over again! Besides, it's not like you haven't done anything stupid before! Remember when we were following the twirp and his friends through that forest, trying to find them, only to keep getting caught in all those traps!" He accused.

Jessie scoffed. "That was Meowth who kept leading us into those traps!" She said, passing the blame to Meowth.

James turned around completely to face her and shook his finger at her. "No! You said that we had too go through that forest to find them and it was the only way! Meowth and I were only following your orders!" He defended himself and Meowth.

The two of them started shouting back and forth. Meowth turned around and shouted at them. "Stop fightin the both of ya's! Dis ting takes all three of us to pilot!"

They finally stopped bickering and settled back into their seats. James's eyes suddenly grew to the size of saucers. "M-Meowth! Ship!" He panicked.

Meowth and Jessie looked ahead of them out the windows of the sub, which were actually Gyarados's two eyes and saw the sub's outside lights shine onto the sight of a speedboat resting on the bottom of the bay, upside down. The boat was right in their way and they were coming in to fast to avoid it.

"AHHH!" They yelled together as the submarine struck the speedboat and exploded a few moments later.

The parts of the sub and speedboat scattered everywhere as the three Rockets were launched out of the water and went flying towards the markets just outside of the harbor. They flew straight towards a buiding and crashed directly through one of the walls.

They landed in a room that was set up to look like a very fancy office. They ended up in a heap in the middle of the room, tangled up together like vines.

No sooner had they untangled themselves from each other and the door to the office was flung open. In walked a short, middle aged looking woman that had red hair pulled up in two long side pigtails. She wore a red dress and white shoes. Her face looked mean and hateful, like it was left out in a hundred storms and then placed out on the road to dry in the sun. All the while getting run over and making it worse!

The woman looked at the gaping hole in her wall and then down at the Rockets who were still lying on the ground. She grew a vain in the side of her forehead and then shouted at them. "What have you three done?! Come smashing through my wall and leaving a gaping hole behind in my office! What's wrong with you?!" The woman said in a raspy and very annoying voice.

Jessie shot up. "Ohh no my..." She stopped when she got a good look at the rather haggard looking woman before. "Lovely lady! You see, my team- uh... I mean... My friends and I had a bit of an accident that sent us hurtling into your fine office here. We do apologize for any problems we caused and will be glad to pay for the damages if you just... Ya know, send us the bill! We'll just be going now..." Jessie said as she picked James and Meowth up by their scruffs and prepared to drag them away.

"Hold it!" The woman demanded.

The Rockets stopped mid stride and turned around to face the old woman. She walked up closer to them. "My names Brutella and I'm the owner of the most famous and delectable restaurant in Porte Vista! 'Brutella's Better Than Yours' five star restaurant! I sometimes am in need of help around here and it just so happens that I'm short a server and cook at the moment!"

James looked confused. "But what does that have to do with us?" He asked.

Brutella glared at them. "Look what you did to my wall!" She said pointing to the gaping hole in the wall of her office. "It will need repairs and while it may be true that I have more than enough to pay for it still! You bums aren't going to just destroy my property and then walk away. Besides, looking at you three... You don't look to have so much as a cent to your names, so I know you can't REALLY pay for this damage! No, your going to work it off or else!"

"Or else what you old ha-" Jessie began with an edge too her voice.

Brutella cut her off. "I know your from Team Rocket and I'll turn you in!"

"I mean, you wonderful woman you! Of course we'll work off the damages we did to your restaurant dear Brutella!" Jessie said with false kindness in her voice, changing her tune as soon as Brutella threatened that she would turn them in.

James and Meowth had also instantly changed their attitudes as soon as Brutella revealed that she knew they were from Team Rocket. "So will we Brutella! We would be happy to!" They both said together.

The woman just smirked. "Good! Now get downstairs and start your jobs! You red!" She said pointing at Jessie. "You'll be a waitress so get yourself dressed for it! She pointed at James. "You'll be a cook!" She then looked at Meowth and after a few moments she said. "You'll be the host!"

Meowth smiled smugly while Jessie and James looked outraged. "Why does he get to be the host?!" Jessie yelled.

"Yeah why him?!" James agreed.

Brutella walked over to her desk and sat down. "Because out of all three of you he seems like the only one who has any people skills whatsoever and plus, he's the only one who hasn't back talked me and acted disrespectful since you... 'Arrived' here!"

"Yeah so stop complaining yous two!" Meowth said with his smug grin still in place.

They both gave him a death glare, which he recoiled from, but before they could attack him Brutella suddenly shouted at them. "Get going!"

They jumped and then left the office. Brutella sat back in her chair and crossed her fingers. "I probably need to pay another visit to that old fool Moe and see if he has my money yet! That geezer thinks he can stiff me?! I'll teach him a thing or two!" She shouted loudly as she shook her fist at the hole in the wall where she could see 'Moe's Diner' across the harbor.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Time Skip: Two Days Later)

Things at 'Moe's Diner' had been going exceptionally well over the two days that Ash and his friends had been helping out. Misty had taken the position of a waitress, Brock had decided to fill the post of chef and Ash took the roll of host since his people skills were so exceptional.

People had received word about the new staff at 'Moe's Diner' and how the taste, quality and service of the food had increased and began to visit much more frequently, offering a large increase in clientele for the old man. Something Moe was over the moon about.

Moe had also offered Ash and his friends a place to stay at the restaurant while they were helping him. He had a living quarters set up above the restaurant itself and had several extra rooms to offer, something Ash and the gang were only to happy to take him up on. He also gave them free range of the kitchen so they could cook for themselves and their Pokemon. Well, Brock used it at least. Every time Ash would get close Brock would practically turn into a raging Darmanitan and chase him out!

Ash had also taken to training himself and his Pokemon, which were ironically still only his six Gyarados and Pikachu since he hadn't been able to get them transferred back to the lab yet, on the beach just outside of the city every morning and evening. Just because they weren't traveling right now didn't mean that Ash and his Pokemon weren't going to keep up on their ball busting extreme training. No way!

As usual of late, Giselle and her two Pokemon, Graveler and Cubone, trained with Ash and his Pokemon every single day that they did. While Ash worked out in the water with his team of Gyarados on several different methods of training from individual to team drills, Giselle and her Pokemon worked up on the beach in the sand. She would get right down in the sand and work with her Pokemon just like Ash did with his own. One thing could definitely be said about Giselle: She may act like a girly girl most of the time with the way she dressed and sometimes talked but when she was training with Ash or was serious about something, it was almost scary how focused and determined the two of them were.

The only thing that she and her Pokemon had to be wary of when training was Pikachu. The little mouse would always get lost in his training and cause massive damage to the area around himself the longer he went at it. Sometimes they would just stare in amazement while they were taking a break at the all out intensity that Pikachu trained with, only stopping when he dropped from exhaustion. Just like Ash.

Needless to say, Giselle and her Pokemon gave him a wide birth.

Ash was really hoping that Professor Oak would return to the lab sometime soon. When he had called the Oak Lab the day before when he finally got a chance to go to the Pokemon Center, he was surprised to get ahold of Amelia, Professor Oak's daughter and Gary's mother, instead of the Professor himself. She had told him that the Professor had left the lab two days ago and would be gone for a few days so she and her daughter Daisy were watching the lab and Pokemon in his stead. However, since she wasn't a Professor herself she wasn't qualified to do transfers, only take care of and feed the Pokemon.

Ash's face had at first turned a very light shade of red when Amelia mentioned Daisy but he quickly shook it off not a second later and told her it was alright and that he would be more than fine with waiting to swap his Pokemon again until Professor Oak came back. Amelia had seen Ash get flustered when she mentioned her daughter and knew why. She just giggled a little to herself and thanked Ash for understanding. She, just like Professor Oak and Daisy, had always thought a lot of Ash and his family. Delia was her best friend and even though she was upset at Richard for just disappearing and leaving Delia husbandless and even worse, leaving Ash fatherless for so long, she still knew that he was a great man that was just over obsessed with traveling with his Pokemon.

It still amazed her at not just how incredible a job Delia did raising Ash by herself, but also just how mature, well mannered and well rounded Ash had become. Especially at only ten years old! So yes, it was safe to say that the whole Oak family loved the Ketchums like they were all one big family. She hated that Gary and Ash had drifted so far apart from how close they were when they were younger and had become such fierce rivals after they started getting closer to the age of being Pokemon Trainers.

Her son had started believing that just because he was an Oak and his grandfather was famous he would be a Pokemon Training prodigy. Amelia knew that her boy was definitely a very good Trainer from what her father had told her about his progress but she wished that Gary wouldn't look at Ash with such superiority and think so little of him. The Professor hadn't told Amelia much at all about Ash's own progress when she would ask, saying that Ash wanted his progress kept secret from all but his friends, mother and the Professor himself. This had confused Amelia but she didn't press the issue. Was it just because poor Ash wasn't very good at being a Trainer? It couldn't have been because she and Daisy were constantly amazed at just how disciplined And dedicated Ash's Pokemon were to training.

Whatever the reason for his secrecy, Amelia felt confident that Ash was at least a competent Trainer and even if he wasn't, Gary still had no right to belittle him. That was yet another thing that impressed her about Ash. Out of all the times that she ever saw her son put Ash down and make fun of him for no reason, which was a lot, Ash never once retaliated and fired back at Gary. Ameila definitely admired and respected Ash for such mature ways that was for sure. Her and her daughter both actually. She only wished that her own son would pick up such traits.

After Amelia was done with her reverie she thanked Ash again for his understanding, something Gary DID NOT have when he called the previous day wanting to swap Pokemon, and wished him all the luck possible on his journey. Ash thanked her sincerely for her kindness and expressed just how grateful he was for she and Daisy (another blush) taking care of his Pokemon. After that he had ended the call and left the Poke'Center.

Now, one thing that might confuse some people is how Ash was able to have six Gyarados with him plus Pikachu. The day after Ash and his friends left the remains of Pokemon Land he had called Professor Oak and asked him if there was anyway he could temporarily have more than six Pokemon on his team so he could train all of his Gyarados together at one time. The Professor had told Ash that since Pikachu was a Pokemon that was never in his ball it wouldn't be a problem to have one extra Pokemon on his team for a little while and happily allowed it. Something that Ash was very happy and grateful for.

It was now close to closing time and Ash and his friends, plus Moe, were all closing up the restaurant for the day when they suddenly heard someone walk in the door. They walked out to the front of the restaurant, followed by Moe, and saw a short red haired woman in a red dress standing in front of the door with two large men behind her who were wearing black suits with black shades over their eyes.

Moe sighed and walked up to meet her. "Hello Brutella. How can I help you?" He asked with forced kindness.

The woman ignored Moe's greeting and walked right up to him. "Where's my money you old swindler?!" She all but shrieked in his face.

Moe sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told you Brutella, I will have your money by the end of the month." He said calmly.

Brutella got a nasty sneer on her face. "And it's nearly the end of the month now!" She argued.

Moe smiled slightly. "And I'm happy to say that at the rate the restaurant is going I will have all of your money ready for you before the end of the month."

Brutella looked taken aback. "What do you mean?! How could your dingy little diner possibly gain enough business too pay me back?!" She asked in a condescending tone.

Moe just pointed back at Ash and his friends and smiled wider. "These kind young people have offered to help me out here at the restaurant until I get the money I need to pay you back. They have been doing a fantastic job at it as well and I am very grateful to them."

Brutella still had her mouth agape but quickly recovered and said, with a hint of irritation in her voice. "You had better hope those snot nosed brats really can help you Moe, otherwise I can assure you that I'll be taking your restaurant as payment!" She snapped as she turned around and stomped out of the diner, followed by her two 'guards'.

Moe turned back to Ash and his friends and sat down on one of the chairs with a heavy sigh. Misty suddenly burst out. "That little woman is terrible!"

"How do you deal with her Moe?!" Giselle agreed with Misty, looking equally as disgusted.

Moe just leaned back in his chair. "Believe me girls I wish I didn't have to but I do. My only hope is getting her payed back and then hopefully she'll leave me alone." He said with tiredness in his voice.

Ash put his hand on Moe's shoulder. "And we will Moe don't worry. We'll help you pay her back to the last cent and if she still doesn't leave you alone after that then I'll find a way to make her leave you alone! Don't lose hope in your dream, you can still achieve it. You can ALWAYS achieve it!" He said in an uplifting and hope filled voice.

His friends nodded in agreement and Moe smiled at them. "Thank you Ash... Thank all of you."

The kids smiled back at the kind old man and then went back to work closing up the diner. They were not going to let Brutella torment Moe anymore. They were going to stop her one way or another.

XXXXXXXXX

Brutella sat in the chair behind the desk in her office. Jessie, James and Meowth stood in front of her looking confused.

"What did you need to see us for Brutella?" Jessie asked curiously.

Brutella leaned forward in her chair and clasped her fingers together. "I called you three here because I have a job for you." She said seriously.

"What job?" They asked together.

Brutella eyed them intently before speaking again. "I need you to sabotage Moe's Diner that's right across the harbor from us. The old fool that owns the place owes me money after I helped bail him out of a tight spot a while back due to... An 'unfortunate accident' that happened to something he owned." She cackled madly at the meaning behind what she just said and got a nasty gleam in her eyes.

She shook her head to clear it before continuing. "He thinks that all I care about is getting my money back but that's the farthest thing from what I want..." She paused dramatically before continuing. "As much as I hate to admit it, that trusting fool has his restaurant set up on prime location for where a hotel could be set at. I want that property because that's exactly what I plan on doing! When Moe realizes he won't be able to pay me back then I will be legally able too take his restaurant from him as my payment and then bulldoze it to the ground and put my own hotel in!" She said this with a hungry twinkle in her eyes at the thought of how much money she could make with a hotel set up in prime location at one of the most luxurious coastal city's in the Kanto region.

The Rocket's looked confused. "But what does that have to do with us?" Jessie asked.

Brutella hopped out of her chair and walked over to them. "Recently some young kids have taken to helping Moe at that pathetic excuse for a diner. They're apparently doing something right since more and more people are starting too show up. I can't let the old fool get enough money to pay me back! If he does then I'll never own that property and I'll never get my hotel!" She yelled.

Jessie, James and Meowth shared a look with each other. "Just what did dose kids look like?" Meowth asked suspiciously.

Brutella snorted. "Some young boy who looked quite tall for his age with a Pikachu on his shoulder, another older boy with squinty eyes and black spiky hair, a girl with orange hair and no figure, then another girl who looked older than she was and as much as I hate to admit it, quite beautiful for her age."

The three idiotic Rockets shared a look with each other and then said at the same time. "It's the/da twerps!"

Brutella raised an eyebrow. "You know them?"

Jessie nodded her head. "Yes we have had... Dealings with them. They're nothing but trouble and we would only be to happy to sabotage whatever it is they do!"

"Right!" James and Meowth said together.

Brutella nodded. "Then get going! They just closed up the diner. Do it tonight after they are all in bed. I don't care how you do it!"

The Rockets bowed their heads and then left the office.

Brutella chuckled evilly. "That property will be mine!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends awoke bright and early the next day, ready for another exciting day of work at the diner. However, when they went downstairs into the restaurant they were shocked, no dumbfounded, to see that the entire restaurant was completely destroyed.

The entire dining room was upturned like Tornadus itself had jumped regions only to destroy 'Moe's Diner'. Tables and chairs were everywhere, the entrance door was ajar, the windows were broken and the bar was destroyed.

The kitchens were a mess. Food was everywhere, the freezer had been turned up to over eighty degrees, making all of the food spoil, the stoves were upturned and the water lines under the sink had been cut, making water run everywhere.

The bathrooms were no better off and the water lines below the sinks and behind the toilet had also been cut, flooding the entire bathroom.

Ash and his friends walked around and stared at the destruction with disbelief etched onto their faces. "Who would do something like this?!" Misty said in outrage.

"Whoever it was must have something against Moe. This was definitely no accident." Brock said matter-of-factly.

"It was Brutella." Ash stated with anger in his voice.

"How do you know that Ash?" Giselle asked.

He looked around a little before answering her. "She obviously doesn't like Moe, you saw how she was yesterday. I think there is something more to all of this then just a matter of owed money."

He walked over to Moe, who was kneeling in the middle of the floor, looking utterly defeated. "What else could she want Moe?" Ash asked him, being as kind and understanding as he could.

Moe just shook his head. "I have no idea. I knew she wanted her money but I didn't think she would go this far... My dream is ruined, I'll never sail the world now. She made sure of that when she destroyed this diner." He said looking defeated.

Ash wanted to say something but he knew that there was nothing he could say to help Moe right now. He needed time and that was all. Misty walked up to Moe and sat down beside him. She placed her arm around his shoulders and tried to comfort him.

Ash and Brock just looked at all of the damage and shook their heads as Giselle walked over to the entrance door that was knocked off it's hinges. She walked past a table that was still upright and saw something that instantly caught her eye. She picked it up and examined it before calling out to the rest of them. "Hey guys look at this!" She said excitedly as she ran over to a nearby table that was still standing. She took a seat and then waited for the others to join her.

Once they did she started reading a flier she was holding in her hand. "It says here that a big event of contests and challenges are being held down on Machoke Beach next week. It's called the Porte Vista Annual Beach and Poke'Contests and they offer several different events. A beach bikini contest, best Poke'Food contest, best Water Pokemon Contest and the biggest event... A Pokemon beach battle tournament."

She looked right at Ash when she mentioned the tournament and saw that he now had a wide grin on his face and his eyes were shining with the prospect of a tournament just around the corner. She smiled at his obvious excitement and then continued reading. "It says here that there is a big cash prize for the winners of these events! We could earn more than enough for Moe to not only pay back Brutella but also repair the diner!" She finished with an excited look on her face.

Ash and the others shared her excitement. "I could enter my Poke'Food into the contest." Brock offered.

"And I'll enter my Water Pokemon in the Water-Type judging!" Misty volunteered.

"And I'll enter into the tournament, obviously." Ash said with a grin and raised fist, Pikachu sharing his Trainer's excited look.

Giselle nodded and then said. "I'll enter the bikini contest. I don't know how well I'll do but I'm going to do it." She said with a shrug.

Ash slid his chair up to hers and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm sure you'll do fine, look at you! Your almost a thirteen year old girl who is developing the body of a sixteen year old! You're gorgeous and will win hands down!" He said with a smile at her.

She smiled back and then kissed him tenderly. "Thank you Ash." She said sweetly.

He got up from the table and pumped his fists into the air. "We've got a lot of work to do before the contests start next week so we had all better get to training! Since the diners pretty much closed for now due to all of the damages we will have more than enough time to get ready and prepare. You guys ready?!" He said feeling pumped up.

His friends cheered in reply, ready to start working hard so they could win the contest. Moe smiled and felt his eyes grow moist. "I have never met such kind hearted and giving young people before... Thank you so much kids, I can't thank you enough for everything your doing for me." He said as he bowed his head.

Ash waved his hand in the air. "We're only to happy to help Moe. If we get to help you settle your debt with Brutella, put her in her place, help you achieve your dream and have fun competing in the contest all at the same time then it's a win/win for all of us!" He said enthusiastically.

Moe just nodded his head in respect to the boy and then the friends dispersed for the day so they could all work on their own skills that they would be using to enter the contests with. No matter what they were determined to win all of the events and not only help Moe out, but also teach Brutella a thing or two along the way.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: One Week Later)

Ash and his friends had trained hard all week long, preparing for the beach contests they would be entering so they could win enough money to help Moe pay off the greedy and corrupt business woman Brutella.

Misty had spent the week training with her Water Pokemon, Staryu, Starmie and Goldeen. Preparing them and making sure they were in tip top shape for the Water Pokemon judging that would be taking place as one of the events.

Brock had been spending all of his time perfecting his Pokemon food recipes so he would be sure fire to win the Poke'Food taste off.

Ash and Giselle had been training side by side the entire week together down on the beach, pushing each other as hard as they could. Ash was training hard so that he and Pikachu, who he was using as his Pokemon in the contest, would be in the best shape possible for the battle tournament and Giselle was pushing herself as hard as she could so her body would be at peak condition for the bikini contest.

Ash had decided that he would use Pikachu for the tournament because Professor Oak still wasn't back at the lab yet and that meant that Ash couldn't swap his Gyarados back out for his lead team yet. He had made Pikachu promise to go easy on the competition since he had just went through another crazy power growth spurt during the week of training they had been doing. Pikachu had promised and Ash's mind was put to ease.

Giselle had been fretting like crazy the whole week that her body wouldn't be good enough to win the bikini contest. Ash had been spending the same amount of time trying too convince her that everything would be fine and telling her how great she looked. Ash may be young but he could still appreciate a woman's nice body, especially if it was his own girlfriend's body!

Needless too say, by the end of the week they all felt certain that they were ready to win every event in the beach contest!

By the day of the contests Ash and all of his friends gathered at Machoke beach near the harbor and were preparing for the contest too start. "There's a good turnout here." Brock observed as he looked out over the many different participates and spectators that had come to partake and observe the days events.

"Yeah there are..." Giselle said nervously. "And all of those people are going to be watching me when I get up there for my turn on stage..." She looked like she might get sick any second and started too turn a shade of green, causing Ash too draw her close to him and kiss her cheek. "You'll do fine Giselle, just focus and ignore the people. It's just you out there and no one else okay? You go out and then you come back in. If you don't want to do it then there is no shame in backing out now. None at all."

Misty placed a comforting hand on Giselle's shoulder. "Yeah Giselle it's alright too be scared."

Giselle pulled Misty's hand off. "Scared? SCARED?! I will have you know that I am not scared!" She said with her head held high.

Misty just smirked. "You seem pretty scared to me Giselle!" She taunted her.

Giselle huffed. "You just focus on dealing with your waterlogged little Pokemon Misty, I'll be fine!" She said indignantly.

Misty got up in Giselle's face. "What was that Miss Priss?! At least I'm not going to be strutting around in some two piece for money!" She snapped.

Giselle put her face right up in Misty's. "Jealous? At least I've got curves too wear a bikini and make it look good 'Twig'!"

"At least I don't look like some doll by dressing up and putting on make-up like you do!" Misty retorted.

Ash, Pikachu and Brock watched the scene unfold with sweat drops rolling down their backs. "Should we uh... Stop them Brock?" Ash asked.

Brock looked at Ash with a raised eyebrow. "One of them is your girl Ash, you calm them down!"

Moe stepped in and placed his arms around the two boy's shoulders. "Listen m'boys, take some advice from an old fart. When two women are fighting leave em' be unless you wanna get hurt!" He said wisely.

Ash and Brock just nodded and listened to the wise old 'sage'. Meanwhile, the two girls bickered on. "Well I have a boyfriend and I happen to know that Ash likes the make-up AND the clothes I wear too!" She shot back.

Before the girls could continue, the loudspeakers suddenly came on and the commentator announced that the start of the contests were in twenty minutes. Misty and Giselle stopped their arguing with one final glare at each other.

Just as Ash and his friends were about to go their separate ways for the different contests they would be competing in, Ash suddenly heard someone calling out to him. "Ash! Hey Ash sweetie, hi!"

Ash turned around, not believing that the voice he was hearing actually belonged to the person he thought it did. Sure enough, he saw his mother and Professor Oak some distance away, walking over to them. Well, Professor Oak was walking, Delia was practically sprinting towards her son.

Ash barely had time too prepare for the upcoming 'apocalyptic hug' before he was wrapped up in a bone crushing embrace by his mom. "Ohh Ash honey how I've missed you! How are you doing? Are you treating your Pokemon well? Are you eating enough? Are you changing your-"

Ash finally broke free from his mother, gasping for air. "Mom! What are you and Professor Oak doing here?! Not that I'm not happy too see you but I'm really surprised!" He said in shock.

His mother held him at arms length and answered him. "I'm here with the Professor on some business he had too attend to here in the city. Something about a convention for Pokemon Researchers of the Kanto region or something like that! I just came to get out of the house for awhile!" She said happily.

Delia looked up at Pikachu on Ash's shoulder and scratched the Pokemon behind the ears. "Hi Pikachu, how are you doing?" She asked the little Pokemon kindly.

Pikachu just wobbled back and forth on Ash's shoulder from the wonderful sensations of being scratched and then called out happily. "Pika! Pika Pikachu Pi!"

Delia smiled at him again and then looked over her son's shoulder at Brock, Misty and Giselle, who were watching the reunion with smiles on their faces. All except for Giselle, who looked very nervous for some reason.

Delia walked up to them. "You must be Ash's friends that he's always going on about! It's wonderful too meet you all, my names Delia Ketchum and as you know, I'm Ash's mother!" She introduced herself chirpily.

Brock introduced himself first. "It's great too meet you Mrs. Ketchum, my names Brock." He said with a smile.

"And my names Misty!" She greeted the older woman nicely.

Giselle looked extremely nervous and shifted uncomfortably. "It's really n-nice t-to meet you M-Mrs K-Ketchum..." She stuttered out, looking like she might be ill.

Delia looked concerned at the girls behavior and asked her. "What's the matter sweetheart? You don't look well." She said with worry in her voice, the maternal instincts she constantly had just under the surface came rushing up to the surface.

Ash stepped up to Giselle's side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and looked up at his mother. "She's nervous mom." He said looking back down at his girlfriend who was now clinging to him like a lifeline.

Delia looked confused. "Nervous? Whatever for?!" She asked baffled.

Ash took a deep breath and then dropped his hand down to the now trembling girls waist and pulled her close until she was flush against him, holding onto her tightly and protectively. She instantly tucked her head into his shoulder and felt more calm. When Ash felt her begin to relax he smiled and then addressed his mother again. "Mom. Giselle isn't just my friend... She's my girlfriend." He said firmly.

A pin could be heard dropping a mile away. That's how quite it became. Professor Oak, Ash's friends and even Moe, watched the scene with baited breath. None of them knowing what would happen.

Delia's face suddenly changed to one of anger and she put her hands on her hips as she scolded her son. "Ashton Richard Ketchum!" How dare you not tell me about something as important as this before now! You get a girlfriend and you don't even tell me?! Well I'm here to tell you something young man, I won't stand for it!"

Ash looked down at the ground and Giselle just clung tighter too him, wishing she could just vanish like a Ghost-Type.

Professor Oak and the others looked at Delia in surprise because of her outburst and just stared at her. Delia shook her finger at Ash. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this Ash! Didn't you think I would want to get tomknow my son's girlfriend?!" She continued to scold.

Ash just sighed. "I'm sorry mom I should have told you. But you need too know now that I am not going to-" he stopped and grew wide eyed. "Wait a minute mom... Did you just say..." he trailed off and looked at his mother hopefully.

Delia's face changed to one of a soft look and a small, warm smile graced her lips. "Ash honey, I'm not upset that you have a girlfriend. As your mother it makes me a little sad too know that your growing up but I knew this would happen eventually." A sad and wistful look crossed her face. "Ash... You've always been much older then you really are. Rather you grew up so fast because of your father never being around or because you just wanted to I don't know. I do know this though: I always knew that you would be getting into the more... advanced things in life at a younger age because you have always been so mature. It took a lot of time and coaxing from Amelia, but she was finally able to talk me into doing the best thing I could do with such a unique and special child on more hands."

She stopped and Ash looked at her curiously. "What was that mom?"

She looked out over the beach and then back at Ash before replying. "She told me that in order to let you grow the way that you obviously needed to, I had to just step back and let you experience different things in life on your own instead of being so overprotective. If your old enough to travel the region by yourself and train Pokemon, especially ones like that massive Dragonite and all of those Gyarados at such an early stage in your journey, then I think you are old enough too have a girlfriend and do a few other things in life that others would say your a little to young for. However, I am still your mother and since you are underage there will be some things that I can't allow you to do. If and when those times occur I will be there to help guide you as a parent does. I'm confident that I have instilled good values into you and I feel certain that you have a good head on your shoulders Ash. I know you won't let me down." She finished with a few tears in her eyes as Ash walked up and gave his mother a hug.

"Thanks mom." He said gently to her. "I won't let you down." He released his mother and then went back to stand beside Giselle. Delia smiled at the two of them. She then said with a clearly teasing tone in her voice. "I honestly didn't think that you would work so fast and already have a girlfriend! My son works quick, Amelia told me that Gary hasn't even had a girlfriend yet! Those cheerleaders are apparently all for show!" She joked and then laughed at the looks she received from the two wide eyed kids.

Ash blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, while Giselle looked at Delia shyly and asked timidly. "So your not upset that I'm with your son and we're both so young ma'am?" She asked with hope in her voice.

Delia just smiled warmly at the girl while shaking her head. "Not at all dear! You both are young yes, but young love and relationships are a normal and healthy part of life. And besides, since you are both so young I don't feel as though I need to worry about anything to serious happening between you two yet." At those words both kids blushed a bright red. No matter how mature they be, the subject of such a thing was still something that embarrassed them. Ohh if only Delia would have said something like that a few years later... Most likely they would have been burying the couple right then in there where they stood because they would have literally DIED from humiliation. But as it was, they were still a bit to young to let Delia's words affect them as much as it would later on.

Delia walked up to Giselle and placed her hand on the girls shoulder. "If anything, I want to get to know you now! Find out what attracted my son to you besides your obvious polite manners, good looks and seemingly sweet personality. If your anywhere near as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside then my son picked a good one!" She said with her eyes closed and a warm smile on she face.

Giselle looked shocked and just gaped in surprise at the older woman. Eventually she just blushed and began thanking Delia profusely. "Thank you so much for your kind words Mrs. Ketchum I feel so relieved now! I thought that you wouldn't accept me and would want Ash to break up with me..." At those words a shiver went down Giselle's spine at the very thought of breaking up with Ash. He sensed her discomfort and pulled her closer to himself.

Delia smiled at the young couple and shook her head. "Well as I said Giselle, you and I will have to get to know each other more some time soon! Maybe a shopping trip! You can tell me all about yourself and also tell me if Ash has been being the perfect gentlemen I drill- I mean, raised him too be! Whadya say?" She then looked over at Misty. "And of course you would be welcome as well Misty!" She said kindly.

Giselle and Misty both said at the same time. "Yes Mrs. Ketchum! Thank you!"

The woman giggled and waved her hand in the air. "Ohh! Please just call me Delia!" She looked over at Brock. "Same goes for you too Brock!" She ordered.

Brock smiled. "Sure thing Mrs- uhh... Delia." He caught himself.

Delia nodded her head in satisfaction and then stepped back as Professor Oak stepped forward. He first walked up to Ash's friends and greeted them. "I don't believe we have personally met yet! My name is Professor Samuel Oak, it's great too finally meet the friends that Ash is always speaking so highly of!" He said kindly.

Brock, Misty and Giselle smiled at the revelation that Ash talked them up so much and then Brock introduced himself. "Hello Professor Oak, my name is Brock and I'm training to become the worlds best Pokemon Breeder!" He said shaking Professor Oak's hand. "It's an honor to meet you!"

"And I'm Misty!" The orange haired girl introduced herself. "I'm a gym leader at the Cerulean City Pokemon Gym and my dream is to become the worlds greatest Water Pokemon Master!" She said enthusiastically.

The Professor chuckled. "It's wonderful to meet young people with such high goals! I wish you luck." He then walked over to Giselle. "And you must be the beautiful young lady that stole our Ash's heart!" He said with a warm smile.

Giselle blushed and grabbed ahold of Ash's arm. "Yes sir, it's great to meet you Professor Oak." She said politely.

Oak just waved his hand in the air. "Please dear I'm happy to meet the girl that Ash is always going on about!" He said with good natured humor.

Ash just turned red and Giselle smiled at her boyfriend softly. Professor Oak continued. "So m'dear, what do you hope too achieve?"

Giselle looked back at Professor Oak and said confidently. "I'm top student at Pokemon Tech and when I finish my time there I want to challenge and win the Indigo Conference and then become a professor of Pokemon tactics and battle strategies at Pokemon Tech."

The old man man smiled and nodded his head. "A great goal to be sure. Please make sure to watch out for our young Ash here won't you?" He asked the girl.

Giselle nodded and pulled herself tighter to Ash. "I promise Professor Oak, Ash will stay safe with me." She gave Ash a look that clearly said he would keep all life risking acts of heroism to a minimum when she was around.

Ash just rubbed the back of his head and gave her a lopsided grin. He turned back to the Professor and asked him. "So Professor, what was the convention about?"

Oak suddenly looked excited and answered Ash. "Ahh yes the convention! Well as I stated earlier, the expo is restricted purely for the most renowned Pokemon Researchers from the Kanto region. The convention is actually so big that the only other expo for Pokemon Researchers in the whole world that is bigger is the Pokemon Researcher World Convention which is held on Lilly of The Valley island in the Sinnoh region, where all of the biggest competitions in that region is held. This convention, which is only held once every six years, houses all of the worlds best Pokemon Researchers and Professor's for a whole week under one roof. We discuss the latest discoveries and areas of Pokemon research that are of the most popularity and promise to the world of us researchers and professors. New theories, subjects and even areas of research concerning Pokemon are sometimes even announced, but not very often."

"So that was basically what this convention was about, just not as big?" Ash asked.

"Exactly!" Professor Oak said smiling. "This convention was only a day event and not nearly as big."

Ash nodded. "Was anything new announced Professor? Any kind of research or discoveries?"

The Professor nodded and smiled slyly. "Yes actually Ash, there was."

Ash looked excited. "Really Professor?! What what was it?!"

The Professor chuckled and answered Ash. "I announced the research you and I have been conducting on Giant Pokemon. All of the other researchers were extremely interested and excited to hear about it as well. Since Giant Pokemon have always been such a mystery and no one has really ever captured any that we know of, it's very hard to get any kind of info concerning those Pokemon. When I told them all that one of my sponsored Trainers owned two Giant Pokemon himself that I was able to study regularly, they were were amazed and jealous all at the same time!" He chuckled to himself a little as he said the last part.

Ash looked both happy and a little concerned all at the same time. Professor Oak saw this and put the boy's mind to rest. "Don't worry Ash, I didn't reveal what species of Pokemon they were so your Krabby and especially Dragonite's identities are completely safe. Upon hearing those words Ash visibly relaxed. "And I will tell you something else Ash." Oak told the boy. "You are already starting to gain respect in the Pokemon Research world because of the field assistance in the research your helping me with concerning the Giant Pokemon. If you keep this up my dear boy I could see you becoming a Pokemon Researcher in record time!"

Ash felt both excited and relieved at the same time. He was relieved that Professor Oak hadn't told anyone what species his Giant Pokemon were and excited about the news that all of the Pokemon Researchers at the expo were so excited and interested in the new field of Poke'Research that he and the Professor were undertaking on Giant Pokemon.

"Thanks a lot for not telling anyone about what species Dragonite and Krabby is Professor. I'm not ready for the world to know about them just yet." He said truthfully.

Professor Oak just nodded in understanding. "I completely understand Ash. Secretes and deception are a Trainer's greatest weapon. Many Trainers will reveal the secrets to their most effective battle strategies and their Pokemon's most powerful techniques after winning a match. It's never a good idea but many people do it."

Ash nodded and waited a few seconds before asking. "Professor, since I have so many Water Pokemon now, all six Gyarados, Staryu, Squirtle, Krabby and all of my other Pokemon that enjoy the water... How is it going to work out with the pond they all train at and hang around being so small?"

Professor Oak chuckled a little and formed a strange grin on his face that confused Ash. "What's so funny Professor? Isn't it a big deal? Pokemon need their space to be apart sometimes, especially Gyarados. Even though my Gyarados are in a group they still need time for isolation when they need it. How are any of them going to be able to do that if their water space is so small?"

Oak continued to chuckle but answered Ash regardless. "Before I tell you why you have no reason to worry Ash, I think that I have something here that you are going to want back!" He said mysteriously.

Ash looked confused. "What do you mean Professor?"

He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small box. Ash took the box that was extended out to him and opened it up. Inside he found four Pokeballs all laid together neatly. He looked up at the Professor curiously. "Who's inside these Pokeballs Professor?"

The old Professor smiled. "Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pidgeotto. I knew that you were probably missing your main team and I figured that you have had more than enough time to have worked with your Gyarados so after the convention was over today your mother and I went to the Pokemon Center and I called home to Amelia, since she and Daisy are watching over the lab and the Pokemon while I'm away. And on that note Ash I should tell you: Daisy has been taking care of your Pokemon specifically for quite some time now. She's training to become a Pokemon Nurse from the Viridian City Pokemon Center Nurse Joy and your Pokemon are the healthiest and most well behaved subjects for her to work with at the lab. Actually, she's became quite attached to them and they like her quite a bit as well. When she graduates she actually plans on becoming the Poke'Nurse for Pallet Town's very first Pokemon Center instead of the Pokemon League sending in another Joy. That's actually quite an accomplishment considering that every other Poke'Center is ran by a Joy. It comes as no real surprise however, Daisy is becoming very talented at what she does and I-"

Delia suddenly stopped Professor Oak with a tap to his arm. "Professor, your getting off subject." She said kindly.

Professor Oak blinked and then laughed. "Ahh yes I was wasn't I? Thank you Delia! Sometimes I digress, habit of a Pokemon Professor you know!" He said good naturedly.

Delia laughed a little and then said. "Well I think we had better stop talking about Daisy now Professor, Ash looks like he might melt he's so red!" She teased her son.

Everyone looked at Ash and noticed that he was beat red and looked slightly uncomfortable. Professor Oak suddenly clapped his hands together. "Ahh yes! I almost forgot that our young Ash here has quite the crush on my grandaughter!" He said in amusement as he noticed Ash grow redder.

Misty just pointed a finger at Ash. "You... You have a crush on your RIVALS sister?!" She asked in disbelief.

Ash said nothing and just turned even redder, lowering his head all the while. Misty shared a look with Brock and then the two busted out laughing like crazy. Even Delia and Professor Oak chuckled in amusement at Ash's little revealed secret.

Everyone was laughing except, Ash noticed to his horror, Giselle. He took one look at her and upon seeing her narrowed eyes, crossed arms across her chest and her foot, which was tapping so fast she looked like a Buneary, his eyes went wide.

He stepped away from her and raised his arms out in front of him in a defensive manner. "N-now Giselle!" He stuttered out in terror. "It was when I was little! I don't like her anymore! I mean I do like her, she's a really great person and loves Pokemon..."

Giselle's eyebrows rose. Ash shook his head. "No no no! That's not what I meant! I mean, I don't like her like 'that' anymore! I promise!"

Giselle pursed her lips together. Ash gulped. "Come on Giselle, she's eight years older than me! I-I-I..." He sighed. "Make it quick and painless please." He begged her and closed his eyes.

He kept expecting a fist, a slap or something! Some kind of pain, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes and saw something he wasn't expecting too see. Giselle's lips were quivering and she looked to be struggling with something. Before he could ask what was wrong she suddenly busted out laughing. Hard.

He watched her laugh hysterically with a completely dumbfounded look on his face. She finally stopped laughing after what seemed like forever and wiped the tears from her eyes before speaking to Ash. "Ash..." She gasped, trying to gain her breath back. "I'm not upset that you had or even if you STILL have a crush on Gary's sister! It's completely normal for guys and girls to have a crush on people older than themselves at some point in their lives! Don't feel ashamed about it or be afraid that I'll be angry. Heck, I used to have a crush on that really famous Pokemon Ranger Jack Walker!" She placed her hand on his cheek. "So don't be afraid that I'll be upset okay?" She said softly and with a warm smile.

Ash just stared at her in shock for a little while before shaking his head in disbelief and then smiled at her. "You never cease to amaze me, you know that Giselle?" He said seriously. "Most girls would have been really upset and wanted to hurt their boyfriends when they found about a crush they had. Your just... Wow!" He said in amazement.

Giselle smiled smugly and flipped her hair exaggeratedly. "I know..." She said with a heavy sigh. "Aren't I awesome?!" She said jokingly.

Misty snorted and Giselle shot her a glare. Before she could say anything Ash hugged and then kissed her on the cheek. "That you are Giselle, that you are." He said with a soft smile.

Giselle blushed at the looks of 'aww' and amusement they received from the others and then she made one last tease at Ash. "So then it doesn't bother you that Daisy is handling your Pokemon and spending so much time with them when you probably never got to?" She said with a grin as Ash blushed again and coughed in his hand. "Nope!" He squeaked out. "Not at all!" He said in a much higher than normal tone.

Everyone began laughing at seeing Ash trying to deny a crush that he still DESPERATELY had. They finally calmed down from their laughing fit and then caught their breath. Professor Oak waited a few moments before addressing Ash again. "Well, as I was saying before Ash! I called and gave Amelia authority to use the Pokeball Transporter Machine and send those four Pokeballs over to me. After that, your mother and I wondered the city trying to find you and your friends after we heard from the city's Officer Jenny that you all were here. I was originally going to call you and let you know wherever you were that I had your Pokemon and then send them to you over the hand held Pokeball teleporter I keep on me just in case, but after we found out that we were all in the same city I figured that this would work out much better."

Ash nodded at the Professor's explanation and then unclipped the six Pokeballs that held all of his Gyarados and handed them to the Professor. He then clipped on Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pidgeotto's Pokeballs and immediately let out a relieved sigh. It felt so good to have his favorite team back on hand again. In a matter of no time at all he and the Pokemon of his main team had bonded so close that it felt weird being apart from each other.

Professor Oak noticed this and smiled knowingly. "They missed you as well Ash, that much was for definite certain."

Ash smiled and thanked the Professor for bringing them over and was just about to ask him about the water space issue at the lab again before he heard the voice over the intercom system come back on again."Attention all beach games participates! Please make your way to your respective places for the beginning of the contests! The events will begin in approximately five minutes! Thank you!"

Ash quickly turned to his friends. "We gotta go guys!" He said urgently. He turned back to his mother and the Professor. "We'll talk to you all later okay? We need to get to our positions so we can be ready when the games begin!"

"Then go on Ash!" Professor Oak told him. "You mother and I will be watching all of your performances!"

Ash's mother have him a hug before shooing him off with her hands. "Yes Ash we'll be watching! Now get out of here and go beat the competition!" She told him with a smile. Delia looked over his shoulder at his friends. "You guys are going to do a great job as well, get out there and win!"

They all smiled at the kind woman and then Ash and his friends each took off in different directions. Delia, the Professor and even Moe, who had been quite the whole time during the reunion, waved to the kids as they disappeared.

Professor Oak turned to Moe. "I don't believe we've met my good fellow! My name, as I'm sure you already have heard from our conversations, is Professor Samuel Oak."

Delia introduced herself next. "And I'm Delia sir, wonderful to meet you!" She said kindly.

Moe shook each of their hands and then introduced himself. "Very nice to meet both of you, my name is Moe. Ash and his friends have been graciously helping me out at my restaurant after Ash stopped some thieves from escaping with a large amount of money they stole from my restaurant and tried to escape with about a week ago. You see, I owe some money to a very... Shrewd woman who happens too be my business rival and upon those kind young people finding out about it they offered to help me earn the money I needed to pay Brutella back. That's actually why they entered these contests, to earn the prize money and help me pay her back and achieve my dream of buying my own cruise boat and then sailing the world." He explained to them.

Delia and Professor Oak smiled. "That Ash, always thinking of others." The Professor said with a shake of his head.

"He helped convince me not to give up on my dream." Moe said with a small smile on his own face.

Delia looked proud as could be with her son. "That's my Ash! Always helping someone in need."

Moe nodded. "A very kind young man he is." He agreed.

Professor Oak intervened. "What do you two say we go and catch the catch the first event while we continue this conversation?"

Delia and Moe nodded and then the three adults wondered off to find which of the kids would be performing in their own event first.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first event was the Water Pokemon Judging. There was quite a large crowd of people there to watch and there were quite a few Trainers with their own Water Pokemon ready to participate in the event. In the end though, none of them were a match for Misty's well taken care of and well trained Water Pokemon. She won and earned five thousand Poke'Credits in the process.

The next contest was the Poke'Food tasting contest. Yet again there was a huge crowd of people watching and several participates with their own recipes. There was even (supposedly) a top Pokemon food chef who was competing in the contest. However, not even his recipe was a match for Brock's special Pewter Poke'Food Special. All of the taste taster Pokemon, which consisted of a Growlithe, Persian, Eevee and Ponyta, all of which who were highly trained to only like the best of the best when it came to Pokemon food, completely abandoned all of the other food and went straight for Brock's dish. Much to his smug pleasure and his competitors complete disbelief, especially the supposed 'Top Poke'Food Chef'. Brock won a total of six thousand Poke'Credits for conquering the cook off.

The third event was the bikini/swimsuit competition that each participate had too be at least thirteen too enter. Since Giselle was right at thirteen the officials allowed her entrance. Ash, his friends and the three adults were able to watch Giselle go on since everyone was done now accept for her and Ash. The battle tournament took place on the same stage as the bikini contest so they all got to be where they needed to be when it was time for Ash and Pikachu to battle after this competition was done.

The turnout for the bikini contest was massive and stretched the length of the beach. People were gathered for both the bikini contest and most importantly, the battle tournament for the last event. Needless to say, it was packed and Giselle was nervous as could be.

Luckily, Ash was allowed backstage before she went up and after a rousing pep talk and a good luck kiss, Giselle strutted out onto the stage when it was her turn in her black bikini with absolute confidence. She moved with such grace and dignity that it was hard for Ash and the others too believe that she didn't have previous modeling experience. The bikini she wore not only showed the curves that were advanced for her age, but also the results from working out with Ash that was showing on her body. All in all, she looked much older and much more graceful than a girl of her age. She seemed almost natural up on the 'runway'.

When she walked out there wasn't a single set of eyes in the entire crowd that wasn't locked onto her. Ash heard heard several whistles and hollers from a group of guys in the crowd to the left of Ash's group near the stage, which made his temper flare slightly. Even Professor Oak and Moe were looking in the direction Ash was with anger etched onto their faces.

"Young punks these days have no respect!" Moe said angrily as he turned his attention back to the stage.

Professor Oak just placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Pay them no mind Ash. They're just disrespectful boys that have no sense of respect or decency. Just focus on Giselle. Besides, you can't blame them can you m'boy? She is attractive for her age and holds herself confidently." He said, trying too calm the boy down.

Ash just nodded to his mentors words of wisdom and focused back on Giselle, ignoring the other guys who were still calling out to Giselle... with a LOT of self control.

By the end of the competition Giselle won and was crowned the Porte Vista beach beauty of the year and was awarded eight thousand Poke'Credits and a beautiful purple ribbon that had the design of a shaded out woman in a bikini, laying out on the beach, shaded by palm trees, carved out into the gold medallion. Giselle was shocked beyond words that she had won out over several other older girls that had, in her opinion, much better bodies than her.

However, after being told how silly she was being and that it wasn't just her beauty but also her stage presence that won her the competition from not just Ash, Brock and Misty but also Delia and the other two adults, she apologized for sounding ungrateful and felt better about winning such a hard won contest.

The most surprising thing thing however, was when Giselle was approached by a guy in a brown business suit and slicked down brown hair that gave her a card and told her that she had real potential in the modeling world and that when she got older, around sixteen, to give him a call if she was interested and he would look into getting her a shot.

Ash and everyone else was just as floored as Giselle was but she took the card anyway and thanked the man. After he had walked away she came over and showed Ash and everyone else the card. The adults and also Brock and Misty congratulated her and told her how great it was. When she got to Ash and asked his opinion she was shocked at how ecstatic he was for her. He kept telling her to keep the card and really consider the mans, Raul Emerson was his name, offer.

Giselle was shocked and touched by his willingness to support her in something like that and then kissed and hugged him as she thanked Ash for wanting to stand by her if she ever chose something like that. Of course, Ash was modest and merely accepted her affection with equal enthusiasm as he said it was no big deal and was something any 'good boyfriend worth his Pokeballs' would do. This analogy had made Giselle giggle like crazy at her boyfriends one track mind for training and Pokemon. A cycle that was only ever interrupted by her or his new found favorite treat, frozen yogurt.

Afterwards, Giselle went to change and Ash went off to a corner of the beach where he could be alone with Pikachu and they could focus their minds on the upcoming battle tournament.

...

About an hour later it was drawing close to being time for the final event to start and Ash decided to make his way back towards the stage so he could meet up with everybody before he had to join the other competitors backstage. Upon finding his friends, his mom, Professor Oak and Moe waiting for him near the back entrance of the stage he walked up and greeted them. Upon not finding Giselle in the group and no one else knowing where she was, he became worried. After all of the looks she had been been getting during the bikini contest he was afraid someone would try something and maybe that was why she was nowhere to be found.

He excused himself and began looking for her everywhere, becoming increasingly worried as he did. He decided to head to the changing rooms near the back of the stage to look for her. When he finally arrived at them he began looking around for any sign of her. "Giselle!" He called out. No answer. His stomach started twisting in knots and when he saw something he recognized lying on the ground, his heart stopped and fear consumed him. The ribbon Giselle had earned for winning the bikini contest was entrenched into the ground, trampled on, with several foot prints and scuffle marks on the ground around it.

He picked it up and cradled it gently in his hands and followed the scuffle marks to a nearby dressing station. His breath hitched when he saw the bag that Giselle had her clothes in, abandoned near the changing room. He picked it up and at that moment, a thousand different thoughts raced through his mind on what could have happened to her. In the end his frantic mind came to one conclusion. Someone had her. Ash felt that all to familiar rage start to rise up in him and he quickly began breathing in and out quikly to regain control of himself as he felt his senses start to cloud over. He knew that he had to keep control over himself right now because losing his temper and then... Changing like he did when he was angry, would not help him find Giselle.

He discovered this breathing technique during his everyday training with Giselle. It was her idea. She said that taking deep and calming breaths always helped her become calm when she was angry and she thought that maybe it would help him. Ash had tried it since he was desperate to find some way to control his temper so he wouldn't change anymore. After he had nearly killed Team Rocket at Bill's lighthouse in his blind rage, he did not want to lose control like that ever again. It had actually been working too. When he had taken down those three Rocket Grunts in the hallway on the St. Anne he felt that same anger come over him and he managed to push it down with Giselle's breathing technique.

He did that now. He breathed in through his nose and let the fresh oxygen cleanse the burning anger he felt inside. He would then breath out through his mouth and envision that he was actually 'dispelling the anger' from himself. When he felt the anger finally fade away from 'critical levels' he turned too look at Pikachu, who was sitting on the ground looking up at Ash with concern in his eyes. He was afraid that his Trainer was losing himself to his anger again and would change like he did when he got really mad, something that he didn't ever want to see happen again. Especially because when he was in contact with Ash when he changed into his... Darker side, it also made Pikachu feel really agitated and angry as well. Almost as if he was trying to... transform as well.

Ash scratched his Pokemon behind the ears. "It's okay Pikachu... I'm still here." He breathed out.

The yellow mouse perked up and and chirped at Ash happily. "Pika! Pika Pikachu!"

Ash looked Pikachu in the eye seriously. "I need you to do something Pi okay?" He asked, getting his Pokemon's attention.

Pikachu nodded his head and turned serious. Ash held up Giselle's ribbon. "Someone has Giselle Pikachu. I need you to follow her scent using this ribbon to get yourself refreshed with her scent okay?"

Pikachu grew wide eyed and his eyes burned with anger when he heard that Giselle was in danger. He became totally focused and nodded his head. He sniffed the ribbon but couldn't get a strong scent off of it since Giselle hadn't worn it much since she just received it. He instead sniffed Ash's tracksuit and was blasted with a strong scent of the girl to his senses. He shook his head to clear it and then bounded over towards the street that lead into the city. He looked back at Ash. "Pikachu!" He called out to his Trainer to follow him, Ash nodded before dropping Giselle's bag and then charging after his Pokemon. Together, Pokemon and Trainer headed out into the city, intent on finding Giselle. Both of them struggling to keep a cap on their emotions, especially Ash.

...

(A/N: The Somewhat Mature Scene Is Ahead, Be Warned. DO NOT READ THIS PART IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE!)

Ash ran through the city after Pikachu and noticed that he was leading Ash in the direction of a more run down part of the city, towards a nearby alley that was in between two tall buildings. Ash heard a muffled scream and his blood ran cold. He looked down at Pikachu and saw the Pokemon staring at the alley across the street with the same look of worry and dread in his eyes that Ash felt sure was mirrored in his own. Dreading what he may see, Ash took off running towards the alley as fast as he could. Pikachu ran up onto his shoulder without breaking either of their speeds and kept his eyes fixed on the alley.

Ash finally reach the alley and looked down it's long recesses. There he spotted Giselle. She was far down the alley lying on the ground. She was surrounded by four guys who were kneeling down and circling her in a tight formation, completely cutting off any rout of escape. Her jean jacket had been ripped off of her and was lying on the ground some ways away, her shirt was pulled up to her neck, exposing her black bra and three of the four guys were holding her down. They all looked to be a little older than Brock and had short hair, wore tank tops, beach shorts, sandals and were somewhat built. The lead guy was hovering over her in a straddling position with a vicious sneer on his face. He had short and spiky brown hair.

"Come on baby, with a body like that you need someone too show you how to put it to good use! I can do that sweetie, so come on..." He said as he leaned closer to her.

"No please, just leave me alone!" Giselle yelled out loud, struggling to get the guy off of her and free her arms and legs from the grips of the other boys. It was no use though, she was completely overpowered.

...

At the same time, back at the beach near the stage Delia was worried about Ash and Giselle. "Do you think that those two are okay? Ash went to find Giselle a little while ago and neither one of them has come back yet!" She fretted.

They didn't say it for Delia's sake but Brock, Misty, Professor Oak and Moe were also worried for Ash and Giselle. They both heard the group of boys that were calling out to Giselle during the swimsuit competition and she did go off by herself to the changing rooms without anyone with her. If they were to have got ahold of her then Ash would have went after them after he noticed Giselle was missing and he if he did find her with them he wouldn't have been able to take on all of them by himself. Especially since they all looked quite a bit older than him.

Brock and Misty shared a look. "We'll go and find them Delia." Brock offered.

"Yes we'll find them don't worry!" Misty said assuringly.

Delia nodded her head. "Thank you both, I would appreciate it." She said with a small and worried smile.

Professor Oak and Moe looked at each other and were secretly very glad that Brock and Misty had volunteered to search for Ash and Giselle because if not, they would have and gotten Officer Jenny in the process.

Brock and Misty took off then and began their search. "Where do you think they are?" Misty asked worriedly.

Brock just shook his head. "I don't have any idea but I do have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach..." He said with worry clear in his voice.

Misty looked down and then she slowly looked over at Brock while they ran. "Brock... Do you remember those boys who were calling out to Giselle during her time on stage?" She asked hesitantly.

Brock nodded. "I do."

Misty looked like she was struggling to just get out into the open what they were both thinking. Finally she said. "Giselle went off by herself and no one would have been around at the dressing rooms after the rest of girls had all finished changing. We both know that the last one there would have been Giselle since she takes forever to get ready..."

Brock urged her on. "And?" He said as they neared the dressing rooms.

Misty hesitated and didn't say anything as they finally made it to the dressing rooms and then checked around for any sign of Ash and Giselle. After finding no sign of them except for the scuffle marks and Giselle's bag near one of the changing stations they met back up in the center of the area where the changing rooms were set up. Brock held up Giselle's bag and had a grim look on his face. "This isn't good Misty, something has happened to Giselle and from the looks of things..." He gestured to the scuffle marks on the ground. "There was a struggle here."

Misty grit her teeth and looked truly scared. "And I have a feeling that Ash already knows and is probably looking for her right now..."

Brock just shook his head to clear it of all of the bad thoughts swirling around in his mind and then pointed to the city behind the beach. "Let's go check the city Misty, maybe we'll find them there." He said as he took off again, Misty following close behind.

As they made it onto the street that was just off the beach and took off running for the city Misty finally voiced her worst fear. "Brock... What if... What if those guys from the contest earlier were the ones that took Giselle..." She asked with fear laced in her voice.

Brock kept running and didn't look at her. "Then Ash would search until he found her." He stated without hesitation.

Misty suddenly stopped running and looked down at the ground, trembling slightly at the thoughts passing through her head. "And what if... They have already or Arceus forbid... ARE doing something to Giselle right now and Ash finds them doing it..." She almost didn't want too hear Brock's answer but she stayed herself.

Brock, who had stopped running by now as well, just looked away before answering. "Ash is a very special and kind hearted person Misty. He cares about us a lot and loves his mom, Professor Oak and all of his Pokemon dearly. I can also easily see just how much Giselle means to Ash and she's becoming more and more important to him with each passing day. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Ash is starting to fall in love with her and I don't think you would argue with that either."

Misty nodded her head. Ash DID care for Giselle very, very much. The way he looked at her... Misty knew that Ash cared about her and Brock deeply as well but with Giselle, it was a totally different set of emotions. As much as she really hated to admit it because of her own feelings for the raven haired Trainer, Ash probably was falling in love with the Pokemon Tech beauty. "No... I wouldn't." She answered finally.

Brock then looked at her and said in a completely calm and serious voice. "If Ash lost control of himself to that... power, when he was mad at people like Damian for mistreating his Pokemon or Team Rocket attacking Dragonite... What do you think he would do if someone was to harm Giselle? The ONE person that can calm Ash down when he gets like that and... Transforms. If anyone were to TOUCH her in a wrong way, what do you think he would do?"

Misty looked up at Brock with horror in her eyes and saw something very similar in his own, though it was hidden well. "Arceus Brock... We have to find Ash now!" She choked out through the fear that was constricting her words.

Brock nodded. "Let's hurry." He said simply but firmly.

Misty quickly nodded her own head and then the two took off again, praying to Arceus that those horrible boys did not harm Giselle and if they did, Ash would not find them. Arceus help them all If he did...

...

"No stop!" Giselle screamed at the older boy.

The brown haired boy just sneered. "You just need to let go and enjoy it baby, everything will be okay!"

Ash felt himself start to shake when he saw what was happening and shouted out to them. "Let her go!"

The guys whipped their heads around when they heard Ash shout at them. Giselle turned her head as well from where she was on the ground and when she saw her boyfriend standing there at the end of the valley she screamed out to him. "Ash! Ash please help! Please!" She yelled terrified just before the boy straddling her slapped his hand over her mouth. "Shut up!" He ordered her.

Ash began shaking even more as he felt all self control start too fade away like water in a river upon seeing the way the boys were treating his girlfriend. Giselle turned her head to the side and looked at Ash with pure terror in her eyes. Ash took one step forward, the willpower it was taking to control his body by this point was tremendous. He felt that same powerful energy bubbling just below the surface of his skin, making him feel like he was on fire and needed to be put out... The angry and unrestrained power he felt boiling in his blood was almost screaming to be released... To be unleashed. "I'm... Warning... You..." He gritted out through fury that nearly choked off his airway. His eyes were locked onto Giselle's restrained form and staring into her eyes, no matter how much fear was shining within their depths, her eyes were the only thing keeping him from losing complete control. Giselle seemed too know what Ash was battling with as she watched him struggle forward in his zombie like trance, his body acting as though it was trying to rip all control away from Ash. Even in her own tormented and terrified state she still tried to convey all of the feelings of comfort and warmth to Ash through her eyes as she could. "Let... Her... Go..." Ash ground out, as though speaking was unnatural for him right now.

The boy that was on top of Giselle sat back on her and placed his hands on the back of her thighs for support, making Ash creak his neck to the side like he was mechanical at the teens actions.

"I'll let her go kid... After I've given 'Miss Porte Vista' here, the pounding of a life time!" He looked down at Giselle's terrified face. "Yeah she's young but... With a body like this you wouldn't believe it!"

He looked at his friends. "Go take care of that chump while I have some fun. I'll save you some!" He ordered them.

His friends laughed cruelly and then got up. They started walking towards Ash, cracking their knuckles as they walked. The brown haired boy just looked back down at Giselle. "It's time honey!" He said as he jammed both of his hands down into the insides of Giselle's bra and pinched her nipples hard while he slammed his mouth down onto hers. Giselle screamed from the pain of his rough handling of her but it was muffled by the teens mouth covering hers.

At that moment Ash stopped moving in his slow, trance like state, completely. His eyes became completely unfocused and his arms hung limp at his sides. Pikachu knew what was about to happen. Ash was gone and a monster was about to be unleashed in his place. He jumped off of Ash's shoulder and took off out of the alley, running to find Brock, Misty and the others so they could help find some way to subdue was about to become a very terrifying and powerful version of Ash.

Giselle bit the boy's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, making him cry out in pain and release her mouth from his. With her window of opportunity now open she screamed out to Ash. "Ash! Ash sweetie listen to me! Calm down please! Just listen to my voice and look into my eyes! Fight it back Ash! I'm going to be alright please calm down!" She looked up at the boy on top of her who was still holding his mouth and yelled frantically at him. "You need to get off of me and get away as fast as you can right now! If you don't then something really bad is going to happen! If he doesn't see that I'm safe he's going to-"

The boy just growled and slapped her across the face. "Shut up you little bitch!"

That was it. The trigger had finally been pulled... the string had been snapped. Upon seeing the sick bastard slap Giselle, Ash was gone completely. He fell to his hands and knees as his body shook like a tremor. A blue and violent looking energy began escaping from him and started rising up into the air in a cloud of blue steam. It began swirling around him slowly as his fingernails scrapped so hard on the concrete below him that blood was drawn forth from his fingertips.

He snapped his head back as his eyes suddenly flared into a glowing electric blue and the energy around him exploded, completely covering and consuming him. The energy shot up into the air and began swirling throughout the entire alley and covered everything in it's thick and overwhelming presence. A terrible howling sound, like tormented screams, ripped through the alley... coming from the energy that was twisting around so violently that the boys were having a hard time standing on their feet.

Ash stood up and threw his arms to the sides as he reared his head back and almost roared. "GRAWWWWW!" He bellowed as the energy cloak completely covered him and shadowed out his image completely. Leaving only his silhouette and a pair of blue eyes glowing with hate and rage in place of his normal calm and collected amber ones.

By this point the alley began glowing a soft blue and the atmosphere completely darkened. The air became almost impossible to breath it was so thick and the worst feeling of dread completely permeated the air. The energy cloak that was bubbling and swirling around Ash like a dark blue fog suddenly sprouted several tentacle looking appendages. The 'arms' began whipping around violently, smashing everything they came into contact with. They smashed into garbage cans, shattering them on impact, sliced chucks out of the ground and walls of the buildings surrounding the alley and cast an ominous feel on whenever they hovered over. The energy itself was so strong that the wind picked up and destroyed the windows of the buildings that made up the alley, making glass fall down on top of them all. The area where Ash was standing was literally carved down further into the ground from the sheer power of the energy.

The boys looked beyond terrified. "What the fuck is this guy?!" One of them shouted over the hissing and roaring wind.

"He's some kind of monster!" Another said.

"Let's get out of here!" The last one said.

They all began running as fast as they could down the alley, keeping as far to the sides as they could so they could avoid Ash. The boy in question just grinned darkly from inside of his energy shell and threw his arms out. The energy tentacles shot forward at blinding speeds and smashed the fleeing boy's up against the walls. The arms then wrapped themselves around the boy's waists and lifted them up into the air until they were being held several feet off of the ground over top of Ash's head, kicking and struggling to get free.

"What the hell?! Let me go!" One shouted.

"I can't move!" Another yelled.

"Aghh! It's squeezing me!" The last guy choked out.

Ash suddenly released a deep and booming laughter, one filled with anger and malice, as he tightened his hands into fists slowly. The tentacles of energy that was holding the boy's tightened at the same time. Slowly and painfully crushing them the more Ash clinched his fists.

The boys cried out in excruciating pain and begged for Ash to release them. "Please let us go!" One of them managed to gasp out in between breaths.

"Don't talk to it! It's a monster, it won't listen!" The second guy, who had convinced himself that Ash really was a monster, shouted to his friend with what little air he had remaining.

The third boy just remained frozen in fear, knowing that this had to be a horrible nightmare.

Ash wasn't about to let them off that easily. No... He was going to make them suffer. He loosened his grip on them just enough so they wouldn't suffocate completely and then lifted them even higher with his energy tentacles. Then, with a primal roar, he slammed his arms downward. The energy tentacles zipped towards the ground and smashed all three boys into the ground face first with a loud 'thwack!'.

Ash then began whipping his arms around in sporadic directions. With every direction he would move, the tendrils of energy would move as well. He began slamming the boys into everything in the alley. He smashed them into the walls, the ground, some of the large garbage bins that hadn't been destroyed yet. He was absolutely ruthless and with every hit, a sickening 'crack' was heard.

Giselle and the boy on top of her just stared at the sight with wide eyes. Giselle was terrified for Ash and how out of control he was right now. This was without a doubt the worst she had ever seen him. Never before had he been so consumed by the dark energy and never before had it been so... Vicious and horrible. The strange tentacle arms were also something she had never seen before. When Ash lost control at Bill's lighthouse, he had merely formed a strange sphere of glowing blue energy in his palms and had intended to fire it at Team Rocket. In fact, if not for Giselle then he would have and Team Rocket would have most likey died. She thought he had lost control then but now... Never before had he been so controled by this dark energy and the 'dark tentacles' he was using now to torture his victims were beyond horrifying.

The boy on top of Giselle gaped. "W-what the hell is he..." He muttered in terror.

Ash finally finished his torment of the three boys in his grasp and stopped moving his tentacle arms. When they came to a stop, the three boys were hanging limply in the tentacles hold. They were covered in blood and their clothes were torn to pieces. If several bones were not broken then it would have been a blessing by Arceus, which was pretty safe to say that there was no way she would ever show any kind of mercy to such horrible excuses for human beings.

Ash flung his hands forward lazily and the three boys were launched from the energy tentacles grasp and landed in a heap further down the alley, groaning in pain. Ash turned his piercing, electric blue gaze towards the one boy that he felt the most hatred for. The one who was currently straddling HIS Giselle.

He narrowed his eyes and slowly walked forward down the alley towards the boy. The energy cloak spinning and churning violently around him as it destroyed anything it came in contact with. The boy tried to move but he felt himself rooted where he was on top of Giselle. Ash spoke in a voice that sent shivers down the spines of both the boy and Giselle. "WHAT'S WRONG!? I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO HAVE HER?!"'

Ash came closer and closer as the boy stared up at his doom with a look of something that transcended horror. Giselle felt something warm and wet on top of her waist and looked down at the boy's shorts. She saw a dark spot forming in his shorts and realized that he had wetted himself and the warm and wet feeling she felt was urine.

As grossed out as she was, Giselle was to focused on Ash to give thought to anything else. Ash came closer until he was standing directly over top of the boy, the swirling energy around Ash was hungrily lapping around in twisting motions, ready for it's next victim. Ash looked down on the boy with an eerily calm look on his shrouded face.

He lashed his arms forward as quick as lightning and the tentacles of energy wrapped themselves around the boy before he could even move. Ash jerked the boy off of Giselle, into the air and brought him as close to his energy shrouded face as he could. He looked dead into the other boys terrified eyes and spoke to him in a voice that sounded as though it belonged to death itself.

"YOU WANT TO BE CLOSE TO HER?!" Ash suddenly created a cloud of energy that surrounded Giselle's body as she lay where she was. It hovered over her slightly and just stayed there. Ash lifted the boy up and then flipped him around until he had the energy tentacles holding onto each of the boy's arms and legs. He suspended the boy face down until he was face to face with the wall of energy that Ash had erected over top of Giselle. "THEN GET CLOSE!" Ash bellowed as he rammed the boy down on top of the energy wall.

A hissing and burning sound was heard as the energy began burning the boy badly. He screamed in agonizing pain as the energy burned through him like a blazing sun. When Ash was done he lifted the boy's burned body above his head and then threw him onto the heap of nearly unconscious boys.

He walked over to them and extended his arms again. The energy arms wrapped around each of the teen's necks and brought them all up into a kneeling position in front of Ash. They were now all in line with each other, almost like an executioners position. They were blurry eyed from the immense pain their bodies were experiencing and felt like they their bodies were on fire.

Ash stood in front of them, staring them down with a rage and hate in his eyes that made them cringe and tremble in fear. He then spoke in a voice that reverberated with a great power, almost as though his voice was mixed with someone else's.

"JACKSON HYSON! DARIUS TEMRIN! JONATHAN ALLERD! GRAYSON BAREVON!" He addressed them authoritatively and with coldness in his voice.

The four beat up and broken boys widened their pained eyes in surprise. How did he know their names?! Ash continued. "YOU HAVE WASTED THE LIVES YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH BY MAKING OTHERS LIVES MISERABLE AND CAUSING PAIN TO ALL THOSE YOU HAVE COME ACROSS! YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO ALL OF THE GOOD AND KIND HUMANS OF YOUR RACE! NO LONGER SHALL YOU BRING TORMENT TO OTHERS! ESPECIALLY NOT THE FEMALES YOU SEEK SUCH JOY IN TORTURING FOR YOUR OWN SICK PLEASURE!"

The energy around Ash began glowing bright. So bright that Giselle had to cover her eyes from the blinding light. The blue energy began swirling around Ash even faster until it was covering him and the other boys. He then lifted his arms up to the sides and raised them high in the air until they were above the boy's heads and angled down towards them. His eyes glowed even more as he spoke again. "YOU HAVE GAINED TWISTED PLEASURE FROM THE EYES THAT YOU HAVE USED TO STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF THE INNOCENT YOUNG WOMEN THAT YOU HAVE ABUSED! STARTING FROM THIS DAY FORWARD YOU SHALL NO LONGER CAUSE THAT FEAR NOR SHALL ANY WOMEN FEEL THREATENED BY THOSE SAME EYES!"

The tendrils of energy came down upon the boys until two tendrils were resting upon each of them at different areas of their bodies. One hovered in front of their eyes and the other rested near the boy's groins. Ash then spoke in an even louder and deeper voice. "ON THIS DAY YOU SHALL LOSE ALL THAT HAS CAUSED WOMEN PAIN AND YOU JOY! I TAKE FROM YOU YOUR SIGHT, SO YOU WILL NO LONGER HAVE THE PLEASURE OF GAZING UPON THE FEMALES THAT YOU TAKE SUCH SUCH JOY IN TORTURING!"

As soon as that was said, the tendrils of energy that were resting above the boy's eyes fell down upon them. A loud hissing sound, followed by a bright glow and proceeded by smoke, came from the boy's eyes as they screamed in agony. Ash yelled out over the screams of pain. "I ALSO TAKE FROM YOU ALL THAT MAKES YOU MEN IN YOUR OWN RIGHT! THE PRIVILEGE OF REPRODUCTION AND THE GIFT TO MAKE PLEASURE WITH THE COMPANY OF A WOMAN WILL NOW BE FOREIGN TO YOU! NEVER AGAIN SHALL YOU FEEL THE PLEASURES OF INTIMATE CONTACT WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX! SHALL YOU EVER AGAIN TRY YOU WILL FIND THAT YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF FEELING SUCH PLEASURES! NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO PLEASURE YOU, NOR WILL YOU BE ABLE TO PLEASURE YOURSELF! THE PHYSICAL JOINING BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE MOST TREASURED EXPERIENCE BETWEEN TWO WHO ARE BONDED! AN ACT OF WHICH YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT DESECRATE!"

At those words the tendrils of energy shot forward and seemed too pass straight THROUGH the groins of the boys, much to their horror and complete disbelief. Their looks of bewilderment quickly changed to ones of pure and unmatched agony as a burning pain, like a wildfire, was set to the inside of their loins and spread throughout their bodies like an unstoppable force.

As the boys screamed in agony Ash stretched his arms out further. "ON THIS DAY YOU HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF WHAT GIVES MEANING TO YOUR LIVES! NEVER SHALL YOU KNOW THE FAMILIARITY OF THEIR GRACES AGAIN LESS YOU SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIVES ATONING FOR THE CRIMES YOU HAVE COMMITTED!"

Just as the tendrils of energy exited from the bodies of the boys, Ash clapped his hands above his head and a loud clap of thunder was heard overhead, even though there was not a cloud in the sky. Ash said loudly while his hands were still raised above his head. "SUCH IS THE JUDGMENT AND COMMANDMENT OF ARCEUS! SO SHALL IT BE DONE!"

(MATURE SCENE END)

Ash then lowered his hands hands to his sides and shut his eyes. The boys had immediately passed out from pain shortly before the tendrils left their bodies. The energy field that was covering Giselle fell away as she slowly stood up. She looked at Ash warily as he was turned away from her so she couldn't see him. The energy was still swirling around him but it was more controlled now. The tendrils of energy slowly receded and the wind died down. The atmosphere lightened up a little and breathing became easier.

Giselle took a deep breath for courage and then walked forward slowly, completely ignoring the fact that her shirt was still twisted up above her neck and her bra was out of place and a bit askew from when she was felt up by that brown headed bastard.

She stood a few feet behind Ash now and hesitantly called out to him. "Ash?"

His head slowly rose up and he ever so slightly turned his head to look at her. She stepped a little closer. "Ash... Please turn around and face me." She said with uneasiness in her voice.

Ash slowly turned around to face her. When he was finally facing her she noticed that his were still glowing blue, only it was very faint and his eyes were unfocused, almost unstaring. Giselle walked forward slowly until she was only a few inches from him. The strange, shocking and burning sensation from being this close to his energy cloak made her skin tingle.

She hesitated for a few moments and then stilled herself before ever so carefully reaching her hand out and placing it softly on his cheek. Ash tensed up at the contact for a second, but upon recognizing the soft skin on his cheek he relaxed. Giselle noticed Ash start to relax at her touch, only her touch, and smiled slightly as she stepped right in front of Ash until their bodies nearly touched and placed her other hand on his other cheek.

She continued to smile softly as she stroked his cheeks comfortingly and brought his face close to hers until their foreheads nearly touched. She looked into his eyes and saw that they were starting to turn back to normal as the energy surrounding him slightly began to fade.

...

Near the entrance of the alley, Pikachu suddenly appeared again with Brock and Misty in tow. Upon seeing Ash cloaked in the familiar energy that was now receding and Giselle standing there with her shirt hiked up and her breasts nearly popped out of her bra, holding onto Ash's cheeks with her forehead nearly pressed against his, not to mention that there were four unconscious boys a few feet away... They knew that something had definitely happened.

"Pika..." Pikachu said, worried for his Trainer.

"What the?!" Misty said in shock.

Brock shook his head. "Something big must have happened..." He answered her.

Misty made to run over to them but Brock held her back. "Let Giselle take care of this Misty, we just need to stay here and see what happens." He advised her.

She looked torn for a few seconds but eventually just nodded her head and stepped back.

...

Ash's eyes slowly closed and then Giselle saw something that shocked her. Tears began forming behind his closed eyelids and started falling down his cheeks. She looked concerned and tightened her hold on his cheeks. "Ash..." She said softly.

He didn't respond and just kept his eyes closed as more tears fell down his face. Giselle was very concerned. Never before had she seen Ash actually cry. "Ash please talk to me, what's wrong?" She asked as she continued to stoke his cheeks comfortingly.

He just shook his head and mumbled for the first time in his own voice since he changed. "Couldn't... Couldn't save you... Wasn't quick enough... I'm sorry..." He croaked out.

Giselle barely heard him but when she was sure she did hear him correctly she said gently. "Ash... Please open your eyes and look at me."

It took a few moments but Ash finally opened his eyes and looked at her. She was extremely relieved to see that his eyes were now completely back too normal. In fact, she was very happy too see that she energy surrounding Ash was slowly starting to fade away completely.

She looked into Ash's eyes and then reached up and wiped the tears that were collected there away with her hand. "Ash..." She said softly. "What do you mean you weren't quick enough?" She asked confused.

Ash started too feel wobbly from the after effects of his change and grabbed onto Giselle as he slowly started falling to the ground. She grabbed ahold of his shoulders and helped down until he was kneeling. She placed her hands under his neck and looked back into his eyes again. "Please talk to me Ash." She urged him gently.

He took a deep breath. "If I would have been faster... If I wouldn't have left you alone... None of this would have happened to you and those... Bastards would have never did anything too you. I should have known they would have tried something after how they were acting at the contest!" He scolded himself in a creaking voice as the energy around him started to pick back up again.

Giselle quickly pulled him closer to her and tightened her hold on him. She put her forehead against his and rubbed his neck soothingly while speaking to him softly with as much affection as she could put into her words. "Ash it's not your fault! Those monsters took me because they wanted to and they wouldn't have stopped until they did! You made it to me and saved me before they could..." She choked on her next words. "Before they could do anything really bad to me. You were my knight in shining armor Ash! You showed up when I needed you the most and you protected me. You didn't just protect me, you made them pay for what they did to me and you assured that they would never do anything like that ever again to any other girls!"

She looked into his eyes deeply as he stared back at her with wide eyes. "Your my hero Ash. You showed me just how much you cared for me today and it's beyond words how amazing I feel right now because of it, so please... Don't feel bad for being my savior and the one person that I know will aways come for me." She said with tears in her eyes as well.

Ash, who by this time had completely returned to normal, took Giselle's cheeks in his hands and stroked them tenderly. "I was so afraid that I might have lost you Giselle..." He said as he stared at her with such tenderness and affection it made her blush.

"I'm not going anywhere Ash, you need me to much." She joked.

Ash laughed and touched his forehead to hers. "I don't have a problem admitting that as long as you admit that you can't resist my charm." He told her with smug grin on his face, his voice and personality finally returning to normal.

She slapped him on the arm playfully. "I'm being serious funny guy." She scolded him teasingly.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "So am I." He said smiling.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "No more talk Ketchum, just kiss me already!" She commanded him.

He smiled and nodded his head. "Yes ma'am."

They then leaned in at the same time and merged their lips together in a soft and sweet kiss. The gentle pushing and pulling of each other's lips as they kissed was the only thing they were focused on at that moment. They continued to kiss for a few minutes until Giselle shivered. Ash broke away from her and then looked at his girlfriend in concern. "What's wrong?" He asked her worriedly.

I'm cold!" She said shivering.

Ash seemed confused. It was a warm day, why was she... That's when he looked down and saw her current state of undress. His eyes bugged out and he coughed as he turned away. "Umm... Giselle, you might want to fix your clothes." He said blushing.

Giiselle looked down confused and saw that her clothes were still disheveled from when she was attacked. Her shirt was lifted above her neck exposing her black bra, which was slightly lopsided. She turned dark red and then fixed herself quickly. Once she was done she walked over and picked her discarded jacket back up.

Ash turned too face her again and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Sorry Giselle... I didn't see anything though I promise." He assured her.

She just shrugged her shoulders and took Ash's hand. "It's okay Ash, I know you wouldn't be disrespectful like that and gawk at me. Thank you for telling me though." She said smiling at him.

Ash just smiled back and kissed her hand. "Anytime m'lady!" He said with a mocking proper tone to his voice.

Giselle giggled and then she and Ash heard footsteps in the alley. They looked up and saw Brock, Misty and Pikachu coming toward them. "Ash! Giselle!" Misty shouted as she ran up to them. "Are you two alright? We saw a little of what happened but not all of it!"

"Yeah you had us worried!" Brock said as he caught up to Misty and stood facing them.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu said as he hopped up on Ash's shoulder. He scratched his Pokemon under the chin and smiled. "Did you bring them here buddy?" Ash asked his Pokemon.

Pikachu nodded. "Pikachu!"

Ash turned back to his friends. "I'm sorry we worried you guys." He apologized.

Misty just shook her head. "Never mind that Ash! Tell us what happened!" She urged.

Ash sighed and then stood up slowly with Giselle's help. His body felt like it had just been used as a personal punching bag for a Fighting-Type champion. He then went on and explained what had happened to his friends.

Brock and Misty listened as their eyes grew wider as he went on. By the time he finished they were in a state of shock. "You actually took away those... 'things' from those guys?!" Misty asked amazed.

Ash just shrugged and scratched his cheek. "Well I don't think it was necessarily me. It was just like what happened with Damian. Some other outside force was responsible." He didn't bother telling them that he knew it was Arceus. He still didn't feel the time was right to tell them about something so life changing yet.

"Well at least you guys are safe." Brock said patting Ash on the back.

"Yeah we were afraid something could might have happened to you two." Misty said with relief clear in her voice.

Ash nodded and then looked at his Xtransceiever. "It'll be time for the tournament to start soon guys, let's get going." He said.

Brock pointed to the unconscious boys further down the alley. "What about them?" He asked.

Ash just narrowed his eyes and subconsciously drew Giselle closer to him protectively. "Leave them. They'll be in for a very rude awakening when they wake up." He said with a dark grin on his face.

Brock just nodded in understanding and then after a few moments of silence suddenly snapped his fingers in rememberance and then took the bag that he had slung over his shoulder off. He handed it to Giselle. "Here you go Giselle, I found this back at the changing rooms." He said as Giselle took it.

She looked at the bag and then back at Brock. "Thank you so much Brock, I really appreciate it." She said gratefully.

The teen just shrugged. "Anytime Giselle. We're just glad your safe and sound."

Misty chimed in. "Yeah Giselle we really are glad that you're okay." She said sincerely.

Giselle smiled at her friends. "Thanks a lot you two, it really means a lot knowing that you care so much."

Brock and Misty returned the smile and just as Giselle went to sling the bag over her shoulder, Ash grabbed it from her and hoisted over his own shoulder. She looked at him in confusion and he offered a small smile. "Ladies don't carry their own bags, that is what we gentlemen are for." He said.

Giselle kissed his cheek. "Thank you very much Ash. Your mother really did raise you right."

He blushed a little in gratitude and then said aloud. "Come on guys let's get going!... But slow please, my body feels drained as hell." He sighed tiredly.

The four friends then took off and headed back towards the beach and Ash's competition.

XXXXXXXXXX

After Ash and his friends made it back to the stage where the tournament was going to take place, they were instantly barraged by an assualt of questions from Delia. After Ash had managed to calm her down and assure his mother that everything was fine, (He told Delia that Giselle was feeling a little ill from the after contest jitters she had so the two of theam went for a walk down the beach to help her feel better,) he apologized to her and after another bone breaking hug she was okay. Ash then went to join the other competitors back stage so he could prepare himself.

Really he just needed to sit down for a little bit and recover after his 'episode' and since only one person was allowed back with him, Giselle was the one he chose. She just sat with him for awhile with his head in her lap while she soothingly rubbed her fingers through his hair and let him rest and center his mind from all of the churning emotions he still had swirling inside of him.

After he was called up he kissed her goodbye and then went to join the other Trainers for the start of the competition. The judge for the contest thanked everyone for coming and then turned on a giant TV screen above the stage that showed the match-ups for the tournament.

After the introductions were complete and the match-ups were decided, the tournament began.

Ash and Pikachu blew through each and every round they entered in with a deadly calm and serious visage apparent on their faces the entire time. Apparently, Ash was still mad from what the gang of boys did to Giselle and he was now taking all of his frustrations out in the tournament.

They had fought five rounds so far and had made into the final match of the tournament. The three hours of battling now finally coming too a close.

The first opponent they faced was against a young boy and his Raticate. Pikachu ended the battle with one Quick Attack.

The second battle was against an older boy in his teens who was using a Fearow. After some well timed tactics and strategy, Pikachu ended the battle with an Iron Tail to the head when the Pokemon came flying in low to attack Pikachu.

The third match was against an old woman who used a Drowzee. This match was tougher since it was a Psychic-Type, but with speed, maneuverability and a well executed Thunderbolt, they won hands down.

Match four was against a young woman who used a Flareon. This was all about speed and precision. After dodging several hot fire attacks, Pikachu ended the match with an Agility/Double Team/Iron Tail combo.

The fifth match was against a man dressed like a fisherman who used a Golduck. This match was the toughest and caused Pikachu to use speed, agility and fluidity in his moves to avoid Golduck's Water and Fighting Type-Type moves. He ended the match by fooling Golduck into wetting the entire stage under their feet with it's water attacks. Afterwards, Pikachu finished it with a Thunderbolt that arced it's way through the water until it found Golduck and then a powerful Mega Punch right to Golduck's head.

Ash was supposed to be facing an older gentleman for the final round of the tournament and currently, he was sitting with his family and friends back stage during a thirty minute interval.

"You've done a great job so far Ash, just keep it up!" Brock encouraged his friend.

"Yes honey you've done so well and I'm so proud of you!" Delia gushed over her son, making Ash blush in the process. "Mommm..." He said exasperatedly.

Professor Oak chuckled. "You really have done a splendid job up to now Ash, you should be proud of yourself." He praised his student.

"Yes young man just keep giving it your all and you'll win the tournament!" Moe chimed in.

"Yeah Ash keep the focus and beat down your next opponent!" Misty encouraged.

Giselle took his hand. "I KNOW you'll win and that's all there is to it!" She said firmly.

Ash smiled at all of the people who were supporting him and nodded his head. "Thanks guys, me and Pikachu are going to win! Right buddy?!" He said looking at Pikachu.

Pikachu raised his fist in the air. "Pika!" He said confidently.

XXXXXXXXX

(Meanwhile)

Sitting at table in a small snack stand set up on the beach just for the occasion, near the stage itself, was none than Brutella. She was flanked by her usual two bodyguards and standing behind them, huddled up close together, was Jessie, James and Meowth.

Brutella was sitting with her elbows leaning on the table and her fingers crossed. "This is not good!" She said in her annoying voice. "Those brats working for Moe has won every competition so far and have earned quite a bit of prize money in the process! If that last brat wins this tournament then that old bum will have more than enough money to pay me back! If that happens then I'll never own the property his worthless restaurant is sitting on!" She said as she slammed her fists onto the table.

"And judging by that boy's next opponent he's going to win for sure!" She seethed. "If only he had another, more powerful opponent!"

Suddenly she stopped and whipped around to face the three Rockets. "That's it!" She yelled, pointing at them.

"Who? Us?" James said pointing to himself stupidly.

Brutella nodded her head. "Yes you three! I know exactly how we can stop that brat from winning!"

"How?!" The Rockets asked together.

She smirked. "You three are from Team Rocket right?!" She demanded.

They nodded their heads in reply.

Brutella smirked wider. "Then that means you must have very strong Pokemon on you that could easily beat that boy's pathetic little Pikachu!" She said like it was obvious.

James was about to tell her the truth, how they had no strong Pokemon and were in fact, on the bottom of the pile when it came to Team Rocket but Jessie stopped him with an elbow to his ribs. "Why yes of course that's true Brutella! We're actually quite feared, even within our own organization!" She lied through her teeth.

Brutella grinned evilly again. "Wonderful! So here is what you'll do: Sabotage that other competitor so they can't compete and then take their place against that brat in the finals. Understand?!" She ordered.

The three teammates bowed their heads. "Yes ma'am!" They said together.

Brutella nodded in satisfaction. "Good. If you succeed with this then I'll release you from my service and you will have repaid your damages by helping me claim Moe's restaurant and property for myself! However..." She fixed them with a hard glare. "If you fail, then I will tell the police all about the three of you, have you arrested and sent away to prison for being members of Team Rocket!" She threatened them with a fierce look on her haggard face.

The three fools gulped and nodded their heads in understanding. Brutella grinned again. "Good! Now get going!" She commanded.

They bowed their heads and then took off towards the stage. Brutella sat back down at the table and chuckled evilly to herself. She knew that soon... Moe's restaurant and everything else he had would be hers!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later Ash was standing back up on the stage in front of the large beach crowd, ready to win the tournament and help Moe pay back the horrible business bitch Brutella.

Pikachu was on Ash's shoulder, waiting for his Trainer to call him onto the field. Ash looked across the stage at where his opponent was supposed to be and was shocked to see who came walking out from behind the stage a few minutes later. "Jessie?!" He shouted in anger and surprise.

The woman in front of him was definitely Jessie from Team Rocket and behind her, standing down on the ground looking up at the stage, were James and Meowth. They were all dressed in tourist beach clothes so that no one would know their affiliation with Team Rocket by seeing their outfits and had even wore hats and sunglasses to cover their hair and eyes up. The disguises were very convincing and everyone else from the crowd most likely would have never expected the three of them to be from Team Rocket.

Ash however was no fool. He could tell by the green bobbles dangling from Jessie's ears and the bit of red hair poking out from under the sun hat she was wearing who it was. Of course, even if Ash wasn't so observant it wouldn't have mattered. Anyone that had encountered a group of people that ran around with a Meowth that walked on two legs and TALKED like a person would have to know who it was just by singling him out! That tail was impossible to hide and so were the whiskers. Also, no human was THAT short, save a child.

Perhaps if this was an alternate universe or a fantasy world and Ash was just some dense idiot who made the simplest mistakes, never noticed girls who were CLEARLY into him like his now girlfriend Giselle, didn't understand a thing about truly training his Pokemon, never learned and retained valuable life lessons and never noticed the obvious things in life... then things would be different. However that wasn't the reality here. This was the REAL world, not some show or... What were those things that kids Ash's age, older and even some adults liked to read?... manga! Yes that was it, manga! This wasn't some manga or anime show (what people nowadays had taken to calling animated TV shows), Ash was a damn smart person and a well versed Trainer that would take much more than some cheap disguises to ever fool him.

Jessie smirked and flipped her hair. "The one and only twirp!"

Ash growled. "What are you three even doing here?! You didn't win your way up here into the final round! You didn't even participate in the contest!" He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her.

Jessie just flashed him an innocent look. "Well of course I did twerp! How else do you think I was able to enter this contest in the first place? Cheat?! I would be insulted if you would even BEGIN to think something so horrible of me!" She said with mock hurt in her voice.

Ash just straightened up and fixed her with a hard glare. "Fine. I don't know how you managed to CHEAT your way into the final round but either way... If you really want to battle me then so be it. I'll show you just how horribly wrong your misguided cocky attitude really is. You and James are cruel, insensitive people and horrible Trainers to your Pokemon. You will never be able to bring out their potential unless you change and start showing them the love, caring, compassion and understanding that Pokemon need in order to grow strong and healthy." He narrowed his eyes at the woman. "You need to see the bond between Trainer and Pokemon first hand and I'll gladly show that to you."

Jessie just laughed. "If you think you can little boy! James and Meowth aren't holding me back this time so you are going to be dealing with a whole new Jessie!" She boasted.

"Hey!" James and Meowth yelled at the same time.

Jessie looked down at them. "Shut up!" She said harshly.

Ash yelled over to her. "Before we begin just tell me one thing."

She raised an eyebrow. "And that it is?"

Ash crossed his arms. "Just what DID you three do to my ACTUAL opponent? The elderly man! You better not have hurt him." Ash said in a low and threatening voice.

Jessie laughed again. "I still don't know what your talking about twerp! But if I could guess then I would say he's probably taking a nice nap somewhere. He is old after all if what you say is true! However, there is no old man because I am your opponent!" She said pulling out a Pokeball.

Ash narrowed his eyes again. He knew that Team Rocket did something to the older man he was supposed too battle. He just hoped that the man was okay.

XXXXXXXXXX

In between two small clothing stores that were on the main street right in front of the beach, in a large dumpster, was an old man tied up and gagged, lying in the garbage.

A young man came walking out of one of the stores wearing a uniform with his name tag, showing he was an employee, with a bag of trash in his hand. He lifted up the dumpster to toss in the bag only to gasp when he saw the old man lying inside of the dumpster, wiggling around in his binds.

The young man threw down the bag he was holding and carefully helped the old man out. After untying him and removing the gag from his mouth he asked him. "Sir! Sir are you okay?!"

The old man just shook his head and caughed. "No *cough* I was *cough* kidnapped by Team *weeze* Rocket!"

The young man gasped again. "What?! Where?!" He asked with wide eyes.

The old man, who had regained his breath fully, answered. "Down at the beach where the contests are being held! I was battling in the finals of the battle tournament against some boy and when I was preparing myself for the battle these three people, well... One was a Pokemon... and he could talk too!" He shook his head. "I'm sorry... Anyway, the man and woman were dressed in white uniforms that held the symbol for Team Rocket on them and they cornered me! While I was preoccupied with the man and woman the Pokemon came up behind me and knocked me unconscious! All I remember is waking up inside of this dumpster a little while ago before you found me!"

The younger man looked around a few times and then helped the old man to his feet. "We have to call the police sir and tell them what happened!" He urged.

The old man nodded vigorously. "Yes and tell them to head down to the beach! I don't know why those three Rockets wanted to battle that young man so badly but it can't be good!"

The store clerk nodded. "I'll call the police now sir! You should head down to where the tournament is being held. You'll need too be there so the police can get you to identify them in case they are in disguise now."

The old man nodded and then made his way as fast as his old legs could take him towards the beach, while the clerk went inside and called the police.

XXXXXXXXX

The referee for the match stepped up and looked between Ash and Jessie. "This is the final match of the Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament! It will be between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Jessie of Celadon City! (Not her real hometown obviously). Trainers ready?" He asked them loudly.

They merely nodded at one another and then the ref held his hands out. "Then please choose your Pokemon!"

Jessie threw forth her Pokeball. "Arbok destroy this little twerp!" She shouted.

As the large snake appeared out of it's Pokeball Ash raised his eyebrows. "So your Ekans evolved huh?" He questioned her.

Jessie just smirked. "When your forced to float on the back of your Pokemon, who's not a Water-Type, in the ocean for more than a day then they are usually going to have to evolve because of the stress it puts on them!" She said, trying too sound smart. "It's about time too! He was to weak to be worth anything as an Ekans! James's Koffing evolved as well. Maybe now they won't be so worthless!"

Ash glared at her disgustedly. "I've heard enough of you Jessie! I'm not going to waste anymore time talking to you... No. I'm going to let Pikachu do that for me in our battle. So let's go!"

On cue, Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder and stood facing Arbok with a calm but serious look on his face. Jessie laughed. "I'll show you and that rodent kid!"

The referee brought his hands down. "Begin!"

Jessie quickly commanded Arbok. "Use Poison Sting!"

Ash stayed calm. "Pikachu, you don't need me for this battle. Go with your instincts."

Pikachu nodded and then vaulted out of the way of the attack. Jessie yelled out. "Again Arbok! Don't stop until you hit that little rat!"

Arbok continued to launch Poison Sting after Poison Sting at Pikachu, only for the little mouse to gracefully dodge each attack. All the while Pikachu kept getting closer. Jessie became frustrated. "Argh! Arbok use Glare and stop that runt in his tracks!" She commanded. She smirked. There was no way Pikachu could dodge Glare!

Ash remained true too his word and didn't say anything. Curious as to how Pikachu would dodge such an attack. Pikachu didn't disappoint. He used Agility and boosted his speed as he jumped in the air and launched himself towards Arbok. He wrapped his tail around his eyes so he wouldn't become effected by Glare and then smashed into the snake hard with his head. While he fell forward and Arbok fell back, Pikachu unfurled his tail since Arbok's Glare was broken. He swung his tail down on top of Arbok's head hard and smashed the Pokemon into the ground.

Pikachu hopped back and watched as Arbok lay there struggling to get up after getting pummeled with Iron Tail. Jessie became red faced and shouted at her Pokemon. "Arbok get up already and fight!"

Arbok slowly wobbled back to it's err... tail and looked at where Pikachu last was. However, both Arbok and Jessie went wide eyed when they saw that Arbok was now surrounded by several Pikachu in a tight circle. He had used Double Team while Arbok was down.

All of the Pikachu began running in a circle around the snake as fast they could with Agility. Arbok started spinning it's head around and became dizzy. Jessie shouted out. "Arbok use Poison Sting until you hit the right one!"

Arbok began firing Poison Sting at all of the Pikachu but they were to fast and almost every poison barb missed it's mark. When a few started to make contact with the Pikachu copies and make them vanish, the real Pikachu suddenly broke the running circle and vaulted over top of Arbok in a side ways flip.

He landed beside Arbok and then hit the Pokemon in the side with Quick Attack, launching it back towards Jessie. Pikacuh didn't rest and then used Thunderbolt on the now downed snake. The bolt struck and began electrocuting the Pokemon viciously.

Eventually the bolt exploded and Arbok was sent careening into Jessie, who flew off of the stage and then struck James and Meowth, tangling all four of them up in a heap.

The referee waited until the small dust cloud cleared and when it did he saw that Arbok was lying on top of Jessie unconscious. He raised his hand in the air and pointed towards Ash and Pikachu, who had resumed his place beside Ash. "Since Arbok is unable too battle, I hereby declare the winner of this match and the Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament to be Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and his Pikachu!"

The crowd cheered loudly in applause, especially Ash's friends and family. Even Moe was clapping loudly. Ash let Pikachu jump into his arms and hugged his Pokemon. "You were great Pikachu!" He praised his Pokemon.

"Pika Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu said happily from Ash's arms.

The coordinator of the beach events, a man in a black suit with black, slicked down hair, came out onto the stage holding a microphone. He came up and stood beside Ash as he spoke into the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you this years Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament Winner, Ash Ketchum!"

The crowd cheered loudly again as the man turned to Ash. "Congratulations on winning the tournament young man!" He said with a smile. "For being this years winner you not only win the big cash prize of 20,000 Poke'Credits! You and three other people of your choice get a free one week stay at the luxurious WaterCrown Hotel that has just been built at the large coastal city Hutber Port, which is only a days travel from here! The resort is currently being constructed over top of the beautiful Hutber Coral Reefs, but the hotel is up and running! Congratulations again!" The coordinator said as he motioned for someone with his hand.

Out from the back of the stage came two attractive young women dressed in bikini's, holding a giant check. When Brock saw the young women he instantly went into super pervert mode.

NNNNNNNNN

Somewhere in another dimension a white haired man who was spying on some young women in a bath house, sneezed. "What's that?! I have the strange feeling that another has proclaimed themselves a super pervert! There is only one and that is the great Jir-" That was a far as the man got. The young women heard the perverts loud outburst and busted out of the bath house wrapped in towels. When they saw the old man sitting near a board of the bath house that had a hole in it, the women shouted at the same time, "HENTEI!" The only sounds that could be heard after that was the sound of breaking bones and the screams of pain from the 'real' super pervert.

After they were done beating the old man and left him laying there broken and bloody he raised his hand in the air. "Damn...you... wannabe...super... pervert!" He choaked out before falling unconscious.

NNNNNNNNNN

Brock went to lunge for the stage and was pulled back by the ear by Misty. "Not the time Brock!" She said as she pulled him away by said ear.

"It's never the time Misty!" Brock whined.

"Exactly!" Misty shouted in anger as she continued to drag him away.

Back up on the stage the young women handed the check to Ash and then kissed him on the cheek, one on each side, then winking at him before going to stand behind the large check. Ash looked down at Giselle nervously, afraid she was going to be upset at two women kissing and winking at him.

She just looked back up at him and giggled at his nervous look. She shook her head and mouthed the words to him, 'It's okay Ash. I know who you belong to just as much as you do. I'm not upset, now stop looking like a fool!'

Ash smiled back at his truly amazing girlfriend and then turned back to the coordinator. The man and Ash posed for the news crew that had just arrived since they wanted a picture for the local paper. They posed so that they were shaking hands, looking at the camera and holding the check in such a way that it looked like the coordinator of the event was handing it to Ash.

After that was done, the coordinator had the check taken away and then gave Ash a card that had the actual prize money on it before congratulating him again and then making his way off the stage. However, he didn't get far. Neither did any of the people in the crowd who was starting to leave either.

Brutella suddenly stormed up onto the stage, trailed by her two bodyguards and stopped the event coordinator with a raised hand. "STOP!" She screeched loudly.

The man looked taken aback and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me ma'am?" He asked in a confused tone.

She pointed at Ash. "That boy didn't win this tournament fair and square! He and his opponent were in league with each other! She threw the tournament so they could split the prize money!" She accused.

Ash looked outraged. "WHAT?!" He yelled at her.

The event coordinator looked at Ash and then down at where Jessie and the other Rockets were just now getting untangled from one another. Brutella pressed on. "Not to mention, those three are with Team Rocket and he is in cahoots with them! They're criminals!"

The coordinator looked torn and confused while Ash's friends and family down off the side of the stage looked enraged. "That's a complete lie!" Misty spat out with venom in her voice.

They others nodded their heads in agreement, just as angry. Moe then said grimly. "Brutella is trying to stop Ash from keeping the prize money and winning the tournament as much as she can. She knows that the prize money from Ash's win will be more than enough for me to pay her back, combined with what you three kids also won... She'll lie and try anything else she can too keep me from keeping my restaurant."

"That horrible old witch!" Giselle spat.

Up on the stage Ash was fuming with anger. "I am not associated with Team Rocket in anyway shape or form!"

The three Rockets, who had by now untangled themselves from each other, ran up onto the stage as fast as they could and surrounded the event coordinator. "We aren't involved with Team Rocket either sir!" Jessie said with a smile on her face. "We would never be involved with such a horrid organization! Right James?!" She asked her partner.

James nodded vigorously. "That's riight mister! We would never be involved with such terrible people!" He said with a smile also plastered across his face.

"Yeah dat old womans just telling lies!" Meowth chimed in.

The coordinator looked like he was having an internal battle of who to believe until Brutella looked at her bodyguards and gestured towards Team Rocket. They got the message and walked up to the groveling trio. They pulled them away from the event coordinator and then, much to the Rockets protests and struggles, stripped them of their beach tourist disguises, exposing their Team Rocket uniforms underneath.

Brutella pointed at them. "See! I told you they were members of Team Rocket! That boy is also involved with them! I wasn't lying about any of it!" She said grinning wickedly.

The coordinator was now very suspicious. Brutella wasn't lying about Team Rocket, so what if she wasn't lying about Ash being involved with them either?

Before anything else could be said or done they suddenly heard someone shout out loudly to them. "WAIT!" They all turned their heads and saw an old man come running up onto the stage with Officer Jenny and several other officers right behind her.

He ran up to the event coordinator while the police stayed back a bit. "Sir, please wait! I can personally guarentee you that anything that woman is saying is a lie and that this boy is innocent!" The old man said desperately.

The coordinator looked at the newcomer with confusion etched onto his face, while Brutella looked mad at the man's audacity to call her a lier, even though it was true, and Ash looked even more confused at this strange man's willingness to help him. The coordinator just shook his head. "Please mister, I would be grateful if you could help me make sense of this situation because right now, I'm horribly confused."

The old man nodded and began. "I can tell you here and now that this woman is a lier!" He said pointing at Brutella. "I was really the one that was supposed too be this young man's opponent in the final round of the tournament. Those three criminals..." He pointed at Jessie, James and Meowth. "Knocked me unconscious, kidnapped me and then tied me up before throwing me in a dumpster not far from here. A kind young man who worked at one of the stores where I was at found me and helped me out from that dreadful waste bin and untied me. Afterwards he called the police while I made my way here as fast as I could so I would be able to warn you about this woman and those three Rockets!"

The coordinator grew wide eyed at hearing this and looked between Brutella and Team Rocket, while Ash looked outraged at hearing what Brutella ordered Team Rocket to do to his real opponent. The old woman just smirked and cackled at the old man. "Such a wonderful story dear sir but tell me... Where is your proof?" She said smugly.

The old man just frowned and looked down. "I-I have none... But I'm telling you it's the truth!" He insisted.

The event coordinator just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm supposed to be believing a lot of things today apparently..." He said exasperatedly.

Brutella walked up and pushed the old man out of the way. "Look, you have three criminals of a very wanted organization right there!" She pointed at the three Rockets. "Arrest them! If you can't believe what I'm telling you about this boy... "She looked at Ash, who was glaring at her. "Then I suggest you call off of this tournament so that no one wins 'unfairly' and no more confusion is brought up from this terrible situation!"

The coordinator just looked around uncertainly and then sighed again. "Maybe your right..." He admitted.

Brutella smiled darkly to herself. It was all coming together!

Jessie looked beyond furious and shouted out loudly. "You traitorous old hag! You'll pay for selling us out!" She threatened.

Brutella sneered. "I have no idea what your talking about criminal, we've never met!"

Down off the side of the stage, Ash's friends, family and Moe had heard every word of what was going on and they all looked furious, especially Moe, and in that moment Giselle had enough. She climbed up onto the stage and took off running to where Ash was at.

She finally made it to his side and looked at him. He looked furious at everything Brutella had done and was glaring daggers at her. Giselle looked at Brutella with anger blazing in her eyes. "Your a horrible old woman! Don't you feel any shame at all for the things you did?! Why would you want to ruin our and Ash's attempts to win enough prize money that Moe could then use to pay you back with? Isn't that what matters to you?! Getting back your filthy money?!" She shouted.

Brutella looked furious at being scolded for her actions like a child from some young girl and stomped towards Giselle. The girl backed away until she was standing right in front of the event coordinator. Brutella got up in her face, an amazing feat considering how short she was. "Stupid girl!" She hissed, completely ignoring that they were right in front of the coordinator she was so angry. "I never cared about that old fool Moe paying me back! That was just a ruse! His dingy little restaurant sits on prime location for where a hotel could go! Beach front and right near the heart of the city, it's perfect! I was banking on the fact that he would never be able to pay me back so I could then take his restaurant and property as payment and bulldoze it to the ground and build my own five star hotel on the sight and make millions! I knew he would never be able to pay me back any large amount of money with the little bit he made at his pathetic little diner. That's why I had my bodyguards sabotage his speedboat in the first place! So he would need the money to fix it and not have enough! At the time I went to him as a concerned 'friend' and offered to loan him the money. He took it and I knew I had him right then and there!"

Ash and his friends gasped at hearing this. That's what Moe had borrowed the money for! He didn't even have the boat anymore! The thing was now resting at the bottom of the harbor after the thieves who stole Moe's money wrecked it in their futile attempt to escape from Ash. Moe just looked down in shame at being reminded of how foolish he had been taking money from Brutella.

The old woman continued. "I didn't know how much that old codger had saved up so I hired some men to get jobs working for Moe and then steal any money he had at the restaurant so he couldn't pay me back with it!"

Again, everyone looked beyond shocked. Brutella had HIRED those men to get jobs working for Moe JUST so they could steal his money?! Brutella shrugged. "I was then going to dispose of those men once they delivered the money to me so I wouldn't have to pay them and to also make sure I had no loose ends laying around. However, I never counted on you brats stopping them and getting his money back! Nor did I imagine he would actually tell you about the money he owed me, leading to you four goody-goodies volunteering to help him at his restaurant, trying to earn enough money for him to pay me back! Once you started helping him out and his restaurant started getting more popular, I knew it would be trouble. Luckily, Those three stooges..."

She pointed at Jessie, James and Meowth who were glaring at her while looking nervously at the nearby police all at the same time. "Crashed into my office, doing much damage in the process. I knew at first glance from their uniforms that they were from Team Rocket and used that to my own advantage! I told them that unless they worked for me and did everything I commanded of them, I would turn them into the police. I ordered them to sabotage 'Moe's Diner' and vandalize it until he could no longer do business out of it. I thought then and there that I had won! However, you pests then decided too enter the Porte Vista Beach Competitions and win the events so you could give the prize money to Moe so he could pay me back. After the first of you three won your events and collected so much money, I knew that if that annoying boy and his Pikachu won the battle tournament it would be over for me and Moe would then have more than enough money to pay me back. That's why..."

She cackled and looked at Giselle with an evil glint in her eyes. She stepped in even closer to Giselle and said just loud enough for only Giselle and Ash to hear her, in almost a whisper. "I decided to take his focus off of the competition and onto something... Else. I knew from the way the brat looked and talked to you that you undoubtedly meant much to him. That's why I hired some guys to kidnap you. I knew that once the annoying pest realized you were gone he would go looking for you and I had hoped that he would not make it back in time and miss the tournament, or not find you at all and be so lost in his despair he would forfeit! After all, I did tell those boys I hired to... Have some fun with their captive. That was where I messed up, those horny little bastards couldn't wait to have their fun until they were far enough away from here and they ended up getting caught because of it! Ohh well... I just hope they got to have at least a little fun with you girl." She said with a nasty look on her face.

Giselle looked stunned. Brutella was the reason she had been kidnapped! Her distaste for the old woman grew by leaps and bounds at that revelation. She felt Ash tense up beside her and she looked at him. The iris's of his eyes were starting to turn a very light blue and she could feel the energy start to roll off of him. She instantly went into her kind and caring mode and pulled Ash into a tight hug. She grabbed his cheeks and gently turned his face to look at her. She began whispering to him while she tenderly stroked his cheek with one hand and ran her other hand through his hair. "Ash... Sweetheart it's okay, it's alright sweetie just calm down now... Everything is okay. Remember I'm still here and they didn't do anything to me..." She continued to whisper soothingly to him while she kissed his face in different places. Her 'magic charms' worked and eventually Ash calmed down. Though he was still glaring hatred at Brutella.

The old woman continued like nothing happened and now was looking at Ash as she rose her voice above a harsh whisper again. "Once that plan failed I knew that I couldn't take the chance of you winning the tournament. That's why I made Team Rocket kidnap the old man and then had one of them take his place as your opponent. However, I never figured that someone from Team Rocket would be so weak and lose to you but still... everything about the end result of the tournament is so messed up and confused by this point that none of my failed plans matter. The event coordinator is going to end up canceling the tournament and recall everything that happened during the event! Your not going to be able to keep the prize money, which means that Moe won't be able too pay me back! I'll take his restaurant in the end and still have my five star hotel up and running in no time! I'll be a millionaire and that worthless bum will have nothing!" She crowed in triumph and cackled like mad at the end of her long winded explanation.

She stopped laughing and then sneered at Giselle. "So sorry princess but it looks like my 'horrible tricks' are going to pay off in the end after all!"

Giselle just remained silent for a little while and looked down at the ground, her hair overshadowing her face. Eventually she looked back up at Brutella and started laughing. Hard. Confusing both Brutella and Ash. "Giselle what's so funny about any of this?!" Ash asked, completely lost.

Giselle just pointed to the event coordinator. Ash and Brutella looked at the man's face and saw rage in his expression. He looked down at Brutella and spoke into the microphone. "Care to tell myself and the audience about any of your other heinous crimes? MISS?!" He said with anger laced into his voice.

Brutella looked around and saw the entire crowd glaring at her. Ash's friends, family and Moe, especially Moe, looked beyond outraged. While Officer Jenny and the other officers were making their way towards the old woman with stern glares on their faces. Brutella looked dumbfounded. "What the-" She began until she heard her voice being amplified and carried out across the beach by the microphone in the event coordinator's hand. It was a very powerful microphone that could pick up raised voices from at least two feet away... And Brutella was standing right next to the man.

Her face contorted into one of complete rage as she whipped around and looked at Giselle. "You little bitch! You tricked me! You knew that microphone was on!" She accused, pointing her finger at Giselle.

The girl in question just flipped her hair and tightened her grip on Ash. "Maybe." She said with a smirk.

Brutella growled and looked at her bodyguards. "Get that little tramp!" She ordered.

Before her guards could even move Ash stepped in front of Giselle and stared them down with murder in his eyes. "You touch my girl... And I will rip you apart." He said menacingly.

The bodyguards took one look at the boy, who seemed as though he could explode at any moment if anyone so much as grazed Giselle's skin and felt a shiver run down their spines at the cold look in his eyes. They were still a little blue from Ash's anger moments before, which made him look even more menacing. They raised their hands up defensively and backed away. To hell with how young he was, the look in his eyes would terrify most anyone!

Brutella looked outraged. "What're you doing?! He's just a child!"

She looked at Ash and then saw what her bodyguards did. He was now holding Giselle tightly in his arms, very protectively, and had a look in his eyes that promised unimaginable pain to anyone who laid a hand on her. After he nearly lost her to those... Monsters, he was now feeling very protective of her.

Brutella slowly backed away just as the police grabbed ahold of her two bodyguards and cuffed them. Officer Jenny and a few other officers walked up to Brutella, who was now looking for any kind of escape route. She found none and just watched with fear in her eyes as the officers stopped in front of her. Officer Jenny pulled out a pair of handcuffs and nodded at two of the officers. They walked over and grabbed Brutella by each arm. She started squirming and screaming at them. "Let me go! You have it all wrong! I didn't mean anything I said!"

Officer Jenny began cuffing Brutella as she called out the charges that she was being arrested for. "Brutella Haggerson, you are hereby under arrest for several different of acts of criminal activity: Conspiracy, assistant to two counts of vandalization, assistant to kidnapping, (She didn't count the case of Giselle being kidnapped by the boys that Brutella payed off since no one heard when Brutella leaned in close to Giselle and Ash and confessed to that crime), assistant to attempted rape, hiring out criminals to steal from another individual, plans of murder, harboring criminals of a well known criminal organization, attempted assault of a minor, as well as several other smaller charges that will be recited to you by the district judge. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held againt you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you do not have one then one will be appointed to you." She finished speaking to Brutella and then lined up the woman with her two bodyguards. Officer Jenny then got in Brutella's terrified face. "Just to let you know, no attorney you get will be enough to help you out of this mess!" She whispered to the woman.

Brutella gulped and looked down.

By this time, Moe and Ash's other friends and family were now on the stage with him. Officer Jenny first walked up to the event coordinator. "I'm very sorry for the disturbance today sir. We will make sure that Brutella is prosecuted for her crimes. You may continue with what you were doing whenever you are ready."

The man just nodded dumbly and thanked the woman. "Yes, yes officer. Thank you." He said almost dazedly. The days events having really gotten to him.

...

While this was going on, Jessie, James and Meowth slowly started backing away from the stage. "Let's get out of here!" James whispered as they made it to the bottom of the stage.

Jessie nodded her head. "Great idea James. I want to be as far away from these cops as possible!" She whispered back.

Just as they prepared to run up off the beach and into the city Meowth stopped them. "Wait a minute guys, I got a great idea!" The talking Pokemon said excitedly.

"What is it Meowth?" James asked curiously.

Meowth smirked. "You know how we still gotta fix da Gyarados submarine?"

The two humans nodded. "More like get a new one since the one other was totally destroyed but yes Meowth... And?!" Jessie asked impatiently.

"Let's stop by Brutella's office on da way outta town and break into her safe. We'll steal all da money in it and den call up da weapons department of Team Rocket, wire da money to em' and get another one made for us! We'll be using money we stole so it won't go against our Team Rocket Bank Account." Meowth explained.

Jessie and James looked at each other and nodded. "That's a great plan Meowth! Let's go!" Jessie said.

They then took off to go loot Brutella's safe and leave the city. Escaping the police's clutches yet again, hopefully getting a new submarine out of the deal and also draining any chance that Brutella could buy her way out of prison. Luckily for them, everyone up on the stage and everyone in the crowd was to preoccupied with what was currently happening to pay any attention to the retreating Rockets.

...

Officer Jenny walked up to Ash and his friends. "Well young man it looks like my department is in debt to you kids yet again. Not only did you help us catch those criminals last week, you helped bring down a corrupt and twisted business woman. Thank you on behalf of the entire Porte Vista Police Department. If you ever need anything just ask." She said with a smile on her face as she shook their hands.

"Thanks Officer Jenny!" They all said together.

She then walked over to Moe. "Sir, I am so sorry for the trouble that this woman has caused you. She had absolutely no right to do anything she did and I assure you, she will go to prison for these injustices. Most likely the judge will make her pay large fines as well for damages. No matter how much money she has now I can all but guarantee you it won't be enough. Her restaurant will most likely be taken from her and in order to pay for the damages she has caused you, you will most likely be given her restaurant as compensation, to either sell or keep, it will be your choice. I've seen cases like this before so I'm pretty confident in what I'm telling you."

Moe just shook his head in amazement. "T-thank you Officer Jenny! This is just... Unbelievable!" He said in disbelief.

The female officer just smiled and shook her head. "Don't thank me sir. You deserve all of it for what you've been put through. If you want to thank anybody, thank the brave kids who did all of this. They're the real heroes here. Be expecting contact from my office concerning everything that is happening concerning this situation. We'll be getting papers to you soon and..."

Suddenly Misty called out. "Where did Team Rocket go?!"

Officer Jenny, the other officers, Ash and the rest of his friends looked around but saw no sign of them. Jenny growled. "Aghh! They got away!" She said angrily. The woman turned to another officer. "We need to send out a warning to all officers in the city and tell them they need to be on the lookout for-"

She was suddenly interrupted by Ash. "Umm, Officer Jenny... I'm sorry but it won't work."

She turned to Ash. "What do you mean 'won't work'? We have to find them!" She insisted.

Ash just shook his head and sighed. "Officer believe me I know, they do need to be found but trust me, those three are experts at disappearing from any kind of trouble whatsoever. Believe when I say that you will not find them right now. If there is one thing they're good at it's hiding."

Officer Jenny just sighed. "Well that really sucks, if those three criminals are members of Team Rocket then they deserve to be in prison!" She said indignantly.

Ash nodded his head. "And again, your right. But trust me, if you send out a search party it will just spread your resources to thin. Luckily or unluckily, I don't know which, those three always find me and my friends so this won't be our last chance in taking them down." He assured her.

Officer Jenny reluctantly agreed and stopped her officers from putting out a bolo. She then turned back to Ash. "Please promise that you will call me at the department and tell me if and when those three ever get captured alright?" She asked him.

Ash smiled at her. "You got it officer!" He told her.

She returned the smile before saying farewell to Moe, Professor Oak, Delia, the old man, the event coordinator and then gave a salute to Ash and his friends before rallying her officers together, calling into the department about the incoming criminals over her radio and then marched Brutella and her bodyguards away.

The old woman looked back and gave Ash, his friends and Moe once last hateful glance before she and her bodyguards were led down the stage and off the beach, where they eventually disappeared from sight.

Ash walked over to the old man who was supposed to be his opponent and who had also stood up for him. "Excuse me sir." He said politely.

The man turned around and looked at Ash. "Yes young man?" He asked kindly.

Ash smiled at him. "Thank you for coming back and telling everyone what happened. It really means a lot and I'm truly sorry for what Team Rocket did to you." Ash apologized.

The old man just waved his hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it young man! I was only to glad to help bring those criminals to justice! I only wish that Team Rocket would have been captured as well." He said with a frown.

Ash just shook his head. "It's like I told Officer Jenny mister. Those three always seem to find me and my friends. Justice will catch up with them one of these days."

The old man nodded. "We can only hope."

Ash stuck his hand out. "I'm sorry I didn't really introduce myself earlier. My names Ash, Ash Ketchum."

The man shook Ash's hand. "Very good too meet you Ash. My name is John Eldritch."

Ash stopped shaking the man's hand and said, "It's great too meet you as well John! You know, it really sucks that we didn't get to battle each other..." He said sadly.

John nodded. "Yes but who knows? We just might get another chance sometime!" He said, trying to lift the boy's spirits.

The event coordinator heard this and smiled. He walked up to them and spoke. "You know gentlemen, I may just be able to make that happen here and now. What do you say?" He asked them.

Ash looked confused. "But the contest is over sir."

The man laughed. "That may be true but I think that I could add one more round to this contest so you both get a chance to battle each other. It's the least I can do for such an upstanding young man and friend to the Porte Vista Police Department! What do you both say?" The coordinator asked them.

Ash instantly nodded his head. "Alright! I'm game!" He said excitedly.

John smiled. "I sounds like a plan too me!"

The coordinator spoke into the microphone as he addressed the crowd. "What do you say folks? Would you like to see one last battle before we end the day?!"

The crowd cheered loudly in a resounding YES.

He smiled and looked at the two Trainers. "Well then... Let's start this battle!"

XXXXXXXXX

The battle between Ash and John truly was exciting and action packed. It was Pikachu Vs John's Golbat.

The entire battle was based largely on speed and accuracy of the attacks. Golbat was very fast on it's wings and could launch fast energy draining attacks like Leech Life, poison attacks like Poison Fang, aerial moves like Air Cutter and confusion inducing moves like Supersonic with deadly and accurate precision.

The battle was intense, both opponents landing hits on the other at a fast and precise rate. However, the battle turned when Pikachu took off running for the back end of the stage, Golbat chasing after him with Wing Attack. Both Pokemon were battered and bruised but Pikachu was used to such a thing from the murderous training he did.

Pikachu stopped near one of the large metal supports that held the stage up and waited for Golbat too draw closer. John believed that Pikachu had merely run out of places to run and urged Golbat to fly in faster and hit Pikachu as hard as he could.

Just before Golbat could hit Pikachu, he jumped up on top of the metal support, evading the bat and letting it instead smash it's head into the poll. Pikachu then jumped down on top of the downed Pokemon and unleashed a strong Thunderbolt on his opponent.

In the end, Golbat fell unconscious to the strong electric currents passing through it.

The event coordinator happily named Ash the TRUE Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament Victor after the match ended, causing Ash and Pikachu to jump around in joy with each other, while the crowd cheered loudly and his friends and family ran up onto the stage in order to congratulate him. John was not the least bit upset over losing and was only to glad to join in on congratulating Ash for his win.

After the congratulations and announcements were done the event coordinator came over to Ash and shook his hand. "Congratulations again Ash and I hope you find success on your journey. I'm a busy man but I'll be looking for you in the next Indigo Conference if you plan on competing." He said kindly.

Ash shook the man's hand right back. "Thank you as well sir, I appreciate it. You will definitely see me in the conference, Arceus willing!"

After that was done and the coordinator exited the stage, John walked up to Ash next. "That was truly a fantastic battle young man and I wanted to congratulate you again. I know you are going to go far in this life with your Pokemon."

Ash smiled and then shook John's hand. "Thanks John I appreciate your faith in me. Take care of yourself."

John nodded. "I will Ash, I will. Like that kind event coordinator said, I'll be cheering for you in the Indigo Conference!"

Ash nodded. "Thanks John, I appreciate your support."

After the old man left the stage, Ash looked up at Pikachu on his shoulder and held up the card that had the prize money on it. "We did it Pi! Great job today, I'm very proud of you!" He praised his Pokemon.

Pikachu just scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Pika, Pikachu Pi..." He said embarrassed.

Delia suddenly grabbed Ash and began squashing him in a tight hug. "Ohh Ash I'm so proud of you! You did such an amazing job!" She praised her son at the same time she was choking the life out of him.

Ash struggled in her grasp. "Mom... Air... Can't... Breath!" He gasped out.

She released him eventually and he doubled over for air. Professor Oak came up and patted the boy on his back. "That was truly an exciting match to watch Ash! You were fantastic, you and Pikachu." He said with a smile.

"Yeah Ash you two were totally in-sync throughout the whole tournament." Brock said patting his friend on the shoulder.

"I never doubted you guys for a second Ash!" Misty said with a bright smile on her face.

Ash just scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Thanks a lot guys I really do appreciate it. It was Pikachu that did everything and he was great. Still, I noticed some things that we needed to work on today and we are going to really focus on those things from now on during training." Ash admitted humbly.

Professor Oak clasped his hands behind his back. "And that is the mark of every great Pokemon Trainer Ash. Realizing the things you and your Pokemon need to work on while still enjoying the moment you won for yourselves. There is always room for improvement but you still need to live for the here and now." He said wisely.

Ash nodded and was then turned and pulled into a tight, but not Delia tight, hug by Giselle. "That was amazing Ash, I'm so happy for you and Pikachu!" She said as she hugged him tighter.

Ash just grinned and hugged her back. "Thanks Giselle, I really appreciate it."

She separated herself from him and smiled brightly. He returned it and then walked over to Moe. He held out the card that had the prize money on it and handed it over to the old man. "Here you go Moe. Your prize money as promised." Ash said smiling.

Brock, Misty and Giselle both did the same thing and handed the wide eyed man their own cards that held the prize they had won. Moe took them with shaking hands and looked from the cards to the kids in front of him. "B-but Brutella has been arrested and is undoubtedly going to prison. I have no need to pay her back now, which means I don't need all of this money..."

Ash just shook his head at Moe and pushed the cards closer to him. "That may be true Moe but still, you need repairs for your restaurant and this money will help. Plus, if what Officer Jenny said is true then you will probably end up getting Brutella's restaurant as payment for damages. You can use all of this money to put towards your dream of sailing the world." He explained.

The old man just looked at Ash and the other kids before getting a little teary eyed and nodding his head. "I-I can't even begin too express how grateful I am for this. Thank you! All of you just... Thank you!" He repeated over and over again.

"No problem Moe. I told you that we would help you." Ash said simply.

Ash's friends nodded in agreement. Moe wiped his eyes, smiled at all of them and then said enthusiastically. "Well I believe this calls for a celebration! Let's all head back to the restaurant and make ourselves a feast with whatever is still left of the kitchen!"

Ash, Misty, Giselle and Professor Oak agreed immediately to the idea, while Delia and Brock looked excited as both said at the same time. "I'll help!"

They looked at each other and laughed. Delia turned to Brock. "How about we both help?" She suggested.

Brock nodded. "Works for me!" He agreed.

With that decided, Ash, his friends, family and Moe all headed back to the diner for an evening of celebration.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The next day rolled around and we now find Ash and his friends standing near the bus station, located in the heart of the city. Delia and Professor Oak stood with them waiting for the bus that would take them back to Pallet Town.

The previous nights festivities had been very enjoyable, everyone talking, laughing and getting to know each other better during the course of the evening while enjoying Delia and Brock's combined cooking.

As luck would have it, Moe and Professor Oak both hit it off like two old friends and spent the entire night conversing about topics that pre-dated the time of any of the other people in the room besides those two.

The night was also rather embarrassing for Ash as his mother took it upon herself to tell several humiliating stories about him as a baby to all of his friends. Which lead to Brock, Misty and Pikachu laughing like crazy, Ash accusing Pikachu of being a traitor and then sinking down in his seat from the embarrassment, and Giselle to play the role of the kind and caring girlfriend and work on coaxing him out of his track suite... Which he had retreated into like a Squirtle. Anyone who saw Giselle trying so hard to help alleviate Ash's embarrassment could never question her affection for him since the whole time she was having to stifle down her own giggles and bursts of laughter from the stories Delia was telling.

One such story that everyone nearly passed out from laughter from was when Delia told the story of a three year old Ash getting a bath in the tub from her one day. He for some reason looked outside through the bathroom window and upon seeing what he thought was a (in his words) 'Flamey Bird Pokemon', ended up jumping from the tub, running out of the bathroom and dashing outside as fast as his little toddler legs could carry him. Covered in soap and still as naked as a Poke'City Strip Girl.

Delia then went on to tell how she had chased him around the neighborhood, demanding for him to stop and him only doing so when he ran through the Oak family's backyard and crashed into an eleven year old Daisy Oak, who was helping her mother Amelia hang some clothes out on the line.

Ash turned as red as a Charizard's Flamethrower upon this story being told. Brock managed to gasp out in between his bouts of laughter, "Wow Ash! I heard you had a crush on Daisy but man, you started working fast huh?!" He joked. This was of course followed by another wild bout of laughter from everyone involved. Besides Ash of course, who looked like he would welcome the presence of even a Darkrai right now if it shifted the attention from himself. Even Giselle couldn't keep her giggles down upon hearing the 'Nudie Ash' story.

So needless tonsay, the night was very fun and eventful for everyone. Well almost everyone, unless your name was Ash Ketchum!

Unfortunately, Professor Oak had to return to the lab and his research since Daisy had to get back to Viridian City in a few days for more training with the Viridian Nurse Joy and Amelia couldn't handle the stress of the lab by herself. Obviously, since Delia had come with the Professor, she had to leave and go back with him as well.

So here they all were, waiting by the bus station. Ash's friends had already said their good-byes and now it was just Ash who needed to say farewell. After being crushed to death by his mother in a tight hug, her telling him how proud she was of him and him promising that he would be safe and not get involved with anymore bad business like he did with Brutella, (Yeah right!) and Delia assuring he would remember to change his you-know-what's, he finally separated from her and walked over to the Professor.

"Well Professor, I guess I'll talk to you later on. Thanks again for bringing my Pokemon to me." Ash said gratefully.

Professor Oak smiled and patted Ash's shoulder. "Anytime Ash, I was happy to do it. You just stay safe and keep training to be the best." The Professor said with a smile.

Ash returned the smile and then asked, "Professor... What are we going to do about the water space issue back at the lab? With all of the Gyarados I have now and not to mention the other three Water-Pokemon I have, space is really going to be an issue."

The kind old Professor just chuckled and shook his head. "Actually Ash, that problem has been solved."

Ash looked confused. "What do you mean Professor?"

"Well Ash..." Oak began. "I had a feeling that your Pokemon would run into a space issue with the pond. Especially after all of those Gyarados you captured. So, your Pokemon and I undertook a little project."

Ash looked very interested. "What project?"

The Professor grinned before he started explaining. "Well, when I saw that your Pokemon were going to become limited to the area of how much water they had available to them, especially your Water-Pokemon, I enlisted the help of your Dragonite while she was with me to perform a task. You see Ash, the forests that are located around the ranch are all very 'wet' which means that underground water sources are very plentiful. Approximately two hundred yards to the east of the pond that your Pokemon use now is a very large clearing in the forest. This clearing has several underground streams that join together just on the outside of it. Or at least, it would if they were not blocked off and prevented from joining together by large boulders underground that hold the water back."

Professor Oak paused to make sure Ash was following along. "I had Dragonite, since she is so large and strong, go into this clearing and use her colossal strength to clear out many of the trees and other foliage surrounding it, expanding the clearing to over one hundred yards long and wide. She then dug out massive portions of the earth and created a large basin that expands nearly the entire newly extended clearing and is around one hundred feet deep. Very deep yes, but easy for her to get in and out of since she is so large and can also fly... Anyway! After she did this, several of your other Pokemon were lowered down into the basin by Dragonite and then dug a tunnel into one of it's sides, eventually connecting it with the pond that your Pokemon use now that's just outside of the forest. Dragonite then smashed the boulders that kept the underground streams from joining together and when she did, the entire one hundred yards long and wide, one hundred foot deep basin, filled completely up with water. Creating a small lake in the extended clearing.

He paused for effect. "So essentially Ash, your Pokemon, specifically your Water Pokemon, now has two bodies of water they can call their own. They now have plenty of space and can freely switch between whichever body of water they want to by simply swimming through the underground tunnel that connects the two. The width of the tunnel is around I would say... eighty feet down and fifty feet across. They couldn't go upwards when they were deepening the tunnel since they would have busted through to the surface if they would have. Your Pokemon were also thinking ahead when they constructed the tunnel Ash. They reinforced the walls and ceiling with many large stones and timber from the trees Dragonite cut down and placed them the entire length of the tunnel. Assuring it won't cave in. Your 'coaches' Machamp, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and several other Ground-Type Pokemon that your Pokemon are friends with also helped out, which sped the process up dramatically. In fact, if your Pokemon wouldn't have had so much help they would have never been able to dig out that massive tunnel in such short a time. The lake is extremely deep at one hundred feet so all of your more 'shallow water' Pokemon will most likely stay towards the surface and only venture down so far. Your Gyarados however, will most likely dive down very deep since they are accustomed to such depths from their time in the ocean. Anyway, I'm getting off track again! In short Ash, the water space issue is now solved!" Professor Oak said cheerfully.

By the time the Professor finished Ash was gaping. He finally found his voice and sputtered out. "P-Professor Oak that is just... You all did that just for me?" He asked in amazement.

Oak just nodded and smiled. "That's right Ash. We can't have your Pokemon being uncomfortable at their new home now can we?"

Ash just shook his head in disbelief and then stepped forward and hugged the Professor. "Thank you so much for doing that Professor... I really appreciate it." He said gratefully.

The old man just chuckled and hugged his student in return. "You are most welcome m'boy, you are most welcome."

Ash stepped back and then smiled brightly. "Your the best Professor!"

Oak chuckled again. "Thank you Ash. It's always good to hear that the ones you care for have such a high view of you."

They were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the bus. Professor turned back to Ash and his friends. "Well you four, take care of yourselves and keep shooting for your goals!" He said in farewell.

Ash nodded. "You got it Professor. I'll talk to you later!"

Ash hugged his mother again and bid her farewell. "You take care of yourself Ash! Don't be to reckless understand?!" His mother all but sobbed.

Ash sweatdropped and nodded his head, gently releasing himself from his mother. "You got it mom I promise. I'll see you later on okay? I love you."

She wiped her eyes and nodded. "I love you too honey!" She looked at Giselle. "Take care of my baby Giselle!"

The girl smiled and walked up to Ash. She wrapped her arm around his and pulled him closer. "Don't worry Delia. I'll make sure Ash stays safe and WELL BEHAVED." She said giving Ash a pointed look, which he just chuckled nervously at.

Delia smiled and sniffed. "Thank you so much dear, I really appreciate it."

After the good-byes were finished, Delia and Professor Oak stepped onto the bus and then Ash and his friends waved to the two adults as the bus slowly took off down the road, further into the city and eventually disappeared out of sight.

Once they had finished watching the bus make it's final turn around one of the buildings, they all headed back to 'Moe's Diner'. They were intent on just spending the day relaxing after the previous days excitement. Well, all except for Ash, who would only think about relaxing after he and his Pokemon had trained for the day.

Once they had made it back and Ash had finished getting ready for training he walked back out into main dining room and saw Misty, Brock and Moe taking a break from what they had been doing at one of the tables. They had been busy cleaning up the mess in the restaurant that Team Rocket had caused and were now enjoying some sandwiches that Brock had made.

"Hey Ash! Want a sandwich?" Misty asked.

Ash shook his head. "No thanks Misty, I'm heading out to train with my Pokemon."

She just groaned. "How can you can you think of training after the day we had yesterday? Can't you relax even one day?!" She asked exasperatedly.

Ash chuckled. "Future Pokemon Champions don't rest often Misty. We have to get stronger! Right Pi?!" He asked Pikachu, who was on his shoulder.

Pikachu looked down at his trainer, nodded his head and said with passion and fire in his voice. "Pikachu!"

Ash smirked. "See?" He said smugly.

Misty just shook her head. "Crazy..." She mumbled.

Ash suddenly looked confused. "Hey guys, where's Giselle?"

His friends and Moe looked confused as well. "I don't know Ash, I haven't seen her." Brock said.

"What do you mean you haven't seen her?!" Ash said, starting too get worried as his stomach twisted in a knot. Ever since yesterday's horrible experience of Giselle being kidnapped, Ash not knowing where she was scared him.

"I'm right here guys." They all turned their heads and saw Giselle coming down the stairs from the second floor living quarters. She was dressed in a blue sports bra, black biker shorts, black cross trainers and had her hair pulled up.

Ash sighed in relief. "There you are Giselle, I'm glad your okay."

Giselle looked confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Ash looked down. "After yesterday I keep thinking that your going to come up missing again and..." He trailed off, unable too finish.

Giselle walked up to him and gave him a warm hug. "I'm okay Ash... I'm not going anywhere I promise." she said softly to him.

He smiled back at her and then she got a fiery look in her eyes. "Now whadya say we go get sweaty?!" She said excitedly.

Ash returned her fiery look with his own. "Let's do it!"

The two then bid good-bye to their friends and took off out the door of the restaurant and made their way towards the beach. Brock just stared after them and shook his head amusedly. "Those two are something else." He said with humor in his voice.

Misty nodded. "Better her doing that suicidal training with him than me that's for sure!" She said crossing her arms.

Moe stood up from his chair. "Well, if those two are gonna go and work hard then what do you say we do as well? This place has a lot more clean-up we have to do yet."

Brock and Misty agreed and then they all went back to work cleaning up the restaurant.

All in all, the day was looking very promising and a far cry better than the last had.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: One Week Later)

A whole week had passed since the day of the tournament and other beach competitions and much had happened.

Ash and his friends had spent their time helping Moe clean the restaurant, explore the city, visit the beach and if you were Ash, Giselle and their Pokemon, train themselves into the ground. Of course, Ash and Giselle had quite a few romantic outings together during the course of the week in between everything else they did.

Yet again, even though they were still kids they both enjoyed the same sort of romantic activities that older couples did. They would stroll on the beach late at night, have lunch and sometimes even supper on beach and they would even have nights out together in the city. On these romantic outings together it was always just them. Pikachu would always elect to stay behind at the diner with Brock, Misty, Moe and the other Pokemon so he could give his Trainer time with his 'partner'.

In the last week Moe had also came into many good fortunes. He used the prize money that Ash and his friends had given him to have his restaurant repaired. It was now as good as new.

Brutella's trial had also come and gone and it was safe to say that the city of Porte Vista 'threw the book at her' so to speak. All of her crimes had culminated into a life sentence with no chance of parol. Her bodyguards had received a strict sentence as well and wouldn't be expecting to see the light of day any in that lifetime.

Officer Jenny had also been correct been when she told Moe that he would most likely be awarded Brutella's restaurant for the damages she had caused him if the case became apparent that she didn't have enough money to pay him outright. Funny enough and as luck would have it for Moe, not for Brutella, all of the money she had been saving in a large safe inside her office had been completely ransacked and every last credit stolen, no clues at all to who did it. Brutella was of course outraged at hearing this and was also struck like a train when the judge ordered ownership of her restaurant to pass into Moe's hands as an alternate form of payment. Ironic huh? Safe to say, her spirits were thoroughly broken as she was hauled out of the courtroom after her trial was over.

Ash and his friends had a good idea of exactly who had stolen from Brutella but they decided not to say anything. She deserved it and for once, Team Rocket did something that actually helped instead of hindered them.

And so, Moe was named the new owner of 'Brutella's Better Than Yours!' restaurant. surprisingly enough however, he didn't keep the restaurant and instead decided to sell the establishment to a group of lawyers that was looking to open a new firm. Ironically enough, the practice of law that the lawyers who bought Brutella's restaurant specialized in was helping those who had been taken advantage of financially like Moe, from those who would try to swindle and take advantage of them using the money favors as leverage, like Brutella.

Moe then used the money from Brutella's sold restaurant to buy himself a large and luxurious cruise boat. Something that Ash and his friends were very happy that Moe did.

Over the last week, Moe had also been teaching Ash how to drive and take care of his new boat. Ash at first was a little leery of handling such an expensive and nice boat but Moe had insisted. He told Ash that it was the least he could for the help that they had given him. Plus, he said that learning how to drive, operate and maintain a boat was a good idea when on a journey like Ash was when you never knew what you may encounter and have to do. Ash agreed with the logic, which lead to he and his friends sailing with Moe everyday. For Ash's friends it was luxury but for him it was just another intense, albeit exciting, form of training since sailing was not the easiest thing in the world to do. Especially with all of the different 'sea and boat terms' he had to learn. Moe also had drilled Ash on navigation when out at sea, which was hard but also exciting.

The most surprising thing however was Moe's decision to also sell his own restaurant and fund his around the world sailing trip with the money from it. Ash and his friends were enitially shocked by this but were ultimately very happy that Moe was finally following his dream.

'Moe's Diner' had successfully sold to a group of people called the 'Pokemon Coast Defenders'. They were an outfit of people who patroled the beaches and waters of Porte Vista with their own Water Pokemon and helped to protect people and Pokemon alike from any kind of danger they may face while in, or near the water. They were going to renovate 'Moe's Diner' into their base of operations, something that Moe, as well as Ash and friends, were very happy to hear.

The kids now stood on a dock in the Porte Vista harbor. Moe had just finished loading up his boat and was preparing to head out on the start of his round-the-world journey. The old man finished with his final preparations and then walked over to Ash and his friends. He smiled at them and placed his hands on his hips. "Well young ones I guess this is it. Our time together now comes to an end by the shores of the sea." He said philosophically.

Ash smiled sadly. "Yeah Moe I guess so... Thanks for taking us in and everything else you did for us. Especially teaching me about boats and how to drive one, that was great."

"Yeah and thanks for taking us out on the boat as well Moe, that was so much fun!" Giselle exclaimed happily.

"We're gonna miss you Moe, have fun out there on the sea and stay safe!" Misty said.

"And don't forget those recipes I showed you!" Brock reminded the old man.

Moe nodded and then shook hands with each of the kids before he stepped onto the boat. He revved up the motor up and then began slowly pulling away from the docks. "You kids take care of yourself now and Ash! Make sure you make it to and win the Indigo Conference! I'll find some way too watch it! If your journey ends up taking you around the world maybe we'll meet up again someday! Moe yelled back to them.

"You got it Moe, take care!" Ash called back.

The old man waved to them as his boat exiting the harbor and entered the open sea. Ash and his friends kept waving to him until eventually, his boat was only a speck on the horizon.

Ash turned back to his friends. "Well guys, it's still early so what do you say we start heading out for Hutber Port so we can enjoy that stay at the hotel I won a free week at in the tournament?"

"Sounds good to me!" Giselle said in her usual happy and cheerful way.

"Let's do it!" Misty said excitedly.

"Yeah I'm pretty anxious to stay at this supposed 'luxury hotel'." Brock added.

Ash zipped around so fast that Pikachu nearly fell off his shoulder. "Then let's head out!"

And with said, Ash and his friends set out from Porte Vista with their sights set on Hutber Port and the many new adventures they were sure to come across along the way!

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: One Day Later)

We find our young heroes traveling down a long coastal road, traveling towards their next destination: The large and sprawling coastal city of Hutber Port. Only trumped in size by Porte Vista.

As they continued on their way, they finally began seeing the large skyscrapers that made up the city a little ways away in the distance. Giselle pointed ahead. "Look guys! We're almost there!" She said excitedly.

Ash nodded and picked up his pace a little bit. "I know and I can't wait to see what the hotel we're staying at is like!" He said anxiously.

Misty caught up with Ash and Giselle. "Well what are you guys waiting for? Last one there is a rotten Poke'Egg!" She said as she took off running.

Ash shared a look with Giselle and then took off running as fast as he could. She sped off a few seconds later after them.

Brock held his hand out. "Wait! Guys I- Aghh... so much for a relaxing walk!" He said as he took off after his friends.

Not ten minutes later, Ash and his friends entered the city, sweaty and breathing slightly hard but happy to finally have arrived at their destination. "Victory is good!" Ash said smugly as he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back a little. He had been the first one into the city, winning their little 'race'.

Giselle was second in. "Haha yeah that's right mister enjoy it while you can! You won't win next time." She said while fixing her hair.

"I almost had you Giselle! If it wouldn't have been for that stupid rock in the road I would have beat you!" Misty said as she caught up and stood next to Giselle.

Giselle snorted and crossed her arms. "Excuses Misty! So unbecoming for someone to not just admit they lost." She chided.

Misty huffed and turned away.

Brock finaly came puffing in behind the others. "Don't worry... Guys... I'm fine... just in... pain... Here!" He puffed out as he placed his hands on his knees.

Ash just rolled his eyes and took in the city before him. "Wow... What a city!" He said impressed.

The city itself was very big indeed and expanded a long ways down the coast. It also stretched quite aways inland. There were several different buildings and structures all across the city, all ranging in several different shapes and sizes. From large skyscrapers, to smaller apartment looking complexes and several smaller business buildings.

The entire look of the city was finished off with the beautiful view of the ocean to the city's front.

"It's almost as big as Porte Vista was..." Giselle said looking around.

"I'm just glad it's near the ocean!" Misty said with a happy sigh as she breathed in the salt air.

Brock walked up to them. "What do you guys say about heading out to the Pokemon Center before trying to find the hotel we're staying at?" He asked.

Ash nodded. "Good idea Brock, let's go!" Ash said as he walked onto one of the busy streets, flanked by his friends and started making his way through the city.

XXXXXXXX

After Ash and his friends had stopped by the Pokemon Center and had their Pokemon checked up, they left and made their way way in the direction of the WaterCrown Hotel, which was where they were staying. They had needed directions to get there and luckily, Nurse Joy was nice enough to supply them with the exact route they needed to take in order to get there.

They were currently walking down a street that was next to the ocean and within seeing distance of the famous Hutber Coral Reefs. Misty was starry eyed as she gazed out over the ocean and had a very calm and serene look on her face.

"Man Misty you really love the ocean." Ash noticed.

Misty sighed contentedly. "Yeah I do... Ever since I was little and my sisters would bring me to the beach I've been addicted. Truth be told, the ocean is probably what got me so obsessed with Water-Type Pokemon in the first place. Just like the sea itself, Water-Types are so unique and beautiful... Even when battling Water Pokemon look so graceful and majestic looking." She sighed happily again.

Ash smiled and looked out over the ocean. He came to a stop and just watched the waves lap up against the wall of the road they were on top of. "You know your right Misty."

She looked confused. "What do you mean Ash?" She asked her friend.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the air around him before replying. "What you said about Water Pokemon being so special and unique. They really are just that. Even though all Pokemon are special and amazing in their own right, Water Pokemon have natures that are just like the tides themselves. Water-Types can ebb and flow with the currents of life and can adjust and overcome any adversity that comes their way just like the sea can endure and wash away any kind of impurity that touches it. Don't ever feel weird or ashamed because of your strong passion for Water Pokemon Misty, it's a great thing and Water-Types are definitely worth the time and focus it takes to observe and understand them better." Ash trailed off and stared off into the horizon.

Misty watched him with wide eyes and felt amazement as she gazed at him. The way he spoke about Water Pokemon and completely condoned and understood her obsession with them... His understanding of just how amazing they truly were and the way he was able to summarize exactly how she felt about them in just that simple speech... She sighed.

"_Giselle is so lucky..." _She thought to herself. _"Ash is so... Different! But not in a bad way. He's so understanding and compassionate towards other people's dreams and fascinations... He's always so willing to help others when they need it and is so dedicated to his own dream and not to mention Pokemon! When I look at him I just... Why are my feelings towards Ash so complex and why does he make me feel so frazzled?! Brock is also my friend and he's a guy just like Ash but it's as simple as breathing with him. He's like the brother I've never had. But Ash... I keep getting these strong feelings with each passing day I'm around him and they just keep getting stronger! I just hope Giselle realizes how fortunate she is. Who knows? Maybe if things don't work out between them I can..."_

Misty was suddenly broke from her thoughts by Giselle yelling out, "Hey what's that?!"

Ash turned his head and looked over at his girlfriend. "What's what Giselle?" He said confused.

She pointed out towards the ocean and Ash, Misty and Brock all looked at what she was pointing at.

Floating in the water some yards away from them was what looked like a small, light blue Pokemon. It looked as though it was struggling to stay afloat and was desparetly trying to get towards the shore. Misty eyes widened when she realized what the Pokemon was. Ash must have realized what it was as well because they both called out at the same time, "It's a Horsea!"

Misty took no time and instantly pulled out a Pokeball. "Goldeen help that Horsea!" She yelled as she threw her Pokeball.

It opened up and Goldeen appeared in a flash of light. "Goldeen Goldeen!" She said as she hit the water and started swimming towards Horsea.

She reached the struggling Pokemon and started talking to it. Horsea was either to tired to resist or understood what Goldeen was trying to do because it let her grab ahold of it with her two front fins and then carry it to the shore. Paddling as fast as she could with her back tail fin.

They finally reached the wall of the high road and Misty bent over the side. She carefully scooped Horsea out of Goldeen's grip and then thanked her Pokemon before returning it.

She carried Horsea over to the side of the road and sat it down while the other three, plus Pikachu crowded around Misty and the injured Pokemon.

Misty had worry in her eyes and was desparetly trying to figure out what was wrong with the small Pokemon. It was breathing shallowly and had a couple bruises on it's body. The Pokemon looked up at her and she could see that one of it's eyes were black and blue. "Horse... Horsea..." It said weakly.

"What do we do?!" Misty said frantically.

Ash gently nudged in beside her and looked Horsea over. "I don't think it's to bad Misty. It looks like Horsea was in a fight and got beat up pretty bad. I think it's just sore and very exhausted." He said as took off his pack and reached into the medical supplies pouch of his bag.

He pulled out a Super Potion and looked at Misty. "Will you please cradle it's head while I spray it with this?" He asked.

Misty nodded and held up Horsea's head while Ash sprayed the Potion onto the injured Pokemon. As soon as the medicine made contact with Horsea's raw skin the Pokemon flinched in pain and cried out but eventually Ash had addressed every major wound and finished the treatment.

Horsea stopped struggling and felt the healing and soothing effects of the medicine take hold. It's wounds slowly closed up and eventually it looked fine, no worse for the wear except for it's black eye. Ash didn't want to get any of the Potion in Horsea's eye so he couldn't do anything about the swolen eye unfortunately.

He reached back into his pack and pulled out an Oran Berry. "Here Misty, feed this to Horsea, it'll restore it's strength."

Misty took the berry and put it near Horsea's mouth. The Pokemon looked up at her warily and she just smiled down at it warmly. "Please eat this berry Horsea, I promise it will make you feel better." She said kindly.

Horsea hesitated a few seconds but eventually ate the berry. A few moments later it felt it's energy return to it and felt a million times better.

It slowly sat up in Misty's arms a little more and looked around. It looked up at Misty after a few seconds and smiled at her. "Horse! Horsea!" It said happily as it reached up and rubbed it's nose against her cheek.

Misty laughed and held the Pokemon closer. "Your welcome Horsea! But it wasn't all me, Ash was the one that healed you." She said pointing at Ash.

Horsea looked at Ash and gave him an eye smile. "Horsea!" It said gratefully.

Ash chuckled and bent down. He rubbed Horsea's snout and smiled. "No need to thank me Horsea, I was glad to help!"

"Is he going to be okay now?" Giselle asked concerned.

Ash nodded. "He should be now. He just needed a good Potion and an energy restorer. What do you think Brock?" Ash asked his squinty eyed friend.

Brock knelt down and examined Horsea. "I think it'll be fine now Ash. You did good." He praised.

"He." Misty said.

"Uhh?" Everyone else said confused.

Misty repeated herself. "I said, Horsea is a 'he'. A male."

"How do you know?" Giselle asked curiously.

"Male Horsea are a lighter shade of blue than females are." She stated matter of factly.

"Learn something new everyday huh?" Giselle said with a smile.

Ash looked at Horsea and asked a question that was on everyone's minds. "Horsea... What happened to you? How did you get so beat up?"

Horsea's attitude instantly changed and he started looking towards the ocean nervously while calling his name. "Horsea Horse Horsea!" He said frantically.

None of them understood what Horsea was trying to get across to them as he continued pointing in the direction of the ocean with his snout.

"What do you think he's trying to tell us?" Giselle asked.

Ash shook his head. "I don't know. He probably just got into a fight with another Pokemon deeper out in the sea." He looked at Misty. "Come on Misty we need to get to the hotel, see if Horsea wants to come along." He told her.

Misty nodded and looked down at Horsea. "You want to come along with us for now Horsea?" She asked the small Pokemon.

Horsea nodded it's head vigorously. "Horse Horsea!" It agreed enthusiastically.

Misty smiled and picked Horsea up. She cradled him in her arms and looked at her friends. "I'm ready." She said.

Ash nodded. "Then let's head out."

The kids then set out for their destination.

XXXXXXXXX

After walking down the street that bordered the sea for about ten minutes, Ash and the others finally came upon the sight of a large... No scratch that, MASSIVE building sitting on a very large portion of property that overlooked the beach. Actually, from where the towering structure was sitting, it was positioned perfectly in line with the Hutber Coral Reefs. In fact, some ways out in the water in front of the where the large building was facing, was a large construction sight set up over top of the water. Something definitely was being built over there but they couldn't tell what.

The large building itself, for lack of a better word, looked awe inspiring and had the look of a very fancy and well architectured piece of art. The entire building was painted a sea blue and had intricate designs painted onto it's surface all the way around. It was to tall for words and had a large and well guarded gate wrapped around the entire length of the property. On the very front of the hotel was the name 'WaterCrown Hotel' spelled out in big golden letters.

Ash and his friends stared slack jawed at the sight as they walked up to the hotel. As they came closer to the entrance of the gate, two guards stopped them. "Are you here to see about staying at the WaterCrown Hotel or do you happen to already have a reservation?" One of the security guards asked nicely.

Ash decided to do the talking. "Yes sir, we are actually. My friends and I are here to claim a free stay that I won in a tournament." He said politely.

The guard nodded and stepped inside the guard shack. He pressed a button and the ornate gates swung open. "Enjoy your stay then and have a great day!" The guard bid them with a wave.

Ash and his friends bid him goodbye as well and then walked through the gates. As soon as they stepped through they found themselves staring at the most well kept and taken care of lawn/garden they had ever seen.

Leading to the doors of the hotel was a cobblestone path lain before their feet. Palm trees bordered each side of the path and on either side of the massive lawn was a large assortment of shrubbery, flowers and trees, both local and exotic looking, spread all around the grounds.

There were also many different lawn ornaments and statues set up in certain places everywhere they looked. Ranging from statues of Water Pokemon, fountains that had benches set up near them and even small 'courtyards' that were set up here and there that were filled with nothing but flowers and statues so guests could leisurely walk through them and observe the splendid decor.

"Wow... Amazing..." Giselle said in awe as she looked around.

"No kidding." Ash agreed.

They continued down the cobblestone path until they reached the entricate doors of the hotel. Before Ash could grab the door handle, the doors suddenly opened up and revealed two employees dressed in sea blue hotel outfits, holding the doors open for them.

Ash and his friends walked in through the door and stepped into the lobby. Their breaths were taken away as they took in the sight of the almost royal looking lobby. The entire theme was that of a sea theme, or more of a royal sea theme, with beautiful sculptures and decorations set up all over the huge lobby.

Artwork was on nearly every wall and in the center of the lobby was a huge golden fountain that had several small statues of Water Pokemon around it's base. Goldeen, Staryu, Tentacool and Poliwhirl were just a few of the statues surrounding the inside of the fountain with water spouts coming from their mouths. At the very top of the fountain, resting atop the utmost point like a beacon, was a royal looking crown that was a deep blue in color and had several small sapphires around the headband of it.

Benches that had seashells engraved into them were set up around the fountain and in the very front of the lobby was a large concierge desk that had a very well dressed and proper looking man behind it.

"This place is just..." Misty began.

"Incredible." Brock finished.

Ash walked up to the desk and took in the man's appearance. He had ruffled brown hair and wore a black suit with a white tie. The man looked up from the computer he was typing on and addressed Ash and his friends in a very proper voice. "Welcome to the WaterCrown Hotel, where luxury and relaxation is an inevitable experience! How many I help you?"

Ash stepped closer to the desk and greeted the man. "Thank you sir. My name is Ash Ketchum and these are my friends. I am here to claim the weeks free stay that I won in the Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament." He said politely.

The desk clerk nodded his head and turned his attention back to the computer. He typed in a few keys and after a few minutes of searching he looked back up at Ash and smiled. "Ahh here you are! Ash Ketchum: It says that you were indeed the victor of the Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament and won a free weeks stay here at our wonderful hotel with the option of three others joining you as your guests. I actually remember this promotion we had going, congratulations on your victory young man!" He praised.

Ash nodded. "Thank you sir I appreciate it."

The man finished typing on the computer and then looked back at Ash. "Are you four the only ones checking in?"

"Yes sir." Ash confirmed.

The man nodded. "And do you have any luggage you would like to have carried up to your suites?"

Ash shook his head. "Only the packs we are carrying sir. My friends and I are traveling and are just here for our free stay."

The concierge nodded again and then reached below the desk. He brought out four key cards and handed them over to Ash, who handed one to each of his friends in turn. "These are the cards too get into your rooms sir. You are on the very top floor in two of our finest executive suites. The rooms overlook the ocean and have an even better view of the coral reefs. Each room has two bedrooms, a living room combined with a full kitchen and both rooms also come equipped with a full size jacuzzi and wrap around balcony that gives you a splendid view of the ocean. Should you need anything please feel free to call room service and complementary breakfast is served everyday from 7:00 to 9:00 A.M. We also have a pamphlet in each room that will give you a complete rundown on every activity we offer here at WaterCrown. The pool is located out back, which you need your key card to have access to and a mini bar is also set up inside of the pool area. I recommend taking a tour of our expansive gardens located on the grounds if you want a relaxing stroll and perhaps even a visit to our on-site hot springs for a day of complete relaxation if that interests you. There are many more commodities we offer here at WaterCrown and you can read all about them in the aforementioned pamphlets. Your checkout time is next Friday at 10:00 A.M. and I hope you have a great stay!"

Ash smiled and thanked the man. Before they walked away the desk clerk stopped them again. "And by the way Mr. Ketchum! The owner of the hotel made it clear that she wanted to meet the winner of the contest when they finally arrived here. If you wouldn't mind stopping by her office later on at noon so she may congratulate you personally I'm sure she would be very appreciative! Her office is on a separate floor that only employees and she herself can access from the elevator. If you come back down here to the lobby at noon then we can provide you with one of the staff so they can take you up to her office. Would you mind? I know this may be an inconvenience and I do apologize for it. Your friends are more than welcome to accompany you if that helps at all."

Ash looked at his friends and they merely shrugged. "I don't mind going Ash." Giselle said.

Misty and Brock said the same. Ash turned back to the man and nodded. "Yeah sure, we'll go see her." He said simply.

The desk clerk bowed his head. "Thank you so much! I shall let her know and see you all again soon!" He said happily.

After that, Ash and the others walked over to the elevators and took them to the top most floor. After exiting the elevator they walked down the long hallway that had several large and fancy looking doors on either side of them. They finally arrived at their door numbers and after checking their key cards for confirmation that they were at the right rooms, they unlocked their doors and stepped inside. Brock and Ash checking out their room and the girls checking out their own.

Ash's eyes bugged out as he took in the room. Just like the rest of the hotel, everything was decorated a royal sea blue theme. The living room stretched in front of them and had two couches set up around a fireplace with a widescreen TV suspended on the ceiling just above the couches.

The kitchen connected to the living room and was full size. Complete with stove, dishwasher, toaster oven and fridge. There was even a small dining area set up in the living room.

In the very front of the room was a large glass window that stretched the entire length of that wall and had two glass double doors that lead out onto the well sized balcony. There was a hallway to the right of the living room that lead to the large and very nice bathroom on the left side, and two large, extravagant rooms on the right side. The rooms themselves were very nice and sported a king size bed each. The walls were painted a light sea blue and the room was decorated in the same royal sea theme as the rest of the hotel.

Ash and Brock met back up with the girls in the boy's side living room, all of them looking equally as impressed and amazed with the rooms.

"This place is amazing!" Giselle gushed happily.

"No kidding... The decor in the rooms is just unbelievable and the jacuzzi..." Misty trailed off with stars in her eyes.

"I really like the kitchens personally." Brock added in.

Ash chuckled. "I'm really not surprised Brock." He chided his friend good naturedly. "I hope they have a good training center myself." He finished with a hopeful look.

"Ooohhh me too! We could train every morning together just like usual Ash!" Giselle said as she wrapped her arm around his.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Train train train! That's all you two think about!" She yelled exasperatedly as she threw her arms in the air. "You corrupted her Ash!" She accused him with a pointed finger in his direction.

Ash merely shrugged and smirked. "What can I say Mist? I'm a good influence!" He bragged jokingly.

Brock walked over to a table that was near the door and picked up a pamphlet that was resting on it's surface. "Hey guys, what do you say we go and check out the pool for awhile? It's only ten right now, which means we still have two hours before we have to meet the owner of the hotel." He then showed them one of the pages that was on the inside of the pamphlet he was holding and revealed a picture of the pool that was located out on the grounds.

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Ash agreed enthusiastically.

The girls nodded their heads anxiously. "Sounds like fun!" Giselle said.

"Count me in as well! Misty chimed in.

Pikachu called out his own excited 'yes' as Brock put the pamphlet down and headed back over to them. "We better go get changed then." He recommended.

The four friends then departed to their own rooms and changed into their swimwear before meeting back up in the hallway outside of the rooms. Ash locked his and Brock's door before turning back to his friends. "Let's head out guys!"

They took the elevator down to the lobby and waved to the nice desk clerk as they walked through the lobby. They walked all the way down to the end of it and then went through two large double doors that opened up into a large hallway. There were doors on either side of the long hallway that had signs posted above them telling what each room was for.

Some of them were lounge rooms, others lead to the different indoor attractions of the hotel and one even lead into the dining hall.

They walked to the very end of the hallway and went through a door that was labeled 'Grounds' in golden gilded letters. As they stepped outside they were struck in awe by the beauty of the massive lawn before them.

There were so many beautiful decorations, plants and flowers set up everywhere it was truly a sight to behold. They walked down a path that lead through the grounds and headed out towards the pool. The whole way there they just kept drinking in the sights around them.

There were several other guests outside doing many different things. Some were just walking around taking in the sights and snapping pictures, while others were heading to the different outdoor activities set up. Apparently you could get to the beach from the grounds because there many people dressed in beach clothes making their way towards the end of the grounds where a guarded exit/entry gate was set up with a sign that said 'Beach' posted above the gate, with an arrow pointed in the direction of the beach.

Ash whistled while they continued too walk. "Being right near the beach and just on the outside of the city like this, I didn't think the hotel could possibly have an outdoors this big... I can't imagine how much it must have cost to build this place."

Brock was thinking the same thing. "I hear ya Ash, it must have cost a fortune to build this place."

"Yeah but can you image how much it actually must cost to stay here for real?" Misty said from beside Giselle.

"We're staying here free because of the contest Ash won. For all four of us to stay here any other time for a whole week would have to cost thousands." Giselle added in.

"They would have to in order to make a profit off of this place." Ash agreed. "I just can't believe they were allowed to build so close to the coral reefs that are right near here. Nothing else is built near this hotel and they even have some type of construction going on out IN the reefs. I can't believe they aren't bothering the Pokemon that I know have to live out there." He added as an afterthought.

"Maybe no Pokemon live in the section of the reef they're building on." Brock said. "That would have to be the case since I know that no city would never clear any kind of construction where Pokemon lived and had a habitat set up."

At that moment the Horsea that Misty had cradled in her arms started going off like crazy and began struggling in Misty's grasp. All the while pointing out towards the coral reefs.

Misty kept her hold on the Pokemon as he struggled. "What's wrong Horsea?!" She said as the Pokemon continued thrashing around.

"Horse! Horsea Horse Horsea!" He called out wildly.

Ash followed Horsea's gaze out to where he was looking and stared at the construction site for awhile. Finally he spoke. "I think Horsea knows something more about what's going on out there than we do..." He said thoughtfully. "Maybe he lives in those reefs and was chased away because of the construction going on?" He guessed.

Horsea looked at Ash expectantly when he said that and began speaking to the boy frantically. "Horsea! Horsea Horsea Horse!"

Ash couldn't understand what Horsea was trying to say and just shook his head. "It's hard to say guys... Just keep watching him alright Misty?"

She nodded and held Horsea tighter and looked down at the Pokemon in her arms. "It's all going to be alright now Horsea. I won't let anything happen to you okay?" She assured.

Horsea just sighed and looked down. Ash looked up at Pikachu. "While we're all resting at the pool do you think you could talk to Horsea and try to find out what's bothering him pal?" He asked his starter.

Pikachu nodded. "Pika Pikachu!" He said resolutely.

Ash smiled and scratched his Pokemon behind the ears. "Thanks bud."

The friends arrived at the gate to the pool a little while later and scanned their key cards before walking inside. The pool itself was very large and spacious. It went up to twelve feet deep and even had a low and high dive set up at the deepest end. There was also a rope in the middle of the pool that separted the shallow and deep ends for children and people who couldn't swim well.

In one corner of the large pool area was a hot tub for people who wanted to just relax their tired muscles, a sitting/sunning area on the furthest end and a small mini bar set up near the restroom/changing area.

For the better part of an hour and a half Ash and his friends swam around the pool relaxingly. Ash and Brock eventually ended up taking turns jumping off of the high dive while Giselle and Misty floated around in the shallow end on some floating beds that the mini bar rented out, watching them.

The pool staff was kind enough to allow Pikachu and Horsea into the water since they looked to be clean and well behaved, so Pikachu spent the entire time floating around on an innertube trying to get Horsea to talk to him about what had him so on edge. Sadly, Horsea wouldn't open up.

Ash and Brock had ended up having a contest of who could perform the best tricks off of the high dive. Brock had managed to execute a perfect back flip that he landed perfectly in the water and with that he thought he had won. Those hopes were instantly dashed the moment Ash performed his own back flip... DOUBLE STYLE, followed by a clockwise rotation in the air and finishing up by hitting the water in a perfect swam dive.

Brock was left gaping while Misty and Giselle cheered loudly for Ash. After he had a moment too gloat his victory and Brock finished sulking, the friends packed up and headed back to the hotel so they could get ready to meet the owner.

XXXXXXXX

Thirty minutes later we find Ash and his friend walking back down to the lobby after changing back into their regular clothes and freshening up from their fun in the pool.

Ash had asked Pikachu in that time if he got anything out of Horsea and was upset to learn that Horsea didn't open up to him about anything. Ash thanked Pikachu for his effort and felt even more determined to find out what was bothering Horsea. If nothing more than for Misty's sake, since seeing the small Pokemon in such a state really worried Misty, who had grown to care for the Water-Type.

After arriving in the lobby and greeting the desk clerk he thanked them again for their cooperation and called over another employee to lead the kids up to the owner's private office.

Ash and his friends followed the employee into the elevator and watched as he lifted up a hidden panel directly below the main floor selection pad and revealed a small key hole. The employee reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key. He stuck it into the keyhole and after turning it another small panel directly next to the keyhole was revealed. A single small button that had the number '13' on it, representing a thirteenth floor, was the only thing on the small pad.

The employee pressed the button and then Ash and his friends were nearly thrown off balance when the elevator suddenly lurched and instead of moving up, moved towards the right a little bit and then started to go up.

After he regained his balance Ash asked, "Why did the elevator move sideways?"

The employee looked back at them and answered. "Another shaft was built right next to the main shaft and was built to take the elevator all the way up to the thirteenth floor. Which is mostly where the owners office, the vault and all of the most important records for the hotel is kept. It's completely sealed off from the rest of the hotel so that none of the guests would accidentally walk into an area they're not supposed too. A small track built below the elevator is what connects the main shaft to the one we are in now."

Ash and his friends looked amazed at the revelation of a completely separate portion of the hotel being blocked off from the rest of it but definitely understood the reasoning for such a thing.

The elevator finally stopped at it's destination and the doors opened up, revealing a long hallway. The walls were made of some kind of beechwood, the floors were tile and the ceiling was also made of beechwood.

The employee stepped out of the elevator and proceeded down the hallway with Ash and his friends in tow. They passed a few doors on the way that looked like they led into storage rooms full of filing cabinets and one door in particular that was heavily locked and secured. Most likely leading to the safe room.

They reached their destination, which was a solid oak door and then the employee knocked on the door. After hearing no response on the other side he looked back at Ash and his friends. "The owner must not be in yet but I'll let you in and you can just wait for her."

Ash nodded his head in understanding and then stepped inside of the room after the employee unlocked the door, flanked by his friends. They found themselves in a very spacious, large office that was very professional and business looking. All except for one of the walls in the back corner of the office. The entire wall had been hallowed out and made into a huge aquarium that had a few Goldeen, Seaking and Magikarp swimming around inside of it. There was also a big window behind the large desk sitting at the front of the office that had a perfect view of the ocean and more specifically, the coral reefs, far below.

The employee pointed out some lounge chairs in one corner of the office and said, "You can wait right over there if you want to and also feel free to help yourself to the water and fruit over there at the table." He pointed towards the refreshments. "I'm sure she will be here at any moment. Do you need anything else by chance?" He asked nicely.

Ash looked at his friends and they shook their heads. He looked back at the man. "No thank you sir we're good and thank you for bringing us up here." Ash said gratefully.

The employee smiled and bowed his head. "Very good then! Have a great day and it was my pleasure!" He then backed out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Ash went over and looked out the large window at the ocean far below him. The others took seats on the lounge chairs and Giselle started eating on one of the peaches she took from the snack table.

"So what do you think this 'owner' wants?" Misty asked curiously.

Ash turned around and shook his head. "The desk clerk said she just wanted to welcome us here but I guess we won't really know until she gets here."

Ash went over and took a seat beside Giselle and looked at her amusedly as she ate away at her peach. She looked over at him in mid-bite and suddenly got nervous. She fidgeted around little as she bit down again and finally she couldn't take it anymore. "What?! What am I doing that is so amusing?" She asked in frustration.

Ash chuckled and pointed at her chin. "You must just really like fruit, or at least peaches Giselle. It's all over your chin!" He started laughing a little and Giselle turned bright red as she rubbed at her chin and felt all of the juices that were collected there.

Ash continued chuckling as he handed her a napkin that was on a table near the chairs they were sitting on. She took it and wiped her face as she glared at Ash. "You just stop it mister! Everyone gets messy sometimes and I happen to just like fruit, especially peaches, quite a lot!" She defended herself.

Ash finally regained his breath and said, "Yeah I like fruit as well but you don't see me trying to wear it around like some kind of strange fashion statement do you?" He teased.

Giselle just huffed and crossed her arms as she turned away, pouting in a way that Ash found incredibly adorable. "Well Mr. Chuckles! Since you find such humor in mocking your sweet and loving girlfriend you can forget kissing and/or cuddling with me for the rest of the day!"

Ash instantly stopped laughing and looked like she had just hit him in the face. "Now come on Giselle that's a little harsh don't ya think? I was only joking I promise! Look I'm really sorry okay? Please forgive me..." He gave her a pleading look and she just huffed again, got up, went over to the snack table and came back with another peach. She handed it to him and he stared at it in confusion. "What's this?" He asked perplexed.

She crossed her arms again and said simply, "That is what you can kiss and cuddle with for the remainder of the day... Dear."

A dark atmosphere suddenly formed around Ash as he dropped to his knees on the floor and held the peach in one hand while he rubbed the floor back and forth with his other finger, a rain cloud pouring over his head. He cried comically as Brock just laughed like a madman.

"Hahaha! For once it's not me! Ohh this is good!" He said as he laughed loudly.

Misty grew a few tick marks on her head and made sure Horsea was cradled safely in one arm as she clobbered Brock over the head with her other. "There Brock! Feel a little less left out now!" She fumed down at him.

Brock just twitched on the floor in response.

A door near the aquarium on the other side of the office suddenly opened up and Ash and his friends immediately shot to attention. Through the door walked in a woman that made the children's jaws all but drop open as their eyes widened in surprise.

"I-I thought she was in prison!" Giselle murmured just loud enough for her friends to hear her.

"I thought she was too!" Misty agreed.

"How?" Brock said perplexed.

Ash didn't even say a word as he continued to stare at the newly arrived woman. The reason for their complete and utter shock was the appearance of the woman. She literally looked indentical to Brutella. She had the same haggard looking face, red hair that was pulled to the sides in two long pig tails and was the exact same height as the misurable old former restaurant owner. The only difference was in how she was dressed. She was wearing a long yellow dress, a purple short sleeved short and had a fur neck warmer of some kind wrapped around her neck. She carried an expensive cane in one hand and had the same kind of sneer on her face that Brutella had.

Just like Brutella, she was also flanked by two guards only... Her bodyguards were a little more... 'underdressed'. These two men were wearing only speedos of some kind and that was it. The sight of which made Ash and Brock cringe, while Giselle and Misty looked disgusted.

The woman strode over to the stupefied children and spoke in the same grating and nerve wracking voice as Brutella had. "So you four are the winning guests eh? A little young but I guess it doesn't really matter." She flourished her cain around in an exaggerated way, like she was greatest thing in the world as she then said, "Allow me to introduce myself! I am Nastina Haggerson, owner and founder of the WaterCrown hotel! The most luxurious and extravagant hotel in the entire Kanto region!" She said with smug pride in her voice.

Ash recovered from his shock after hearing that this indeed was not Brutella but apparently a relative of hers, which explained the extremely similar looks. He spared a glance at his friends and noticed that they had gotten over their own shock as well.

Nastina looked at them impatiently and said, "Well?! Who are you?"

Ash was the first to answer. "My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet Town." He pointed up at Pikachu. "And this is my starter Pokemon and best friend Pikachu."

His friends then introduced themselves. "I'm Giselle." She said simply.

"Misty." The orange haired girl said.

"My names Brock miss." He said politely.

It was obvious that all four of them were still in shock at seeing a clone of a woman they despised so much. Nastina merely nodded and then went to sit behind her desk, her two scantily clad bodyguards right behind her.

Ash and his friends walked over and stood in front of her desk and waited for her to speak. She finally did and she addressed them as a whole. "So which one of you won the contest in Porte Vista that earned you a stay here at this hotel?" She asked, but it sounded more like a demand.

Ash answered her. "I did ma'am."

She raised an eyebrow. "I see. Are you a professional Trainer? Won any big tournaments before? What is your background?" She demanded again.

Ash seemed confused at her strange questions but decided to just go along with it and answered her. "Actually I would be considered a Rookie Trainer since I've only been traveling with my Pokemon a short while now. I've not really won any kind of big tournaments except for the one that earned my friends and I are week passes here at the hotel after I won the Porte Vista Beach Battle Tournament and also a smaller tournament I participated in at Vermillion City so I could win tickets for my friends and I to board the St. Anne. I've never participated in any kind of televised competition and currently I'm traveling the region with my friends, challenging the gyms so I can compete in the Indigo League Conference."

Nastina interlocked her fingers and leaned on her desk with a critical eye directed at the kids. She pointed at the other three. "Are you three Trainers as well?" She demanded.

They looked at each other and Brock spoke first. "I used to be the Pewter City Gym Leader and currently am aiming to be a Pokemon Breeder."

Misty went next. "I'm a Gym Leader at the Cerulean City Pokemon Gym and am training to be a Water Pokemon Master."

Giselle went last. "I was the top student at the Pokemon Technical Institute and hope to challenge and win the Indigo Conference after I finish up at school."

Nastina drummed her fingers together and after a few moments of contemplation said, "So you are strong and talented Pokemon Trainers then?" She seemed as though she could care less what the four Trainers had just told her about themselves.

Ash decided to speak. "Excuse me but... What are we here for miss? The desk clerk down in the lobby said you wanted to just congratulate us for winning a free stay here and that was it. Is there something else you wanted to meet us for?" He asked curiously.

Nastina smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Yes actually... There was a reason why I called you up here and now I shall explain."

She hopped out of her chair and walked around the front of her desk with her cain swinging in her hand. "You see, there was a reason why I had my hotel participate and offer a weeks free stay to whoever won the competition in Porte Vista. I am in need of strong Trainers and by offering a free stay here at this luxury hotel I felt that was the most sure fire way in drawing tough Trainers here to me."

Ash shared a look with his friends before looking back at Nastina in confusion. "And why exactly are you in need of Trainers?"

She walked over to the window behind her desk and stared down at the ocean below. Her gaze rested on the construction sight that was resting over top of the coral reefs as she spoke. "This hotel was one of the greatest business ventures I have ever embarked upon. The fact that I built so close to the famous and 'beautiful' Hutber Coral Reefs has been a major tourist attraction. As you can see if you go outside and look around, no one else has anything built even close to this area due to restrictions of building on or near the reefs from the city. Since I am the only one, people come from miles around just to stay at a luxurious hotel that has everything they could possibly want out of it while they observe and tour the coral reefs. I have made more money than my wannabe business tycoon cousin Brutella, from Porte Vista, ever even dreamed of! Funny considering her biggest dream was to own her own hotel. That is before her... Untimely incarceration."

Ash and his friends shared a glance with each other at hearing this. Nastina chuckled as she continued to stare out the window. "If only she could see all of this now! She would be totally envious of me and I would love nothing more than to rub it in her ugly face!"

Giselle quietly snickered and whispered to Misty, "Look who's talking."

The two girls shared a silent giggle at this as Nastina turned back around to face them all. "As successful as my hotel is, I didn't get where I am today by ever letting anything be good enough! I learned long ago that in order to stand at the top of the business world you have to always have ways to improve and never stop thinking of ideas for new business ventures! That is why I am currently working on building executive condos out on the reefs themselves that only the top of the top will be allowed to stay at. Since only the very wealthiest will even be able to afford such luxurious accommodations I will be able to charge through the roof! People will pay as well since no where else in the Kanto region can you stay in luxury condos that are constructed right over top of region famous coral reefs such as the Hutber Reefs below us. My resort will be dubbed as the most desired and famous in the entire Kanto region and the profits I will turn over will dwarf what I make now!" She began cackling again as Ash and his friends grew a little dislike for the money loving woman in front of them that was seeming more and more like her evil cousin Brutella as she continued to talk.

Ash decided to ask a question that was on all of their minds. He asked in such a way that didn't come off as being nosy, merely curious. "If you don't mind me asking Nastina... How were you even able to build your hotel so close to the reefs in the first place? Not too mention actually building right over top of them. There are strict ordinances and laws concerning humans encroaching on Pokemon's natural habitats in place all over the world. When it comes to building any kind of human settlements and structures anywhere near where Pokemon live, laws clearly state that it cannot effect the Pokemon's ecosystem. That's why there has always been such a balance between where Pokemon live and where people live. People don't chase Pokemon from their homes and destroy their habitats, leading to Pokemon never doing the same to us. That's why we coexist so well together. Those coral reefs must be completely devoid of Pokemon if you were given permission to build both so close to and directly over top of them." Ash was yet again very thankful for Professor Oak's teachings. If it wasn't for the Professor making Ash study laws concerning both people and Pokemon'as well, Ash would never have known what he had just told Nastina about.

Nastina tensed up and then relaxed a moment later. It happened so fast that most people would probably miss it. Ash did see it however and it instantly made him suspicious.

Nastina just waved her hand dimissively. "Yes... Apparently the Hutber Reefs are just not able to provide the right habitat for any kind of population of Pokemon. The city had no qualms whatsoever giving me my building permits. No one else builds around here because the ground is so hard to break through and the sissies are just to afraid of doing the hard work it takes to make a business work around here. That's why everyone always chooses to build further in the city... The cowards!" She ranted.

Ash narrowed his eyes. He knew what she just said about coral reefs not being able to sustain Pokemon was complete Tauros shit! Pokemon could survive and THRIVE in the most inhospitable of conditions. He knew from all his years studying with Professor Oak that coral reefs were like heavenly sanctuaries for Water Pokemon. The nutrient rich seafood that could be found in the reefs, not to mention the natural shelter and homes that the reefs themselves provided and the shallow waters that protected baby Water-Types from bigger predators, made coral reefs IDEAL habitats for Water Pokemon. And if the hype about the Hutber Reefs were true then they would be even more exceptional for Water-Types to live in than even most other coral reefs.

Something was way off here and if Nastina's automatic tendency to dodge the subject on how she was given permission to build on the reefs was any indication, then something was definitely wrong.

The short woman suddenly grew angry and clinched her hands into fists as she glared down at the reefs. "However, recently I have encountered a problem with the construction of my condos." Her eyes darkened in anger as she continued. "My workers and their equipment has been being attacked by a large group of Tentacool and Tentacruel ever since construction began! The cowards are to afraid of the slimy squids to go to work and because of that, construction has been completely halted!"

Misty felt anger stirring inside of her when Nastina insulted the Tentacool and Tentacruel but didn't say anything.

The old woman walked back over and stood in front of the kids again. "That is why I offered a weeks stay for the winner of the contest back in Porte Vista. I need strong, talented Trainers to get rid of those annoying Pokemon for me so construction can resume on my condos! I'm offering one million credits to the ones that can put an end to those nasty creatures! That's the reason why I asked you all here. What do you say, will you take the job? That money will go a long way in funding your travels, especially with four of you. The best part is: I don't care how you go about taking care of them. Chase them away with your own Pokemon, capture them, poison them, kill them, I don't care! The only thing I care about is getting rid of that infestation so I can have my condos built and start bringing in more money!" She finished her proposition/ rant and waited for the young group of Trainers decision.

Giselle looked disgusted with Nastina, Brock looked like he had just been told that his subscription to 'Attract...' a men's entertainment magazine, had just been revoked from him and was furious, Ash had an un-readable expression on his face and Misty... She loved Water Pokemon and everything to do with them. To see or even hear of anyone hurting or wanting to hurt a Water Pokemon enraged her. Right now, she was shaking with fury.

Misty stormed right up to Nastina and pointed a finger at her while she held Horsea in her other arm. "Listen you greedy old-" Ash suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the woman. Misty looked at him with anger burning in her eyes as Ash whispered to her. "Let me handle this Misty. Your to angry right now and I understand but please... I promise I'll take care of this. Trust me." He said calmly but firmly.

Misty stared at him for a few moments before reluctantly nodding her head and walking over to stand beside Giselle, who started trying to calm Misty down.

Ash walked up to Nastina and said with a firm and confident resolve in his voice. "Nastina... My friends and I are not just Pokemon Trainers. Are Pokemon and all Pokemon we encounter are our friends and we care about them deeply. It doesn't matter if they are our Pokemon, wild Pokemon or even someone else's...we love, want to protect and care for every Pokemon we come across. Someone like you who only understands cold business could never comprehend where I'm coming from so I won't even try getting my feelings across to you because it would be a waste of time. We met your cousin back in Porte Vista and you are both two of a kind. You only care about yourselves and making money, everyone and everything else is just expendable tools for you to use so you can get your way. I don't have a shred of respect for people like you and after hearing about how you would be so willing to take the lives of innocent Pokemon just so you can build 'luxury condos' and make more money sickens me. I speak for all of my friends when I say that we will not partake in any scheme you have to try and hurt a single person or Pokemon. Find someone else to do your dirty work because we will not do it!" He said resolutely as he stared the woman in her eyes.

Brock, Misty, Giselle, Pikachu and even Horsea all nodded in fierce agreement.

Nastina's face contorted into one of anger as she practically growled in irritation. "So you would be willing to throw away all of that money just because you don't want to take out a couple worthless, nuisance Pokemon that you can find in oceans all over the world?! Foolish children!" She strode back over to her desk and took a seat, interlocking her fingers again. She then said more calmly, but with a slight hint of venom still evident in her words, "If that is your final decision however then fine, do as you please! I'll still get those Tentacool and Tentacruel taken care of one way or another! Just don't come sobbing to me when you've changed your mind and want the money only for it to be to late!" She threatened them with a nasty sneer on her face.

Ash just stared her down and calmly nodded his head. "I can assure you Nastina... That won't happen. If that's all you need us for then I believe we'll be going now. We do have a 'luxury hotel' to enjoy after all." He said as he turned around and walked back over to his friends.

Nastina huffed and waved her hand towards the door. "Yes that's all... Now get out of my office, I have important business to attend to."

Ash and his friends left the office with Misty throwing one last hard glare back at Nastina. After the door shut behind them Nastina looked at her two bodyguards. "We are going with plan B, send out the advertisement immediately! I want those miserable Pokemon taken care of as soon as possible so construction can resume on those condos! Understand?!" She barked.

"Yes Nastina." Both men answered in lazy tones as they disappeared through the door near the aquarium that Nastina had arrived through earlier.

The old woman looked at where Ash and his friends had left through the main door and growled under her breath. "Worthless, Pokemon loving, idealistic brats!" She then turned her chair around and looked out her window, down towards the reefs. She glared at the surrounding ocean around the reefs and narrowed her eyes. "Soon... Those annoying Tentacool and Tentacruel will be taken care of and my resort will become the biggest tourist attraction the Kanto region has ever seen!" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a second and then grinned wickedly. "Maybe after these condos are built I'll extend my construction over the entire reef and put in an amusement park! Not only will I make more money but I'll be spiting those worthless Pokemon and people like those brats who dare try to stand against and deny me!" She cackled like mad and visualized herself swimming through a sea of credits, richer than she could imagine.

XXXXXXXXXX

After Ash and his friends had made it back to their rooms they entered into Ash and Brock's room and sat in the chairs in the living area.

Misty just cradled Horsea and fumed loudly. "That terrible, nasty old witch! Who does she think she is?! Wanting to kill innocent Pokemon just so she can build some stupid condos and make more money?!"

"She's just as bad as that nasty cousin of her's Brutella!" Giselle said in disgust.

"That woman is obsessed with making money and expanding her business just like Brutella." Brock said. "We weren't even around her long and I instantly started getting bad vibes from her. I think she's dangerous and I also think it's possible that what she's doing is illegal." He finished.

Ash nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking Brock." He agreed.

The girls seemed confused. "What are you guys talking about?" Misty asked puzzled.

Ash answered for him. "Didn't you see the way she acted when I was talking about how I couldn't believe she was actually given the ok to build a hotel so near the coral reefs when no one else was and how she was actually building out ON TOP of the reefs themselves now? She instantly locked up and didn't want to talk about it. I personally think she's doing the same things that Brutella did and is doing all of this 'under the table'. I don't think she ever got clearance from the city to build any of this and instead falsified documents and lied to the city in order to build everything she has. She and Brutella are very crude and harsh business women who will do anything to make a fortune." He explained.

"That's huge though Ash! Do you really think she's actually doing all of that?" Giselle asked.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't put anything past her if she is related to Brutella. Just being around her and hearing everything she said shows me that she is exactly like her cousin. Hell, Brutella payed to have you kidnapped just so I would lose the contest by not showing up Giselle! I think Nastina is guilty of a lot more than just falsifying documents and lying her way around the city council. I for one, intend to find out what her dirty little secrets really are." He revealed.

Brock raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's a good idea to get involved with trying to uncover potential dirty schemes Nastina is hiding Ash? Things could get dangerous." He warned.

Ash shook his head. "I'm always getting myself involved in something Brock and there is always a risk when fighting for the right things. You know I can't stand by while Nastina could be doing something that is hurting others. She wants to have a bunch of Tentacool and Tentacruel killed just because they're interfering with the construction of her condos. I'm willing to bet that those reefs are full of life and several Pokemon live out there. The Tentacool and Tentacruel are probably just trying to defend their homes."

He walked over and kneeled beside Misty and looked at Horsea. "Is that how you got hurt Horsea? Are the Tentacool and Tentacruel getting aggressive and starting to hurt those construction workers because of what's happening out in the reefs? Did you try to stop them only to get beat up?" He asked.

Horsea just lowered his head and nodded sadly. "Horsea..." The shame of not being able to stop the Tentacool and Tentacruel was obvious in his voice.

Misty just hugged the small Pokemon closer to her chest and whispered soothing words to him. Ash shook his head. "There was no way you could have overpowered and defeated several Tentacool and Tentacruel Horsea. Even a trained Pokemon would have a tough time doing that by themselves. You tried and that's all that matters."

Horsea nodded his head a little more upbeat as Ash stood up and paced around the room. "I need to start gathering any and all information I possibly can on what Brutella is up to. I honestly think she is doing all of this illegally and is causing harm to not only the coral reefs with all of the construction she's been doing but also... If I'm right, then several Pokemon are going to be killed potentially and chased away from their homes in the process. Those Tentacool and Tentacruel are definitely going to get hurt if something doesn't happen soon. Also, If they get to aggressive then who knows what THEY could do."

Giselle stopped him. "You mean 'we'." She asked.

He looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean Giselle?"

She sighed. "You don't really think that you're going to be doing ANY of this without us helping you do you? We're in it with you no matter what you do. We're your friends and I'm your girlfriend, which means you WILL do as I say when it comes to matters of your safety. Understand?" She said in complete seriousness.

Brock and Misty came to stand beside him and smiled, nodding their heads. Pikachu also nodded to his Trainer. Ash smiled himself. "Alright guys thank you. I accept your help."

Giselle nodded in satisfaction and then he continued. "We're only here for a week, so in that time we need to find out as much as we can. We're definitely going to have to break into that thirteenth floor again so we can raid the filing cabinets in those rooms and see what all we can find in them concerning what Nastina has been up to." He explained.

Brock nodded. "We'll make further plans as the week goes on then I guess. What do we do once we have all of the information we need? That is if Nastina really is doing anything bad. Do we take it to the police then?" He inquired curiously.

Ash shook his head. "We will wait to reveal anything we discover until the opportune moment. I have a feeling that Nastina is going to really step up her efforts to exterminate the Tentacool and Tentacruel very soon judging by how she acted earlier, so if and when she does we will wait for the perfect opportunity to expose her crimes."

The others agreed and then they all set to work planning on how they were going to go about finding and gathering any information they would need to eventually expose Nastina if she really was the twisted business woman that they believed her to be.

XXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: Four Days Later)

Four days had past since Ash and his friends had made the decision to start gathering any and all information they would need to potentially bring down Nastina if she really was as crooked as they they thought she was.

In that time they had been partaking in different tasks that was slowly helping them garner new info. Everyday Ash and Giselle would go down to the beach and train with their Pokemon right near where the construction sight of the condos was taking place.

They would observe the construction zone and pinpoint exactly how far the condos were stretching over and into the reefs while they trained so as not to rouse any suspicion. They were shocked and angered to find that the condos were indeed cutting far into the reefs and destroying much of the beautiful aquatic habitat below. They also saw many Water Pokemon swimming around in the reef that proved there really was many different species of Pokemon living in the reefs. They also saw many Tentacool and even a few Tentacruel swimming around the construction zone looking extremely agitated. Any attempts Ash or Giselle made in getting into the water were instantly thwarted by the angry squids who would promptly chase them out with Poison Stings and Sludge attacks.

Brock and Misty had been wondering around the hotel all week long pretending to be seemingly occupied by the different indoor attractions there were inside. That was just a front however, they had been spending the entire time listening on the employess for anything they might know that sounded even remotely important. On top of that they also wondered around and inconspicuously checked for offices and any other places up to the twelfth floor that were for employees only and off limits to guests, which most likely would have meant they held information concerning the hotel in some way. Unfortunately, there was nothing below the thirteenth floor that had any private information concerning the hotel and/or Nastina's actions whatsoever.

The biggest thing that the four friends focused on all week was how they were going to break into the thirteenth floor and raid the offices up there without getting caught. They all knew that any info regarding anything that Nastina was doing that could be considered illegal would be up on that floor. Where no one but employees and Nastina herself was allowed. Well, anything that could be considered 'shady' or illegal would be somewhere that only Nastina would have access to since they were all pretty certain that none of the hotel employees had any clue at all about anything that happened outside of their individual jobs. Ash also proposed getting into Nastina's office and going through a laptop he saw in there on Nastina's desk when they were meeting with her. He felt confident that any dirty schemes she had hidden away would most likely be kept on her private laptop.

They had worked all week long on exactly how they planned on getting inside and now they were just waiting until they knew Nastina was gone from the hotel before they did it. Depending on what information they managed to obtain if all went well, they would then wait until the perfect moment to turn Nastina in and reveal anything that she may be guilty of.

All they needed now was patience...

XXXXXXXX

Nastina was not having a good day. She had her bodyguards announce the one million credit reward to the entire city through fliers, advertisements and even public announcements earlier on in the week, just after she had been turned down by Ash and his friends.

She announced that anybody who was able too exterminate the Tentacool and Tentacruel problem would be awarded the money. The city council and police didn't like Nastina's heartless way of dealing with the Pokemon but there was nothing they could do. Tentacool and Tentacruel were not in anyway endangered species and since they were interfering and trying to destroy Nastina's property, property which as far as they knew didn't rest on any protected habitats, Nastina could handle her problems however she wanted as long as it didn't effect the city and it's civilians. Still, that didn't mean that the council and police weren't disgusted with Nastina.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as upstanding and had such good values as Ash and his friends did when it came to respecting and protecting Pokemon. Dozens of people had already tried to get rid of the Tentacool and Tentacruel near the construction site through several different methods.

Trainers would try to battle the angry squids with their own Pokemon and even try to capture them, but to no avail. The Tentacool and Tentacruel were extremely dangerous opponents when in large masses and were very adept at teamwork battling for un-trained Pokemon.

After the Trainers had failed to stop the wild Pokemon, other people tried many other methods. From people trying to capture them in nets, run them over with their boats, spear them and even shoot at them... Several different attempts were made. All failed.

Everyone had practically given up on taking out the Tentacool and Tentacruel and now Nastina had next to no one left to get rid of the problem.

She growled from where she was sitting behind her desk and banged her fists on it. "Fools!" She shrieked, startling the 'bodyguards' standing on either side of her. "How hard can it be to eliminate a bunch of slimy squids!"

She leaned back in her chair and interlocked her fingers together. "I'm supposed to be meeting three supposed 'professional exterminators' soon who says that they can get rid of the Tentacool and Tentacruel. If they can't then I will have to get rid of them myself! One way or another I won't be stopped from completing the construction of my resort, I've some to far now!"

She looked at one of her guards. "Go and see if the three I'm supposed too meet with are here yet!" She ordered.

The man bowed and walked out the front door of her office.

XXXXXXXXX

Standing out in the hallway of Nastina's office were three individuals dressed in dark blue, full body overalls that had the image of a Pokemon patched on their chests with swirls in it's eyes and a big red 'X' crossing the image of the Pokemon out in a symbol of extermination. They also wore similar colored painters hats on their heads and wore long, dark blue boots on their feet.

If one were to look close then they would instantly recognize the long red hair on the female, the blue hair on the male and the much smaller figure as the three bumbling crooks from Team Rocket. Jessie, James and Meowth.

They were standing around outside of the office waiting to be called in as James looked over at Jessie. "Are you sure this was such a good idea Jessie? Posing as exterminators when we don't even know the first thing about it! How are we supposed to get rid of the Tentacool and Tentacruel anyway?!" He asked, utterly lost.

Jessie crossed her arms and looked at James. "I've already told you James, these are just disguises! We're posing as exterminators so no one realizes we're from Team Rocket! All that matters is getting rid of those nasty little squids so we can collect the one million credits and finally pay back our debt to Team Rocket so we can have our funds replenished! Otherwise we'll never capture Pikachu with the slapped together machines Meowth has been building with scrap metal that we're being forced to settle with right now. As for how we're going to get rid of them..." She grinned and looked down at Meowth. "Tell him your genius plan to annihilate the Tentacool and Tentacruel Meowth."

James looked down at the small Pokemon as he chuckled and spoke in his very unique accent. "I created a special form of acid/oil mix dat I made by mixing together da fuel dat we use for da Gyarados Sub, (They used the money they stole from Brutella and a new one made for them by the Team Rocket Weapons Division), venom from Arbok's fangs, da toxic sludge and smog dat Weezing excretes and last but not least... I added a little tartar sauce to spice it all up! It's got da same consistency as oil which'll make it stick to da Tentacool and Tentacruel one once we dump it on em' and it's got da corrosion properties of pure acid. Once it touches dose slimy water pests it'll shrivel em' up ta nuttin'! It'll be easy gettin rid of da Tentacool and Tentacruel wit what I've named... Da 'Team Rocket Sizzlin' Stun Sauce'! If stuns em' before it literally sizzles em' into nuttin'!" He gloated.

James just looked amazed and then let a grin spread out on his face. "That's so devilishly demented of you Meowth... Great work!" He praised his teammate.

Suddenly the door of Nastina's office opened up and one of her bodyguards stood in the doorway. "Are you three the exterminators Nastina is expecting?" He asked

The three Rockets stared in shock at the attire the man was wearing...Or at least, James and Meowth were staring in shock. Jessie was practically drooling over the near naked man.

"Why yes we are!" Jessie said as she overcame her lust induced state and gestured to herself and her teammates.

He nodded. "She will see you now."

The man stepped aside and then Team Rocket entered the office. No more than they had entered and they saw who was sitting behind the desk. For a split second they all froze and went wide eyed. "She looks just like dat woman from Porte Vista!" Meowth whispered.

"It can't be her can it?!" James asked nervously.

"No it can't be! Isn't she supposed to be in prison!" Jessie in a cracking voice. After they had stolen from Brutella shortly after her arrest, they were very nervous and scared seeing a woman that looked exactly like her, bar the clothing.

Nastina took in the new arrivals and then spoke. "Are you three the exterminators that said you could get rid of the Tentacool and Tentacruel for me?!" She demanded.

The three snapped out of their stupors and walked up to her desk. "Why yes ma'am we certainly are!" Jessie said in a fake sweet voice. "My names Jessie and these are my partners, James and Meowth. We're ready to take care of all of your extermination needs!"

Nastina looked at them closely and snorted. "Hah! You look like a couple of jokers and one of you is just a Pokemon!" She said snidely.

Meowth looked angry. "Hey what's da big ide- Oomph!" Jessie suddenly clamped her hand around his mouth. "Shut up Meowth!" She hissed.

Nastina looked surprised. "A talking Meowth?! Don't see those everyday... Still! What makes you so confident that you can take out those pesky Water Pokemon I'm having such trouble with? Half of the pathetic city has already tried and failed miserably to get rid of them!"

Jessie straightened back up and released Meowth's mouth. "Well miss...?" She began.

"Nastina." The old woman answered the unspoken question.

Jessie and the other two looked instantly relieved at hearing the identity of the woman. Apparently she was just a relative of Brutella and not actually her. Something they should have suspected when Nastina didn't demand for their heads as soon as she saw them but... The three of them has never been known for their brain power except for Meowth.

Jessie, who by now felt more at ease after discovering this definitely wasn't Nastina, felt more confident in the lies she was about to tell. "Well miss Nastina, I can personally assure you that my partners and I are the best Poke'Exterminators you could ever find! We've traveled all across the Kanto region, performing the biggest of extermination jobs and are widely known and very popular! After hearing about your dreadful infestation of Tentacool and Tentacruel we knew that only someone of our caliber of skills could handle the job!" She bragged as she told lie after lie.

Nastina looked impressed. "Say that is impressive! Hmm... I don't have anyone else willing to take care of those forsaken Pokemon and that kid with the Pikachu made it clear that he and his pathetic little friends wouldn't help so... Fine! Your hired for the job! Take care of them however you deem fit!" She ordered. "Should you succeed the one million credits are yours."

Jessie, James and Meowth looked surprised at hearing that Ash and his friends were there as well but shook it off for now and smiled at Nastina. "We won't fail you Nastina! By the end of the week you'll be serving those Tentacool and Tentacruel as sushi!" Jessie promised.

"Right!" James and Meowth chorused.

Nastina grinned wickedly. "Good! Now get to work!" She barked.

The three bowed their heads and then left the office. On the way down the hallway James spoke up, "That was to easy!"

Jessie laughed. "Yes what a gullible old prune!"

Meowth chuckled. "Gettin' rid of dose Tentacool and Tentacruel will be easy as taking candy from a baby wit our Stun Sauce!"

James suddenly looked thoughtful. "It would appear that the twerps are here as well... Are you thinking what I'm thinking Jessie?" He asked his red haired teammate.

Jessie smirked. "If we play our cards right and find the twerps then we'll be getting Pikachu as a nice little bonus to go along with all of that money."

The three of them laughed together. "We can't possibly fail dis one!" Meowth said confidently.

"No way!" Jessie and James agreed.

In high spirits while thinking of their 'soon-to-be spoils' Team Rocket left the hotel ready to initiate their 'extermination operation'.

XXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: One Day Later)

Today was the day that Ash and his friends were finally ready to break into the thirteenth floor, raid the offices and go through Nastina's computer for any kind of information that could possibly be incriminating and land Nastina in prison if she really was a crook like they believed her to be.

Currently they were all sitting in the living room of Ash and Brock's room while Ash explained the plan to them all.

"Okay guys listen up!" Ash began as he leaned forward in his chair. "From what we have found so far from all of the info we collected this week about the hotel staff, the schedules of the hotel and Nastina's own personal schedule, she always leaves on Friday, which is today, and heads into the town with her 'bodyguards' to the local beauty solan."

Giselle snickered. "That woman needs A LOT more done to her than a salon can offer! She needs like an entire make-up crew! Not to mention a good fashion consultant because her taste is hideous!" She shook her head in disgust.

Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all raised an eyebrow at her and just stared at her with sweatdrops rolling down the back of their heads. Giselle looked at them all in turn. "What?! It's true! You've seen her. That woman needs an entirely new face or something! Years of scowling and making those nasty faces has permanently set her face in those hideous 'scowl lines'. NO amount of make-up will fix her... Trust me!"

Ash just nodded his head slowly and coughed. "Riiiight... Anyway! Nastina is usually gone for about three to four hours on these days. This means that the entire thirteenth floor will be totally abondoned for that time. Misty..." He looked at her and she came to attention. "You'll distract the desk clerk with questions about what kind of attractions the city has to offer, good restaurants, inquiries about the hotel itself... Take your pick. These employees are slaves to offering top notch service which means that they won't deny answering any questions you have."

Misty nodded in understanding. "I got it Ash!" She said determinedly.

He smiled and then continued. "Meanwhile, I'll steal one of the keys behind the counter that allows the elevator to reach the thirteenth floor. After I steal the key I'll wait until Misty gets done talking to the desk clerk, make it look like I'm interested in what he told her and then Misty and I will come back up to the rooms so we can 'get ready too go'. Really, we will be coming back up here to get you guys and then get back in the elevator. We'll make our way up to the thirteenth floor and then separate off so we can go through all of the offices and check for anything that might seem to be illegal. Giselle and I will cover Nastina's office while you two raid the other offices. If you find anything incriminating only take a few of the most important papers and leave the rest. We only need a small collection of evidence to take to the police once we find a suitable excuse for how we obtained any information we might find. The police need enough evidence that they can use to get a warrant to search Nastina's entire hotel themselves. If we do find anything then we have to make something happen with it by tomorrow, Saturday. If not then the longer we hold onto any papers we might find, the more likely it is that Nastina or one of her 'guards' will find out that something is up. If that happens then she'll get rid of anything that makes her look bad and we'll fail entirely."

Ash clenched his fists. "What she's doing to those reefs and the Pokemon that live there is totally wrong and I want to stop her. We can't do that though unless Nastina is proven to be a criminal. Otherwise, what's she building is her property and no one can stop her. Do you guys understand what we're aiming for?" He asked them all.

Brock, Misty and Giselle nodded their heads in understanding. Ash smiled confidently and stood up. "Then let's do this!" He looked at Misty. "We're first Misty, you ready?"

She nodded and stood up. She looked over at Giselle. "Could you please take Horsea and fill the tub up in the boy's bathroom for him so he can swim around while we're gone? I don't want him coming with us on a job as delicate and sensitive as this."

Giselle smiled at Misty. "Of course I will Misty."

Misty looked down at Horsea. "You be good okay Horsea? I'll see you soon, I promise." She cooed to the small Pokemon.

Horsea looked sad at being separated from Misty but nodded his head anyway. "Horsea..." He said in a depressed tone.

Misty handed over Horsea to Giselle and then turned back to Ash. "Let's do this Ash!"

He nodded and the two disappeared out the door of the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty arrived at the front desk and then Ash hung out by the fountain while Misty walked up to the desk clerk.

"Excuse me sir!" She asked politely.

He looked up at her from what he had been doing and smiled. "How may I help you miss?" He asked nicely.

"Well I was wondering if you could point me out to some of the best restaurants in the city? It's me and my friends last couple of days here and we want to go out somewhere nice tonight." Misty made up on the fly.

The man smiled brightly and pulled out a small map of the city from behind the counter. "Of course! I would be glad to help you miss! Now if you look here..."

While this was going on, Ash slowly walked over to the counter and looked around. Upon seeing no one looking in his direction, Ash snuck behind the counter. He dropped down low and began looking around for any key that resembled the one he saw the hotel employee have the day he took them all up to Nastina's office.

After looking around for awhile Ash finally spotted a small cubbyhole built way back into the counter. He saw in the very back of this small compartment, hanging on nails, were a handful of keys that was exactly what he was looking for.

He quickly grabbed one and then crept back out from behind the counter. He walked up to Misty, who was still talking to the completely unaware desk clerk, and asked her as planned. "Find any good places Misty?"

The orange haired girl randomly pointed to a spot on the map that held one of the restaurants that the man had been telling her about. "This one here looks pretty nice Ash. I think we'll all enjoy it." She said in perfect form.

The concierge smiled and nodded. "A fine choice miss! I'm sure you'll all be very pleased!"

Misty thanked the man and then turned back to Ash. "Well, let's go and get ready Ash. Hopefully Brock and Giselle are close to being ready to go as well."

Ash nodded and then he and Misty bid good-bye to the desk clerk before heading back to the elevator. As soon as they were inside and the elevator began it's ascension back towards their rooms he looked at Misty. "Great job Mist! You were perfect back there! That guy had no clue of what was really going on!" He praised her.

Misty blushed and looked down. "Thanks Ash... You were really great as well." She thanked him, feeling flustered by being alone with him in such a close space.

Ash grinned widely and then the doors opened up. He and Misty exited the elevator and walked down the hall to their rooms, Misty clearing her head as they walked.

They finally reached their rooms and Ash knocked on his and Brock's room door. The squinty eyed teen opened the door a few moments later and they stepped inside, Ash triumphantly swinging the thirteenth floor elevator key that he had just fished from his pocket, around on his finger by it's keyring. He had a wide grin on his face as he strode into the middle of the room where Giselle was sitting on the couch.

"Did you guys get it?" Brock asked as he and Misty joined them.

Ash grinned like crazy as he showed everyone the key. "Heck yeah we got it! You should have see Misty! She was brilliant!" He gushed over his friend.

Misty went red again and just shook her head. "Ahh... It was nothing really guys. Ash did all the work."

"But you made it possible by distracting the desk clerk Mist, don't sell yourself short." Ash told her.

"Yeah Misty great work!" Giselle praised.

Ash twirled the key one more before putting it back into his pocket. "Alright guys we're on a time schedule so let's move out and initiate phase two of the plan." He said.

The four friends then left the room again and headed back towards the elevator. Once inside, Ash made sure no one was coming towards the elevator since it was still open and quickly took the key out of his pocket. He did the same thing he saw the hotel employee do days before and moved the secret panel to the side. He inserted the key, turned the lock which revealed the second control pad and then pressed the button for the thirteenth floor.

The elevator doors shut instantly and then they felt the familiar sidewas lurch that came with the elevator switching tracks. A few seconds later and they were ascending towards the thirteenth floor.

After a few moments the elevator stopped and the doors opened up. They looked out in front of them and saw the hall leading to Nastina's office spawled out before them. Ash poked his head out and checked to make sure there were no employee's or anyone else around.

After being assured that the floor was deserted, Ash and the others stepped out of the elevator and started walking down the hallway quietly. Once they came upon the first two offices on either side of them, Ash turned to his friends. "Alright Brock, Misty..." He whispered. "You two start going through the offices and search carefully and quietly for anything that may prove Nastina is up to no good. Remember that if you find something, only take a small portion of the evidence. Giselle and I are going to make our way towards Nastina's office and go through her laptop. We'll meet back up here in thirty minutes. Everybody go!" He urged.

Brock and Misty nodded and then took one office each to start going through. Ash nodded to Giselle and the couple then made their way towards Nastina's office.

Once they arrived at her door Ash pressed his ear against it and listened for any sound coming from the other side. He didn't hear anything and then got down on his hands and knees and looked and listened through the crack under the door. Yet again he heard nothing and stood up. "I think she's definitely gone." He confirmed.

He went to turn the knob and enter the office but found that the door was locked. "Umm... Locked. Okay then...Let me think then..." He started thinking about any way he could bypass the lock and get inside.

"How are we gonna get in Ash?" Giselle asked.

Ash suddenly snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He turned to Giselle. "Do you have a hairpin Giselle?" He asked his girlfriend.

Thr girl seemed confused with the question but reached into her hair anyway and pulled out a hairpin. She placed it into Ash's eager hands and then asked, "How is a hairpin going to get us into the office Ash?" She asked, completely confused.

Ash straightened out her pin and then knelt by the lock. He stuck the pin in the keyhole and began jimmy-ing the hairpin around inside the lock. "You'll see..." He muttered.

Giselle realized what he was doing and looked incredulous. "Ash... You don't really expect that old trick to work do you? Nastina probably has a really good lock inside of this door that can't be pi-" She was stopped mid-sentence by the 'click' of the door unlocking and the creaking of the door as Ash pushed it open.

He stood up, bent the hairpin back into shape, wiped it off, gently put it back into place in Giselle's hair and then kissed his shocked girlfriend passionately on her lips.

Giselle got over her shock just long enough to start responding to Ash's kiss before he pulled away. He looked at her with a smug looking grin on his face as he rubbed his knuckles onto the front of his tracksuit. He looked at her and smirked. "I'm sorry Giselle but... What wouldn't work again?" He asked her with his smug grin still in place.

She just continued to gape while he looked amused. "Wha-?! H-How did you do that?!" She demanded.

Ash just shrugged. "It's simple mechanics of a device and knowing how to manipulate them really. I know how keys work in unlocking locks and I know that you can simulate that same function with some other objects if you know to use them correctly. Hairpins are one of them. It's not that impressive honestly it's just... I don't know..."

"Genius?!" Giselle cut him off. "Ash that was awesome! I never would have thought to do that but you did and I'm very impressed! Don't YOU sell yourself short! That was very smart." She praised him.

Ash rubbed the back of his head and grinned cheesily. "I'm really glad I impressed you then!" He said happily. He stuck his arm out to her. "Shall we m'dear?" He asked cornily.

Giselle giggled. "Yes kind sir... Let's!" She looped her arm through his and they walked into the office.

Upon entering they got serious and separated from each other. "Giselle, you go look around the office and try to see if you can find anything worthwhile okay? I'm going to 'check out' what all Nastina keeps on her laptop." Ash instructed.

Giselle nodded and then went to look for anything that she thought looked suspicious.

Ash walked up to Nastina's desk and then started looking through the drawers. He eventually found Nastina's laptop and placed it on the desk. He opened it up and turned the device on.

Once the laptop booted up a password protected icon popped up. Ash was expecting this and leaned back in the chair in thought. He thought for a little while on just what he thought Nastina may have as her password.

He started thinking about everything he noticed upon meeting Nastina. How she dressed, acted and what it seemed too be that she held most important to herself. She obviously cared about business and making money more than anything else. Judging by the way she dressed and acted she was most likely very self obsessed and probably thought that she was the greatest person in the world... He got it!

It was so simple and obvious yet for someone like Nastina she wouldn't think anybody was smart and/or observant enough to figure out something so simple, or if you were Nastina and thought like her... So 'complex'.

Ash typed in what he felt certain the password was and waited while the computer processed it. A few seconds later the password protected box lit up green and had 'Password Accepted' displayed above the box.

Ash grinned and then stared at the password in disbelief. How could anyone be so... money hungry and uncaring for everything else in life?

The words '_Business Before All' _Was flashing in the password entry box. A testament to Nastina's utter obsession with nothing but money and business. Suddenly, Ash had a feeling that he was going to be finding a lot of very incriminating things and heinous crimes filed away on this computer.

He took a deep breath and then began searching deeply through every last cyber nook and crannie of Nastina's computer.

When he finally reached the 'files' section of her computer, he started finding out all kinds of various bits of information. From personal details about Nastina herself, employee rosters, construction plans, lists of future business ideas and potential properties to look into purchasing and much more... Personal things. It seemed as though Nastina didn't make her 'bodyguards' wear those skimpy outfits for no reason. If the pictures and other things he was finding was anything to go buy... Then Nastina was a very sick and twisted person during her 'happy time'.

He eventually reached the password protected files and knew that anything that would decide if Nastina was a criminal or not would be found in those files.

He didn't have to think long about what he thought the password would be this time. He remembered how during his tech sessions with Professor Oak he was taught that most people subconsciously branched passwords to everything they needed one for in life off of one main, big password that they used for the most secure and important thing in their life.

If the main or first password they ever made had something to do with the subject of... For instance: Ones love for food. Subconsciously that person would make every other password after that one to have something to do with food or maybe even a specific food. Most of the time this is just a subconscious action and people don't even realize that they do it but they do. Of course, not all people do it, but a large percentage do.

Ash and Professor Oak were two such exceptions. Professor Oak always kept the similarities between his passwords as minimal as possible and he taught Ash to do the same. Yet again, Ash found himself thanking Professor Oak for his many lessons and teachings.

Ash typed in what he felt confident Nastina's password was and sent a silent prayer to Arceus that Nastina wasn't in the same group of 'password creators' as himself and Professor Oak were.

The password '_Money is Beauty' _was processed by the computer and then came back a few seconds later flashing green in success.

Ash thanked Arceus for his success and then prepared to open the first file he just unlocked. This was it... The moment of truth. Either Nastina was a criminal just like her cousin Brutella... Or they had all just wasted their time, had taken a huge risk for nothing, discovered that Nastina truly was a legit business woman and was instead just a very rude, crass, nasty and uncaring person.

When Ash viewed the contents of the first file he was instantly hit with two emotions. The first was relief. Because he now knew that all of the time and energy he and his friends had been putting into investigating Nastina hadn't been for nothing. She truly was just like her cousin in almost every way... Maybe even worse. The woman was definitely waste deep, or if you were Nastina's height, all the way up to her head in some VERY illegal, nasty plots and schemes.

The second emotion he felt was more of just a burning anger at all of the horrible crimes she had been and was STILL committing.

He went through every single previously locked file he saw. Each one getting worse than the last. The things she had been doing was just... Terrible! He thought what Brutella was doing to Moe and the crimes she had committed was bad... That was nothing compared to what Ash was finding!

When he was done he just sank back in the chair and processed everything he had just found out about.

One thing was for definite sure... Nastina did NOT in ANYWAY have permission, clearance or permits from the city to build her condos down on the reef. Hell, she didn't even have clearance to have her hotel sitting where it was right now! Everything she had built and everything that was standing around them was completely illegal.

She had never even approached the city council or any of the district offices when she built any of the things she had! Ash found out that she had blackmailed some lower ranked higher-ups in the council and in the district offices to give her all of the clearance and signed paperwork she needed to build her resort.

She had threatened their lives and the lives of their families with torture and death if they didn't give her what she wanted. There were very explicit letters and visual images she had sent to these individuals that detailed all of the sick and twisted things she was going to do to not only them but their families as well. The details of how she was going to make the children... The CHILDREN suffer was just... Beyond vile.

She also had the muscle to back up all of the threats as well, which is why the lower ranking political figures within the city that she was tormenting took her so seriously.

She had payed off a criminal organization known as the Kanto Blood Riders, or the K.B.R. This organization of motorcycle riding thugs was full of vicious, bloodthirsty, murduring, vandalizing, arsonistic, thieving, terroristic, rapist criminals that were not the 'right quality' for the likes of Team Rocket and didn't make the cut when they tried out apparently. So these horrible, wannabe big timers all came together and formed the K.B.R. to bring their own version of anarchy to Kanto in the form of being hired guns on wheels with allegiances to the highest bidder. Because of all of the things that they were known for... From killing families, raping women and just about anything else you could think of, there was a policy that all Kanto police departments enforced strictly and could not be budged on.

The policy was that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES was a lone Officer Jenny to approach any member of that particular organization by themselves. They HAD to be with a squad of other officers or else they couldn't engage anyone from the K.B.R. The reason for this policy was because of how sick the men and even women in that organization were known for being. There was no telling what could happen to an Officer Jenny who fell into their clutches. The reason the policy wasn't also enforced for Team Rocket was because that since so little was actually known about their organization and since they had so few members ever captured... The police didn't really know what to expect from them except that they were very dangerous and stole Pokemon. Unlike K.B.R. who were very public with their crimes and unprofessional, Team Rocket was different. They were very discreet, professional and quit with every job they did. They weren't known for the nightmarish crimes that the K.B.R. was known for. Police policy for now with Team Rocket was that if you saw one you arrested them and interrogated them for information. Because when Team Rocket did strike big... It was always worse in some way than anything the K.B.R. pulled.

The K.B.R. was so well known and public that practically everyone even knew who the leader was. He was a big, bald biker who created the organization after Team Rocket rejected him. His name was Alton and he was a very sick man.

Again, a complete contrast to Team Rocket. No one had any idea who their boss was even though police knew that they had one. For all of these reasons, policy for Officer Jenny's was never too approach anyone from the K.B.R. alone and to do whatever it took to take in a member of Team Rocket if they saw one. Within safety and reason of course.

The worst part about it all was that Nastina was apparently the BIGGEST customer of the K.B.R. With all of her money she was easily able to buy as much muscle as she needed from the K.B.R. and that what was why the lower ranking political figures of Hutber City were scared of her and her threats and did what she asked of them.

Nastina was smart however, she only threatened a few politcal figureheads in Hutber City and none of them were really very powerful nor were they very high up on the political branch. The ones she blackmailed/ threatened were just high up enough to grant her permission and sign her authentic paperwork for the different things/places she wanted to buy and have built. They were just low enough though to still be intimidated by Nastina's threats and assure that they would never expose her or turn her in out of fear of torture and death for themselves and their families. Nastina knew her threats would only have gotten her locked up if she tried it with the real high sitting political heads of the city so that's why she settled with lower ranking individuals.

On top of all of that, Nastina had several other crimes mounted against her.

She had a very shady past and was involved in many underhanded business deals that went south all over the world and always ended with everyone involved getting arrested but her, since she would conveniently disappear before she was ever convicted.

She was also a con artist and had swindled dozens of people out of their money in ways that would make what Brutella did to Moe seem childish.

Apparently she also did a little Pokemon trafficking for Team Rocket during times she was low on funds and needed the income to invest into her next venture. Unfortunately, Team Rocket was smart and from what Ash could see... There was no way to fully track Nastina's past of trafficking back to them since they had kept her in the dark and only used her as a 'tool' to smuggle their stolen Pokemon with. Something Ash saw that Nastina complained about and cursed Team Rocket for immensely.

She was also responsible and involved in the disappearances, murders and kidnappings of several people, all of who had different standings in society and was also indirectly responsible for the... Sexual assault and murder of countless women she had hired the K.B.R. to 'take care of' for whatever reasons.

She also was involved with the dumping of harmful chemicals into the south seas of Kanto years ago during one of her 'business ventures'.

To sum it all up and put the icing on the cake... Ash went though the hotels account history and record books that Nastina had on file and was astonished by the inconsistencies he was seeing. Even for a ten year old kid, none of the astronomical increases in the hotels budget made any sense whatsoever.

Eventually, with enough time, checking, re-checking and going through several different account files he was able to see what was going on.

Not only was Nastina SEVERELY underpaying her employees but she also had created false 'identities' for her hotel and had the WaterCrown going by several different names with addresses and credit collections being set up to several different businesses and charitable organizations all throughout not just the Kanto region, but all over the world!

These businesses and charity groups would raise and donate vast amounts of money to whatever name organization that Nastina had that particular group recognize the WaterCrown as and they would then send the hotel ALL of that money thinking it was a legitimate cause. Children's and Pokemon hospitals, homeless shelters, food and medicine clinics, research development centers for cures and diseases... All of these places were organizations that Nastina was falsifying her hotel as and collecting all of the money.

And the thing about it all was: Every bit of money that the hotel made she was sneaking under the table and using on herself. Hell, she probably only used money for the hotel when it came to things like paying her employees the peanuts that she did, keeping up on maintenance and cost of what it took to actually run the hotel and other bare necessities.

Ash knew that the employess had to realize they were being shafted but just went with it because they were all most likely scared of Nastina. The two scantily clad 'bodyguards' she kept with her were probably just regular employees that were unlucky enough to be hand picked by Nastina for her 'special jobs'.

Ash shuddered at that thought.

All in all, the mountains of evidence Ash had displayed in front of him right now was more than enough to land Nastina in prison for two lifetimes. As sick as he felt from reading all of the shit she had done and was still doing, he looked around the office for a printer so he could copy out some of the more incriminating files onto paper that he could then turn into the police.

The police... They were going to have a field day with everything they would find up here when Ash and his friends turned in their findings to them. All it would take is one warrant to search the hotel and Nastina would be screwed completely. He even reckoned that the police could really cripple the K.B.R. with all of the crimes they had been apart of at Nestina's command. For the first time, the police would actually have a 'trail' of evidence leading back to the K.B.R. and could really attack them hard.

Ash knew that even if Brock, Misty and Giselle found nothing of interest, the police had all they needed contained in the laptop in front of Ash.

Technically, Ash knew that he could go and get the police today but he felt like something big was about to happen soon that would have Nastina right at the center of it and really be the final 'nail in the coffin' for her and her evil ways.

Ash made a promise to himself right then and there that he would make sure justice was brought down on Nastina as hard as it could for all of the innocent people and Pokemon she had hurt, conned, stole from and even... Killed. Either directly or indirectly. Ash prayed to Arceus in that moment that she would stand behind him during all of it and keep he and his friends... Well mostly just his friends and Pokemon, safe while they strove to bring Nastina down. He also vowed to somehow completely tear down the K.B.R. They were nothing more than monsters and needed to come down.

Ash knew that anybody who looked at him and heard his vows to end such large and powerful criminal organizations would laugh at him and say he was nothing more than a kid with pipe dreams who could never accomplish any of it... But Ash felt differently. He knew that it was his destiny to stop horrible people like Team Rocket and the K.B.R. Arceus herself told him so years before. Even if he died in the process he would die fighting for what was right. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your own happiness, safety and desires for the sake of others and to achieve true peace and justice. Ash didn't know where he got such strong inner beliefs from but all he knew was that when he saw evil and terrible actions being performed against innocent people and Pokemon... It made his heart hurt and felt like it was all literally effecting him personally. When someone cried out for help and Ash was around to hear it he just wanted, no he NEEDED to help them. If nothing else, he would make Arceus proud of him for trying. Because when next he stood before her majesty and grace... Felt that warmth and loving aura she gave off... He wanted to feel at least somewhat worthy of it.

Giselle suddenly walked back over to the desk and Ash looked at her. "Did you find anything?" He asked.

She just shook her head. "No... I wasn't able to find a thing. What about you? Did you find anything on Nastina's laptop?"

Ash nodded but also had a grim look on his face. "Yeah I did and Nastina is definitely into some very bad stuff. I'll just say that everything on this laptop is more than enough to land in her in prison for a very, very long time."

Giselle went eyed. "Seriously?! What kind of stuff?"

Ash sat the laptop down and pointed to it. "See for yourself but be prepared." He warned.

Giselle sat down in the chair behind the desk and started reading the files that detailed every heinous and horrible crime Nastina had committed and/or was a part of. Ash watched as she went through a series of emotions and actions, ranging from surprise, down right shock, gasps, pure anger and then even MORE anger.

When she was done she stood up from the chair and said in a voice laced with fury, "That terrible... horrible... nasty... manipulative... evil... BITCH! How could she do those things?! She's even worse than Brutella was!"

Ash nodded his head and felt his own anger rise at the situation. "Yes she truly is a terrible person that deserves justice in every sense of the word. That's exactly what I'm going to do with the information on this laptop. First I'm going to print out some of the worst parts of these files and then wait to hand them into the police. After that... I guarantee that they will get search warrants and come after Nastina with a vengeance."

Giselle shook her head. "Why not tell them now Ash?! Nastina needs to be brought down for all to the things she's done and all of the people she's hurt as soon as possible!"

Ash grabbed Giselle by the shoulders and looked in her eyes. "I know that Giselle and trust me... She IS going to get everything that's coming to her. And that organization she's been hiring out, the K.B.R.? There's more than enough evidence in these files to bring those guys to their knees when the police get ahold of this. I just feel like something big is coming that is going to have Nastina right in the center of it and will be the final strike that really brings her down. Please just trust me in this Giselle." He begged.

She just sighed and nodded. "I trust you Ash... Just make sure that she does answer for all of the wrongs she's done."

"I promise Giselle." Ash vowed. "Now let's go find a copier so I can get some of these files printed out. We also need to meet back up with Brock and Misty and get out of here soon."

Giselle nodded and then the two scanned the office for any any kind of copy machine. After finding none they left Nastina's office and walked back out into the hallway. On the way towards one of the rooms two doors suddenly opened up and out walked Brock and Misty. They were both carrying papers in their arms.

Ash and Giselle ran up to meet them. "What did you two find?" Ash asked.

Misty spoke first. "I found out that Nastina is planning on completely destroying the Hutber Coral Reefs by building a small amusement park after she's done with the construction of her condos!" Misty spat out with rage in her voice. "There are plans and files detailing the plans in the office I just came out of." She said as she pointed towards the room she just exited with her head. "I really hope you found something that either exposes Nastina as a criminal or proved that she doesn't really have the proper consent to build the things she is because otherwise... A lot of Pokemon are going to die when she starts construction on that park." She finished grimly.

Brock spoke up. "I managed to find something that will definitely get her in massive trouble with the law and the city." He said.

"What it is it?" Ash asked.

Brock pointed down at the papers in his arms. "I found these in one of the offices that was labeled 'Nastina Only' above the door. It was locked but I managed to pick the lock with a paper clip I found in one of the other filing rooms. All I had to do was straighten it out. After I got inside I started searching through filing cabinets until I came across one that was locked up tight. It took awhile but I managed to pick the lock and when I did I started looking through the papers inside." He gestured down to the papers he held again. "All of these papers I'm holding are just a small fraction of the several tax forms that was in that filing cabinet. Nastina has been completely avoiding paying on any form of taxes whatsoever for YEARS. That woman owes MILLIONS in unpaid taxes." He revealed.

The other three were gaping at hearing this and then Ash smiled slightly. "One more thing to hit Nastina with!" He said almost happily.

"Why? What did you find Ash?" Misty asked.

Ash just shook his head. "Later guys." He pointed to the laptop in his arms. "The files in this thing is what will bring Nastina and her business 'empire' crashing down. I need to get some of the files printed out, did you guys see a scanner anywhere?" He asked.

"I did, follow me!" Misty said.

Ash followed her into another office and saw a copy machine sitting in a nearby corner. Ash went over to it and then hooked the laptop up to it. He selected the files he wanted printed out and then waited while the machine scanned and printed the pages out.

Once that was done he unhooked the laptop, grabbed the extremely important papers and then ran back to Nastina's office. He went up to her desk and set her laptop back down. He quickly undid everything he did while on it, re-locking the files, setting the pass-codes back up and then powered it down. He even had Pikachu use a weak electric current to quickly re-charge the battery in the computer so Nastina wouldn't find it being low on power.

Once he was done, Ash looked around the office and made sure that everything was the way it was before he and Giselle came through it. Satisfied he left the office, locking the door behind him.

Meeting back up with his friends he asked them all. "Did you make sure that EVERYTHING was EXACTLY the way you found?" He asked urgently.

"I double checked everything in every room I visited Ash, nothing is out of place." Misty confirmed.

"Same thing here Ash, everything looks exactly how I found it." Brock said.

Ash nodded. "Great job guys! Now let's get back to the rooms and then me and Misty have to return the thirteenth floor key." He looked at Brock. "We're going to have to put all of the papers we have inside the pack you brought Brock. We can't be seen carrying any kind of papers with us. It'll look really suspicious if we are." He explained.

Brock nodded and removed the pack he had on his back. They all carefully placed the papers they had into the pack and then headed back towards the elevator once they were done.

Once inside Ash pressed the button that would return them to the ground floor and then they all waited as the elevator made it's descent. Suddenly Misty voiced a concern. "Hey guys... When this elevator is being used to go back and forth between the thirteenth floor... How do all of the other people, the guests and employees get to the other twelve public floors? If this is the only one then people would have been bound to notice the absence of the elevator. The employees would have known right away what was wrong and after realizing that Nastina is gone right now and all of the other employees are counted for... They would know that someone else was up on the thirteenth floor. Someone who wasn't supposed to be there."

Ash shook his head. "While that is a really nice observation Misty don't worry about it. I think that once this elevator starts being used to travel between the ground and thirteenth floor, a second elevator is activated and comes down from the other side. This would make sense since guests would still be able to use an elevator like normal to reach the other public floors. In fact, when this elevator gets onto the second track and starts making it's way up here, I think I've heard what sounds like something settling into place where the elevator that we're in now once sat. I think the sound is another elevator taking this ones place. Then once this one comes back, the second elevator goes back into disuse again." He explained.

Misty let out a sigh. "I really hope that's true or otherwise all of our careful planning will have been for nothing..."

Ash smiled. "Don't worry Misty, I think we're okay now." He assured her.

A few seconds later the elevator came back down to the ground and they exited the elevator after Ash withdrew the key and covered the secret panels back up again. They stepped out into the lobby looking completely inconspicuous and looked towards the concierge desk. As Arceus would have it, there was a different desk clerk taking his shift now which worked out perfectly for them.

Ash hung back and went over to a nearby brochure rack and started perusing the different attractions that Hutber Port offered while Brock, Misty and Giselle walked up to the desk.

"Excuse me?" Misty asked the desk clerk.

The desk clerk, an older man with slightly greying hair, smiled and asked, "How may I be of service?"

"Well you see, my friends and I... " Misty pointed at Brock and Giselle. "Are looking for the perfect side of beach to go down while staying here in this beautiful city! Can you please help?" She asked nicely.

The concierge smiled again. "Yes I would love to help! Let me show you a map of the city..." He looked around and found what he was looking for. He pulled out from behind the counter the same map that the last desk clerk used to help Misty and then started pointing out the different popular beach spots outside of the city to the three of them.

While his friends were keeping the man distracted, Ash slipped behind the counter and quickly returned the key to it's place before sneaking back out and then signaled to his friends that he was done. He then made his way towards the elevator nonchalantly.

Misty looked at Brock and Giselle. "I think this beach here seems good right guys?" She asked pointing to a random spot on the map.

The other two just nodded their heads. "Yeah sounds good to me Misty." Brock said.

"Same here." Giselle agreed.

They thanked the desk clerk and then made their way back to the elevator where Ash was waiting inconspicuously.

After taking the elevator back up to their floor they walked back to their rooms and then shut and locked the door behind them. After taking seats in the living area Misty said, "Alright Ash, tell us about what you found and what those papers detail?"

Ash just handed the papers into Misty's hands. "I warn you Misty... The stuff in here is really nasty and disturbing." He said.

Misty and Brock each took turns reading the papers that detailed every major crime Nastina had committed.

Ash watched as Brock and Misty's faces went through the same facial expressions that Giselle had made when she read the files in Nastina's office. By the time they were done they both were beyond angry.

"How could she do those things?!" Misty fumed.

Brock was a little more calm. "That K.B.R. sounds like trouble... Hopefully all of this will be evidence enough that the police can also use it to take them down as well. Or at the least, really harm their organization." He said.

Ash nodded. "That's what I'm hoping but I don't know. The only thing I really care about right now is stopping Nastina. I just hope we get the opportunity before she makes any more attempts at hurting those Tentacool and Tentacruel."

Everyone remained silent for a little while after that. "I'm going to go check on Horsea." Misty said as she got up and left the room.

Pikachu settled in Ash's lap and fell asleep shortly after once Ash started scratching the back of his ears.

"So now we just wait?" Giselle asked.

Ash leaned back in his chair. "Yeah... Now we wait."

XXXXXXXXX

(Meanwhile...)

Jessie, James and Meowth were heading towards the construction zone over top of the coral reefs in a boat that they had... 'Borrowed'. They were dressed in their exterminator outfits so no one would recognize them from Team Rocket and had three barrels of their 'Stun Sauce'.

"Today is the day we get rid of those Tentacool and Tentacruel and get that money!" Jessie said determinedly.

"Paying our debt to the organization completely off!" James continued.

"And restoring our funding so we can finally build better machines too catch dat Pikachu wit!" Meowth finished.

They chuckled evily as they neared the construction zone. No sooner than they got within range of the reef and Tentacool and Tentacuel started appearing in dozens. They started surrounding the boat the Rockets were on with the gems in their heads glowing bright red, clearly they were angry.

"That's a lot of Pokemon..." James said as he looked around the boat that was surrounded by the angry Water-Types.

"No kidding!" Meowth said in shock.

"Why are you two just standing there?!" Jessie demanded. "Let's start the plan!"

James and Meowth shot to attention. Meowth started preparing the three barrels of Stun Sauce while Jessie and James called out Arbok and Weezing.

The Tentacruel and Tentacool just stared at the opposing Pokemon without a trace of fear in their eyes whatsoever. Weezing and Arbok took opposite sides of the boat and looked at their opponents with trepidation, not nearly as brave as the wild Pokemon were.

"Arbok use Poison Sting on the nearest cluster of Tentacool!" Jessie commanded.

"Weezing use Sludge attack on the Tentacool on the other side of the boat!" James followed suit.

The Rocket Pokemon launched their attacks and just before they could hit, the Tentacool came together in a tight formation and launched their own Poison Sting and Sludge attacks to combat the incoming attacks with a synchronized call of, "TENTA!""

The combined attacks were much more powerful than Arbok and Weezing's singular attacks and blazed right through them, continuing onward and impacting with the two Pokemon.

The blast sent the Pokemon back into Jessie and James and knocked them to the floor of the boat. They got back to their feet and looked at their now unconscious Pokemon. They then looked at the quickly approaching angry Water Pokemon and frantically looked towards Meowth.

"Hurry up Meowth!" Jessie yelled. "Aren't those barrels of Stun Sauce ready yet?!"

Meowth kept struggling with the lids of the barrels. "I'm trying but da lids won't come off!"

The angry Water Pokemon prepared several attacks while Jessie and James started panicking. "MEOWTH!" They shouted.

Finally, the lids of the barrels popped off. "I got em'!" He cheered excitedly.

Jessie and James crowded around Meowth. "Quick! Dump the battles into the water!" Jessie screeched.

Just before Meowth could dump the barrels into the water, a Tentacruel suddenly emerged from the water and rammed into the side of the boat. Jessie, James and Meowth screamed as the boat nearly tipped over into the water.

They managed to right themselves and the boat just before it capsized but they couldn't save the barrels of Stun Sauce, which fell over the side, spilling their contents as they did.

A Tentacool was floating right below the falling barrels and could only watch as the entire contents of the barrels poured onto it.

The barrels landed on top of the Stun Sauce covered Tentacool and knocked it deep down into the water, where it disappeared and didn't resurface. Upon seeing the strange liquid that was now spreading throughout the water, the dozens of other Tentacool and Tentacruel surrounding the boat suddenly grew frightened of the brightly colored substance, which looked almost yellow/gold in color, and began sinking back below the waves and fleeing away from the reef/construction zone as fast as they could.

The Rocket Grunts, who had been holding onto each other and their Pokemon when they thought they were about to be attacked by the Tentacool and Tentacruel, suddenly opened their eyes when the attacks and ultimately pain they expected to come... Never did.

"W-What happened?!" James said in shock.

They looked around and didn't see any of the squid Pokemon. "Where did they all go?" Jessie asked aloud.

"Did the Stun Sauce work Meowth?" James asked his teammate.

Meowth shrugged. "I don't know guys... I didn't see but it might be possible dat da stuff worked and got rid of em'."

Jessie straightened up and started laughing. "Hahaha! I knew it would work! Those stupid squids were no match for Team Rocket! Those million credits are ours now!" She gloated proudly, like she wasn't cowering in fear just moments before.

James and Meowth also started looking smug. "Yeah those slimy fish never stood a chance against us!" James said cockily.

"What did yous twos expect? I made da stuff dat took em' out after all!" Meowth bragged.

Jessie pointed towards the shore. "Let's head back to the shore team! We have reward money to collect tomorrow!"

"Right!" The other two said as James started the boat and then drove them back to the docks.

XXXXXXXX

Little did the idiotic trio know that below the waves, just outside of Hutber Port in the deep of the ocean, a monstrous transformation was taking place for the Tentacool that was unlucky enough to fall victim to Team Rocket's Stun Sauce.

They were horribly wrong. Not only did the substance fail to kill Tentacool... The end result of Team Rocket's actions would create a much LARGER problem that not only would majorly effect Nastina and her plans for finishing her resort... But the entire city as well. In VERY bad way to...

XXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: Next Day)

"Today is the day Ash." Brock told his friend, who had just finished his morning training routine with Giselle and all of his Pokemon.

Ash sat down on the couch opposite from the chairs Brock and Misty were sitting in. They were in his and Brock's room as usual and he had just finished showering moments before.

He just sighed and started peeling a banana he had grabbed from the fruit bowl on the coffee table. "I know Brock... I was hoping that Nastina would have did something by now that would have given us a real reason to go to the police and give them the evidence we have of her crimes but... It looks like that's not gonna happen." He said dejectedly.

Giselle sat down beside of Ash, still drying her wet hair from her own shower earlier on. "What are we going to do about turning her in then? Today is our last day here and we have to get those papers to the police!" She insisted.

Ash sighed again. "We'll just have too anonymously drop off the papers at the station tomorrow before we leave the city and hope that the police capitalize on it. It won't be as effective as my plan of turning over all of the evidence once she gets caught red handed doing something illegal but... It's all we have now."

His friends nodded solemnly and understood. "Well... let's all go get some breakfast at one of the diners the desk clerk told me about and forget about Nastina for awhile!" Misty suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Giselle agreed.

Ash shrugged. "Sure, just let me feed my Pokemon first." Pikachu instantly perked up at the mention of breakfast.

"I'll feed the rest of the Pokemon." Brock offered.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, then we'll go."

XXXXXXXXX

Shortly after Ash and his friends left the hotel to go get breakfast, Team Rocket came striding into the lobby wearing their exterminator outfits. Still feeling proud of their 'accomplishment' the day before.

After finding an employee to take them up to Nastina's office they waltzed into the office looking beyond smug. Nastina looked up from some papers she was looking at behind her desk and scowled. "You three better have a good reason for barging into my office unannounced!" She barked.

The Rockets stood in front of her desk fearlessly. "Why my dear Nastina..." Jessie began. "I thought you would be glad to know that we took care of your little pest problem and are now here to collect the reward money!"

Nastina seemed shocked. "You actually got rid of those annoying Tentacool and Tentacruel?!" She demanded.

They nodded their heads. "We did. In record time as well!" James boasted.

Nastina grinned widely and chuckled mirthfully. "That's wonderful! I can finally finish construction on those condos and then look into building that amusement park I've been wanting to build for quite some time now!" She said with another chuckle.

Jessie scoffed. "Yes and that's all good and fine for you but what about our money? That's what we're here for, now hand it over already!" She demanded.

Nastina's gleeful look was suddenly replaced by a dark and vicious sneer. She cackled evilly. "Did you really believe that I was going to pay you for what you did? Ha! I never intended on giving a damn cent to anyone who would have managed to get rid of those nuisance Pokemon! The million credits were only a ruse to get people to take care of the problem for me! You three idiots were just the unlucky bunch who actually went though... Whatever it was you did to get rid of them... For absolutely nothing! HAHAHAHA!" She laughed madly.

The Rocket trio just stared at her with wide eyed shock. "WHAT?!" They all yelled at once.

"You mean the money was just a ploy?! We did all of that work for nothing?!" An outraged Jessie screamed.

"Not fair you old hag!" James said pointing at her.

"Let me at her!" Meowth yelled charging at her. "I'll claw da old bitch's eyes out!"

Before he could get within five feet of her, Nastina whipped a gun out from under her desk at lightning speeds. Meowth stopped mid-run and held his paws up as he backed up. "I was only jokin' ya know?!" He said nervously. Jessie and James also put their hands up, all three were officially terrified now.

"Now now Nastina!" Jessie began. "The money really isn't that important! We'll just forget about it and go now!" She finished.

The three of them prepared to run for the office door until the clicking of Nastina's handgun stopped them. She grinned evilly again. "I don't think so. You see, I can't have you three leaving and telling anyone about this. My entire plan from the start was if and when someone managed to stop those Tentacool and Tentacruel I would wait until they came to collect the 'award money' and then I would 'off them', basically getting free services. Yet again, today is just not your day." She said as she prepared to fire her first round.

Before any shots could be fired, one of Nastina's bodyguards suddenly called out, "Nastina!"

She growled at being disturbed from her 'business' and rounded on her guard. "What?!" She screeched.

The guard just pointed out the office window to the ocean far below them near the reefs. Curious, Nastina temporarily forgot about Team Rocket and walked over to the window, leaving three petrified Rocket's to just stand there in shock and horror that they had almost been killed.

When Nastina looked out her window her face morphed into one of complete confusion. "What in the name of all things business is that?"

By this point, the other bodyguard and the three Rocket's came closer to the window and looked down at the ocean as well. What they all saw baffled them.

Down in the open ocean, seemingly coming closer and closer to the coral reefs and construction site, was several glowing red lights spaced apart at different certain spots underwater, moving quickly.

The circular red lights shining under the water were not very large, but there were dozens of them and they were all in an almost perfect formation as they swept forward underwater.

Nastina and the others continued to watch the strange spectacle until the red lights finally reached the construction site. Suddenly, the source of the lights rose out from the water and revealed that they were actually the many, many Tentacool and Tentacruel that Team Rocket had 'exterminated' the day before. And from the blazing red gem in their foreheads and the frenzied way in which they were swimming around and surrounding the construction site... They were beyond pissed.

Nastina then watched in horror and fury as the Pokemon began firing Psybeam attacks from the gem on their heads at the construction site. Everywhere the attacks would hit, parts of the condos and other equipment set around them would be destroyed and/or set ablaze. This continued with all of the Tentacool and Tentacruel launching attack after attack at the unfinished condos, destroying them.

"NOOO!" Nastina shouted as she pressed her hands up against the glass of the window. "Those beasts are destroying my condos!" Her eyes suddenly narrowed and she whipped around. "You!" She screamed, pointing at the Rockets. "You lied to me! You said you got rid of them but there they are destroying my property! You didn't 'exterminate' them, you ENRAGED them!"

Jessie crossed her arms. "Serves you right old hag! Maybe this will teach you not to scam people into doing your dirty work anymore!" She retaliated.

Nastina raised the gun again. "No, I'm going to do is kill you right now!" She screeched.

Suddenly they all felt the office shake. Nastina stopped and looked around confused. The office shook again, but harder this time, causing them all to nearly fall off balance. The shaking continued and sounded like mini earthquakes were being set off every couple seconds.

Everyone in the office had to grab onto something to keep from falling over. "What's going on?!" James cried out.

"It feels like da whole hotel is shaking off it's foundation!" Meowth yelled over the sound of the rumbling.

As the shaking got louder and more intense they all looked out the window again. What they saw shocked and terrified them all.

From just outside of the city, rising up out of the ocean as it came closer and closer to the land, was an absolutely GIGANTIC... COLOSSAL Tentacruel! It was well over the height of the largest building in Hutber Port and the same size in width. With every step the giant Pokemon took, the entire area around it shook like crazy and massive waves were churned up everywhere it stepped with it's many tentacles.

The huge Pokemon continued it's way slowly towards the city, flanked down around it by several other regular sized Tentacool and a few Tentacruel. As they continued on the giant Tentacruel finally reached the reefs where Nastina's condos were resting, nearly completely destroyed. It stopped and began powering up a Psybeam attack from the oversized gem on it's head. With one swift thrust forward, the massive, jumbo sized Psybeam shot forward and impacted with the construction sight, completely obliterating everything that remained of it.

Nastina screamed again and banged on the window with her fists. "Dammit all! Vile, despicable creatures!" She turned back to the Rockets. "You three did this somehow, now you're going to fix it! Get down there and annihilate all of those wretched Pokemon! I don't care how just do it!" She ordered.

But-" James began.

"How?!" Jessie yelled.

"Dat tings gargantuan!" Meowth yelled.

Nastina pointed her gun again. "Do it our I'll shoot you where you stand! Get moving... NOW!" She screeched.

Terrified of Nastina's threat, Team Rocket took off running out the door as fast as they could. "How do we stop something that size?!" James asked as they ran out of the hotel.

"I don't know James but if we don't then..." Jessie began.

"Nastina's gonna blast us off in a way dat we won't recover from!" Meowth finished.

James gulped as they ran towards the army of pissed off Pokemon making their towards the city.

XXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had just finished eating breakfast at a diner near the hotel when the entire place started shaking hard like an earthquake was going off. The shaking was so strong that the kids nearly fell out of the booth they were sitting in.

"What the hell?!" Ash said as he righted himself.

"It's coming from somewhere out in the city I think." Brock said.

Ash got out from the booth. "Come on guys, let's to check it out!" He said as he took off out the door, followed by his friends with Pikachu hanging onto his shoulder tightly.

When they got outside they looked around and saw that everyone else in the city was also looking around confused and scared, apparently having no clue as to what was going on either. The buildings, cars and even road beneath their feet was shaking with the thundering quakes that were going off.

"What's going on?" Giselle asked loudly.

Ash didn't answer and just closed his eyes as he listened for the direction that the sound was coming from with his abnormally good hearing. His eyes suddenly snapped open. "It's comin from the direction the hotel is in, let's go see what's happening!" He said.

He and his friends took off running in the direction of the hotel as fast as they could.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth were standing at the edge of the harbor, waiting for the Tentacool and Tentacruel to reach the land. They didn't have to wait long either, the Pokemon were almost upon them. The flames from the destroyed construction site behind the approaching the Pokemon was silhouetting them in an ethereal glow, making them look even more intimidating.

The Rocket's were literally shaking in their boots and were using every drop of courage they had not to turn tail and run away.

"So how are we going to do this Jessie?" James asked.

She took a shaking breath. "I guess we'll just use Arbok and Weezing to fight them off... Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky?" She offered hopefully.

"Dats your plan?!" Meowth shouted with his fists raised in the air. He dropped them limply by his side a minute later and sighed as he cried anime tears. "We're gonna die..."

Jessie and James threw their Pokeballs and released Arbok and Weezing just as the first wave of Tentacool reached the harbor. "Arbok use Poison Sting!" Jessie commanded.

"Weezing Smog attack!" James followed.

Arbok and Weezing immediately launched their attacks but before they could hit the group of Tentacool they were aiming for, a giant tentacle suddenly dropped down and shielded the Tentacool from the attacks. The Rockets saw a massive shadow bath them in darkness and looked up. They saw the giant Tentacruel towering over top of them, glaring down at them.

It ushered all of it's smaller brethren towards the city and they started flooding out of the water and into the city in droves, firing Psybeams and Water Pulses at everything they saw, destroying anything that was in their path.

The Rocket trio were cowering down amongst the swarms of passing Tentacool and looked up at the gigantic Tentacruel in undisguised fear. It raised a large tentacle and swung at them. Meowth was short enough and ducked low, avoiding the attack. Jessie and James were not so fortunate. They were struck with the tentacle and sent soaring into the city. "AHHHH!" They both screamed.

Meowth looked back up at the colossal Water Pokemon and started pleading. "Please don't attack me Tentacruel! Me and my team were only doing what we did ta yous guys because a woman named Nastina was wantin ta get rid of ya's! If you want ta blame somebody din blame her!"

Tentacruel looked interested upon hearing Meowth speak the human tongue and reached one of it's tentacles out towards him. Meowth went wide eyed and tried to run away but he couldn't escape Tentacruel's huge reach and could only struggle when it wrapped around his body and lifted him up until he was eye to eye with the behemoth.

Meowth struggled and screamed, "Somebody help! Get me away from dis big gallute!"

Tentacruel then proceeded further into the city, using it's massive tentacles to strike and destroy anything in it's path. Even the largest of buildings.

XXXXXXXXXX

Further in the city, Ash and his friends were following the sounds of destruction towards whatever was causing the ruckus.

Suddenly two 'projectiles' suddenly fell out of the sky and crashed in front of them. They stopped running and looked down at the groaning bodies that were now cratered in the ground before them.

The smoke finally cleared and showed Jessie and James scuffed up and groaning in pain. "Team Rocket?!" They all said at once.

"Are you guys behind what's going on?!" Ash demanded.

Despite their injuries, Jessie and James shot up. "We most certainly are not!" Jessie said indignantly.

"We aren't?" James asked confused. "I thought that because of us-Ouch!" He yelped as Jessie pummeled him into the ground. "Shut up James!" Jessie hissed.

"What's going on you two?" Misty pressed.

Jessie huffed. "If you must know orange-head..." Misty growled at the name. "The Tentacool and Tentacruel the owner of that hotel put the huge reward out for anyone who could get rid of them has went vicious and is now attacking the city." She said casually, crossing her arms, trying to play away that she knew anything else.

"And they're being led by one ENORMOUS Tentacruel!" James gestured towards the direction they'd just come flying from.

"A giant Tentacruel?!" Ash asked extremely curious, thinking about Dragonite. He quickly shook his head and focused on the task at hand. "So they're attacking the city? Do you know if anyone has been hurt?" He asked urgently.

"And where's Meowth?" Giselle asked, noticing the lack of the furriest member of Team Rocket.

Jessie huffed again. "How should we know twerp?" She asked snidely. "We were being blasted through the air while that armie of angry squids began their attack!"

"We don't know what happened to Meowth..." James answered Giselle's question. "After the giant Tentacruel attacked us we didn't see anything else that happened." He looked at Jessie. "What if something happened to Meowth Jessie?" He asked worriedly.

She just shrugged her shoulders. "So what? At least we're safe!"

James looked taken aback. "But he's our teammate Jessie! Not to mention the fact that I think we caused this mess!" He paused. "Come to think of it... We may have created that giant Tentacruel!"

No sooner did these words leave his mouth and he clamped it shut with his hands. He and Jessie turned to look at Ash and the others with guilty expressions.

Ash narrowed his eyes and walked up to them. "Alright you two dumbasses... What did you do? And I want the truth, don't even think about lying to me or else..." He looked at Pikachu who looked at Team Rocket in turn and started sparking his cheeks threatingly at them.

The two shared looks and then sighed before they started explaining what they had been apart of. Starting with their meeting and discussion with Nastina, their failed attempt to eliminate the Tentacool and Tentacruel with their 'Stun Sauce' and how all of it had gotten dumped on a lone Tentacool that then disappeared, followed by all of the rest fleeing as well, leading them to think it was all over and then finished with their last meeting in Nastina's office, how she threatened them, witnessing the giant Tentacruel and it's kin destroy the construction site and how they had tried to combat the Pokemon only to get batted away like insects.

By the end of their story Ash was shaking his head. "You two always find a way to make things either bad or worse than they already are!" He glared at them.

"I can't say I'm really surprised at Nastina's actions." Brock observed.

Ash pinched the bridge of his nose and then sighed again. "Look you two. We're going to go and try to fix this mess that you've made along with Nastina. I think you should be disgusted knowing that what you have done not only could be putting thousands of lives in danger but also could very well have killed Meowth, your own teammate!"

The two Rockets hung their head in shame as Ash turned to his friends. "Okay guys listen up! We need too get to the sight of what's going on as soon as possible. If those Pokemon are really attacking the city then I'm sure the police are already mobilizing and taking care of as much as they can. If we offer our help and our Pokemon's help in battling the Tentacool then that should be a big help."

"If the Tentacool and Tentacruel know that Nastina was the one responsible for destroying their homes by building those condos I have a feeling they are going to go after her which means that the hotel is in big trouble. Especially if this... 'Giant Tentacruel' gets involved." Brock said.

Ash nodded thoughtfully. "Good point Brock... And if that happens then everyone at the hotel needs to be warned so they can evacuate the place." He thought a little more and then said, "Okay let's try this: Brock, you and Giselle won't be any help in fighting against the Tentacool and Tentacruel since all you have is Rock and Ground-Type Pokemon respectively. Not much help against Water-Types. So what I want you guys to do is go to the hotel and tell everyone what's going on. Make sure everyone evacuates and then grab our stuff from the rooms. Especially the 'papers'. Once your done get yourselves out of there and come find me and Misty."

Brock and Giselle nodded in understanding and then Giselle asked, "What about you and Misty?"

Ash looked at Misty. "She and I will go and combat the rampaging Pokemon with our own." He looked at Misty and she nodded her head in confirmation that she agreed. "I don't like the idea of fighting and potentially hurting any Pokemon, especially Water-Types but if it means helping to save the city then I'll do it. Plus... You need my help Ash and I'll always be here for you." She said with a smile directed at the boy of her affections.

Ash smiled at Misty and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You really are a great friend Misty and I can't thank you enough for always being willing to help me." He looked at Brock, Pikachu on his shoulder and Giselle. "The same goes for all of you. Thank you so much." He said earnestly.

"Don't even think on it Ash." Brock smiled at his friend.

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu rubbed his cheek on Ash's.

"It's my duty as your girlfriend to always be here for you Ash... And besides, you wouldn't make it very far without me." She said as she winked and stuck her tongue out in a pose that Ash found incredibly cute.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Yes Giselle that is very true." He admitted.

She suddenly looked worried. "Just be careful okay Ash?"

He smiled and brought her into a warm hug. "I promise everything will be alright."

After they separated Ash got a serious and determined look on his face. "Alright everybody, we know what to do now so let's go!"

Brock and Giselle took off in the direction of the hotel and Ash looked at Misty. "Ready Mist?"

"I'm ready Ash!" She said affirmatively.

He then looked at Team Rocket. "You guys just try and stay out of trouble and not cause anymore messes!" With that said he and Misty headed out towards the section of the city that was currently under attack.

James looked at Jessie. "What do we do now Jessie?"

She looked torn for a few minutes and then growled in frustration. "Aghhh! Come on James, let's go and find Meowth!" She finally relented.

James looked relieved. "Alright good plan!"

The two of them went in the same direction as Ash and Misty, hoping to find their third teammate.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty arrived in a portion of the city that was under heavy attack by droves of Tentacool and Tentacruel, though they didn't see any 'Giant Tentacruel' yet. All they did see was smoke rising from the fire that the rampaging Pokemon had caused and the destroyed city around them.

They each saw a cluster of Tentacool coming towards them and they went into action. Misty called out Goldeen, Staryu and Starmie, while Ash released Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander and Pidgeotto. Pikachu was already on the ground with his cheeks sparking.

Ash looked down at his Pokemon. "Are you guys ready to go?! We need to stop those Pokemon from destroying anymore of the city. Can I count on you?!" He asked them.

"Bulba!"

"Squirt!"

"Char!"

"Pidgeooo!"

"Pika!"

They all shouted loudly. Ash grinned. "Alright then let's go! Let's break up that cluster of charging Tentacool first. Bulbasaur Razor Leaf, Charmander Flamethrower, Pidgeotto Twister, Squirtle Water Pulse and Pikachu Thunderbolt!" He yelled.

They launched their attacks in perfect harmony directly at the incoming Pokemon and struck them dead center, blasting them all apart from one another.

They got back up a few moments later and stared Ash and his Pokemon down with anger burning in their eyes. In that same second... They attacked.

Ash began ordering his Pokemon to dodge, counter and attack the ever growing number of Tentacool constantly and without any pause. Charmander was taking on his own group of opponents and was expertly dodging every Poison Sting, Water Gun/Water Pulse and Psybeam they through his way, while he countered with attacks like Slash, Flamethrower, Smokescreen and Dragon Rage.

Bulbasaur was fighting his own group of Tentacool just like Squirtle, Pidgeotto and Pikachu were doing.

"CHUUU!" Pikachu yelled as he struck another Tentacool with a bolt of electricity and sent it running away. He looked over and saw Charmander about to get hit with a sneak attack Water Pulse.

He used Quick Attack and sped for Charmander. Just before the blast of water could hit the Fire-Type right on the tail, Pikachu collided with him and pushed him out of the way. Charmander looked back at the Tentacool who had just attacked him and saw the puddle of water pooled on the ground where he just was. He looked back at Pikachu, "Char Charmander Char!" He said gratefully.

Pikachu smiled back and patted his friend on the back. "Pika Pikachu, Pika Pika Pikachu." He pointed to another group of Tentacool and then back at Charmander. "Pikachu?" He asked with a grin on his face.

Charmander shared the look and nodded. "Charmander!"

The two friends then threw themselves back into the fray and started fighting viciously. The only thing you could see was a blur of yellow and red/orange as they unleashed fire and electric attacks nearly totally in-sync. The Tentacool they were fighting never stood a chance as they were blasted away like nothing.

Ash smiled at their teamwork. He knew how good of friends those two had become and it showed in battle. He turned his attention back to his other Pokemon who were also fighting side by side.

Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pidgeotto were fighting in a perfect triangle formation with Pidgeotto using attacks like Twister and Gust on the Tentacool on her side, Squirtle was using Water Pulse, Aqua Tail and Rapid Spin on his and Bulbasaur was using attacks like Razor Leaf, Vine Whip, Leech Seed and Giga Drain to bring up the rear. His attacks were super-effective since he was battling Water-Types.

Ash continued too watch his Pokemon battle while he wondered just how Misty was fairing in her own struggle against the attacking Pokemon

XXXXXXXXX

"Goldeen use Horn Attack!" Misty commanded her Pokemon.

"Goldeen!" The fish responded as her horn grew and glowed a bright white color as she charged forward and smashed into a group of three Tentacool, knocking them back down the street where they then proceeded to get back up and flee.

Misty turned her attention to her other two Pokemon. Staryu and Starmie were currently engaged with one vicious Tentacruel who was keeping them back with it's many tentacles, while using Sludge Bomb and trying to wrap up the two starfish in it's 'arms' so it could use Constrict on them.

Misty saw they were having trouble and called out, "Staryu use Rapid Spin and try too take Tentacruel's tentacles out from under it! Starmie you provide cover with Swift!"

As Staryu spun towards it's opponent the Tentacruel prepared to use Sludge Bomb and knock it away. Starmie quickly appeared however and with a call of, "Star!" It launched multiple star shaped rays into the Pokemon's face.

Tentacruel reeled back and abandoned it's attack on Staryu. This gave the pre-evolved form of Starmie all the time it needed and smashed into Tentacruel's base, knocking the tentacles out from under it and then spinning back towards where Starmie was.

Misty issued the last command. "Alright you two, use a combined Swift followed by a combined Water Pulse and end this!"

They obeyed perfectly and shot multiple star rays at Tentacruel, each one hitting it's mark. One powerful combined Water Pulse later and Tentacruel was sailing back through the city. It got up and quickly fled again.

While Misty was distracted, a lone Tentacool snuck up behind Misty with it's head gem glowing brightly, preparing to attack her. "Way to to guys that was great!" She congratulated her Pokemon, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Just before Tentacool could attack, Goldeen saw it and rushed towards her Trainer. She jumped in front of the Psybeam the Tentacool just unleashed and took it full force. Misty finally turned around and saw what happened just as Goldeen was sent careening into her.

Misty caught her Pokemon and skidded back. She knelt down and cradled her Pokemon gently. She took in Goldeen's appearance and saw that she was covered in scrapes and bruises from the attack. "Goldeen are you okay?!" She asked worriedly.

Goldeen looked up at Misty and nodded weakly at her Trainer. Misty felt a few tears prickle the corners of her eyes and hugged her Pokemon close. "Thank you so much for saving me Goldeen."

She pulled out Goldeen's Pokeball and pointed it at her Pokemon. "You take a rest in your Pokeball now okay? I'll get you to a Pokemon Center as soon as this is all over. Don't worry, Staryu and Starmie will take of everything here and keep me safe." She looked over at her Pokemon who had now arrived at her side. "Right guys?" She asked them.

"Star!" They both nodded together.

She looked backed down at Goldeen and smiled softly. "Is that alright with you Goldeen?" She asked her Pokemon.

To Misty's surprise, Goldeen shook her head and slowly jumped out of Misty's arms. She stood in front of the enemy Tentacool and narrowed her eyes at it. The girl got the message her Pokemon was trying to get across and went wide eyed. "But Goldeen you're to hurt to fight! I don't want anything happening to you!" She protested.

Goldeen just looked back at Misty with fire in her eyes and shook her head. "Goldeen Goldeen! Gold Goldeen Gold!" She tried to convince her Trainer.

Misty looked unsure for a few moments but after seeing Goldeen look so determined she eventually relented. "Okay Goldeen..." She smiled at her Pokemon. "Let's take down that Tentacruel!" She shouted with a raised fist.

She then looked back at the Tentacool that tried to attack her. "You wanna battle Tentacool?!"

It just leveled a glare at her and nodded.

Misty narrowed her eyes. "Alright then fine! You want a battle?! You've gotta a battle!" She looked down at Goldeen. "Ready Goldeen?!"

Her Pokemon just nodded and glared at Tentacool. Misty smiled. "Alright let's start!" She pointed at Tentacool. "Goldeen use Horn Attack!" She commanded.

Goldeen extended her horn immediately and shot off towards Tentacool at speeds that most would say wasn't possible for a Pokemon that had just taken a full on Sludge attack.

Before she could make contact, Tentacool quickly jumped to the side and avoided the attack. "Goldeen use Horn Attack again and don't stop until you hit it!" Misty ordered.

Goldeen began jumping at Tentacool over and over again striking at the other Water-Type with her horn every time. Tentacool however was easily dodging each attack by merely jumping, dodging and weaving away from Goldeen.

Goldeen began getting frustrated and recklessly charged in again at Tentacool. This time the Pokemon just slipped under Goldeen and wrapped one of it's two tentacles around her horn and twirled her around. In one swift motion, Tentacool let go and Goldeen went skidding through the street and bounced up off the pavement and into a building.

She felt back to the concrete and then after a few moments, slowly back up, battered and bruised from the attack. Misty quickly commanded. "Goldeen use Water Veil to restore your strength and then Water Pulse at Tentacool!"

Goldeen nodded and surrounded herself in a cloak of flowing water. A bright glow was seen from within the veil of water and a few seconds later she looked much better. Goldeen then opened her mouth and launched a powerful Water Pulse at Tentacool.

The squid just stayed where it was and as soon as the torrent of water got closer to it the Pokemon tucked in it's tentacles and then jumped straight at the rushing blast of water, spinning it's body the whole time like a top.

It hit the water torrent head on and then started tearing through the torrent, right towards Goldeen. "What the?!" Misty shouted in shock.

The wild Pokemon finally made it to Goldeen and smashed into her with it's head, knocking the Pokemon back into the building behind her again. Goldeen hit the wall hard enough to cause spider-web cracks to form around her and gasped out, "Goldeen!" She fell back down to the ground and struggled to get back up.

Before Misty could offer any words of encouragement to her Pokemon, Tentacool quickly jumped in front of the downed Water Pokemon and wrapped it's two tentacles around her, lifting her up in the air above it's head.

"Goldeen get out of Tentacool's grip!" She screamed.

The Pokemon began struggling and trying to free herself but she didn't get far. Tentacool suddenly brought it's tentacles down and smashed Goldeen into the pavement hard.

It raised Goldeen back in the air, who was still flailing around madly to get free, and smashed her down into the ground again. It repeated this process and smashed Goldeen into the pavement over and over again, each time making the other Water Pokemon cry out in pain.

Misty watched in horror, unable to do anything to help her Pokemon that was taking such a savage beating. At this moment she wondered how Ash was able to come up with such quick thinking strategies to get his Pokemon out of these very situations when she could come up with nothing right now. Misty quickly grew even more respect for Ash upon being presented with a situation that she didn't know how to handle like the one before her.

Tentacool continued to smash Goldeen down into the concrete of the road and after one last hit it stopped and just suspended Goldeen in the air. She was looking extremely beat up and was squinting at Tentacool with one eye while the other was shut.

Tentacool then quickly formed a Psybeam in the gem on it's forehead and fired it at the limp hanging Pokemon in it's grasp. Misty gasped in terror as her Pokemon was sent soaring through the air from the blast and crashed into the ground some ways away.

Goldeen lay there in the small crater unmoving as Misty called to her. "Goldeen please get up! I know you can do this just please get up and fight! I believe in you!" She yelled loudly.

Goldeen slowly opened her eyes at her Trainer's words of encouragement and ever slowly began pushing herself back up. When she was finally upright again she glared at Tentacool with a fierce gaze and called out loudly, "GoldEEENNN!"

At that very moment a bright light surrounded Goldeen as she began to morph and change both in shape and size. Misty watched in awe of her Pokemon. "G-Goldeen is... Evolving!" She exclaimed in shock.

When the light died away and the transformation was complete, a strong and determined looking Seaking stood in place of Goldeen. "Seaking!" The Pokemon called out loudly.

Misty eventually got over her shock and then pumped her fists in the air. "YES! Way to go Seaking you evolved! I'm so proud of you!" She cried joyfully.

Seaking looked back at her Trainer and called out. "Seaking Sea Seaking!"

Misty got the message and nodded. "Yeah Seaking let's win this battle! Let's see what you can now that you've evolved!" She said with a big grin on her face.

Seaking nodded and looked back at Tentacool. She glared at it and Tentacool glared right back. "Okay Seaking!" Misty began. "Use Horn Attack!"

Seaking nodded and started focusing energy into her horn. However, instead of her horn simpy glowing white and then extending outwards like with a normal Horn Attack, her horn glowed even brighter and extended out even further.

Misty knew what the move was as soon as she saw it. "Seaking you know Megahorn now!" She exclaimed in utter joy.

Seaking looked at her horn and then back at Misty, almost as if asking for permission. Misty just smirked and nodded. "Show that Tentacool who's boss!"

Seaking turned back to Tentacool and then lunged forward at speeds much quicker than when she was a Goldeen. Tentacool wasn't prepared for such speed and power and took the force of the Megahorn attack full on as Seaking impacted with it.

The Water/Poison-Type Pokemon was lifted off of it's tentacles and sent hurdling back into a nearby mailbox. The Pokemon gasped out in pain as it hit the object and fell to the ground in pain. "TENTA!" It grunted.

Misty didn't give anytime for recovery. "Seaking use Water Pulse to distract Tentacool and then charge in with another Megahorn and hit it!"

Seaking shot a powerful Water Pulse at Tentacool who stumbled to it's tentacles and used both of them to block the Water Pulse as it hit. Seaking used the cover and charged in like lightning, her horn yet again glowing brightly.

Tentacool stopped the last of the water that was steadily pushing it back and then cracked it's eyes open just as Seaking was almost upon it. The squid squashed it's body lower to the ground and just managed to avoid Seaking as she smashed into the ground where Tentacool just was with Megahorn and cratered it.

Seaking didn't give Tentacool a chance to retaliate however. From where her horn was implanted in the ground, she spun using her horn as a base and slapped Tentacool across the face hard with her tail fin, causing the Pokemon to skid back across the street.

Misty called out again, "Seaking rush in again and use Flail!"

Seaking launched forward at the still recovering Tentacool and started flailing her front fins, tail fin and horn around like crazy. Tentacool rooted itself into the ground and brought both tentacles up. It began engaging in a vicious all out brawl with Seaking as tentacles, fins and horn met each other over and over again.

Seaking and Tentacool were both landing good blows on each other every couple strikes and then, with a tail fin to Tentacool's face and a tentacle to Seaking's, both Pokemon were sent flying back to opposite ends of the street and into a building each.

Misty watched intently as both Pokemon got back to their fins/tentacles and stared each other down. Seaking was breathing and very scuffed up, obviously still very tired from the long battle and the added tole of evolution onto to it all. Tentacruel was also scuffed up and breathing hard. Obviously tired and beaten from the battle. However, it was still looking better than Seaking did.

Misty knew the battle was almost over and only one would come out on top. "Seaking, use one last Megahorn!" She called out.

Seaking nodded and slowly charged up the energy in her horn. At the same time Tentacool opened it's mouth and started forming a Sludge attack in it's maw. However, the attack started getting even bigger and the sludge started looking even darker and more dangerous. Misty grit her teeth upon realizing that Tentacool had just learned Sludge Bomb and called out to Seaking, "Hurry up with that Megahorn Seaking! You have to hit Tentacool before it can release that Sludge Bomb!" She cried.

Seaking nodded and then burst forward as fast as her tired body would take her. Tentacool nearly had the Sludge Bomb ready and reared it's head back. Seaking closed in on Tentacool just as the Pokemon slammed it's head forward. With a loud cry of, "SEAKING/TENTACOOL!" Both Pokemon collided.

A giant explosion from when both attacks collided and a huge smoke cloud surrounded the area as Misty shielded her eyes from the dust and debree flying through the air. She let her arm down just as two shapes came flying out from the smoke cloud in different directions.

Misty waited with baited breath while the smoke cloud began to clear. When it did she looked to one corner of the street and saw, to her amazement, Tentacool lying on it's backside, scuffed, bruised and badly beaten up but still conscious and struggling to get back up.

She looked towards where Seaking was lying cratered into the ground and wasn't greeted with the sight that she had hoped she would. Her Pokemon was out cold with swirls in it's eyes and was slightly sparking with purple static that showed the Sludge Bomb had also left her poisoned.

Misty clinched her teeth and pulled out Seaking's Pokeball. She returned her beaten Pokemon and then looked at the ball. "I'm very proud of you Seaking. You fought incredibly hard and even evolved just so you could win. Don't be upset that you lost Seaking because I'm very proud of you. Thank you for saving my life earlier and battling so hard. I'll make sure you get treated after this is all over over okay?" She hugged the ball close to her and then put it away.

Misty looked over at Tentacool, who by now had struggled to it's tentacles and was now staring at Misty with a tired but fierce look in it's eyes. Misty had to admit that she was beyond impressed with this Pokemon. It was able to her defeat her TRAINED Goldeen, a wild Pokemon, even after she evolved into Seaking and hit Tentacool with Megahorn, a very strong attack, and then several other damaging attacks as well. Not to mention it was still standing even after being caught in the combined explosion of Megahorn and Sludge Bomb. This Tentacool definitely had Misty's respect that was for sure.

She looked over at her Staryu and Starmie and knew that one of them was going to have to handle this battle now. After some thought she decided on Staryu. She believed that at Tentacool's weakened state and Staryu's slightly tired state from the battles it had already been fighting against the other Tentacool and Tentacruel the match would be more fair. Tentacool had garnered her respect and she didn't want to hurt it by battling with a fresher Pokemon that was already stronger than it was anyway. Starmie would have been stronger than Tentacool even if they would have battled fresh, she knew that for certain. So because of that reason, Misty definitely didn't want to use Starmie.

She looked down at Staryu. "You wanna handle it from here Staryu?"

The starfish shaped Pokemon nodded. "Star!" Staryu was very anxious to battle an opponent that was strong enough to take down Goldeen, even after she evolved into Seaking.

Misty looked back at Tentacool. "You really are an impressive Pokemon Tentacool. I can't believe you still beat Goldeen even after she evolved into Seaking. You definitely have my respect!" She said honestly.

Tentacool seemed surprised that a human was admitting their respect for it and was rather taken aback. Misty spoke again. "You ready to finish this battle? Whoever wins this one takes the match!"

Tentacool recovered from it's shock and just nodded. It assumed a battle stance and waited for Staryu.

Misty looked back down at her Pokemon. "You ready to go Staryu?!" She asked excitedly.

Her Pokemon nodded and then jumped into the middle of the street and stared Tentacool down with it's... ahh... gem. "Star!" It called out again.

Misty nodded and pointed at Tentacool. "Then start this off with Rapid Spin Staryu!" She commanded.

Staryu took off and spun towards the Pokemon at high speeds. Just before it hit, Tentacool dodged to the side and used it's tentacles to catch Staryu out of the air and then spun it around in circles. It released it's opponent and sent Staryu careening back towards Misty. The starfish quickly angled it's body down towards the ground and stuck one of it's pointed ends down. It spun itself around like a top and then shot back to it's feet.

Misty called out, "Now use Swift Staryu!"

The gem set in it's body glowed brightly and then it shot star shaped rays towards Tentacool. The enemy lifted it's tentacles up and, much to Misty's surprise, began expertly batting each and every ray of energy away. Even for just battling against Seaking the way it had Tentacool was still a worthy opponent for Staryu.

If quickly followed up with a Water Pulse that Misty had Staryu counter with it's own. Both attacks met and clashed together. Both attacks battling for dominance. Tentacool then did something unexpected and disengaged the attack, jumping high up into the air just as Staryu's Water Pulse overcame the other and hit the spot where Tentacool was just at.

While in the air, Tentacool launched a quick Sludge attack that hurdled down towards Staryu. Misty saw the danger of the potentially poison inducing move. She quickly formulated an iffy strategy and ordered Staryu, "Use Aqua Ring and shroud yourself in a water veil! Then use Rapid Spin and slice through that Sludge attack!"

Stayu did as told and used Aqua Ring to surround itself in a cloak of water. It then spun up in the air towards Tentacool and plowed right through the Sludge attack, protected from it's harmful effacts by the shroud of water cloaking it's body.

It flew towards the shocked Tentacool and smashed into it while both were still in mid-air. Tentacool dropped towards the ground and smashed into it's unforgiving surface while Staryu landed gracefully on it's feet. No sooner did the other Pokemon hit the ground and it began struggling to get back on it's feet as Misty ordered Staryu to use Swift.

Without any hesitation, Staryu launched it's attack at the still recovering squid and barraged the Pokemon with dozens of energy rays. Tentacool reeled back in pain as it was knocked off of it's feet and sent sailing backwards.

Suddenly, Staryu began glowing with a bluish light and the gem in it's center started glowing the same color. Misty knew what it was instantly. After seeing Starmie use it before there was no question.

"Staryu just learned Confusion!" She exclaimed.

Taking advantage of the still stunned Tentacool she ordered Staryu, "Use your newly learned Confusion and end this battle!"

Staryu directed it's new found power at Tentacool and picked the Pokemon up with the psychic energy. It then began smashing Tentacool into everything nearby. Buildings, the roads and even other nearby Tentacool. It finished by flinging Tentacool up into the air and then smashing it down onto the ground hard.

Once the attack was I over Tentacool lay cratered in the middle of the road, unconscious. Misty saw her chance and wasn't going to miss it. This Tentacool was to strong to let escape for an aspiring Water Pokemon Master like Misty! She pulled a Pokeball out from her pocket and tossed it at the Tentacool. "Pokeball go!" She shouted.

The capture device hit the Pokemon and sucked it inside in a flash of red light. The ball fell back to the ground and began twitching and rocking back and forth. After what seemed like forever and with Misty watching with gritted teeth the ball finally stopped moving and 'dinged' with sparkles coming from it, signaling a successful capture.

Misty walked up to the ball and picked it up. She grinned widely and struck a pose with the Pokeball outstretched in her hand. "Yes! I finally captured my very own Tentacool!" She said excitedly.

She had always admired and loved Tentacool and Tentacruel for how 'cute' they were with the gems in their foreheads and she also knew just how effective one would be in battles if trained properly since they were dual Water and Poison-Type Pokemon.

She wasn't angry or upset at the Tentacool and Tentacruel for attacking the city. Their homes were being destroyed by Nastina. She knew that the Tentacool she just captured was only fighting for it's home and she understood that. She only hoped that Tentacool would come to hold no hard feelings against her.

She quickly congratulated her Staryu on a great battle and for a learning a new move, also thanked Starmie and then rallied her Pokemon together. Looking around she was dismayed to see that even more Tentacool was coming and no matter how many they defeated, more just took their place.

"I need to go and find Ash!" Misty said to herself. "We might have a better chance of defending ourselves together with both of our Pokemon then separate."

She quickly instructed her Pokemon on what was happening and then took off in search of Ash.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ash looked around at all of the dozens of Tentacool and even a few Tentacruel that were surrounding he and his Pokemon.

His Pokemon were starting to get tired from the non-stop fighting they had been doing and they hadn't even made a dent in the forces of angry Water-Types. No matter how many they defeated, more just kept coming.

He looked at his winded Pokemon and clinched his teeth. "No matter how great of shape my Pokemon are in this is just ridiculous! It's like a never ending supply of Tentacool and Tentacruel! I've gotta think of something else because this just isn't working..." He said aloud.

Suddenly, a whole line of Tentacool and a few Tentacruel launched multiple Sludge/Sludge Bombs and Water Pulses at Ash's grouped together Pokemon. He quickly called out, "All of you guys quickly counter those attacks with your strongest moves!"

His Pokemon nodded and then unleashed their attacks:

"CHU!"

"CHAR!"

"SQUIRTLE!"

"BULBA!"

"PIDGEOO!"

They all cried as they combated the incoming attacks with powerful Thunderbolts, Flamethrowers, Water Pulses, Razor Leaves and Twisters.

The attacks met head on and caused a massive explosion that covered the entire street they were on in smoke. Ash saw his chance to retreat for now and took it. He called out into the smoke. "Hey you guys follow my voice and come here! We're getting out of here for now, there's to many!"

A few moments later his tired Pokemon came running through the smoke and stood in front of him. He quickly pulled out their Pokeballs. "You guys did an amazing job and I'm very proud of you! Take a good rest!"

He then returned Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto before looking at Pikachu. "Come on buddy we gotta go!"

Pika!" Pikachu nodded as he hopped up on Ash's shoulder. The boy then took off in the opposite direction of the Tentacool and Tentacruel and ran through the smoke. He finally got out of the smoke cloud and then ran down another street.

As he ran he saw that there were literally Tentacool and Tentacruel everywhere in the city. Police were all over the place battling the Pokemon with their own like Growlithe, some of the Eeveelutions like Flareon and Jolteon and even a few Machoke. Officer Jenny was in command of the other officers and was battling just as valiantly with her own Growlithe.

But even for all of their efforts, it was still a losing battle. There was just to many Tentacool and Tentacruel. Ash didn't see any civilians on the street so he hoped that everyone had barricaded themselves inside for now.

Rounding another street corner he suddenly bumped into someone, knocking them both down. He got up and looked down at who he hit. Recognizing Misty he quickly pulled her up to her feet and into a hug. "Thank Arceus your alright Misty! The battling is getting really intense and I was worried for you and your Pokemon!"

Misty blushed a deep red at being so close to Ash and found a hard time formulating words. "Ahhh... Ummm... Thanks Ash... I-I'm okay... M-Me and my Pokemon are okay!" She managed out.

Ash released her and then asked, "How was it going on your end?"

Misty shook her head. "It's pointless, there's just to many of them. I had to retreat and on the way here I even had to return Strayu and Starmie so I could run faster and not get caught by the Tentacool and Tentacruel."

Ash nodded. "The same thing happened to me as well. My Pokemon battled like crazy but there were just to many of them."

"And now all of our Pokemon is tired. I captured a Tentacool a little while ago and Goldeen evolved into Seaking but they're both exhausted from battling and won't be any help right now... What do we do?" She asked.

Ash sighed and looked around. "Let's head towards the hotel and try to meet up with Brock and Giselle. Hopefully they helped evacuate the hotel by now and are making their way out. If we head that way then I guarantee we'll end up seeing that giant Tentacruel. Maybe on the way I'll formulate some other battle strategy... Maybe..."

Misty but her lower lip and looked around at all of the fighting. She looked back at Ash. "Maybe fighting isn't the answer Ash." She finally said.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

She thought about it for a little bit and then explained.'"Think about it Ash: The Tentacool and Tentacruel are doing all of this because Nastina tried to destroy their homes in the coral reefs just so she could build some stupid condos! The Pokemon are retaliating the destruction of their homes by destroying the people's homes. This city! Everyone fighting against and trying to hurt the Pokemon is only going to make them madder and spur them on even more. Maybe if we try talking to them and apologize... If we promise that nothing like that will happen to their homes again... Maybe they'll stop the attack and go away." She finished with hope in her voice.

Ash thought about it for a little bit and weighed out all of the options. He obviously had his doubts that just talking to them would do anything but right now... They had to do something. "Okay Misty, let's say we try your method. Who do you expect to talk to and how are you going to talk to them?" He asked.

Misty thought for a little while and then replied. "I think we can both agree that the giant Tentacruel is in charge of the whole thing. Maybe if I can get up on the roof of one of these really tall buildings and talk to it... I can get it to understand what we want." She explained her theory.

Ash just shook his head. "It's worth a try Misty. Let's find the others first." She nodded and then the two took off in the direction of the hotel.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty came within seeing distance of the hotel and were shocked by the sight before them. The entire portion of city near the hotel looked like a warzone.

Buildings were all but destroyed, cars were flipped over and Tentacool and Tentacruel were everywhere. Luckily, they didn't see any people anywhere near the area so Ash hoped that meant that they had all been evacuated in time.

"Ohhh... My... Arceus..." Misty said in utter shock as she stared at the city in ruins around her.

"Yeah..." Ash said as he looked around. "I thought the inner city was bad but that was nothing compared to this."

Suddenly Misty started tapping him on the shoulder frantically. He turned to look at her. "What?!" He asked the now gaping and wide eyed girl.

She pointed behind him and he turned around. What he saw nearly made his jaw drop and pass out. Two hundred yards or so away, making it's way towards the hotel, was the biggest Tentacruel... No scratch that, one of the biggest Pokemon he had ever seen!

The Pokemon was so large that it towered over all of the buildings it walked past. It's tentacles looked thicker than multiple tree trunks put together and seemed like they went on for miles. The gem in the middle of it's forehead was literally hundreds of smaller Tentcool and Tentacruel's gems all in one. Suffice to say... This colossal Pokemon was beyond anything that Ash had ever seen. Save except Dragonite. She and this mammoth Pokemon were close to the exact same size, give or take just a few feet maybe.

Even in the face of such a situation, Ash's Pokemon Researcher In-Training and Pokemon Trainer instincts kicked in. Being an aspiring Pokemon Researcher, Ash wanted nothing more than to study this one in a million Pokemon and couldn't help but think about just how far along he and Professof Oak's research on Giant Pokemon would go if they studied her. His Pokemon Trainer instincts on the other hand was screaming to him about how PERFECT of a sparring partner this colossal Pokemon would be for Dragonite.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of someone behind he and Misty. They both spun around expecting to see a bunch of angry squid Pokemon preparing to attack them. Instead they saw Jessie and James standing behind them, gaping up at the goliath Pokemon.

"Do you really think our Stun Sauce did this Jessie?" James asked, never taking his eyes off of the Pokemon.

Jessie didn't even spare a glance at her teammate, her eyes were locked onto the Pokemon in front of them. "Meowth said the effects of that stuff was unknown and he only THOUGHT that it would kill the Pokemon. Maybe it could have caused this... But it was a Tentacool that the sauce was dumped on! Not a Tentacruel!"

"Maybe it evolved after it disappeared." James offered weakly, still looking fearful at being so close to such a monster.

Ash went wide eyed. "So you three ARE the reason for that Tentacruel being so big?! You spilled some unknown chemical on Tentacool and then it evolved into this?!" He pointed at the Pokemon. "What's wrong with you three?! Don't you ever think before you do anything?! When you told me earlier that you dumped your 'Stun Sauce', or whatever you called, it on a Tentacool you never said it was a CHEMICAL!

Jessie snapped out of her stupor and glared at Ash. "I don't need to be scolded like a child by some... Child!" she growled.

"We didn't know this would happen!" James defended.

Ash looked dumbfounded. "You two are completely unbelievable! How stupid can any two, or I guess three including Meowth, individuals be!"

Before the fight could progress Misty stepped in. "What are you three doing here anyway?I figured you would be cowering and hiding out in a building somewhere while we and the police cleaned up YOUR mess!" She accused.

Jessie and James shared embarrassed looks and seemed ashamed. "We were... Worried about Meowth..." Jessie mumbled.

"We couldn't just leave him if he's in danger so we trailed you twerps in hopes of finding and saving Meowth if he's in trouble." James said, looking embarrassed at revealing something he and Jessie both thought were weaknesses in caring about their teammate.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "If that really is true and not just some lie then you shouldn't be ashamed because you care about Meowth and don't want him to be hurt. I don't know why you two look at being caring and kind to others and your Pokemon as such a terrible thing. It doesn't make you weak to care about others. On the contrary, it actually makes you stronger because it gives you something to fight for other then yourselves. Maybe if you accepted that then you wouldn't be such misurable failures at everything you do in life." He said wisely.

Jessie just huffed and turned away. "Whatever twerp! Your just kid, what would you know?!"

"Yeah you don't anything about anything!" James agreed also turning away.

Ash just rolled his eyes. "Believe what you want to believe I don't care. Your to stubborn and thick headed to ever accept anyone's advice anyway." He looked back towards the hotel and be gasped. "NO!" He shouted.

Misty and the two Rocket's looked in the direction Ash did. Misty saw what had made Ash so upset right away. The giant Tentacruel was almost upon the hotel and the gem on it's forehead was starting to glow as it slowly lifted it's massive tentacles up. "It's going to destroy the hotel!" Misty screamed.

Without even thinking about it, Ash and Misty took off running towards the building as fast as they could. The only thoughts running through their minds was of Brock and Giselle possibly still being inside.

"Tentacruel please stop!" Misty screamed.

"Don't do it!" Ash yelled.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted loudly.

But it was already to late and they were to far away. The massive Pokemon brought two huge tentacles up over it's head and then swung them down in an arc. The tentacles smashed into the hotel and cut through the top portion of it like a knife through hot butter.

Debree and large pieces of the hotel crumbled and fell to the ground below as the Tentacruel continued to attack the building mercilessly. Swing after swing it brought it's huge tentacles down upon the hotel as the smaller Tentacool and Tentacruel stood back at a safe distance and fired off Psybeams at the building, aiding in it's destruction.

Ash and Misty watched in horror as the Tentacruel made one more sideways swipe with a tentacle and completely cut the hotel in half starting at the sixth floor all the way up. The entire top half, now free from the bottom part, slowly leaned to one side until the entire massive object fell to the ground below and hit so hard it caused a tremor that nearly knocked Ash, Misty and the Rockets off their feet.

Ash and Misty stared with tears building in their eyes at the completely destroyed hunk of concrete and metal that was once the entire upper floors. "No..." Misty whispered as the tears began to fall.

Ash slowly crawled forward on his hands and knees and then stopped, kneeling where he was. He stretched his hand out and at the destroyed hotel. "Brock... Giselle..." He could only think of his squinty eyed friend and his beautiful girlfriend as he knelt there in complete despair. He didn't think that the Tentacool and Tentacruel would make it to the hotel so fast! He hoped against hope that maybe just maybe his friend and girlfriend got out but he didn't see how. The attack came to early!

The giant Tentacruel swung two tentacles down on the remaining bottom half of the hotel and completey destroyed all that was left of it with that one final strike. It then looked down at the grounds surrounding the now annihilated hotel and charged up the gem in the center of it's forehead. With one loud, gigantic size enhanced bellow of, "TENTACRUEL!" It fired a massive Psybeam attack at the grounds far below it and upon the attack making contact with it's target... Caused a large sonic boom that destroyed everything. The gardens, gates, pool, everything was completely destroyed in seconds.

When the smoke cloud cleared... The WaterCrown hotel was no more.

As Ash and Misty knelt there on the ground, lost in depression with Pikachu no better off, they suddenly heard someone calling out to them. They snapped their heads up and looked around. "Ash... Misty!" They heard.

They continued to look around and their hearts nearly stopped when they saw Giselle and Brock come running across the war tone city streets towards them from the opposite direction of the hotel.

Ash and Misty went wide eyed and their mouths gaped upon seeing their friends, who they thought were most likely dead, running towards them. They just stood there as Brock and Giselle finally reached them. They were covered in dirt and rubble just like Ash and Misty were from battling the Tentacool and Tentacruel with their Pokemon... But aside from that they were totally fine. Giselle was even holding Horsea in her arms.

Ash and Misty stayed silent as their friends began greeting them. "Thank Arceus you two are alright!" Giselle started.

"Yeah things in the city are so bad right now that we didn't how you guys were fairing with your Pokemon since we knew you were battling the Tentacool and Tentacruel the whole time." Brock said.

Misty just stuttered out, "H-How?! We thought you two were dead when Tentacruel destroyed the hotel! We had no idea if you made it out or not since it destroyed the hotel faster than we thought it would and we were just... We honestly thought that you two were dead!" Misty said as she started letting a few tears fall from her eyes.

Giselle smiled softly and wrapped Misty up in a tight hug. "We got out safe and sound Misty, well before the hotel was destroyed. We saw the giant Tentacruel making it's way towards the hotel so we hurried as fast as we could to reach it first. After we told the employees of the hotel what was happening they were really quick in getting everyone in the hotel and on the grounds evacuated to a safe place." She stopped and just gently soothed Misty who was now trying to calm herself down.

Brock continued for her. "We were able to get up to our rooms and get all of our stuff and Giselle grabbed Horsea before we left with everyone else. I even saw a bunch of hotel employees come running out of the elevator with a bunch of Water Pokemon in their arms when we were getting everyone together in the lobby. I guess they must have went up to Nastina's office and got all of the Pokemon out of the aquarium she had in there. After we got everyone out of the hotel a bunch of officers met us further in the city and then led us all to a panic shelter where they had evacuated everyone else in the city to. Unfortunately, right after the last of the people from the hotel made it into the panic shelter, a bunch of Tentacool and a few Tentacruel appeared and attacked the officers and their Pokemon. Giselle and I helped fight them off with our own even though all Giselle and I have is both of our Graveller's, my Onix and Zubat and her Cubone-"

He was stopped by Giselle coughing into her hand. Brock shook his head. "Right right sorry Giselle. Her Cubone actually evolved into Marowak during the battle." Giselle just smiled proudly of her Pokemon. "Anyway, we managed to fight them off with the officers help and then found ourselves pulled into even more battles with the invading Pokemon. Eventually we managed to get free from the battling and decided to come and find you two." He finished.

By this point, Misty had calmed down and Giselle released her. She handed Horsea to the other girl with a smile. "He really missed you Misty." She said kindly.

Misty gave Giselle a genuine smile and thanked her as she took Horsea into her arms, cradling him close. " I'm so glad your okay!" She said to the small Pokemon happily.

Horsea smiled up at her. "Horsea Horsea!" She said happily, enjoying being in Misty's arms again.

Giselle then looked at Ash who hadn't said a word and was just staring at them. "Ash? Are you okay?" She asked him, placing her hand on his cheek. "I was really worried about you, I hope we didn't scare you too ba-HMMMMPHH!" She was silenced by Ash pulling her close and kissing her so intently that she saw stars in her eyes.

He lifted her up off of her feet and held her close as he continued to kiss her intently. She tightened her grip on him and ran her hands through his hair as they continued to show their affection for one another.

When they finally separated he held her close and hugged her tightly. "I was so afraid I lost you again... Thank Arceus you're safe!" He praised while taking in her sweet smelling scent.

Giselle smile at him warmly and kissed him chastely on the lips again. "I'm totally safe and sound Ash!"

He hugged her close again and then walked over to Brock after he released her. "Brock... Thank you so much for keeping Giselle safe. I'm really glad your alright too."

Brock nodded and smiled. "It's no problem Ash, I'm just glad you and Misty are also safe. You had us worried there for awhile when we couldn't find you."

Ash laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah it was all pretty confusing..." He looked over at the now destroyed hotel. "Well... Nastina won't be happy." He observed.

"I can't believe Tentacruel so easily destroyed the entire hotel... That's insane!" Giselle exclaimed. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

Suddenly James shouted. "It's moving again!"

They all turned their heads and saw the giant Tentacruel on the move. This time heading deeper into the heart of the city. "We have to stop it somehow!" Ash looked up at the gigantic creature. "Come on guys we need to follow it!" He said as he took off running.

"Right!" His friends said as they took off after him.

Jessie and James stared after them in shock. "Follow... That thing?!" Jessie said fearfully.

"But if we don't follow them..." James started. "We'll be left alone here if anymore of those Tentacool or Tentacruel come back this way to attack."

They both shared a look. "Follow the twerps!" They agreed at the same time as they took off after them.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends followed behind the giant Tentacruel through the city as it went deeper into it's heart.

They eventually saw that a police blockade was set up at an intersection some distance ahead with every cop in Hutber Port standing there in wait with their Pokemon around them, prepared too stop the attacking sea Pokemon from reaching the evacuation shelters at all cost.

Officer Jenny was standing at the very front of the blockade with a megaphone in her hand. She spoke into it as the Pokemon came closer. "Halt! Don't come any closer! If any of you try to break through this blockade then we will not hesitate to have our Pokemon use deadly force!" She threatened. She and all of her men looked extremely intimidated by not just the army of Tentacool and Tentacruel coming closer to them, but also the MASSIVE Tentacruel that was leading the others.

The giant Tentacruel came to a stop and the rest of the Pokemon halted behind it. A great stand-off commenced between people and Pokemon with neither side moving a muscle. Suddenly, the giant Tentacruel lifted one of it's huge tentacles, making every one of the officers flinch and prepair for some kind of attack.

However, they were shocked when instead of attacking, the Tentacruel produced a small Pokemon from within the forest of tentacles it possessed and displayed it to the viewing crowd of humans in front of it.

Ash, his friends and Jessie and James all gasped upon seeing just who the Pokemon was. "Meowth?!" They all shouted at once.

"What is Meowth doing with Tentacruel?" Giselle asked aloud.

The Pokemon had it's tentacle wrapped firmly around Meowth and was covering his mouth with it. The smaller Pokemon was completely wide eyed with fear. Suddenly, the gem on Tentacruel's head started glowing and a bright blue light ran through it's tentacle and into Meowth. The talking Pokemon stopped struggling instantly and his eyes eyes turned a blue color. Tentacruel's eyes were also glowing blue as well.

Meowth opened his mouth then and spoke in a projected voice that carried out across the city. His voice still sounded the same only more... Robotic now. "Take a good look around your city humans!" Meowth began. "Do you see the destruction and the chaos that has been caused this day? Do you know why we attacked your city?!" He demanded.

Ash and his friends were completely confused and the police were even more so confused then they were. For one, they were being spoken to by a POKEMON and what's more... It sounded like it was coming more from the giant Tentacruel and Meowth was merely being the medium.

Jessie looked furious. "Meowth that little traitor! He's working with the enemy!" She accused.

"I don't think that's the case guys..." Ash began.

They all looked at him. "What do you mean twerp?" James asked.

Ash looked at Meowth who was not only speaking strangely but who's eyes were also glowing the same color as Tentacruel's. He started explaining uncertainly, "I think... That Tentacruel is somehow using some form of telepathy, possibly from the gem on it's forehead that allows it to use Psychic-Type attacks like Psybeam, and is using Meowth to speak to us all. I know it doesn't make much sense but it definitely looks that way. I think Tentacruel must have found the fact that Meowth can talk to be very helpful to it's cause and so it took him after it got rid of Jessie and James earlier..."

They all just looked back up and listened closely as Tentacruel started speaking through Meowth again. "We are attacking your city and destroying your homes the same way you have done to ours!" Meowth said angrily.

Officer Jenny spoke into the megaphone again. "What are you talking about?! No one in this city has EVER attacked or destroyed any of your homes before! We have left you and your fellow Pokemon alone and not once ever have attacked you! What you have done here today with your fellow Tentacool and Tentacruel was completely unprovoked!" She fired back.

"LIES!" The possessed voice of Meowth yelled, causing everyone to recoil in fear. "We made our homes in the coral reefs outside of this city along with many other fellow Water Pokemon. We have resided in those reefs for generations and have always lived peaceful lives! That was until you humans began building your dwellings over top of our homes and destroying what has been so precious and dear to us for so long! You crushed, flattened and annihilated much of the reefs live in! Because of your selfish ways and not caring who or what you harm in your quest for 'progress' our lives have been all but ruined and now only a fraction of the reefs remain for us to live in now!"

Officer Jenny and the other officers a shared bewildered and confused looks. "But that can't be right!" Jenny argued. "There are strict laws and regulations in place by the city that bans anyone from ever building over land that Pokemon have made their natural habitat and call their homes! There must be some mistake because we have never done such a thing before and never would! This city respects the Pokemon that live in the sea as our neighbors and would never do something as terrible as destroy your homes!"

The possessed Meowth narrowed his eyes. "Then obviously some of you must have ignored your so called 'laws' because our homes being destroyed is not a mistake! We saw it happen with our own eyes and tried for so long to stop you humans from building your homes overtop of our reefs! We tried being peaceful and getting you to stop without aggression but you would not heed our warnings! For that you shall all pay for the crimes you have committed against us!"

Ash got a feeling that the fighting was not going to be resolved peacefully no matter what was said. No one knew it was really Nastina who was entirely responsible for the destruction of the Water Pokemon's coral reef home and he had a feeling that things were not going to remain stable enough on the Pokemon's side to give time for Ash and his friends to even have a hope of explaining the truth. He had a bad feeling that this would only be ended if the Tentacool were defeated and then had no choice but to listen to an explanation. In order too beat them though, that required bringing down their leader, the giant Tentacruel, which was right now impossible for everyone in the city but Ash. No one else had any Pokemon that even came close to matching the pure size and power of such a behemoth... Except one. Ash did have ONE Pokemon that he felt confident could defeat it.

He quickly pulled out his Poke'Dex and put his plan into action. He had one spot available on his team but he needed two so he temporarily sent Pidgeotto back to the lab. He waited a while and then a few moments later, the two Pokeballs he wanted appeared on the transporter pad, one after the other. He silently thanked Professor Oak for what being so on top of his game.

Ash quickly pocketed the Poke'Dex and then attached the Pokeballs to his belt just as he heard Giselle say, "Where did Misty go?"

They all looked around and saw that Misty had disappeared. "I have no idea..." Brock answered. "Misty!" He called out for her.

Jessie suddenly pointed ahead of them at a nearby building. "Isn't that the orange haired twerpette up there?" She said.

They looked to where she was pointing and saw Misty climbing up on top of the roof of a tall building with Horsea still in her arms. "What's she doing up there?!" Giselle said baffled.

Ash knew what she was doing and he just prayed to Arceus that she would be safe.

Misty made it onto the roof and ran over to the edge. From the height she was at, she was hoping that Tantacruel would hear her. "Tentacruel!" She yelled up to it.

The Pokemon looked around after hearing something and looked down to see Misty looking up at it from a nearby roof top. It swung Meowth down closer to the girl and turned it's massive body to face her. "What do you want little human?!" It had Meowth ask angrily.

Misty stared up at the giant Pokemon with sorrow, pity and understanding shining in her eyes. Her heart was breaking at what had happened to cause these usually so gentle and peaceful Water Pokemon to become so angry and hostile. She also felt a whole new level of hatred for Nastina boil up from under the surface but pushed it back down to concentrate on the task at hand.

"Tentacruel please... please stop your attacks on this city! I can vouch for everything that Officer Jenny is saying! No one in this city had any idea of what was being done to your homes in the coral reefs. Everyone thought that no Pokemon lived out there because none were ever seen. I know that sounds like a lie but it's not I promise! I know who is really responsible for destroying your homes and it's not a group of people or the whole city. It's just one person! One horrible and evil person who only cares about making money no matter who she hurts in the process!"

Tentacruel by this point was interested. It was inclined to listen to this human because it detected nothing but sincerity and honest intentions coming from her. Also, at the prospect of finding out who destroyed it's home it was now more willing to listen than earlier. "Who?! Who was it?!" The possessed Meowth demanded.

Misty understood even more now. The Tentacruel and Tentacool really didn't have any clue that it was Nastina after all. They had just destroyed her hotel because it was in their path and were so angry they didn't care what they destroyed. She took a deep breath and then responded to Tentacruel. "Her name is Nastina and she is the one who was building those condos over your homes! She is also the owner of the hotel that you destroyed earlier! She blackmailed and threatened members of the city council to allow her to build whatever she wanted whenever she wanted or otherwise she was going to kill them and their families! She's a horrible and wicked person who should be the one taking your well deserved wrath, not the innocent people of this city! Please Tentacruel..."

A few tears escaped her eyes. "I love Water Pokemon with all of my heart and to see you doing things like this that is so out of your nature breaks my heart! Please Tentacruel just stop... Please! Water Pokemon are so peaceful, elegant and beautiful... Don't do anything more to taint that image!" She begged.

"Horse Horse Horsea!" Horsea called up to Tentacruel from Misty's arms. "Horsea Horsea! Horsea Horse Horsea!" He continued to say.

Misty looked down at Horsea and even though she couldn't understand what he was saying... She knew he was trying to plead the human's case and defend not just her but all of them.

When Horsea finished Meowth just scowled. "It still doesn't matter that only one human was supposedly involved with the destruction of our home! If what the female says is true then the lead humans of this city could have denied this... Nastina rather she threatened they and their families or not. They chose their own preservation over ours and now we are merely doing the same thing and protecting what little bit of our home remains. If you were a loyal reef Pokemon and cared for our home then you would stand with us, not against us!

"Horsea Horse Horsea!" The small Pokemon said indignantly.

The possessed Meowth grew a very angry look on his face. "You say that we are in the wrong for taking rightful vengeance on those that have wronged us?! That we should merely forgive and forget?! How dare you call yourself a reef Pokemon with allegiances such as yours! You're a disgrace!"

Tentacruel brought a tentacle up in the air and hovered it over Misty and Horsea. "You will pay for your insolence and traitorous ways!"

Everyone saw what was about to happen. Officer Jenny shouted out through the megaphone, "No! Don't do it please!"

"Misty!" Giselle and Brock panicked all at once.

Ash immediately took action. He jumped up and ran out into the street, pushing Tentacool out of the way as he went. A couple tried to stop him but he just ducked, dodged, weaved and jumped out of the way of any attacks they tried to throw at him.

While he ran he pulled a Pokeball from his belt and threw it just as he reached the building Misty was on top of. "Gyarados stop that tentacle that's about to crush Misty with Dragon Drage!" He commanded as the ball burst open and the Gyarados that formerly belonged to James came roaring out of the ball.

Ash knew exactly which Gyarados of his was which because before he sent his six Gyarados home with Professor Oak back in Porte Vista, he had painted different colored markings on the chests of all of his Gyarados during the week he was training with them. The paint was a special kind of 'Poke'ID' marking paint made specifically for Water-Type Pokemon that Trainers could use to paint whatever sort of distinguishable designs they wanted on multiple Pokemon of the same species. This helped them tell which Pokemon of theirs was which and was the perfect way to do so for Water Pokemon since it was so hard to keep things like articles of clothing on them to tell them apart with since they were always in the water. The special paint Ash purchased in Porte Vista was completely water resistant and actually bonded with the Pokemon's skin, kind of like a tattoo without the pain of getting one. Ash painted the symbol (A/N: Japanese symbols) for each nature his Gyarados had as their 'markers'. He used the colors Black, Red, Green, Yellow, White and Purple for each one he drew. Now he could them apart perfectly.

Gyarados opened his mouth immediately after appearing from the Pokeball and quickly formed the sphere of energy in his mouth that was Dragon Rage. He threw his head forward and unleashed the pent up energy at the descending tentacle that was bent on crushing Misty.

The attack struck the appendage and blasted it back causing a large explosion. Tentacruel reared back and brought it's smoking tentacle up in front of it.

Unfortunately the blast shook the roof as well and Misty started losing her balance. "Someone help me!" She screamed as she started too fall. "AHHHHHH!" She screamed again as she fell over the side.

"Gyarados, get under Misty and break her fall!" Ash yelled out.

The Atrocious Pokemon shot forward like a rocket and jumped in the air. He caught Misty on his back just as he passed underneath her and gently landed back down on the ground with a frightened and gasping Misty on his back.

"MISTY!" The others yelled as they ran up to them.

Misty shakily slid off of Gyarados's back, holding tightly to Horsea as she did so. "Are you okay Misty?!" Giselle asked, reaching her first.

The girl just nodded her head slowly. "Yeah I'm just a little... Shaken up is all." She answered while trying to calm herself.

"That was a close one Misty, thank Arceus you are okay." Brock said.

Ash looked over at Gyarados. "Thanks for saving Misty buddy. That was some fast moving you did!" He praised.

The Pokemon just raised his head proudly.

The moment was broken by Jessie. "Ummm... I hate to break up your little reunion but that Tentacruel looks really mad!" She said fearfully as she pointed up at it.

They all turned around looked up at the giant Pokemon behind them. Tentacruel was looking incredibly furious at being attacked by Gyarados and was glaring down at them with rage burning in it's eyes. The other Tentacool and Tentacruel had started getting agitated again and the police were already in battle position along with their Pokemon.

Suddenly the colossal Tentacruel swung one of it's huge tentacles up in the air. Ash went wide eyed. "Everyone get behind me now! Gyarados get in front of us and use Aqua Tail to combat that tentacle it's about to attack us with!" He commanded.

Quick as a flash, Gyarados was in front of them with it's tail spinning in a swirling vortex of water. Ash's friends, Jessie and James quickly got behind Gyarados just as the giant Pokemon brought it's tail down.

Gyarados's tail and Tentacruel's appendage met in a clash and began struggling for dominance. Ash knew that Gyarados wouldn't win the power struggle though, Tentacruel was just to powerful and had a huge size advantage.

He quickly formulated a plan. "Gyarados shoot a Dragon Rage directly into Tentacruel's face and Pikachu help out with Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu hopped off of his shoulder and then he and Gyarados quickly charged and unleashed their attacks with loud cries/bellows of, "CHUUUU/GYAROOO!"

The attacks went straight up and impacted Tentacruel in the face, making the Pokemon wince in pain and retract it's tentacle as it stumbled backword. The blast effected it so much that it loosened it's grip on Meowth and the Pokemon fell out of it's grip and began falling far down to the ground below.

No one else saw it since they were still shielding themselves with their eyes closed behind Gyarados, but Ash did. Without even thinking about it he took off running towards where Meowth was going to hit the ground. At a fall from that height he would be either seriously injured or killed. It didn't matter if he was a member of Team Rocket, Ash wasn't about to let him get hurt or possibly even die if he could help it.

"MEOWTH!" He yelled as he continued to run.

The free falling Pokemon finally opened his eyes groggily, free from the influence of Tentacruel now, and looked around. "W-What?... Where da heck am I and what am I-" He finally noticed that he was falling like a rock towards the ground and went bug eyed. "AHHH! WHY AM I FALLING OUTTA DA SKY?!" He yelled.

He continued to plummet towards the earth as he panicked loudly. Ash put on an extra burst of burst of speed. "Hold... On... Meowthhhh!" He jumped forward high into the air and caught Meowth just before he could hit the ground. Ash impacted the ground and rolled a couple times before finally coming to a stop.

He lay there on his stomach with Meowth in his arms. Ash groaned. "I think I bruised something..." He grunted out climbing up into a kneeling position and setting Meowth down on his feet.

The Pokemon finally opened his eyes, not understanding why he wasn't dead yet and looked around. Upon seeing that he was on solid ground and after checking his body for injuries and finding none he looked confused. "W-What happened? Why am I not..." He then looked up and saw Ash kneeling there in front of him, holding his side and looking at him intently. "You okay Meowth?" He asked, concern in his voice.

Meowth looked shocked. "Y-You saved me twerp? But... Why?" he asked baffled.

Ash just smiled painfully and winced a little. "You may be a part of Team Rocket, did a lot of bad things, tried to steal my Pikachu and hurt me and my friends but... Your still a Pokemon and I could never willingly let anything bad happen to you even if I tried. No matter what you've done you don't deserve to die or get hurt."

Meowth looked beyond shocked. "T-thanks twer... Ash. Dat's da nicest ting anyone's ever done for me before. You saved my life when you coulda just let me die..."

Ash just grinned. "Just don't try to steal my Pikachu for a day and we're even." He joked and then winced in pain again.

Meowth didn't even register the joke as he continued to stare at Ash in disbelief. Never had ANYONE before ever did anything even REMOTELY nice or kind for Meowth his entire life except for Jessie and James... Sometimes. He had a pretty damn crappy and unfair time of it his whole early life and even when he got into Team Rocket it was still pretty crappy until he got put on Jessie and James's team. Things got a little better after that but still... No one had ever actually risked their OWN life to save HIS before! And it was someone that Meowth and the other two members of his team had constantly tried to steal from and hurt, even if not intentionally hurt, to boot!

He was broken by his reverie by the shouts of Jessie and James calling for him and Ash's friends, who were yelling for him.

Jessie and James reached Meowth first. "Meowth are you okay?!" James asked his furry partner.

"Yes Meowth you had us worried!" Jessie admitted.

Meowth finally shook his head clear and nodded. "Yeah guys I'm fine... Just a little windswept is all from dat fall." He said.

"Did the twerp save you?" Jessie asked.

He nodded again. "Yeah he did... But I don't know why." He answered.

"That is strange." James said.

They all looked over at the kneeling boy curiously just as his friends reached him. "Ash are you alright?!" Giselle asked worriedly.

Ash nodded slightly and stood up slowly. "Yeah I'm fine... I think I just bruised a rib or two is all." He responded.

While Ash regained his balance fully, Misty looked back at where the giant Tentacruel was still thrashing around after being hit in the face with Pikachu and Gyarados's attacks.

"Tentacruel is going to he really mad now, even more so than before." She said. "And it looks like the fighting is about to break out again between the Tentacool and Tentacruel and the police."

Every looked around and saw that the tension in the air was rising again... Fast. Suddenly Ash spoke, "I have an idea on how I can stop all of this guys..." He said looking up the monster Tentacruel.

"How?!" Misty asked desperately.

Ash pointed at up at the lead Tentacruel. "If I can take it down... The other Tentacool and Tentacruel will stop fighting."

"But how Ash?! That thing is gargantuan!" Giselle said frantically.

"They're right Ash." Brock began. "None of us has a single Pokemon with us that can bring that Pokemon down. Even if you had all six of your Gyarados with you it still wouldn't matter. That Pokemon is a pure powerhouse!" He finished.

Ash smirked. "That's why I'm gonna fight fire with fire. Powerhouse against powerhouse." He said pulling out a Pokeball and showing them.

"But who-?" Misty began, before everyone's eyes widened in realization.

"Your gonna use _her _Ash?!" Giselle asked incredulously.

He just nodded with a serious look on his face. "She's the only one that can match Tentacruel pound for pound in power and strength. She's also the only one that can beat it." He said grimly.

"When did you even send for her? Or Gyarados for that matter?" Brock asked.

"Earlier when Misty was talking to Tentacruel up on that rooftop. I used the Poke'Dex to send away for them and sent back Pidgeotto." He answered.

"So how are you going to have her battle it?" Giselle asked. "If you do it right here then the entire city will probably be destroyed!" She fretted.

Ash shook his head. "No I'm not. I'm going to get on Gyarados and have him and Pikachu attack Tentacruel as we pass under it. Once we have it's attention locked on us we'll lead it out past the reefs and into the open ocean. It'll be up to Gyarados to get us at least out of seeing distance of the city before I have her battle Tentacruel. I still don't want anyone seeing her yet so being out of view of everyone else is going to be important. Once we're out far enough I'll release her and explain what's going on. From there I'll stay on Gyarados and have him get us far away from the action. This is going to be, for all intents and purposes, a battle between two titans and I don't want anyone near when those two battle. Not even me. If I stayed on top of her head like usual while she's battling then she wouldn't be able to focus entirely on the battle and she will need to focus on nothing but Tentacruel in that fight. I don't want to be a distraction and that's why Gyarados and I will move back a safe distance, so she can fight without worrying about anything but winning." He finished.

Brock and Misty just shared worried glances with each other and Giselle bit her bottom lip. "If your really going to do this then please be safe Ash..." She asked him pleadingly.

He smiled and pulled her into a soft kiss, which she eagerly returned. After embracing each other for a few moments he released her and then looked at his other two friends. "I need you guys to stay here and battle the Tentacool and Tentacruel with the police okay? Once the battle is over and she defeats the lead Tentacruel the rest of them should stop as well and retreat."

"You can count on us Ash." Brock assured.

"Don't worry about us we'll be totally fine!" Misty said confidently.

With that said, Ash called Gyarados over to him and explained the plan to him and Pikachu. They both agreed immediately after Ash finished explaining what was going on and looked excited at the prospect of the up-coming battle.

He climbed up on Gyarados's back and waved to his friends once more before giving Gyarados the okay to head for Tentacruel and begin the plan. Gyarados then took off quickly and pushed through the crowd of Tentacool as he headed towards his target.

Upon preparing to pass under the giant Pokemon, Gyarados and Pikachu unleashed strong Dragon Rage and Thunderbolt attacks at the large Pokemon's underside. Tentacruel twisted and reeled back in pain upon feeling itself getting attacked under it's stomach and looked down at the retreating forms of Ash, Pikachu and Gyarados.

Ash stopped Gyarados and turned around to look at Tentacruel. "Hey! Looking for us?! Come and get us if you think you can catch us!" He jeered.

Tentacruel saw red enter it's vision and began smashing it's way through the city as it started chasing after them. Ash smirked. "Here we go... Gyarados get us to the ocean as fast you can!" He told his Pokemon.

Gyarados nodded and then lowered his head as he shot through the city going on as fast as he could, Tentacruel following behind while firing Psybeams at them from the gem on it's head.

As soon as the lead Tentacruel gave chase to Ash, Pikachu and Gyarados... All hell broke loose again as the Tentacool and Tentacruel started attacking yet again. The police officers, lead by Officer Jenny, engaged them in combat, with Giselle, Misty and Brock right by their sides with their own Pokemon out.

While the chaos was ensuing, Jessie, James and Meowth were cowering behind a large piece of concrete rubble. "Should we interfere and help get rid of the Tentacool and Tentacruel Jessie?" James asked looking out over the carnage.

Jessie just shook her head. "No way James we're bad guys and don't 'help' anyone! Besides..." She gulped nervously. "I don't think we would really be all that much help do you James I mean... I think we would just get in the way!" She said as she tried to hide behind her excuses that she really just didn't want to get hurt.

James nodded his agreement. "Right, good point Jessie! We'll just stay here then!" The two of them then huddled down behind the wall of rubble to wait out the battle. Meowth was still pretty much silent and in contemplation over what happened earlier with Ash. He just didn't know what too make of it and continued to contemplate while the battle around them raged on...

XXXXXXXXXXX

Gyarados sped through the city as fast as he could while Tentacruel gave chase, hot on his trail and extremely angry. Ash finally saw the harbor up ahead. "Come on Gyarados faster! We're almost there!" He urged.

"Groooo!" Gyarados bellowed as he went faster and finally broke through the thick of the city and out into the wide open of the harbor. He neared the docks and then jumped high over them and into the water.

Upon hitting the water, Gyarados was back in his natural habitat and started moving much faster. Swimming as fast as he could while Ash continued to motivate him on from his back. "Come on Gyarados! Get us out to the open ocean!"

As Gyarados began covering the distance between the open ocean and the harbor in record time Ash looked back and saw Tentacruel also in the water and following closely behind them.

Ash silently prayed to Arceus that it wouldn't catch them. Finally, Gyarados passed the barrier of the harbor and was now out in the open ocean. "Great work buddy we're out!" Ash cheered. "Now pick up the speed and get us out of seeing range of the city alright?! I know you can do it, just remember your training and push! Dig down as deep as you can!" He encouraged.

Gyarados growled loudly and pushed faster. Ash looked back and saw that Tentacruel was now a little ways behind them with Gyarados's sudden burst of speed. They went faster than Ash could even guess and got farther and farther away from the city. After a couple minutes of traveling at Gyarados's insane speed they finally were far enough away that the city was now only a speck in the distance.

"Alright Gyarados stop!" Ash commanded.

His Pokemon halted and Ash quickly pulled out a Pokeball from his belt. He threw it high into the air as he shouted, "Dragonite I need you!"

The massive and majestic, oversized Dragon Pokemon burst from within the confines of the Pokeball in a brilliant flash of light and then grew to her enormous size as she materialized into her full, gigantic form.

She threw her arms out as the light finally faded and thrust her head back. "Draaaggggoooo!" She bellowed loudly as her wings snapped open, causing a huge gust of wind to kick up which created huge waves in the water below. Gyarados rocked around in the water a little bit before it finally settled.

Dragonite looked around at her surroundings and then heard someone call out to her. "Dragonite! Hey Dragonite down here!" Ash yelled.

She looked down at the water below and saw her Trainer on the back of Gyarados waving up to her and calling for her. Upon seeing the face of her favorite person Dragonite let an extremely happy look cross her face as she leaned her face down and nuzzled gently against her Trainer's face as she cooed happily.

Ash laughed and hugged Dragonite's large face in greeting. When he was done he called up to her again. "Dragonite I really need your help! Can I count on you to assist me please?!"

She nodded her head quickly and cooed again. Ash smiled and then explained. "You see Dragonite there is this really massive Tentacruel who's right at your size and has been attacking and destroying a whole city with a massive army of Tentacool and Tentacruel that's it leading. It's mad because a woman named Nastina was destroying it's homes in some nearby coral reefs and now it blames every human in the city for what happened. It won't stop until everything is destroyed and that's why I lead it out here away from the city. Your the only Pokemon I have that can actually beat this Pokemon and save the city. Will you please help?!" He asked.

Dragonite was surprised at hearing there was another Pokemon her size. All the years she lived in the ocean she never saw any Pokemon that even remotely came close to her size. She was excited at hearing this but was also very disappointed and angry at this Pokemom for attacking a whole city and putting everyone there, especially her own Trainer, in danger. She also felt excited at the prospect of fighting an opponent her size and power level. This would be an extremely good test of all of her training, which definitely made her eager to fight this opponent.

She eagerly nodded her head at her Trainer's request and bellowed loudly in response. "DRAGGGGOOOO!"

Ash grinned. "I knew I could count on you Dragonite! Gyarados, Pikachu and I are going to get quite a ways back while you two fight because we don't want you worrying about hurting us accidentally okay?!" He told her.

She nodded her head in understanding. "Alright Dragonite I know you can do this! You've trained long and hard and now is the time to put all of that to the test! I believe in you and have full faith that you will come out on top no matter what! Just fight with the thought of saving thousands of innocent lives and putting an end to the pain that this Tentacruel is feeling! You beat it and I'll try to help it!"

Dragonite nodded again as Ash patted Gyarados on the side. "Get us away from here pal!"

Gyarados started swimming away from the upcoming battle zone as Ash called out one last time to his own Giant Pokemon. "You can do this girl! Your my Pokemon which means that you can do anything! I love and have all the trust in the world in you!" He yelled out.

Dragonite went a little teary eyed at hearing Trainer's loving and affectionate words for her and called out loudly and determinedly in response to him.

After she finished watching them get to a safe distance she turned her attention back to her front and waited for the giant Tentacruel too arrive. A few moments later she saw the head of the Pokemon make it's through the water towards her at a moderate speed.

When it finally arrived and saw it's giant opponent, just as big as it was, waiting for it... Tentacruel stopped moving and then slowly raised itself up out of the water and stood to it's full and very impressive height.

Ash compared the two titans sizes from where he was at and was right about what he thought earlier. They were right at the exact same size, maybe give or take just a few feet with Dragonite looking perhaps slightly bigger.

Tentacruel and Dragonite stood there apart from one another and just stared each other down with intent and focused expressions on their face. They both knew that they had found a worthy opponent in each other just by sizing one another up. They continued to face off, neither moving a muscle as a strong gust of wind came blowing throught the ocean and churned up large waves below the towering Pokemon's feet.

"Dragggg Draggooo!" She called over to her opponent.

"Tent Tenta, Tenta Tentacruel!" It called back.

Dragonite readied herself while Tentacruel did the same. Suddenly, Tentacruel moved it's head forward quickly and shot a jumbo sized Sludge Bomb directly at Dragonite.

She immediately took evasive action and jumped to the side, letting the attack pass by her and crash towards the sea. She looked forward at Tentacruel again and saw it lunge two of it's tentacles at her.

Dragonite waited until they were right on top of her and then slipped under them. She grabbed ahold of both tentacles and pulled forward on them, trying to bring Tentacruel towards her.

The other Giant Pokemon was resilient though and stayed firmly rooted to the seabed below, only sliding minimally. Both of them struggling for dominance.

Tentacruel reared it's head back and then lunged forward again, shooting a huge volume of water out of it's mouth with Water Gun.

Dragonite quickly released her hold on the tentacles and took to the air with her wings, dodging the attack just in time.

Tentacruel took advantage of the situation and shot multiple of it's many tentacles up at the flying Dragonite, trying to hit her and knock the Dragon Pokemon out of the air.

Dragonite began expertly dodging each Tentacruel that lunged at and tried to grab ahold of her. She dodged, weaved and barrel rolled every time an appendage reached for her.

Sometimes a tentacle would reach her and she would either smack it away with one of her fists, wings or even tail.

Tentacruel was looking frustrated and suddenly launched an attack from it's mouth that shocked Ash. A near clear beam of frigid cold ice shot out from Tentacruel's open maw and zipped towards Dragonite, who was to preoccupied by the swarms of tentacles around to see the icy beam of energy heading towards her.

"Ice Beam?!" Ash said in disbelief. "Dragonite watch out for that Ice Beam!" He shouted out to her.

Dragonite managed to hear her Trainer even from the distance apart they were, turned her head and saw the Ice-Type attack heading her way. Her eyes went wide and she tried to dodge it but in her distraction a tentacle struck her in the side and knocked her off course.

The Ice Beam hit it's mark, right on her wing. Dragonite cried out in pain and her wing was instantly frozen over by the attack.

Without the use of both wings she couldn't stay up in the air very well and couldn't maneuver at all. Tentacruel took advantage of the situation and used two of it's tentacles to smack Dragonite on the back and sent her plummeting towards the water far below.

Ash watched on in worry. "Dragonite fold your wings around your body to lessen the impact when you hit the water!" He shouted out to her.

Somehow, Dragonite was still able to hear him and folded her wings around her body just before she hit the water. A large implosion of the ocean followed her impact and water shot up into the air over thirty feet high. Big waves were formed and spread out from the impact sight.

Dragonite rose back up from the water with her wings still wrapped around her body and was instantly barraged by Tentacruel lunging it's tentacles forward at her again.

Dragonite didn't see them with her wings still wrapped in front of her and was caught unaware as the appendages wrapped themselves around her arms and legs, keeping her rooted to one spot.

Dragonite opened her wings when she felt her arms and legs become restrained and started struggling as hard she could to get away. Tentacruel had a tight hold however and wasn't letting go.

It shot another Ice Beam from it's mouth at the restrained Dragon-Type and since Dragonite couldn't move she was powerless to avoid the attack.

It struck her directly in the center of her chest and she cried out in pain as the ice slowly spread out over her entire body until it was encasing everything but her head.

Ash knew she was in trouble and yelled out to her again. "Dragonite! Keep trying to wiggle your body around so the ice doesn't fully get root on your skin!"

She heard him again and started moving her body around to keep herself mobile and keep her body temperature elevated.

Tentacruel didn't stop there and shot a high powered Sludge Bomb straight at Dragonite. She continued to try and break free from the ice but it was all in vain. The attack hit the entire ice block encasing Dragonite and assaulted her exposed head ruthlessly.

Dragonite gritted her teeth in pain from the Poison-Type attack and turned her head away so she wouldn't receive the full brunt of the attack in her eyes or mouth.

The onslaught continued with Tentacruel not stopping the stream of poisonous sludge assaulting Dragonite.

Ash shouted as loud as he could. "Dragonite! Don't give up! I know you have this just keep focusing on your reason for fighting! Fight Dragonite! Fight and don't give up no matter what do you understand! Now break that ice!"

Dragonite snapped her eyes open and felt a whole new energy flow through her at her Trainer's words of encouragement and belief in her. She tensed every muscle in her body and used all of her strength to break free from the ice, even as she was being assaulted by the continuous Sludge Bomb.

She growled loudly in effort as her muscles strained and struggled against the freezing prison holding her captive. Her eyes began glowing red and a similar colored aura enveloped her entire body as she bellowed loudly and quaked her body around.

Ash recognized the attack she was using as Outrage and watched in amazement as the ice slowly cracked and eventually, with one powerful thrust of her body, the icy block completely shattered.

Tentacruel tried to tighten it's hold on Dragonite with it's tentacles to keep her held down now that the ice prison it had created was gone from it's opponents body but Dragonite just stood up to her full height regardless of the struggle Tentacruel was putting up. Her eyes were blazing red as she growled in anger and her face was contorted into one of rage.

She grabbed ahold of the tentacles holding on her arms and tightened her grip on them. Tentacruel sent out more tentacles and wrapped them around her body, trying desparetly to hold her down.

Dragonite was beyond letting anything hold her down though and bellowed loudly again. "DRAGGGOOOO!

Suddenly her entire body started sparking with electricity and the antenna on her head started conducting electricity like a lighting rod. The yellow of the electrical energy and the red glow of Outrage mixed together and made a truly awesome and unnerving sight to see.

She tightened her grip even more on the tentacles holding her arms down and pinned all of the other tentacles wrapped around her body tight to her. She had a wicked grin on her face and the instant she unleashed her next attack... Ash knew why.

She unleashed all of the electricity she had stored in her body and channeled it through the tentacles holding her down. Tentacruel went wide eyed, knowing what was about to happen and tried to retract it's tentacles. However it couldn't. Dragonite had pinned it's appendages tightly to her body and wasn't letting go

Tentacruel just watched in terror as the massive electrical current went all the way through it's tentacles and then made contact with it's body. The Giant Pokemon lit up like the sky during a lightning storm. It cried out in agonizing pain as the mass amounts of voltage coursed through it's body. Since Tentacruel was part Water-Type, the amount of damage done was even more devastating.

Ash watched in amazement at what was happening. He recognized the attack Dragonite just used from watching Pikachu use it so many times before. Dragonite had just learned Thunder!

Dragonite continued to fry the squid with Thunder and when she was finally done Tentacruel was badly scorched on it's entire body and was teetering back and forth. It withdrew all of it's tentacles and just as the last one began to fall away Dragonite snatched it with her hand and squeezed it tightly. She snapped her head up and glared at Tentacruel with her glowing red eyes. She had a sadistic grin on her face and growled lowly at the other Giant, injured Pokemon.

The red aura of Outrage blazed around her even brighter as she raised her right hand into a fist as yellow arcs of electricity began centering and shrouding her fist in a veil of high voltage power. Thunderpunch.

She pulled back hard with her left arm that was holding the tentacle and with her massive strength, increased by her anger and Outrage, Tentacruel lifted completely out of the water and came sailing towards Dragonite with wide eyes.

Just before Tentacruel impacted with her Dragonite bellowed loudly and swung her right fist cloaked in electricity straight into Tentacruel's face. The impact created a sonic boom followed by a shockwave that churned up violent waves in the ocean and completely unsettled the surrounding area.

Ash had to cling to Gyarados from where they were floating in the water many yards away to avoid being thrown off of his Pokemon by the churning sea. Pikachu clung to Ash's shoulder hard and Gyarados had to concentrate hard to not tip to one side and throw Ash off.

Tentacruel's head snapped hard to the side as it went flying back the way it came. However, it never hit the water. Dragonite kept a tight hold on Tentacruel's tentacle and pulled back hard again once Tentacruel had gotten out far enough. The Pokemon came sailing back in towards her as she smashed her fist into it's face yet again.

She repeated this process over and over again. Treating the other massive Pokemon like a paddleball as she ruthlessly beat it.

Finally, just as she brought Tentacruel in again, she released her hold on it's tentacle just as the Pokemon was right on top of her. She swung her tail around and collided it with Tentacruel's body, sending the Pokemon flying back several yards, crashing into the ocean and causing another huge tremor.

Without so much as taking a break, the enraged Dragonite opened her wings and shot towards the downed Water Pokemon at incredible speeds. If the poison attacks from earlier had effected her, Ash observed, she wasn't showing it.

Dragonite was above Tentacruel in seconds and then dropped down from the sky with her elbow extended. She landed on top of Tentacruel with all of her weight and drove her elbow down hard on the squids body.

Tentacruel still had a little fight left in it however and brought it's tentacles up, trying to hit Dragonite and get the furious Pokemon off of it. Dragonite swatted the tentacles out of the way in a nearly possessed state and struck Tentacruel on any part of it's body she could hit.

Tentacruel wrapped her up in a grappling position with it's tentacles, trying to stop the vicious beating it was taking as Dragonite continued to struggle and strike even harder, seemingly becoming stronger and stronger with every minute that passed in the fight and the angrier she became.

Ash and Pikachu stared in shock at the two colossal Pokemon who were now rolling around in the waves, fighting so hard and fast that all could be seen was a mess of tentacles, arms, legs and the colors blue and orange as both of them fought in a blur. The waves that were stirred up were well over fifteen feet high and Ash could have sworn that what he was seeing right now was two Gods waring with each other. In fact, if not for meeting Arceus when he was five years old and seeing the un-Godly and out of this world power that she literally radiated when she simply moved and breathed... He would have thought that the two Pokemon struggling before him WERE Gods if he was just a normal Trainer. As it was though, after seeing Arceus, he knew that she had more power in one limb than either of the Pokemon in front of him had in their whole bodies. He had no doubts that she could easily defeat both Tentacruel and Dragonite if they fought her. Even together!

He turned his full attention back to the fight waging in the ocean several yards ahead and watched as Dragonite quickly flipped onto her back with Tentacruel on top of her and it's tentacles still wrapped around her body.

Using her incredible strength, she reared up and headbutted the battered Pokemon in the face, making it reel back and release it's hold on her. Dragonite then placed her feet under the squids stomach and then as fast as lightning and with immense strength, pushed up and kicked Tentacruel high into the air.

Ash and Pikachu, even Gyarados, watched in wonder as the well over one hundred foot tall Tentacruel was launched at least forty feet in the air. Tentacruel was horrified at being so high up in the sky and splayed all of it's tentacles out around it in fear.

Dragonite spread out her mighty wings and then took to the skies with the red glow of Outrage still shrouding her. She flew up to the height Tentacruel was at in a matter of seconds and then grabbed ahold of all of the Water Pokemon's outstretched tentacles in a big bunch in both of her hands.

She began flying around in a circle as fast as she could with Tentacruel trailing behind her in a wide arc and then stopped and reared her arms back with the other Giant Pokemon dangling behind her, trapped in Dragonite's grip. She looked back at her opponent and smirked darkly at the horrified look in Tentacruel's eyes. The red glow shrouding her eyes made her look even more menacing.

She reared as far back as she could and then thrusted her arms forward and released Tentacruel from her grip. The Water/Poison-Type Pokemon plummeted to the ocean far below at incredible speeds.

Tentacruel impacted the water with a sound the equivalent of a thousand Draco Meteors hitting the earth. A vortex of water shot up into the air over seventy feet high as Tentacruel disappeared below the waves. Small tidal waves rose up from where it impacted and yet again, Ash had to grip Gyarados for all he was worth to prevent falling off from the way that the sea was so violently churning after Tentacruel hit the water.

Dragonite didn't stop and stayed hovering in the air as she prepared the final attack that would end the battle... If it wasn't already over. She reared her head back and opened her mouth as she began forming a dark blue sphere of energy in her wide open maw. Her stomach began glowing a deel blue as well as a spinning sphere of energy took form in her gut and flooded her entire system with incredible power. The power of Outrage mixed with the charging Dragon Rage mutated the color of the energy gathering in Dragonite's mouth until it was a deep red color with blue sparkles swirling around outside of it.

With a deafening below of, "DRAAAGGGGGOOOO!" The great dragoness thrusted her head forward and unleashed what Ash would later call... Draco Outrage.

The brilliant and terrifying beam of dark red energy streaked towards the ocean below where Tentacruel had previously landed. Blue sparkles reminiscent of the original Dragon Rage encased the red energy beam and made it look both deadly and very beautiful all at once. Right before the attack hit the water the energy took the form of a fierce looking dragon with it's mouth open wide.

As soon as the attack hit the water a deafening and earth shattering explosion rocked the surrounding ocean to it's very deepest depths. Massive waves suddenly rose up from the ocean, much taller than Gyarados was.

Ash grabbed Pikachu off of his shoulder, tucked him into his chest and laid down on Gyarados so he was totally flat and gripping the Pokemon's scales as tightly as he could. "Gyarados dive now to escape those waves! They'll crush us otherwise!" He shouted.

Gyarados leaned back and then dove beneath the now very violent sea just as a large forth foot wave washed over the area where they just were. Gyarados dove down as deep as was safe with his Trainer on his back and stayed about twenty feet down for as long as he thought Ash and Pikachu could make it. Trying to delay rising to the surface again until the monster waves had settled down somewhat.

A little while later, Gyarados ascended back to the suface and burst out of the water. Ash and Pikachu took deep inhales of much needed oxygen and then looked around at the surrounding area. What Ash described as... As close to a 'war zone' as an ocean could look like, is exactly what the sea around them resembled.

The monster waves of forty and sixty feet high had died down, but there were still big waves of around eight and ten feet tall crashing down everywhere. The water itself just looked unsettled and majorly disturbed. It was even murky from all of the debree that had been turned up from the bottom of the ocean upon the uber-powerful 'Draco Outrage' striking the ocean's surface and most likely going all the way down and impacting the bottom as well.

Ash looked up and saw Dragonite still hovering in the air, looking down at the spot where she had fired the monster attack. Undoubtedly she was checking to see if Tentacruel had finally been defeated by the powerful attack.

Ash looked at where the Tentacruel had disappeared below the waves after Dragonite dropped it from the sky and hoped that the final attack she used had truly finished it. He and Pikachu just stared at the spot with baited breath and waited.

Eventually the water began to churn and swirl around. A few moments later a giant blue shape began to rise out of the water. Ash leaned forward on Gyarados and waited intently too see what rose up from below the churning waves.

Dragonite narrowed her eyes and slowly descended down towards the water. A few minutes the large blue shape rose up higher and revealed a large red gem in the center of the forehead. The shape continued to rise up out of the water until it got larger and larger and a few moments later, to Ash, Pikachu, Gyarados and even Dragonite's surprise... Tentacruel was standing back up again on it's tentacles.

It may have still been standing but the Pokemon was extremely beaten up and very battered. It had large bruises, cuts and burn marks all over it's body and one eye was shut tightly. Tentacruel wobbled back and forth as it struggled to stay on it's feet.

Ash just huffed out surprised and sat back on Gyarados. "Wow... That's one tough Tentacruel!" He exclaimed.

"Pika Pika Chu..." Pikachu agreed, nodded his head in agreement.

Dragonite narrowed her glowing red eyes at the still conscious Tentacruel and landed in the water with a loud 'thud'. She stood a few yards away from the other Giant Pokemon and faced off with it again. Her gaze boring into it's. Clearly saying that she was ready to go again whenever it was.

Tentacruel tried to take a shaky step forward but it's body was to tired and beaten. It's tentacles crumpled underneath it and the great Pokemon fell back down into the water until only it's face and head was still above the surface of the ocean. It just stayed there like that, obviously far to exhausted to even try to move.

Dragonite slowly walked over to her downed opponent and upon reaching it she stood over top of Tentacruel with a face and look in her eyes that clearly commanded, 'stay down.'

Tentacruel knew it was beaten and merely averted it's gaze and stayed where it was, not moving a muscle.

Ash sighed upon seeing this action and relaxed finally. "Well... It's over. Finally." He said looking relieved."

"Pika." The yellow mouse also breathed out, relieved as well that the battle was now over.

Ash patted Gyarados's side. "Can you get us up close to Tentacruel now buddy? The danger is past now that Dragonite has defeated it I believe."

Gyarados nodded and then began swimming over to the two giant Pokemon. Upon reaching the two of them Ash looked up at Dragonite. "How're doing Dragonite? Are you okay? I saw you take some pretty ruff shots during that fight." He asked her concerned.

Dragonite looked down and upon seeing her Trainer, calmed down immensely. Her eyes returned to normal and the red glow surrounding her body disappeared. She smiled down at Ash and cooed to him. "Draaaggg!" She answered him happily, showing she was okay.

Ash smiled in satisfaction. "Good I'm so glad to know that you're okay! Dragonite you were absolutely amazing! You've definitely come a very long way since you joined the team and the training your working on is doing wonders for you. Not to mention, you saved countless lives by defeating Tentacruel. Thank you so much Dragonite, you really are something special." He praised her.

Dragonite felt tears form in the corners of her eyes again and looked at her Trainer with even more respect and adoration now than she did before. She knew what he said was true. She always thought she was a strong Pokemon for all of the countless years she had lived on her own but after joining Ash and doing the incredibly intense but very effective training he had her do, she couldn't believe she ever thought she was strong before! Not to mention the battle and victory over an opponent like Tentacruel was a true test of her skills, abilities and all of the training she had done. Yes she saw many things she still needed to work on after the battle today but there was no denying, she had definitely gotten much stronger.

Not a day went by that she ever regreted joining Ash and his team. Not only did she have an amazing up and coming Trainer, but she made several friends with all of his other Pokemon at the Lab. Something that she always wanted. She was very happy where she was now.

Ash had Gyarados slowly approach the downed Tentacruel and the Pokemon just eyed them warily as they came closer. Dragonite stayed on the alert just in case Tentacruel tried something and went to attack Ash. When they finally were right beside of it, Ash stood up on Gyarados and looked directly into Tentacruel's massive eye, which was looking right at him.

"Tentacruel... I'm sorry it had to come to this. I never wanted to fight you and I wish that none of this would have happened. I know I can't possibly understand the pain your feeling but... If you let me, I can try and make you understand how I truly feel by connecting our emotions together... Our hearts. Will you let me?" He asked.

Tentacruel just remained silent and didn't say anything. Ash waited for what seemed like forever but the Pokemon never made any move to give Ash the okay nor did it outright reject him and deny whatever it was Ash wanted to do.

The boy took this as a sign that Tentacruel was curious and wanted to know what Ash had planned. Or it could just be that Tentacruel was to tired and beaten to care at this point. Whatever Tentacruel was really thinking about the present situation Ash didn't care right now. He wanted... No NEEDED Tentacruel to understand everything that happened and somehow help heal the Pokemon from the emotional scars that had been caused from the terrible things that had happened. Tentacruel and the other Tentacool and Tentacruel that followed it and attacked the city had not doing it out of hatred and spite. They were angry and upset for what happened to their homes in the coral reefs that Nastina had all but destroyed.

Ash understood why they were so mad and attacked but still... It wasn't right that they blamed every human in the city for the sins of one woman and Ash was intent on bringing peace to not just the Pokemon that lived in the reefs and the people of the city, but he was also focused on bringing peace and closure to all of the Tentacool and Tentacruel. Starting with the giant one in front of him.

Ash didn't care how but all he knew was that he was going to help the Pokemon one way or another and nothing would stop him. Pokemon didn't deserve to be angry and vindictive towards anybody and they don't deserve to be hurt.

Ash looked at the palm of his right hand that held the strange mark that activated whenever he was connected to the 'hearts' and 'emotions' of Pokemon he was trying to help. He focused on that mark now and thought about how much he needed it's amazing abilities to help the emotionally stricken and angry Pokemon in front of him. No matter what happened to him in the process, Tentacruel was more important right now.

As Ash thought about all of these things and just how much he really needed to help Tentacruel and make it understand his feelings, the mysterious, yet beautiful and intricate mark on Ash's right palm slowly formed and appeared. Ash saw this happen and slowly reached his hand forward... As soon as his palm made contact with Tentacruel's skin, right on the very center of it's forehead, Ash felt the familiar pull that came with his very being pulled into the strange... 'dimension'.

...

Ash opened his eyes again and found himself in the same strange place that he was always in when he used the strange mark on his palm.

He looked around and yet again noticed the very odd energies that seemed to make up the place he was in. They were swirling around everywhere in a multitude of different colors and when he looked at himself he saw that he was cloaked in the same pure, white energy like he always was when he was in this place.

He looked in front of him and saw the giant Tentacruel in all it's mass standing, or floating since everything seemed to float in here, just a few yards away from him. The Pokemon was glaring down at Ash with it's entire body bathed in the violent, angry red energy that seemed to shroud all of the Pokemon Ash brought in here at first... or at least, he thought that he brought them in here. Maybe it was Arceus?

Tentacruel was also fully healed in this place, not battered and beat up like in the real world. Ash took and a deep breath and looked right into Tentacruel's eyes. "Tentacruel... What can I say to you that you would actually believe? You're so angry and mistrusting of humans right now that I doubt if you would listen to anything I have to say or not and to be honest... I don't blame you for what you and your kin have done to the city."

Tentacruel still seemed impassive for the most part but when Ash said this his eyes widened just a bit before going back to normal. "You had your homes destroyed mercilessly and with no warning. You didn't do anything to deserve having that happen to you but you did. Now you blame all humans for something that one evil and horrible woman was responsible for. I know your mad at all people because you say that the council members of the city who gave Nastina permission to build over the reefs still could have stopped her if they would have just sacrificed their families but... Think about it Tentacruel. Everything you did, the attacks on the city, all of it. You did this because your homes, the place where your own family and kin live was being destroyed. You love and care about them very much right?"

Ash waited for Tentacruel to respond and when it didn't Ash continued. "That's exactly what the council members that Nastina threatened were doing. They were protecting their families, their loved ones. They were doing the exact same thing as you are now. Defending those they love. Besides, no one even knew that Pokemon lived in the reefs! They thought that Pokemon only lived out in the harbor and in the open ocean just outside of the city. No one ever saw in any Pokemon in the reefs so nobody thought that building over the reefs would be bad. Except Nastina, she realized that all of you lived out there when she started building her condos but she didn't care. She wanted you gone... Dead even."

Ash saw the red energy around Tentacruel turn an even darker shade at what Ash said about Nastina and he quickly spoke again. "But I'm not trying to convince you of the reasons why things happened the way they did nor am I telling you that the way you're thinking is completely wrong and unfounded. I'm trying to convince you that Nastina is truly the ones who deserve your wrath and anger, not the innocent people in the city who never did a thing to harm you. However, even if you never understand there is still one thing that I have to do... I have to say, that I hope you will believe."

He looked at Tentacruel with all of the emotion he could and let everything he was feeling shine through his eyes. "Tentacruel, I'm sorry for everything that happened to you, the other Tentacool and Tentacruel and every other Pokemon that lives in the coral reefs! I'm sorry for the fact that your homes were destroyed and I'm sorry that because of what has happened you have become angry and bitter. I'm apologizing for every human in the city and for all the pain that you and the others have been caused. Tentacruel I love Pokemon with everything in me and to see any Pokemon in such pain... Feeling so angry and hurt... It tears me apart and makes me want to help in a anyway I can. That's why I'm making you a promise right here and now!"

He stuck his fist in the air and said with a voice full of determination, sincerity and eyes shining bright with the deep meaning and honesty of what he was about to say. "I promise you Tentacruel, no I vow! I vow that I will not rest until Nastina is brought to justice for the crimes she has committed towards not just you and your kin but every other person and Pokemon she's hurt over her long and twisted life. As soon as I get back to the city I'm going to gather my friends together and then we'll show the police all of the evidence we've gathered against Nastina and after the police see all that she's guilty of I guarantee you that Nastina will be thrown into a prison cell that she will NEVER be released from!"

Tentacruel looked taken aback at Ash's proclamation of bringing the destroyer of their homes to justice and was even more surprised by his next words. "And I also promise you Tentacruel that I will not leave the city until the coral reefs, your homes, are completely restored and brought back to the beautiful and breathtaking spectacles that they once were! I won't stop until you have your homes back Tentacruel... That's my promise to you!" He finished with conviction in his voice.

He calmed down and looked away for a moment. He then looked back up at Tentacruel with almost pleading eyes. "Just please promise Tentacruel... Please agree that you'll stop this terrible fighting and give me a chance to make everything right and bring peace back amongst you, your kin and the city. Please promise me that?" He pleaded.

Tentacruel was now completely stunned by this human. He cared so much about the Pokemon that lived back home in the reefs, even Tentacruel himself and all of his kin that had tried to hurt everyone in the city... Even the boy and his friends! The human honestly didn't care about any of things they had done and just wanted to help Tentacruel and all of the other Pokemon that had been wronged and had their lives so utterly shambled because of the loss of their homes. He was so willing to do whatever it took to bring the person that was responsible for destroying their homes to justice and he was even set on helping them restore their coral reef home! Tentacruel never would have guessed there was a human out there like the one before him now. He was honestly intrigued by this boy and even felt the beginnings of respect forming for him because of just how pure hearted and honest he seemed to be.

Tentacruel by now had calmed down greatly from talking to the boy and the red aura that had surrounded him was now replaced by the same white and calm looking energy that Ash was shrouded by.

The great Pokemon looked down at Ash with much curiosity and wonder in his eyes as he nodded his head at the boy's request to stop the fighting and give a chance for peace and understanding to be formed between the people of the city and Pokemon of the reefs.

Ash's face broke out into a wide grin as Tentacruel agreed to stop the fighting and shouted up to it. "I promise you won't regret this Tentacruel! I'll make everything alright I swear!" He assured.

Tentacruel just nodded it's head again in understanding. Ash then felt the familiar pull which meant his work in this strange place was now done since Tentacruel's emotions were calm and watched as the huge Pokemon and everything else around him started to disappear. As Ash felt himself being pulled back into the real world, he heard a voice speak in his head that sounded as warm and soothing as a mother's embrace. _'You are doing well. I am so proud of you my Chosen-One...'__  
_

That was the last thing Ash heard before he was thrust back into the real world.

...

Ash opened his eyes and saw the giant Tentacruel laying before him, battered and bruised just like it was before Ash went into the strange 'mindscape'. He took his hand off of the Pokemon's head and looked around.

He was still standing up on Gyarados and Pikachu and Dragonite were watching him intently. Ash waved to them and smiled, showing that he was alright and then looked back down at Tentacruel. "Well Tentacruel, I need to live up to my promises so let's head back to the city so you can stop your kin from fighting with my friends and the police officers. I'll then do my part and expose Nastina. After we manage to get her taken down I'll focus on helping you restore your home. Sound okay?" He asked.

Tentacruel merely nodded it's head in agreement and then slowly began struggling to stand up. Ash had Gyarados backed way away so they could give Tentacruel plenty of room and then they watched as the Pokemon continued trying to stand. It was a very tough feat considering how bruised and beat up Tentacruel was.

Something then happened that both shocked Ash and also touched him. Dragonite slowly stepped forward and just as Tentacruel went to fall back down into the water again she reached out and gently grabbed ahold of Tentacruel.

Ever so slowly, Dragonite helped the other Giant Pokemon stand totally up on it's feet and then kept her arms holding the sides of Tentacruel, making sure it was definitely balanced before she let go so it wouldn't fall again.

Tentacruel just looked at Dragonite with obvious question and confusion in it's eyes. Dragonite returned it's serious expression with her own as she spoke to it in Poke'Speech. "Draggg Dragggooonnn. Draggooo Draggoonniii."

Tentacruel had a look of surprise flash across it's face. "Tent Tenta, Tentaaacruel Tenta." It replied back to her.

The Dragon Pokemon simply smiled at her fellow Pokemon. "Dragooonniii." She simply said with that same smile on her face. It was one of kindness, apology and even friendliness.

Tentacruel remained motionless for a little bit but then nodded it's head as it's eyes took on the form of some kind of 'Eye smile'. "Tentacruel Tenta." It said as it raised a Tentacruel towards Dragonite.

Ash was afraid at first that Tentacruel was trying to attack Dragonite but was yet again shocked as Dragonite extended her arm and grasped the other Pokemon's tentacle gently but firmly. The two then shared a Giant Pokemon version of a handshake while they looked at each other with the same expressions on their faces. Ash guessed by what he was seeing that the looks were a mixture of understanding, acceptance, respect and maybe even kinship considering they were both Giant Pokemon. The only ones, that they knew about at least, of their kind.

After the two Giant Pokemon were done making what Ash guessed were amends between them he spoke up to Tentacruel again. "Hey Tentacruel! Once we get back to the city, stop the fighting and everything calms down, I'll talk to the Nurse Noy of the city who runs the Pokemon Center and see about getting you and your kin healed up. She loves Pokemon irregardless and once I explain the reasons for everything that happened to the city today concerning the attack I'm sure she will be totally fine with healing you and the others. I'll help as much as I can but I'm still no Nurse Joy and don't have any of the equipment for healing Pokemon that she does."

Tentacruel was yet again shocked at the boy's kindness and thoughtfulness for wanting to help heal not just it, but also the rest of the Tentacool and Tentacruel from any injuries they sustained during the attack on the city. Tentacruel just couldn't understand this boy! It never thought it was possible for any human to be so kind and selfless. It was at that moment that Tentacruel began wondering if maybe not all humans were as bad as it always believed them to be...

After Ash got a somewhat distant nod from a seemingly deep in thought Tentacruel, he then turned and looked up at Dragonite. "Hey girl, I'm going to have to return you now okay? I don't want anyone in the city seeing you so that means your going to have to go back in your ball now. I really want you to know just how proud and fortunate I feel I am to have a Pokemon as truly great as you are. You really are very special and I want you to remember that." He told her.

Dragonite smiled happily down at her Trainer and cooed to him happily as she bent her head down and nuzzled her face against Ash's. He laughed and hugged her snout as Pikachu joined in as well. Tentacruel watched on in puzzlement and wondered how it was possible for people and Pokemon to have such a strong bond between them, further confusing it and making the oversized Water Pokemon question it's current beliefs concerning humans yet again.

After Ash was done hugging Dragonite he lifted her ball and prepared to return her. Dragonite waved a farewell to Tentacruel, who returned the gesture with one of it's tentacles, and then disappeared inside her Pokeball in a flash of red.

Ash then addressed the rest of the Pokemon. "Let's head back to the city." He said taking a seat on Gyarados.

Tentacruel however, shook it's head, confusing Ash. "What's wrong Tentacruel?" He asked it.

The Pokemon just used one of it's tentacles and pointed to Ash and Pikachu and then to the top of it's head. Ash thought about it for a few moments and then asked, "Do you want me and Pikachu to ride on top of you all the way back to the city?!" He asked in shock.

The Pokemon nodded. "But why?" He asked the giant.

"Tentacruel, Tenta Tenta Tentacruel. Tentacruel Tenta!" It bellowed as the Pokemon made gestures with it's mighty tentacles.

Now, even though Ash didn't have any kind of close bond with Tentacruel like he did with his own Pokemon, because of the emotional link that he and Tentacruel connected through earlier Ash understood what it was trying to say better. It wasn't a surprise really, every time he went through the 'link' with a Pokemon he felt a stronger connection with them for some reason.

"So..." Ash began. "You want us to ride on you so when we get back to the city and start explaining what happened to everyone the humans and the rest of your kin will look at the three of us being so calm and non-aggressive with each other and hopefully it will help stop the fighting, ease the tension and make things go smoother if they see how we're behaving. Am I right?" He asked.

Tentacruel nodded it's head again and Ash smiled widely. "Alright then let's do it!" He cheered.

The giant Pokemon reached a tentacle down and gently wrapped it around Ash as he lifted the boy up and set him on it's head. Ash looked around and down from the incredible height he was now at and felt like he was standing on a skyscraper. He could even see the city from where he was! It was just a tiny speck but he could still see it. Everywhere else he looked he saw nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see. Stretching on into the horizon for what seemed like forever. Looking out over the endless ocean the way he was from atop Tentacruel he wondered just what all mysterious and fascinating Pokemon must dwell deep beneath the oceans of the world.

Maybe Pokemon like Dragonite and Tentacruel dwelled deep below the oceans surface. Oddities of the Pokemon world that lives in the sea and is a complete unknown to the rest of the world. Or maybe even Pokemon like the Legendary Kyogre, who used to swim the oceans of the entire world but mostly the great Hoenn oceans. What he would give to have been able to see and meet that Pokemon back when it was still seen in ancient times!

Ash could pretty much compare being on top of Tentacruel to the exact same way he felt riding on Dragonite's head. Except... Tentacruel's head was more flat and wide in some places which made it even better for sitting, standing and walking around to get a better view of everything. Something he couldn't do atop Dragonite since her head wasn't so great for riding on. Flying on Dragonite's back was an irreplaceable feeling but riding on her head was... Not as ideal. Not that he'd ever tell her that!

Ash looked down at Gyarados far below and drew it's Pokeball. "Great job for everything you did Gyarados! Thank you so much for your help!"

After he was done thanking his Pokemon he returned Gyarados and then looked up his shoulder at Pikachu. "You ready bud?" He asked his starter.

"Pika Pikachu Pika Pi!" He answered affirmatively.

Ash then called down to Tentacruel. "Alright Tentacruel let's head for the city!"

The Pokemon nodded slightly, careful to not knock Ash off and then started making it's way towards Hutber Port.

XXXXXXXXXXX

After some time had passed Ash saw the city getting closer and closer until he could make out the shapes of the ships and boats resting in the harbor.

Tentacruel continued further on and eventually left open water and stepped inside of the harbor. The Giant Pokemon walked on and was able to cover the distance between the waters of the harbor and the shore in no time at all.

It stepped into the outer city and then began it's journey even deeper into the city, heading for the heart of the city where the battle was currently being waged between the rest of the Tentacool and Tentacruel and the police, Ash's friends and all of their Pokemon.

After a while Ash began hearing the sound of fighting and urged Tentacruel to move faster, which it did. Eventually they finally reached the part of the city that was currently filled with fighting Pokemon.

Ash looked around and thought that the place looked more like a huge war-zone than a city. Tentacool and Tentacruel were fighting the police's Growlithe, Machoke, Jolteon and Flareon and when Ash traveled his gaze further he finally spotted his friends and their own Pokemon fighting a huge cluster of Tentacool and Tentacruel along with Officer Jenny and her Growlithe. Everyone looked incredibly exhausted and all of the Pokemon looked to be on their last legs. Even the Tentacool and Tentacruel looked to be on their last tentacles.

Ash had seen enough and shouted out loudly just as Tentacruel came to a stop, "STOP!"

"TENTACRUEL!" The giant Pokemon also bellowed loudly, shaking the city with it's thunderous shout.

The fighting immediately ceased and everyone turned to look in the same direction they heard the sound coming from. Upon everyone seeing the giant Tentacruel standing there tall and proud the Tentacool and Tentacruel instantly stopped any remaining fighting they were doing and the people just looked confused at who made the very human sounding shout that preceded Tentacruel's bellow.

Ash walked up and stood right at the top of Tentacruel's head so everyone could see him and shouted down to them all. "Everyone stop fighting now! This has gone on long enough and it's time to end it now!"

The Tentacool and Tentacruel looked confused as to why a human was riding on top of their leader's head and the police looked baffled and wide eyed upon seeing a boy riding on top of the Giant Pokemon.

Ash's friends however were ecstatic to see him no matter how he had arrived. "It's Ash!" Giselle screamed in glee and happiness upon seeing that her boyfriend was okay. She had been incredibly worried about him.

"I-It IS Ash!" Misty said in disbelief. "What the hell is he doing RIDING on top of that Tentacruel?!"

"Yeah I'm really curious to know what happened in that fight between Dragonite and Tentacruel now." Brock said in awe as he to stared up the giant Pokemon his friend was perched upon.

Officer Jenny grabbed her megaphone and shouted into it. "Young man! What are you doing on top of that Pokemon's head?! Don't you know how dangerous it is?! Is it keeping you captive?!" She demanded.

Ash looked down in the direction of the female officer. "No Officer Jenny listen to me! This Pokemon is not dangerous and it's not a monster! None of the Pokemon that attacked the city today is dangerous at all and they are not bad, evil Pokemon!" He shouted.

Officer Jenny looked completely disbelieving. "How can you say that?! Look around at this city! Those Tentacool and Tentacruel have nearly destroyed everything! And all for no reason! They're blaming us for destroying their homes when we never did any such thing! Explain to me why we shouldn't view them as just vicious and violent Pokemon then?!" She demanded once more.

The Tentacool and Tentacruel looked very angry at Officer Jenny's words and even the giant Tentacruel looked mad. Ash patted the huge Pokemon on the head and spoke comfortingly to it. "Don't worry Tentacruel, I'm going to set we everything straight just like I promised alright? By the time I'm done explaining all of this I'll make sure the only monster these people see anyone as is Nastina! Just calm down and try to trust me. Make sure you keep your kin calm alright?" He asked.

Tentacruel nodded it's head and calmed down, deciding to trust Ash. It called out to it's kin to calm down and not attack anyone else for now. The Pokemon instantly obeyed their leader and stood down, much to the surprise of the police.

Ash thanked Tentacruel and looked back down at the police again. "Everyone listen to me carefully because everything I'm about to say is going to not only explain the reasons why everything happened the way they did today and why these Pokemon attacked, but I'm also going to be revealing information and evidence about a truly evil and corrupt person who has lived among all you for a very long time now! This person is not only directly responsible for the Tentacool and Tentacruel attacking but is also very involved with a wanted criminal organization that is just as wicked and twisted as Team Rocket... The K.B.R." He revealed.

Several of the officers gasped and exchanged shocked looks at hearing that the real person responsible for the Tentacool and Tentacruel attacking was also involved with such a notorious criminal organization. The only other crime syndicate wanted more than the K.B.R. was Team Rocket themselves and hardly no one knew anything about the Rockets besides that they were very dangerous criminals who stole Pokemon.

Misty leaned over and whispered to Brock. "Do you have those evidence papers in your pack Brock? I think we're going to need them very soon." She said.

Brock nodded. "I've got them safely inside here." He said pointing to the pack on his back.

Officer Jenny spoke again. "If what you say is true young man then explain everything to us now!"

Ash nodded and took a deep breath. This was it. This was the time to expose Nastina and very possibly get her arrested and tossed in prison for life because of the crimes she had committed. He just hoped the evidence that Brock was hopefully carrying on him right now was enough to get Nastina a life sentence. He was really relying on the hope that the police would read the papers that detailed some of Nastina's worst crimes and then get a warrant to search her hotel and find the rest of the incriminating evidence that was lying around in the offices of the thirteenth floor. However, Tentacruel destroyed the hotel and that meant that the rest of the evidence was now gone as well. Ohh well... The only thing to do now was pray to Arceus that everything worked out the way it was supposed to.

Ash started explaining everything that had happened first, starting with Tentacruel. He told them all how he led the Pokemon far out into the ocean so nothing else in the city would get destroyed and no one would get hurt. He explained how he used one of his own Pokemon to combat the giant Tentacruel, how they fought and how his Pokemon eventually emerged victorious.

This amazed everyone that Ash actually had a Pokemon strong enough to fight and defeat a Pokemon like Tentacruel. Well all except for Ash's friends. They knew exactly who he used to combat Tentacruel and was very glad that Dragonite had come out victorious. Not that were surprised, they knew how strong she was. They had wondered why Tentacruel looked so beat up when it and Ash first arrived and now they knew. Ash conveniently didn't elaborate on WHICH Pokemon he used but they understood why. He still wasn't ready for the world to know about Dragonite yet. Misty, Giselle and Brock personally believed Ash was waiting until he got to the Pokemon League and competed in the Indigo Conference before he unveiled Dragonite. She was like his secret weapon.

Ash then explained about the promise he made to Tentacruel after his Pokemon defeated it and the agreement they both had made. This was the reason he was standing atop Tentacruel. He obviously left a lot of facts and details out but it didn't matter. All the police needed to know was the bare essentials.

He then went into the long winded explanation concerning Nastina. He told them everything about her. From him and his friends winning a free stay at her hotel, her proposition to them about exterminating the Tentacool and Tentacruel. This made said Pokemon very angry to hear and the police hang their heads in shame. The whole city did know about the bounty Nastina had out on the Pokemon's heads but they didn't do anything to stop it. The police actually couldn't do do anything because they thought Nastina was just trying to get rid of some nuisance Pokemon. They didn't like the idea of her doing what she was at all, wanting too kill innocent Pokemon, but there was nothing they could do since they didn't know she was breaking any laws. It was legal for her to do what she wanted on her property as long as it didn't effect the city. Still, they understood the Tentacool and Tentacruel's anger at the city a little more now. Having an entire city of people wanting to kill you would leave a bitter taste in anyones mouth.

Ash then explained how she had hired a group of people, (he left Jessie, James and Meowth's names out), to exterminate the Tentacruel through any means necessary and how those same individuals created a chemical that created the giant Tentacruel they all saw today. He explained how she was then going to kill those same individuals when they thought they had succeeded in getting rid of the Tentacool and Tentacruel, just so she wouldn't have to pay them the million credit award she had out. He explained how this was her plan the entire time. Kill whoever got rid of the Pokemon just so she didn't have to pay them.

The police started to look very angry at Nastina upon hearing this new information and the Tentacool and Tentacruel were practically seething.

Ash then explained all about the evidence gathered against Nastina and all about her crimes. The only difference was, he completely falsified the story of exactly how the information was obtained and exactly WHO got it. He didn't want to mention that it was he and his friends who did it because he didn't want them all to be charged for trespassing in any way, which could possibly taint the evidence against Nastina if they were. So he instead told everyone that the people who Nastina hired and then tried to kill later grew vindictive against her and broke into her office and raided it, looking for evidence of the crimes that they believed she was guilty of so she could be exposed and arrested. He told how they knew they had to disappear after breaking in and stealing from Nastina because they knew she would kill them if she found out. He then explained about how these people had overheard during their trips to the hotel Ash and his friends complain about how much they disliked Nastina after their own meeting with her in her office and how they also believed she was guilty of something illegal after the way she way acted with them during their meeting.

He said he had received a message from these individuals explaining how they wanted to meet up with Ash and his friends and give them information that could could bring the corrupt business woman down if they were interested. Ash said that he talked to his friends and they all agreed to it. They met with these people, who were disguised and wearing masks so they couldn't be identified, late at night down at the harbor and after proving to them that he and his friends really did want to bring Nastina down they received several papers detailing many of the horrible and sick crimes Nastina was responsible for and involved in as well.

At this moment, Ash motioned down to Brock who understood what his friend wanted and then walked over to Officer Jenny. He took his pack off and took the papers out of it. He handed them to Jenny, beating back his usual perviness at seeing the attractive female officer and then went back to stand beside Misty and Giselle again.

Officer Jenny looked very curiously at the papers in her hand as she gave her megaphone to another officer and then started to read through them. A few other officers read over her shoulder as well.

Ash and his friends looked on in satisfaction from their respective positions as the officers reading over Jenny's shoulder formed angry, disgusted and disbelieving looks on their faces as they went over all of the heinous crimes Nastina was responsible for. Officer Jenny's face contorted into one of pure rage and fury as she finished looking over the bulk of the papers. She clinched them tightly in her hands and practically growled out, "Listen up all of you!" She shouted. Her officers immediately snapped to attention. "I want Nastina Haggerson found right away and taken into custody! I then want a unit of officers to go down to what remains of the WaterCrown Hotel and search through the remains of the entire building! If you find anything at all that even smells crime related I want it confiscated right away!" She looked out over the sea of Tentacool and Tentacruel gathered in front of them. "These Pokemon are not our enemies. Their actions were completely justified and I will make sure they're fully pardoned with everything in my power!" She announced.

Ash and his friends let huge smiles break out across their faces and all of the squid Pokemon looked beyond shocked. Jenny continued. "Which reminds me! Someone go down to the panic shelters and announce the battle is over. I want the mayor and the city council debriefed on everything that's happened! I'm sure they'll be very interested in everything that this information has told us. Also! Get on the phone with other police departments around the Kanto region that are the nearest to known K.B.R. hideouts, outposts and meeting places! Tell them all about the mountains of evidence we've just collected on the organization and that they are advised to begin a fully armed search and seizure of all known K.B.R. operatives! With all of this information we have now I think we finally have a shot at bringing those bastards down! Now everybody move out!" She commanded.

The many other officers instantly returned their Pokemon and set off to accomplish their respective tasks. They didn't get very far however as they suddenly stopped by a very shrill and annoyingly loud voice shouting out, "HOLD IT!"

Everyone stopped and looked around for the source of the shrill voice. "Up here!" The voice called out again.

The people and Pokemon finally found the owner of the voice. Standing up on a nearby rooftop, dressed in a black, armored combat uniform that consisted of long black combat boots, black cargo pants, short sleeve black tank top with an ammunition harness strapped to the chest that had grenades on it, fingerless black gloves and a black hard cap on her head... Was Nastina herself. She had three black stripes painted under her eyes and a large black bazooka hefted on her shoulder.

"NASTINA!" Ash and the other three kids all shouted at one time.

Officer Jenny grabbed her megaphone from the officer beside her that had been holding it for her and shouted into it, "Nastina Haggerson! For crimes to numerous and heinous to name off at the present time but most notably for the atrocities you have committed against this city, you are hereby under arrest! Get down off of that rooftop now or we will come up after you and forcibly drag you down ourselves!" She threatened.

Nastina scoffed and sneered down at them. "Please officer! Are you really going to believe the words of a child?! These accusations are all lies and nothing more! I am an honest and hard working business working who is just trying to make an honest living like the rest of you. I am certainly no criminal and the pure fact of being compared to one is more than insulting! How low has your department fallen if its taking tips on who is and isn't a criminal from children!" She jeered with a nasty smirk on her face.

Officer Jenny frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Save it Nastina! We have paper evidence right here that details the horrible crimes you've committed!" She said pointing to the papers in her hand. "We're also going to search what remains of your hotel and anymore evidence we find that ties you to more crimes the better. Though with everything we have here now we don't need anything else to see to it that you receive nothing less than what you deserve! A life sentence with no chance of parol at DeadHeat Prison!" She yelled, pointing her finger at the old women.

XXXXXXXX

(A/N: A History and Explantion of 'DeadHeat Prison')

DeadHeat Prison was the highest security prison in the entirety of Kanto, Johto and even the Orange Islands. It was located at a place called Eruption Island, which was a small island located within a chain of islands that make up the Cinnabar Islands. The biggest difference was that it was far out of the way in a place that no one ever went except prisoners who were being sentenced to DeadHeat, (ALWAYS for life), the prison Warden, sometimes the police and the guards themselves. Any self sailing tourists that ever somehow got off track exploring the Cinnabar Islands and found themselves around DeadHeat would think that they had just stepped into hell.

The prison was surrounded by constantly choppy and unsettled ocean waters that seemed to always be stricken by some type of storm overhead. The water was also filled with aggressive Gyarados that was not fond of humans in anyway shape or form. All in all, these little 'threats of nature' made the ocean around the prison very, very dangerous.

The prison itself was made of a very special type of metal called Pyrotanium that was resistant to extremely high temperatures. There were three separate fences that surrounded the prison and were also made of Pyrotanium. The fences were over forty feet high and curved over at the very top with jagged, 'Nidoran Poison' spikes that assured no one would ever climb over them. The ground under the fences was also concreted fifteen feet down all the way around the island and made it impossible to dig under. Since Pyrotanium was also very strong, the metal wiring of the fences could not be broken or cut through by anything man-made.

The guard towers that were set up around the three fences, (which was the outer fence, center fence and inner fence) all had armed guards constantly stationed in them that were outfitted with motion detectors. These motion detectors set up a perimeter all around the ground of the prison that only ever recognized prison guards, the warden and newly arrived prisoners. The pattern for the motion sensors was very particular and were the reason why the guard towers were all set up at very precise distances apart.

No prisoner could ever hope to disguise as a guard and walk out since the motion sensors detected who was authorized to walk the grounds outside the prison and who wasn't by their DNA. Any new guard that was stationed at DeadHeat always had to give a sample of their DNA before they started so it could be put into the prison computers mainframe for recognition or otherwise, they couldn't work there.

No escaped prisoner could ever hope to steal a guards DNA through saliva or blood and inject into themselves either. The prison mainframe made sure that the motion detectors ONLY recognized pure DNA from each guard and the Warden, who were the ones authorized. Any person's DNA who was tainted with another's would never be allowed past the motion detectors.

There were also spotlights that kept every inch of the ground and surrounding oceans constantly bathed in light and assured that no one could hide in the shadows.

The inside of the prison itself had the most depressing and miserable atmosphere to it that one could imagine. The entire place was constantly dark and never saw the rays of sunlight. The halls, prison cells and every other inch of the prison was just as dreary as the last and never changed.

The inside of the prison stayed locked up like a top secret testing laboratory at all times and the guards were never afraid to beat any prisoners to near death if they got out of line. The prisoners were never allowed out of their cells and were only fed by guards who brought food to each cell by trolley every single day, twice a day.

Bathrooms were inside the cells and wash buckets and fresh prison scrubs were brought by once a week. There was no technology available to the prisoners at any time except for small T.V.'s that were suspended on the ceiling of every cell. The televisions themselves were set inside of steel cages so no inmates could ever reach up and mess with it and there was only ever one channel on. The PWNN (Pokemon World News Network) was the only channel available to the prisoners and the prison did this so they could see what was happening outside in the real world but know at the same time that they could never touch that world again. Cruel yes...but effective. There was also no contact outside of the prison period. No letters, no phone calls... Nothing. When you were sentenced to DeadHeat it was ALWAYS for life and anyone who knew you prior to going in could basically label you as dead because no one would never see or hear from you again. This was needed to keep escapes from DeadHeat at a constant zero. The guards were never allowed to speak to the prisoners for any reason and had small microphones implanted on them everyday they went to work in the prison and were only removed by the end of the day by whoever guards job it was to do it that day.

These microphones were placed on the back of each guard's head and were very sensitive. They could pick up the faintest whisper and if a guard was heard talking to a prisoner, the guard would be electrocuted by a small electric coil implanted in the microphones. Small, but powerful enough to knock them to the floor in a heartbeat.

Guards could still talk to each other because the microphones had recognition software built into them that recognized other individuals with microphones also attached to the back of their heads. This allowed guards to still talk to one another.

There was also a small camera outfitted above each cell door that sensed when a guard came by the cells. Which only ever happened when the guards were feeding the prisoners or patrolling by the prisoners cells. Expert analysis had been done and the amount of time it should take to feed the prisoners is only fifteen seconds. If a guard was by a prisoners fell for any longer than that, a small speaker built into the camera above the cell doors were go off and tell the guard to back away from the cell. If they didn't then the camera would shock them the same way as the microphones on the back of their heads did by using a small but powerful electric coil built into them.

This was so that no guards could stand there and silently communicate with prisoners.

The cameras were also outfitted with X-Ray scan and would scan the contents of the trolley and the food as each guard walked by. All the guard had to do was hold the food up to the camera and it would analyze it for anything foreign in the meals. Prison meals were always planned out the same way everyday and the cameras were programmed to recognize what each meal should have in it everyday and knows exactly HOW the food should look down to the smallest of details. Which is why the prison cooks were so highly trained and well monitored.

This was done so nothing could be passed off to the prisoners during meal time or otherwise.

The guards also wore full face/head masks to hide their identities and had voice modulators built in to make all their voices sound the same so any prisoners who heard two guards talk to each other wouldn't know what they sounded like. The voices were always the same: Gruff and deep.

The prison was always very hot and never below eighty degrees on a cool day. This made it tough for the guards wearing such thick and concealing clothing but they were trained for it. Besides, if they felt at anytime like they just needed to have cool and refreshing air, there was a function on their full body guard suits that would act like an air conditioner and cool them down. The heat was the main reason why all prisoners wore red prison scrubs that had no sleeves and no pants legs. So they didn't suffocate.

Life for the guards at the prison may seem tough but it's what had to be done to make sure that no random accomplice to a prisoner could just get a job as a guard and try to bust their friends out.

Becoming a guard was also extremely hard. A full years worth of background checks was needed and any sort of criminal activity no matter how small resulted in automatic rejection. Intensive training both physically, combatively and mentally was needed to prepare guards for the rough life on Eruption Island and upon finally making into the 'DeadGuards' they were given a code name and list of passwords that they to memorize for all sorts of different things in the prison. Like the computer codes, door codes, weapons room codes, motion detector codes and even random passwords/phrases they would be asked throughout the day to make sure they were who they said they were.

Again, life for a guard was tough... but being committed to justice, servitude, discipline, loyalty and pure grit was what made the elite DeadGuards so effective and precise in their duties, no matter what they did. When they put on their outfits everyday the most empowering rush of pride is what they would feel come over them.

The guards outfits consisted of full body, black armored suits. The armor had small spikes that jotted out at the front and back of the knees, the backs of the elbows, and the tops of the shoulders. There were raised metal plates all around the suits at different places and in the center of the chest was the symbol for 'death' and 'heat' (A/N: Japanese symbols) intertwined with each other and colored white to clash well together against the black backdrop of their armor. They also wore a utility belt that had a club, radio, shock stick and a couple canisters of gas that ranged from canned Stun Spore, Sleep Powder and even some Smog for the really rowdy inmates. They could spray very far and wide and could stop any problems going down. The guards face masks were black and also had the same symbols on the front as on the chest plates. Same color as well. The guards also wore black eyeliner on their eyelids so when they closed their eyes, it looked liked there was nothing but darkness on the other side of the eyeholes. They also wore a black cape that draped down their bodies and a hood up over the top of their masks that draped down and shielded their faces slightly.

As for the prisoners, life may seem to be incredibly hard for them and it was. They were the lowest of the low and they were treated as such in prison. The Kanto, Johto and even Orange Islands justice systems for very fair and uncorrupt. People were always given a very fair trial and framing was simply not heard of. When someone was sent to prison, especially DeadHeat, it was because they truly deserved it. The only thing sitting it DeadHeat were the vilest of criminals and the guards and Warden, who was also very just, made life hell for them. In fact that was probably why suicide at DeadHeat was so common. Life was what the monsters of the prison made for themselves and most of the time, people couldn't handle it for long.

This was why DeadHeat always took the worst criminals from Kanto, Johto and the Orange Islands. It was a very large prison that had a high death toll. They pretty much always had a vacancy open.

Some might think that DeadHeat Prison was too extreme and so was the justice systems of Kanto, Johto and the Orange Islands. However, every region was just like that and starting with Hoenn, each region had it's own version of DeadHeat. When justice was served, it was always served right. That's probably why organizations like Team Rocket wanted to avoid incarceration so badly. They knew that even if the lowest of Grunts was captured it would be a one way ticket to DeadHeat. They were definitely smart for always staying under the radar.

The K.B.R. obviously had no sense.

The last thing that probably made DeadHeat Prison so truly terrifying and ominous was the fact that the island the prison was built on was literally resting on top of an ACTIVE volcano! Not just any volcano either but the famous DeadFire volcano, (hence the name of the prison). This volcano was very well known throughout the entire Cinnabar Island chain as being one of the most aggressive and active volcanos in the entire region.

Legends would speak that when the volcano erupted in the early days of the first Kanto settlers who made their homes on the Cinnabar Islands, the people honestly believed that Arceus itself had came down to the islands and was causing chaos with it's very footsteps and every breath it took. The entire region would feel the tremors from the eruption and the islands themselves would seem as though they were breaking apart.

Even today in modern times when the volcano would erupt, people would still say it was one of the most powerful things they had ever felt, or if you actually lived close enough to Eruption Island, one of the most powerful, awesome and terrifying things ever seen.

The volcano erupting shortly after DeadHeat Prison was built on the island was actually how the prison got it's name. One day the volcano erupted and as the lava was cascading down the mountain side towards the prison the guards began hurrying around, trying to evacuate the prisoners.

The first prison Warden at the time however, was a very bold and and courageous man. He was famous for taking risks and throwing caution to the wind when he felt strongly enough about doing something.

He had been told by the builders of the prison that the Pyrotanium they used to build the prison with was almost completely fire/melt proof and could stand the heat of any known fire source, even the volcano itself that the prison was sharing the island with. Anything at all they guaranteed the prison could withstand except for the intense flames from either an EXTREMELY powerful Fire-Type Pokemon or a Legendary Fire Pokemon like Moltres. Since the internal flames of Pokemon like Moltres were so concentrated and the intensity of the fire they produced was dependent on several factors ranging from their level of power, to their emotional states, their fire power could become more than hot enough to melt the walls of the prison. Of course, since the possibilities of a Pokemon like Moltres attacking the prison was pretty much non-existent considering one hadn't been seen in so long... The builders guaranteed complete safety to the prison regarding anything heat related.

Knowing all of this, the Warden decided to test the theory. So, with a lot of courage from the soon to become first ever 'DeadGuards', expert leadership from the Warden and the 'cooperation' of the inmates... They stood against the erupting volcano.

The experience was beyond unnerving and incredibly hot as the lava flowed down the mountain side and impacted with the prison walls. The Warden had stood atop the roof of the prison with a handful of guards while the rest of the guards stayed down in lock-up making sure none of the prisoners tried anything during the confusion.

As the lava pushed against the walls of the prison, turning them cherry red from the intense heat and the temperature increased greatly, the guards standing with the Warden began sweating. And not just because of the heat.

The temperature in the prison increased greatly and the guards and prisoners on the inside watched nervously as the walls turned bright red from the outside heat.

The Warden however just stared confidently at the seemingly never ending flow of molten hot magma, almost as if taunting the lava and the volcano by extension to give them all it had.

His confidence proved too be well applied in the end. Even though the volcano pumped out all of the boiling hot magma it could down the mountain side and the prison walls were literally bathed in the hot liquid... The builders words were true and the prison outlasted the magma.

The Warden had smirked in smug satisfaction as he watched the lava flow around the prison and into the ocean further down the island. By the end of the chaotic event the Warden stared upon the volcano and said the words that were passed down from Warden to Warden and prison guard to prison guard in the following years to come.

"This prison has been shown blessed by Arceus that just as we have stood the test of the mighty DeadFire, we shall also stand against and contain all evil hearts sent our way until they be taken and judged by the God Pokemon itself. From this day let us be known as the keepers and guardians of all that the heroes who rise to defend our great region sends our way! As long as they rise to defend what we hold dear then we will stand behind them until the very end! We now rise as DeadGuards on the day all was quite as death and the heat of doubt and fear threatened to wash over us...The guardians of DeadHeat Prison!"

The shouts and cheers of the newly named DeadGuards were heard on that day. The day of the true birth of the soon to be feared DeadHeat Prison. A place that criminals everywhere would tremble when they heard the final verdict of justice placing them for life in the soon to become legendary prison.

As for anyone who was wondering what the brave and courageous first DeadHeat Prison Warden was, the man who 'stood against the fires of hell' as it were. His name... Was Armanus Ketsum.

...

(A/N: End of 'DeadHeat Prison' History and Explanation)

XXXXXXXXXX

Upon hearing the word 'DeadHeat Prison' Nastina visibly flinched. She growled out, "That'll never happen! All you have is some hearsay from a bunch of kids and some papers that could very well be falsified!" She said looking smug.

Officer Jenny smirked. "Well I guess we'll find out if that's the case whenever I send my officers out to comb through what's left of your hotel."

Nastina went wide eyed, she knew she was caught. "You can't do that! That's my property and you have to have permission or a warrant to step foot on MY property and take anything that belongs to me! I'm not stupid girl, I know the law!" She smirked again.

Jenny shook her head. "No we don't. You're a suspect under investigation for several crimes and I as of now I am officially taking you into custody while you're investigated for all of the crimes that we have placed to you're name. In accordance with the laws of THIS city, any one person who is under investigation and taken into custody under suspicion of being involved with criminal activity forfeits the rights of everything they have that could help in the investigation. You're trapped Nastina and there's no buying, threatening or talking you're way out of this one. One way or another you WILL pay for every crime you've committed!" She finished, giving Nastina a dead serious look.

The old woman knew she was trapped. Everything had somehow come completely undone and all of the crimes she had ever committed were now coming back and biting her in the ass. BIG TIME. First her condos, then her hotel and now the police were wanting to take her into custody and keep her in lock-up while they fully investigated her and all of the files they had somehow gotten ahold of. Nastina wasn't stupid, if they had time to fully go over all of the information they had on her... She was completely screwed and would receive a way one trip to DeadHeat. The thought alone of THAT prison made her shiver in fear.

She WOULDN'T let that happen! No matter what she couldn't go to that horrible prison and spend the rest of her life locked away in that living hell! Her cousin Brutella had been sent there just days before and she would be DAMNED if the same thing happened to her!

Ash smirked. "Looks like you finally ran out of luck ehh Nastina?" He yelled down to her from where he was standing on top of Tentacruel.

Nastina grew furious looking up at the boy's smug face and in that moment it all clicked... It was his fault! He and his meddlesome, no good for nothing friends was behind all of it! He would pay!

Her eyes practically burned with rage as she hefted the bazooka up onto her shoulder again and aimed it right at him. "You little bastard! This all your fault! You're going to pay for what you've done to me! I lost everything because of you and your pathetic little friends! My resort is completely destroyed and my life is ruined! DIE YOU MISERABLE LITTLE BRAT!" She screamed as she pulled the trigger and the bazooka shot a missile straight at Ash.

"ASH!" Giselle screamed.

"NO!" Misty looked on in horror.

"MOVE ASH!" Brock yelled.

Officer Jenny and the police just watched in terror as the missile soared straight for the boy. Ash quickly reached up and went grabbed Pikachu so he could throw him away to safety but was stopped when he saw a giant tentacle come up in front of him and shield him from the projectile.

The missile hit the tentacle and exploded, not even grazing the rough skin of the appendage. Tentacruel lowered it's tentacle and glared down at Nastina with loathing in it's eyes.

The old woman gulped and looked up at the Pokemon in fear as it raised another huge tentacle. Nastina backed away and started waving her hands in the air. "No Tentacruel wait! You don't have to do this I mean, I never meant to do ANY of the things I did! It was all just one big mistake so I'll tell you what I'll do! You help me take out those annoying brats and police officers, starting with that little bastard on your head and I'll use all of my money and resources to rebuild back that reef of yours however you want it! Waddya say?!" She said with a grin on her face while she gave the Pokemon a thumbs up.

Tentacruel just narrowed it's eyes at the woman and then brought it's tentacle down to the side fast and swatted Nastina like a fly. She went flying off the building, screaming all the way down and crashed into a group of police officers down on the ground.

The police officers all gathered around the groaning woman who was now lying flat on her back. The officers gave her a distasteful look and Officer Jenny just pointed down at her. "Men! Arrest that woman and take her down to Headquarters. Throw her in holding and post two guards to watch over her!" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" The men all chorused as two of them reach down and picked up the beaten up and dazed woman. They handcuffed Nastina and then started leading her away towards the police station.

Just as they passed by Ash's friends she suddenly snapped out of her dazed stupor and looked at them with a hateful glare. "You snot nosed little brats will pay for this! Do you hear me! YOU'LL PAY FOR MESSING WITH NASTINA HAGGERSON!" She screamed.

Ash yelled down to her. "Hey Nastina!"

She whipped her head in the other direction and looked up at the grinning boy with disdain. Seeing he had her attention he waved to her. "Please say hello to Brutella for me once you get to DeadHeat okay? I never got to say 'bye' properly the last time!" He shouted down to her with a smile on his face as he waved at Nastina like she was going away on vacation and he was asking for a postcard.

Just as the officers rounded the last building and Nastina started to fade from view she screamed out loudly, "YOU LITTLE FUCKER! I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! AHHHHHH!" She yelled as they finally faded from sight.

Ash just sighed and relaxed his position on top of Tentacruel. "Finally..." He breathed out. "That's done. No more Nastina." He patted Tentacruel on the head. "Can you let me down now Tentacruel? I need to get to my friends." He requested.

Tentacruel reached up and gently grabbed ahold of Ash with one of it's many tentacles, the boy holding onto Pikachu tightly as the giant Pokemon lowered Ash onto the ground. When he was down he looked back up Tentacruel. "Thanks Tentacruel!" He tentatively reached out and touched the Pokemon's tentacle and smiled up to it. "Thank you for stopping your kin from attacking the city any further. Now that Nastina has finally been arrested and is undoubtedly going to prison I can focus on helping you rebuild your reef home. I made a promise Tentacruel and I'm sticking to it!" He said with his fist pumped in the air as Giselle ran up to him, wrapped her arm around his and smiled up at Tentacruel as well.

"And I'm going to help you and Ash every step of the way!" She said cheerfully. Ash smiled at his girlfriend and wrapped his arm around her as he pulled her close and kissed her softly. Giselle happily returned the kiss and then rested her head on his shoulder after they broke apart with a happy sigh.

Brock came up and stood on the other side of Ash. "Count me in as well you two! I would be happy to help." He offered.

"Don't you dare leave me out either!" Misty said with a raised fist as she joined them.

Ash looked at each of his friends and then back up at Tentacruel. "There you have it Tentacruel! We're all gonna help you and your kin rebuild your home!"

Tentacruel looked down at the four humans before it in shock. It couldn't believe how different these children were from everything it thought humans were like. They were so willing to help it and it's kin in their time of need without any ulterior motives for wanting to do so. They were baffling Tentacruel at every turn and it couldn't understand them! Especially the boy... Ash was the name Tentacruel had heard him called. He was very unique and very different indeed. And all in a good way from what Tentacruel could tell.

It nodded it's head at them and had a look in it's eyes that spoke clear gratitude. The other Tentacool and Tentacruel also looked very shocked and surprised at Ash's friends and the kindness they were showing towards them.

Officer Jenny walked up closer to Tentacruel and spoke up to it. "And on behalf of the entire city Tentacruel... I apologize to you for everything that has happened to all of you. I apologize to each and every one of you." She said looking around at all of the other Tentacool and Tentacruel. "What Nastina did was beyond horrible and as much as I hate to admit this about what has happened to our city... I don't blame you at all. Your homes were destroyed and you were angry. I understand that."

Tentacruel just looked down at her with an impassive expression as she continued. "I am going to make sure that you and your kin are fully pardoned for what has happened here today and assure that no retaliation is attempted. I will also speak to the city council about getting all of the building crews in the city and any marine biologists we can find to help you rebuild your home in the reefs. I hope this can make up for the atrocities that Nastina has committed against you." She finished.

Tentacruel stayed silent for awhile and then looked around at all of it's fellow Pokemon. After receiving nods from them all Tentacruel looked down at Officer Jenny and nodded it's head in acceptance of her offerings of peace.

The female officer smiled widely at Tentacruel's agreement and then turned to Ash and his friends. "I also want to say thank you so much for everything that all of you have done for this city. Not only did you fight beside us with your Pokemon but you went to amazing lengths to bring forth the evidence that we need to insure Nastina spends the rest of her life in DeadHeat Prison. I do wish that the group of people who gave you the information were here so I could thank them as well but I understand why they fled. At any rate: Not only did you essentially save our city by somehow calming down Tentacruel..." She looked at Ash when she said this. "Fought side by side with us and also are soley responsible for bringing down a tyrant like Nastina... You have also very potentially became the hero's and saving graces for several people with the information you gave us."

Upon seeing the confused glances she received from the kids she elaborated. "What I mean by that is: The information that was in those papers detailing all of Nastina's crimes and allegiances with other criminals has offered up a lot of evidence and valuable information that I believe we can use to bring down the K.B.R." She paused for a second and then continued. "It looked like Nastina had a lot of dealings with them and had quite a bit in those papers about the oganization itself. We're going to be passing on this info to all other police branches here in Kanto and have them use it to bring down sections of the K.B.R that is near them. If that happens then a truly vile scourge that has been plaguing Kanto for years will be taken care of and in the process, many people's lives will be saved. Especially if the K.B.R. has any captives in their possession at the current time."

Ash and his friends shared excited glances between each other and then smiled at Officer Jenny. "We're all just really glad we could help." Ash answered for them.

Officer Jenny smiled at them kindly and then asked, "I overheard that you're all going to stay and help Tentacruel and the others rebuild their homes in the reefs. You did say that you were staying at the WaterCrown Hotel while you were here and since it was completely destroyed during the attack I'm guessing that you have nowhere to stay right?" She asked.

Ash nodded and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah we never really thought of that... Originally we were going to give you the evidence concerning Nastina the day we were supposed to check out from the hotel and continue our journey. I never foresaw volunteering myself to stay here for however long it will take to rebuild the reefs." He admitted.

Jenny just waved her hand. "That's no problem Ash. We'll set you and your friends up in the nicest hotel we have in the city that wasn't destroyed. It's the least we can do for the heroes of our city!" She smiled at them.

Ash and his friends shared excited looks with each other again at hearing such good news. "That would be great Officer Jenny, thanks a lot!" Ash said gratefully.

The woman nodded and then addressed her fellow officers. "Alright men, go and start accomplishing the duties I gave you before Nastina interrupted!" She ordered.

With a bow of their heads, the officers set out to perform their assigned jobs. Ash looked back up at Tentacruel. "Well Tentacruel, whadya say we go and find Nurse Joy so we can get you, the other Tentacool and Tentacruel and our own Pokemon healed up before we start working on your homes?" He asked.

The giant Pokemon nodded as the boy asked Officer Jenny, "Can you please tell us where Nurse Joy is? I believe we have a lot of Pokemon that need some medical attention."

She nodded. "She's probably still in the panic shelters with everyone else. I'll go get her and have her come to the Pokemon Center. It's still standing thank Arceus! Just take all of your Pokemon and lead the Tentacruel and Tentacool down that way and we'll meet up with you." Jenny instructed.

Ash nodded and then watched as Officer Jenny retreated towards the panic shelters so she could get Nurse Joy. Ash then addressed his friends. "Well guys... We've got a lot of work ahead of us that will surely take some time. You okay with that?"

"Of course Ash! We're in everything together so that means we stand by you." Misty answered.

"We're not afraid of some hard work Ash. We're with you." Brock agreed.

Giselle just looked coy. "Give me another kiss and I'll tell you my answer!" She told him.

Ash grinned stupidly and wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her deeply. She placed her beautiful long fingers, adorned with red nail polish, on his face and kissed him back fiercely.

When they finished Giselle looked dazed. She suddenly snapped out of it and pumped her fist in the air. "Damn straight I'll help! Now let's go fix us some reefs!" She shouted as she hopped up in the air.

Misty just watched Giselle's afterglow excitement from the kiss with envy and Brock just snickered. Ash chuckled and laced his fingers into her own. "Okay sweetie just calm down..." He said with humor in his voice.

He looked back up at Tentacruel. "Just follow us to the Pokemon Center Tentacruel!" He directed.

The giant nodded and then rallied it's kin together behind it as Ash lead them all through the torn up city and towards the Pokemon Center.

...

As the kids, the giant Tentacruel and the large mass of the other Tentacool and Tentacruel slowly began disappearing further into the city, the three Rocket members who had been cowering behind a large slab of concrete near a mostly destroyed building, poked their heads out and looked around.

"Well it's finally over." James observed as he looked around at the now empty section of city they were in.

"And we didn't get hurt or blasted off one time!" Jessie said gleefully. "Not to mention that wicked old witch Nastina got her just deserves too!"

"It must be our lucky day!" James mirrored her excitement as he looked at her with shining eyes.

Jessie suddenly looked serious as she raised a finger. "We should probably get out of this city before the twerps come across again or even worse, the cops!" She said fearfully.

James nodded his head vigorously. "Good plan Jessie, let's go!" He agreed.

The two of them stood up and looked around before preparing to take off. Jessie looked down at Meowth who was still sitting down next to the concrete slab looking as thoughtful as he had the entire time of the battle. "Are you coming Meowth?!" She demanded impatiently.

Meowth suddenly snapped out of his stupor. "D-wha?!" He asked looking around frantically.

Jessie looked surprised. "Calm down Meowth! I was only telling you to hurry up and come with us already! We're getting out of the city before the police or anybody else finds out who we are."

Meowth still looked kind of 'out of it' and James was concerned. "Say are you feeling okay Meowth? You didn't get hurt in that fall did you?" He asked.

Meowth took a minute to register James's words before shaking his head. "Course not! I'm totally fine you guys, now let's get outta here!" He said standing up.

Jessie and James just shared a questionning look with each other and then shrugged. "Whatever Meowth let's just go already!" Jessie pressed as she started walking away, looking every which to make sure they weren't spotted.

James followed and Meowth hesitated for a minute. His mind kept flashing back to when Ash risked his own well being just to save Meowth's life. It still completely baffled him and he couldn't understand it at all. He shook his head again. "I gotta get dat outta my head! Da twerps just a softie dat'll help anybody he sees in trouble! Patetic!" He said aloud as he tried to convince himself that his own words were true. "Da only ting dat matters is stealing dat Pikachu and climbing da ranks of Team Rocket until I'm head cat again and replaced dat filthy Persian dat da Boss is so find of!" He said with his fists clinched and a look of determination on his face.

Suddenly, Meowth's gaze softened and his arms hung limply at his sides as he hung his head. "Maybe ... Just maybe... After I accomplish all dat... _She'll _want me din and I can finally go back and win her over..." He said softly, in barely a whisper.

He snapped back to reality when he heard Jessie and James calling back for him impatiently. He shook his again and took off after them. _'I'll find a way ta become good enough for her! I won't stop till she sees how much I care for her and finally get her ta love me back! Even if I gotta end up fightin' 'him' I'll do it. Anyting for her...' _Meowth let a stern and focused look come across his face as he ran faster. The talking Pokemon had a goal and he was just reminded of what it was. He was fighting and doing everything he did for 'her'. He had forgotten that for a time but... Maybe the 'twerp' had somehow helped him remember today.

Either way, Meowth was focused again and ready to make his dream come true. No matter what it cost him!

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: Two Months Later)

Ash stood on top of a large stage that was set up right near the docks in the harbor, overlooking the coral reefs that was now devoid of any kind of human structure.

Giselle stood on his left with her arm wrapped around his, leaning into him slightly, while Misty stood at his right and Brock beside her. There were several other people on the stage as well. Mostly political figureheads of the city, like council members, business owners, a few officers from the Hutber Port Police Department, including Officer Jenny and at the front of the stage, standing up on a podium that held a microphone, was the mayor of the city. A short, stocky man wearing a gray business suit with greying hair on his head and an equally as greyed beard.

Out in front of the stage, stretching back into the city itself, was nearly every citizen of Hutber Port. The completely repaired city was set in the background with it's repaired buildings standing tall and proud.

The most interesting sight however, was the large mass of Tentacool, Tentacruel and even a few Goldeen, Seaking, Horsea and other Water Pokemon that lived in the Hutber Coral Reefs, all crowded out in the waters of the harbor as they watched the event take place as well. Also present and standing tall... Well actually TOWERING over the entire harbor and casting it's massive shadow over the city in front of it, was the giant Tentacruel in all of it's colossal glory. Standing just behind Ash and his friends behind the stage.

The mayor was currently addressing the gathered population of the city and while he did that Ash reflected on everything that happened over the last two months.

The first thing Ash and his friends did was start to work on restoring the coral reefs that had all but been destroyed by Nastina during the construction of her condos. The reefs were definitely in a sorry state and Ash knew that it would take he, his friends and the Pokemon that lived in the reefs forever to fix the damage done to it.

Luckily however, Officer Jenny had told the mayor and city council the truth and reason behind the Tentacool and Tentacruel's attack on them. After providing the evidence that Ash and his friends had collected to the council and mayor they instantly understood the reasoning behind what happened and jointly agreed to not only pardon the Pokemon from the attack but also to help build the reef back however they could and with whatever resources the city could provide. After the mayor had explained all of this to the city's population later on, every single person also agreed to help right the wrongs of their now most hated person, Nastina, however they could.

So, surprisingly enough and to the shock of the Tentacool, Tentacruel and every other Pokemon that lived in the reefs, the entire population of Hutber citizens put a hold on repairing the city so they could help fix the damage done to the reefs.

With Ash, his friends, the police force, nearly every person in the city and even the help of a marine biologist who lived and researched in Hutber Port, the reefs were totally restored back to the way they looked before Nastina got her filthy hands on them in just one month of hard work. Much to every Pokemon that lived in the reefs utter joy and jubilation. The hardest and longest part had only been cleaning up the remains of the construction site that rested over top of the reefs before they were destroyed. They all had to be very thorough when cleaning up and had to be sure to get every piece of debree out of the water so that none of the Pokemon were injured by any of it.

The secret weapon of 'healing the reef' however, lay in the special, completely safe for use around Pokemon chemical compound that the marine biologist was able to create after studying the reefs make up and all of the different underwater vegetation it grew there. The compound was dumped in the water from barrels that were driven out by speedboats and essentially, it just sped up the re-growth of the reefs vegetation that the Pokemon lived in, around and fed off of.

Tentacruel was very nervous and agitated when it saw the people dump barrels of chemicals into the water. It was remembering it's experience with Jessie, James and Meowth and the chemical they used which turned it into it's giant form in the first place. However, with Ash sitting on top of it's head, gently rubbing it and speaking soothingly to the Pokemon how the chemicals wasn't going to hurt it or any of the Pokemon in the reefs and was only supposed to help, Tentacruel calmed down.

After the reefs had been totally restored and the Pokemon were living in them happily again, the humans, Ash and his friends started the repairs on the city. The work that had lain before them was very daunting to say the least since much of the city had been destroyed in the attack.

However, what had surprised Ash, his friends and everyone else beyond all reasoning is when the giant Tentacruel, followed by all of the Tentacool and Tentacruel, began helping them all rebuild the city. They had just started separating off into different groups and began helping with everything that needed to be done.

After the initial complete and utter shock of why the Pokemon were helping the way they were, Ash and everyone started pitching in as well and the repairs to the city were literally done in record time. Of course, with thousands of people, Ash, his friends, all of their Pokemon and the dozens of Tentacruel, Tentacool and giant Tentacruel itself all working together, you couldn't really expect anything less!

Another huge event that had taken place was the trial of Nastina. Since she literally had committed crimes both nationally and internationally with her dealings with major criminal organizations like the K.B.R. Nastina had been shipped to and tried by the Supreme Court of Kanto, which resided in Indigo City, located on the Indigo Plateau where the Pokemon Indigo Conference was held.

During the trial, several large computer monitors had been set up in the massive courtroom and on them were the live images of several political figureheads from other regions like Johto and Hoenn, which were all regions that Nastina had been apart of crimes against in some way or another. These people were there in video form to help decide in Nastina's sentencing since it was technically and inter-regional affair.

The trial had been absolutely bloody and ruthless, with no mercy shown to Nastina whatsoever. Not only did they all have the evidence that Ash and his friends had presented them with but also, the police in Hutber Port had went through the remains of the WaterCrown Hotel, looking for anything extra they could use in Nastina's trial.

Arceus had been very good to them as well. Amazingly enough, the many filing cabinets, which were all fireproof and very resilient, and even Nastina's extremely hardy oakwood desk which contained her very incriminating laptop inside, had all miraculously survived the destruction.

With all of the MOUNTAINS of evidence that was obtained that day, plus the evidence collected by Ash and the others, the courts were absolutely disgusted and enraged by the crimes that Nastina had committed. Which were honestly to numerous to even count!

They had all ended up on a joint agreement of a triple life sentence with no chance of parole at DeadHeat Prison for the dastardly woman. Nastina had also been absolutely broken, financially, by the courts as well, who had demanded she pay even more than what she was worth for the massive damages she had caused nearly worldwide.

Needless to say, Nastina was drug out of the courtrooms a broken and furious woman. Something that Ash and his friends had been ecstatic to hear about.

Another huge thing that had happened was the 'purge' of the K.B.R. Which happened sometime after all of the evidence from the demolished WaterCrown had been collected. The information concerning the organization had been spread out to every police station in Kanto and then one by one, each hideout, HQ, cronie, thug and even the leader Alten had been taken down by sheer and brunt police force. Alton had literally been taken down as in he tried fiercely to resist arrest... Which led to his 'on the spot termination' by a furious Officer Jenny and a particularly nasty Growlithe.

The K.B.R. trials had been massive and were held in the same place as Nastina's was. Each and every one of them had been sentenced to life, or multiple life sentences, with no chance of parole at DeadHeat.

Life at DeadHeat turned out to be absolute hell for the monsters of the K.B.R. and were treated horribly by the guards. In the first two weeks alone, more than half of the organization that had been thrown into the legendary prison had ended up killing themselves. Unable to stand the hell that they were reaping from the evil seeds they had sown their whole lives.

Their bodies, just like every other criminal that died at DeadHeat, was carted up to the mouth of the DeadFire volcano on top of the mountain and thrown into the boiling hot cauldron of magma below. Their filthy and vile remains completely melted and done away with in mere seconds by the hungry depths of DeadFire.

As of right now in Kanto, only very, very small groups of the K.B.R. remained in hiding and were still being hunted down mercilessly by the police. The officers were only to happy to use 'excessive force' whenever they encountered and arrested these tiny groups. Especially the Officer Jennys!

It was definitely safe to say that many great things had happened over the last two months and everything had worked out better than anyone could have hoped for. Ash had even been developing new training methods and techniques for ALL of his Pokemon during the time that he obviously HAD to make for training over their two month hiatus from traveling. After all, it was like Ash said: 'Your only as great as the time you invest into your dreams'. Wise words for a kid. Now, here he and his friends were, standing atop a large stage overlooking all of the people of the city. Today was actually a celebration of sorts to commemorate all of the good things had happened and all of the new bonds that had been forged over the last two months.

Amazingly enough, the people of Hutber Port and the Pokemon of the coral reefs had grown close to one another and formed an understanding and co-existing bond of sorts. Ever since everyone had went out of their way to help one another... The people helping the Pokemon restore their coral reef homes and the Pokemon helping to rebuild the city, a sort of trust and harmony had been established between people and Pokemon. Truly impressive considering that just two months prior the relations between both sides had been strained at best and hostile at worst.

Ash looked up at the giant Tentacruel, who was towering behind Ash and the stage in the water of the harbor along with the rest of it's kin, and gave it a bright smile as he reached out and gently touched one of the Pokemon's tentacles, which was set behind Ash like a big building.

The immense Pokemon looked down at the boy and gave what could be best described as an 'eye smile' to Ash since it didn't really have the ability to make facial gestures with it's mouth.

Another amazing thing that happened over the last two months is how close Ash and Tentacruel had truly become. I mean sure, Ash and all of his friends had been accepted, loved and befriended by all of the reef Pokemon after they had helped them, just like the people of Hutber had also grown to love them... But it was different with Tentacruel.

Ash and the great Pokemon had formed a tight bond over the last two months by doing things as simple as Ash riding around on Tentacruel's head as it walked the oceans outside the city while simply enjoying each other's company, to Ash releasing Dragonite from her Pokeball after he had Tentacruel take them far enough from the city and then having light spars and training sessions with Tentacruel while he sat on Dragonite's head and coached the two.

Both Giant Pokemon had also formed a close bond as well over the last two months and had become sort of like friend/sparring partners. While Ash's friends stayed behind on days when their was no work to be done anywhere and would just hang out with the Tentacool, Tentacruel and other reef Pokemon, Ash would grab Pikachu and then head out with Tentacruel towards the open ocean and spend the day just he, Pikachu, Tentacruel and Dragonite.

Well... That wasn't entirely true. You see, something that Ash didn't really know about Giselle, since he hadn't really had an extended period of time to just be with her when nothing was going on, was that she could be VERY clingy!

Since all they had done for the last two months was work around the city, hang out with the reef Pokemon and if you were Ash, Giselle and their Pokemon... Train like dogs even after a hard days work, Ash had a lot of time to just spend with his friends and his girlfriend.

Giselle loved being with him even when they weren't doing anything or even saying anything. She was totally happy just wrapping her arm around his and following him wherever he went, just enjoying his presence. They would always sit down near the water and watch the sun go down every evening after they had finished their brutal training.

Giselle would sit in Ash's lap and snuggle into his bare chest (since he would usually discard the top of his tracksuit for his workouts) and sigh in content as he wrapped his arms around and held her close as they watched the sunset. Sometimes they would just kiss while the sun was setting and other times they would fall asleep in each other's arms, exhausted from the busy day.

For Giselle, any time that wasn't spent with Ash was basically a waste of time in her opinion. She was very attached to him and loved being with him. After the first couple of times he had left to go and spend the day with Pikachu, Tentacruel and Dragonite, Giselle asked if she could go along.

Ash was going to happily accept his girlfriend's offer either way, however... She for some reason decided to ask with the biggest pair of Growlithe puppy eyes and cutest lip pout he had ever seen, which made Ash not only enthusiastically tell her 'Of Course!' But also led him to locking lips with her for a good five minutes straight.

So basically, the 'bonding days' for Ash always consisted of he, Pikachu, Dragonite, Tentacruel AND Giselle. Funnily enough, Tentacruel had grown to love Giselle just like Pikachu,Dragonite and all of Ash's other Pokemon did. Not surprising though since Giselle WAS a very likable person. Especially now adays since she had outgrown her snobbish, rich girl ways.

Tentacruel had also hit it off well with Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Gyarados before Ash sent him back to the Lab and then Pidgeotto once Ash got her back. He was very happy to see that his Pokemon took to Tentacruel so well. Although, he guessed that he shouldn't have been surprised really. After all, they did have time to get used to a giant DRAGONITE so what was a similar sized Tentacruel really?

Ash wasn't the only one benefitting from the extended stay at Hutber Port either. Brock had been studying all of the reef Pokemon so he could learn more as a Pokemon Breeder and Misty had been in heaven with being around so many Water Pokemon! She loved Tentacool and Tentacruel and since she released her own freshly captured Tentacool, which she had found out was a male, every day she was at the reefs so it could still interact with it's friends, she had earned Tentacool's respect and loyalty.

She had also become much closer to Horsea as well and had even ended up capturing the small Pokemon one day when he made it clear that he wanted to become her Pokemon since it liked her so much. Misty was safe to say, very happy. Two new Water Pokemon in two months?! No she wasn't happy... She was ecstatic!

Ash was broken from his reverie by the mayor of the city closing up his speech by saying, "And now ladies and gentleman of Hutber Port! I give you one of the heroes responsible for saving our fair city and establishing such a wonderful relationship with our neighbors, the Pokemon of the coral reefs! Please give a round of applause for Ash Ketchum!" He finished.

The crowd cheered loudly as the older man stepped down from the podium and motioned for Ash to come up. The boy shared a smile with his friends, a nod with Pikachu and a kiss with Giselle before walking up to the microphone smiling.

He stood up on the podium and looked over the gathered crowd. "Hello ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Hutber Port!" He spoke with sureness and confidence into the microphone. The crowd cheered in response and he smiled wider. "You know, I was asked to come up here today and speak to all of you about everything that happened in the last two months and talk about how amazing it all is and truly yes... It is amazing. So many wonderful things happened out of a situation that I believe many of you thought wouldn't have any positives to it didn't you?" He asked.

The crowd collectively nodded their heads and others murmured their agreement. Ash continue. "Ya see... I know I'm just a kid, me and my friends, and I know that some of you are probably thinking that I don't know about the things I'm talking about but I do." He looked out over the crowd. "My friends and I love Pokemon more than just about everything. We don't count our friends and family in this because for us, our Pokemon IS our friends and a part of our family. My dream... My promise to myself, my Pokemon and this world is to become the greatest Pokemon Master that has ever and will ever live. My friends also all have similar goals of some kind that is pushing them on to become great. If we have learned one thing... If I have learned one thing in the short time that I've been raising my Pokemon it's that... We are all one and a part of the same world and the same design. We're just as important as the other is and in order to achieve true understanding, peace and harmony, we have to stand together with Pokemon and take care of them just like they do for us. Over the last two months, all of you and the Pokemon of the coral reefs found a way to overcome your hard feelings for each other and become friends... You found a way to live in harmony. I hope you can all remember the unity and bond that you share forever. That's all I have to say, thank you everyone!" He finished.

The crowd broke out into loud applause and cheered like crazy as Ash stepped off the podium. The mayor patted Ash on the shoulder as he passed him on his way back to the microphone. "Very well said young man." He told the boy with a smile.

Ash returned the smile and then joined his friends again at the back of the stage, sharing a smile with Brock and Misty and then grabbing Giselle by the waist and pulling her close as he kissed her. She eagerly responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss.

When they separated they smiled lovingly at each other and then turned their attention back to the mayor, who was speaking again, as they intertwined their hands. Ash brought Giselle's hand up to his mouth and kissed it tenderly before bringing her hand back down and then just stroking it softly with the thumb of his own hand.

The mayor was now just finishing his speech. "And so... to commemorate the friendship, peace and unity that we now share with the Pokemon of the reef. As a way to always remember what has happened... I hereby declare that the 'Hutber Coral Reefs' shall be renamed on this day to... the Harmony Coral Reefs!" He announced loudly.

The people cheered loudly and the mayor just waited for it to die down. Once it did he continued. "Now let's all enjoy this day as the first of many to come. The day of the Harmony Festival!"

There was another loud cheer and then everyone broke off and made their way into the city for the festivities. The entire crowd on top of the stage cleared out as well and made their way towards the city as the many Tentacool and Tentacruel of the reefs also went to join the celebrations.

Ash looked up at the giant Tentacruel and then his friends. "Come on guys! Let's go have some fun!" He said excitedly.

Everyone cheered and then headed towards the city and celebrations. Followed each step of the way by the thundering footfalls of Tentacruel as it joined them. Albeit carefully so it didn't destroy anything in the city this time! It was definitely safe to say that today was a very special day. The day that the people and Pokemon of Hutber learned to live together in peace and harmony. The first of many Harmony Days to come!

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Time-Skip: Next Day)

The next day rolled around and it was now time for Ash and the others to finally leave Hutber Port and continue their journeys.

They were very proud to say that they helped in bringing about so much great change in the city and had also learned much in the process as well. They made many new friends and had a great time during their stay. Especially at the Harmony Festival!

However now...it was time to leave and say goodbye to those friends. After they had each said goodbye to everyone who they cared for and had made as friends in the city they decided to finish stocking up on everything they needed for the road before heading to their next stop: The Pokemon Center.

Upon finally reaching the Pokemon Center and seeing that their Pokemon were now finished and ready to go they took them back from the kind Nurse Joy and then decided to have lunch at the Center before they left for their last stop in the city. We currently find our young heroes sitting around the tables in the Poke'Center, finishing up their meals.

Ash had just finished his salad and looked over at Brock. "So, where do we head to now Brock?" He asked.

The squinty-eyed teen finished his own food and then pulled out the map. "Well it looks here like we can either just leave the city and get back on the main road, which will eventually take us straight into Saffron City where you can challenge two gyms. The main gym is run by a girl named Sabrina who uses Psychic-Type Pokemon and claims to be a Psychic herself. The second gym is a Fighting-Type specific one and is run by Dojo Master Kiyo. Back when both gyms wanted to become the Saffron City gym they were told by the League that only one could become the official Pokemon gym of the city. So in the end, both leaders from each gym battled each other and the winner would have their gym as the main one in the city. Since the Psychic-Type gym obviously had the type advantage over the Fighting-Type gym they beat them easily and became the official gym of the city. You won't win a badge by defeating the Fighting-Type gym but it would be good for experience." Brock advised.

Ash nodded his head thoughtfully and stayed silent for a few moments. "Option two?" He finally asked.

Brock looked back down at the map. "Option two will end up also taking us to Saffron City EVENTUALLY, but it's a very long detour and not widely used by most Trainers. There's a ferry that leaves here from Hutber and sails around the coast until it makes port at a small coastal town that is famously known for a stone monument and lookout area called 'Maiden's Peak' which overlooks the ocean. Once you leave this town it'll take you deeper into Kanto and through less traveled roads and visited cities. It also shows here that by taking this route you would also come across at least four different Pokemon gyms that you would have to make a slight detour to get to since they are kinda out of the way gyms." Ash looked extremely interested at hearing that bit of new information and ushered Brock to go on.

The teen found his place on the map again before he continued. "It also looks like somewhere on this route you'll eventually come out into a valley of sorts called the Butterfree Cliffs which is basically a wide open area surrounded by forest on one side and the ocean closer towards the cliff side on the other. This place is actually pretty popular for Trainers of Butterfree since the Pokemon meet there every year to pair off with a mate before flying across the ocean towards their breeding grounds somewhere in the Orange Islands. Trainers usually release their Butterfree at this mass gathering so they can find mates and go on to live happy lives and make their babies. Judging by what I've heard of this place myself I think the Butterfree mating season is coming up really soon actually."

Ash just nodded his head at this. "Sounds interesting for sure. I think stopping by there would be a good idea so I can give either one or both of my Butterfree the chance to find a mate. I think that would em' happy." He said with another nod of his head, pleased with his idea.

Giselle looked taken aback. "But Ash... You would have to end up releasing them if they did find mates." She said softly as she placed a hand on his.

Ash just chuckled and shook his head as he gently grasped Giselle's hand and placed flutter kisses on the top of it. "No actually Giselle, I wouldn't." He stated matter-of- factly.

All three of his friends looked confused so he elaborated. "Why would most Trainers release their hard trained Butterfree after it found a mate?" He asked them all. Upon recieving more confused looks he continued. "Think about it guys: A Trainer who could only have six Pokemon on them at one time and didn't have someplace that was knowledgable on Pokemon Breeding and the care of baby Pokemon to send them would never be able to have a breeding pair of Butterfree with them. After the babies were born they would have no room left to carry them on their team and that's even considering that MAYBE they know how to care of baby Pokemon themselves. It's the only thing they can do if they want their Butterfree to be happy with their mates. Release them so they go out into the world and have their babies with nothing holding them back. I on the other hand, thank Arceus, don't have that problem." He stated.

"What do you mean Ash?" Misty asked for all of them.

He smiled and leaned back in his chair. "I DO have somewhere to send my Butterfree and their mates if they find one. Professor Oak's Poke'Ranch is massive and can easily sustain hundreds of Butterfree. Both of my Butterfree and their mates could easily raise a large family at the Ranch and never have to migate anywhere. Not to mention Professor Oak himself is very well versed in the care and raising of baby Pokemon and Pokemon Breeding as a whole. Something he was also teaching me about during our five year training." Ash finished as he tilted his chair back and forth with his hands behind his head, almost looking bored.

All three of his friend's eyes widened. "You could essentially have HUNDREDS of Butterfree eventually!" Misty all but shouted.

Ash just shrugged his shoulders lazily as his chair came to a stop. "Uhh I guess so... Never thought of it like that but it's definitely a pretty sweet incentive huh?" He said with a grin.

His friends and Pikachu just sweat dropped at Ash's casual way of dealing with possibly becoming the Trainer of hundreds of Butterfree. Brock finally broke the silence as he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Well... Cool then Ash. I'm glad you have everything so well planned out." He praised.

"Yeah Ash way to go!" Misty agreed.

"Pika Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu said tapping his Trainer on the head to show he was happy for Ash.

"That's my guy!" Giselle said proudly as she got up from her seat and then plopped down on Ash's lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Always thinking ahead!"

Ash grinned and kissed Giselle's neck, making her giggle as he looked at Brock. "Please continue dear Brock!" He said with an exaggerated dip of his head.

Brock just chuckled at his friend's antics and then resumed reading the map while speaking. "Yes well! After the fourth gym on this route you would then come across a small place called Lavender Town, the last place you reach before Saffron City, that's famous for a place called 'Pokemon Tower' which is abandoned and said to be home to Ghost-Type Pokemon. People of the town say that scary and sometimes dangerous things happen around the tower so they stay away at all times, warning any travelers that come through to do the same or risk injury... And maybe even worse." He said ominously.

Misty and Giselle shivered at Brock's explanation of the spooky sounding tower and the mishaps surrounding it. "G-Ghost-T-Type P-Pokemon?!" Giselle asked with a scared edge to her voice.

Ash turned to his girlfriend. "What's wrong with Ghost Pokemon Giselle?" He asked her curiously.

Giselle shivered again. "They're just so... so... Creepy and scary looking! I learned at Pokemon Tech that Ghost-Types can be really tricky and can also love to play pranks on people because of their ability to disappear and reappear at will. Eghh! It just creeps me out!" She said shivering again.

"Yeah it doesn't sound very pleasant at Lavender Town or the Pokemon Tower." Misty agreed with a tremble in her voice. "I would be totally happy avoiding any and all creepy Ghost Pokemon!"

Ash just chuckled and got up from the table and then sat down in between Misty and Giselle. He wrapped his arms around both of them and pulled them in close. Giselle squeaked in surprise and Misty blushed a deep red at being against Ash.

"Now ladies!" Ash said haughtily with a funny look on his face. "You should know that nothing will happen to you as long as I'm around! I'll protect you from any and all that may try to harm you no matter what! That's a promise!" He said with a big, closed eyes grin at each of them.

Misty just continued to blush crimson and separated from Ash with mumbled words of gratitude and a hazy look in her eyes. Giselle just smiled and kissed Ash softly. "I know you would Ash and thank you." She said warmly.

He smiled at her and then looked away thoughtfully for a little bit. He formed a serious look on his face and looked at Brock. "I want to take the detour route Brock. Not only will I be able to earn four more badges, get more battle experience for myself and my Pokemon and face new opponents, which will in turn help me develop new strategies and battle styles but also..." He paused and then crossed his arms.

"If Lavender Town really does have Ghost-Types in Pokemon Tower like you say they do then that's where I need to head first before challenging Sabrina. I think it would be wise to capture and train a Ghost-Type before taking on her Psychic Pokemon. I'm sure I could defeat Sabrina with the Pokemon I have with me now and back at the Lab if we battled very intelligently, used careful and sound strategies and played it safe but still... I don't want to take chances. Capturing, training a Ghost Pokemon and then creating a very unorthodox battle strategy would be the best way to go I believe." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Of course, I'll also work with whatever Pokemon I decide to use in the battle besides my Ghost-Type, that way I can have an all around effective strategy and battle plan. If I DO capture a Ghost-Type, which I've heard is really tough and not just because they're rare in the Kanto region, I won't just rely on that one Pokemon no matter how trained and strong I make them. If a Trainer relies on the strength and strategies of one Pokemon, no matter how powerful, it's easier for your opponent to create a strategy to defeat you even if you have the type advantage like I would using a Ghost Pokemon against Sabrina's Psychic-Types." He paused again and closed his eyes before continuing.

"Gym leaders are gym leaders for a reason. They're usually smart and adaptable to most situations. That means you should never feel comfortable in any battle against one, or any opponent for that matter, until you and your Pokemon have won and it's over. Psychic-Types are usually very smart which means that Sabrina is most likely smart as well and won't be that frazzled by something as small as a type advantage. I need too outthink her and beat her at her own game. Which even though I don't know her I bet her game clearly revolves around intelligence. I'm going to capture a Ghost-Type and then train it and whatever other Pokemon I decide to use in ways that will throw Sabrina off her game. She will most likely expect a Ghost Pokemon trained the usual way, not an abnormally trained one and different Pokemon ranging from several different types that are equally as odd when it comes to their style of battling. Take out your opponents foundation and then everything else falls as well." He said opening his eyes.

Brock, Misty and Giselle were yet again shocked by Ash's intelligence, maturity, battle smarts and almost calculative ways of thinking. They still couldn't believe he was just a rookie Trainer.

Brock snapped out of his stupor and nodded. "Okay Ash, we'll go down to the harbor and buy our ferry tickets before saying goodbye to the reef Pokemon." He said.

Ash nodded and then all three Trainer's grabbed their bags. Ash motioning for Pikachu to jump up on his shoulder and the electric mouse did so in one bound. "Pika Pi!" He chirped happily as he nuzzled Ash's cheek and pointed towards the door with an excited look on his face.

Ash chuckled and scratched his Pokemon behind the ears. "That's the spirit buddy!" He he said enthusiastically.

The four friends, plus Pikachu, then left the Center and headed for the harbor.

...

After purchasing the tickets for the ferry down at the harbor Ash and his friends then got a boat near the docks that a kind man who absolutely loved Ash and his friends and let them use the boat anytime they wanted to go out and visit the reefs.

After they all piled into the boat Brock drove them out to the reef where the reef Pokemon were always gathered. They finally got out far enough until they were right over top of the reef and began seeing the many Pokemon that called the reef home swimming around in the water below, enjoying having their beautiful home restored back to it's original glory and luster. And beautiful it truly was... Ash and his friends always were struck in 'aww' everytime they visited and couldn't believe that Nastina could have ever tried to destroy such a natural wonder!

Upon arriving, Brock cut the engine and then they all watched as the many reef Pokemon began surfacing to greet their visitors. Before long, the water was filled with Goldeen, Seaking, Tentacool, Staryu, Starmie, Tentacruel, a few Magikarp and even Horsea. A large shape then began rising up out of a deeper part of the reef until soon the giant Tentacruel stood towering above them all.

Ash and his friends greeted the Pokemon and Misty released her Tentacool and Horsea so they could see their friends one last time.

After spending some time with the Pokemon Ash looked up at the giant Tentacruel. "Tentacruel..." He looked out at all of the other Pokemon. "Everyone..."

All of the Pokemon turned their attention to Ash and he looked at them all sadly. "We've just came here because... We're leaving the city today to continue our journey and we wanted to say goodbye to all of you before we did." He said sadly with his head down.

All of the Pokemon looked very saddened at hearing this and all looked down as well. Giselle was also very upset but tried to lift all of their spirits regardless. "Hey don't be upset everyone! We're leaving now but we'll all come back to visit one day! Isn't that right you guys?" She asked her friends.

"Absolutely!" Misty said with tears in her eyes as she saw Tentacool and Horsea say their said goodbyes to their friends.

"Without a doubt!" Brock agreed.

Giselle smiled at them all. "See? We'll see each other again someday!" She said trying to sound chipper for everyone's sake even though she was on the verge of tears herself. "Right Ash?" She asked out to her boyfriend.

When she didn't hear him say anything in reply she turned around, along with Brock and Misty and saw Ash staring up at Tentacruel with unshed tears brimming in his eyes. "Well..." He said huskily. "I'm really going to miss you Tentacruel..." He looked down. "Your a really great Pokemon and I-" His voice started to crack. "I was really glad I got to meet you. You're a good friend and you have a lot of potential to be really great! I hope you keep your home and fellow Pokemon safe for a long time to come and someday... W-We'll see each other again alright?!" He finally looked back up at Tentacruel as a lone tear ran down his cheek.

Giselle's heart broke when she saw how hard a time her boyfriend was having saying goodbye to Tentacruel. Those two had become close and even Dragonite and Tentacruel had become good friends. She was sure that Dragonite was happy about not feeling so alone due to her height when she was around Tentacruel and knew that she would miss the other Giant Pokemon as well. Ash however... He was taking it very hard.

"Oh Ash..." She said coming up to give him a hug from behind while Brock and Misty watched on sadly.

Tentacruel looked down at Ash with clear sadness and sorrow in it's eyes at the fact that Ash... The one human it liked and respected more than any other... Was leaving. The massive Pokemon hung it's head down low and suddenly looked to be in deep thought.

After what seemed like forever the great Pokemon seemed to come to a major decision and motioned for one of the larger and stronger looking Tentacruel that was mixed in with the rest of the reef Pokemon to come closer.

The Pokemon obeyed and swam it's way over to it's giant leader. Tentacruel bent down low and began communicating with the smaller Pokemon. The smaller Tentacruel went wide eyed as it's leader gave it's orders and looked beyond shocked and surprised at everything it's leader was ordering it to do. When the giant Tentacruel was done giving it's orders it looked down at the other Pokemon, placed the tip of one of it's massive tentacles gently on top of the smaller ones head and gave a look that seemed to ask if it understood everything it had been instructed to do.

The smaller Tentacruel just nodded it's head dumbly and then waded back into the crowd of other Pokemon. The Giant Pokemon then looked down at all of the reef Pokemon and addressed them.

Ash and his friends watched in confusion as Tentacruel spoke with the Pokemon and saw all of them flash between looks of confusion, shock, sadness and ultimately then... Understanding.

Tentacruel nodded it's head satisfied and then looked down at Ash. The boy and Pokemon looked at each other for some time in complete silence until Ash broke the silence. "Tentacruel what... What did you just tell them?" He asked baffled.

The Pokemon just lifted one massive tentacle and pointed it at Ash. The boy looked even more confused. "I'm sorry Tentacruel but I don't understand what you want." He said.

Tentacruel shifted it's tentacle until Ash felt it touch one of the Pokeballs on his side. His eyes widened in realization. "D-Do you want to become my Pokemon and travel and train with me Tentacruel?!" He asked in shock.

Tentacruel just gave Ash an 'eye smile' and nodded it's head in confirmation. Giselle, Misty and Brock's eyes widened in amazement. Ash just looked completely lost. "But... But what about all of the reef Pokemon here that you look after Tentacruel?" He asked.

Tentacruel just pointed to the other Tentacruel that it had talked with moments before. Ash thought about it for a minute. "So what your saying is... You passed down the leadership and protection of the reef and all of the Pokemon here to that Tentacruel so you can become my Pokemon?" He asked.

Tentacruel nodded again and Ash looked taken aback. He just stood there for a little while and looked to be in thought. He looked up at Pikachu. "What d'ya think Pi? Would you be excited to have Tentacruel join the ranks?" He asked his starter.

Pikachu looked up at Tentacruel and gave it a peace sign. "Pikachu! Pika Pi, Pika Pika Pikachu Pika!" He smiled up at the giant Pokemon, who in return 'eye smiled' at the much smaller Pokemon.

Ash then smiled widely, so wide it looked as though his face would split apart. He thrusted his fist into the air. "Alright! Then Tentacruel..." He gave the Pokemon a thumbs up. "Welcome to the team buddy!"

He pulled out an empty Pokeball and tossed it up in the air, catching it again. "You ready?!" He asked the massive Water-Type.

Tentacruel nodded it's head with a look of genuine excitement on it's face. "Here goes then..." Ash said as he reared his arm back. "Pokeball... GO!" He yelled as he threw the ball up as far as he could.

Tentacruel reached out and touched the small ball with one of it's large tentacles. The Pokeball made contact with the appendage and opened up. Instantly upon contact the gargantuan Pokemon was sucked inside of the ball in a flash of red light and disappeared, the ball snapping shut behind it.

The ball fell out of the air and landed in Ash's outstretched hand. The ball only rocked a few hand times in Ash's hand before going still and 'dinging' in the sign of a complete capture as blue sparkles burst from the ball.

And just like that... Ash Ketchum, a rookie Trainer, was now in possession of two Giant Pokemon. Two extremely rare and powerful Pokemon.

Ash just stared at the ball in his hand dumbly for a few moments before thrusting it into the air. "One more for the team... A giant Tentacruel!" He said excitedly.

Pikachu called out happily from his shoulder with his fist also in the air. "Pikachu!" Brock, Giselle and Misty just shook their heads in wonder. "Only Ash..." Misty said amusedly.

"You can always expect the unexpected with him." Brock shook his head.

"That's my boyfriend!" Giselle said proudly as she shrugged with her hands in the air.

Ash smiled fondly at the Pokeball in his hand before showing it to the large assembly of gathered Pokemon. "I promise all of you that Tentacruel will be safe and very happy with me! I'm going to help make your friend and leader stronger and more powerful than any of you, or it could ever imagine! I promise!" He vowed.

The Pokemon of the reef trusted Ash because of everything he had did for them and so they believed him when he said that he would care of Tentacruel and assured them that their former leader would be well looked after and happy.

Giselle slipped her hand into Ash's free one. "Congratulations on capturing Tentacruel Ash! If anybody deserved it you did. You worked really hard for it's trust and now you have another powerful Pokemon and friend to show for it." She said chirpily.

Ash nodded. "Yeah I know... I feel like the luckiest Trainer ever right now!" He answered her.

Brock suddenly intervened. "I'm also really happy for you Ash but we might want to get going, the ferry will be leaving in about an hour." He announced.

"Right." Ash agreed. He turned back to all of the Pokemon. "Thank you guys for excepting us the way you have! It means a lot and we all really appreciate it. I hope to see you all again someday." He bid them goodbye.

They called out to him in farewell and he then turned to Misty. "You might want to go ahead and return your Pokemon Misty." He told her.

She agreed and then let her Pokemon say goodbye again before returning them and then sitting back down in the boat. Brock revved up the engine and then began pulling away from the reef as they all waved back at the Pokemon.

The reef Pokemon waved back with their different appendages at the children in farewell and the two groups just continued to wave until they were out of sight of one another.

Turning back around and sitting in the boat again, Ash looked down fondly at Tentacruel's Pokeball. He kept thinking about just how strong Tentacruel would become with the right training and couldn't wait to start working with him!

Suddenly, the Pokeball began glowing blue and started rattling back and forth. Ash instantly recognized that his Pokeball was getting ready to be teleported to Professor Oak's Lab since he already had six Pokemon on him.

Before Ash could do anything the Pokeball vanished into thin air and Ash was left staring at his empty hand with disbelief etched onto his face. He had completely forgotten to send back Dragonite and Gyarados over the last two months and now he was paying for it. "Ohh nooo..." He groaned as he leaned backwards and fell out of his seat and into Giselle's lap.

"What's wrong Ash?" Giselle asked concerned.

Ash just rolled over and pressed his face into the side of Giselle's soft, exposed thigh that was exposed more than usual since she was sitting and her skirt was hiked up a little. She blushed crimson at the position Ash was in and heard him mumble something into her thigh.

She strained her ears to listen. "What?" She asked, totally missing what he said.

He rolled back over until he was looking up at her face. "I said..." He began. "Professor Oak had no warning whatsoever about Tentacruel arriving at the Lab and is now going to be getting a huge shock!" He said exasperatedly.

"Ohh! Ummm... That could be a problem..." Giselle agreed with him.

"Poor Professor Oak... Probably going to have a heart attack all because of Ash." Misty said teasingly.

Ash gave her a dark look and just glared at her. "Shut up Misty it's not funny!" He argued.

"It actually kinda is!" Misty started laughing.

"I feel bad for the Professor as well, poor guy has no clue what's coming!" Added Brock in an amused tone.

Ash just rolled back over into Giselle's thigh and groaned again. "Go ahead! Laugh it up guys!" He groaned again. "If Professor Oak has a heart attack after seeing Tentacruel you won't be laughing then!" He said shaking his fist at them.

Giselle just smiled amusingly at her pouting boyfriend and rubbed his back soothingly. "It's okay Ash don't worry about it, everything will be okay." She said soothingly to him while trying to hold in her own laughter while Misty was practically rolling in hysterics and Brock was also struggling to not laugh at his friends plight.

Pikachu just sweat dropped at his Trainer's behavior. "Pika...?" He with his head tilted to the side as Ash continue to sulk comically.

XXXXXXXXX

(Oak Pokemon Research Laboratory: Pallet Town)

Professor Oak and Delia were sitting in the living area of the Lab, drinking some tea while they watched the news on TV.

They had been watching the report on the events that had happened in Hutber Port and to say that they were shocked and in Delia's case, scared, to find out that Ash and his friends had been right in the center of it all was... Astounding to say the least.

"Well well well..." Professor Oak spoke up. "It seems as though our young Ash is becoming quite the hero isn't he?" Professor Oak said with pride in his voice at hearing about the kind and selfless deeds Ash was performing.

Delia however wasn't so happy. "What are you talking about Professor?! Ash could have been killed during that attack! It's a blessing from Arceus that he's still even alive! I can't believe he would do something so reckless!" She ranted.

The Professor raised a questioning eyebrow. "You can't? Come now Delia you know that your not being honest with yourself. You know how much Ash takes after his father! Richard was always getting himself into messes trying to help someone else or to save a Pokemon. Ash is the same way and the proof is on that TV screen right there." He said pointing at the TV. He looked back at Delia and his eyes softened. "You will need to learn to except the fact that Ash is exactly like his father and is also growing up. Being on a Pokemon journey changes people and makes them grow up fast. You and I have always known just how special and unique Ash is. This is just something that we will all have to accept about him. Besides! It's not like he's getting himself involved with dangerous criminals like Team Rocket! Now if that were the case then there would be reason to fear because of how dangerous they are. As it is though, that's not the case (Poor naive fool). Just try and relax dear." He comforted her.

Delia remained silent for awhile and then looked back at the Professor. "Your right Professor Oak... Thank you for that. Ash is growing up and truly is just like his father. I knew the risks when he left to go on his journey and now all I can do is pray to Arceus that Ash will stay safe." She said with a small smile on her face and hope in her voice.

The Professor smiled and nodded. "And that's all you can do my dear. Just trust that Ash will remain safe and keep your thoughts and hopes with him." He told her wisely.

They suddenly heard the automated voice of the Lab start speaking as they heard Professor Oak's computer 'ding'. _'Trainer Profile Update! Trainer Profile Update! Newly captured Pokemon alert for Trainer: Ash Ketchum. Poke' Transfer in process now... Please standby.'_ The automated voice announced.

Professor Oak smiled widely and stood up. "You see Delia, Ash is just fine! He's even out catching new Pokemon!" He said mirthfully.

Delia smiled herself. "That is a relief. I'm glad to know that Ash is definitely okay after all and is still doing what Trainers do. It makes me worry less." She said with relief in her voice.

Professor Oak nodded his head and smiled. "Well I'll be back Delia. I'm going to go see what Pokemon Ash has captured and then I'll be back after I'm done with the routine check-ups." He told her.

Delia stood up. "Actually Professor, would you mind if I come with you?" She asked. "I want to see my son's new Pokemon please."

The kind Professor merely nodded again. "Of course you can! Now let's go, I'm anxious to see this new Pokemon!" He said happily as he bounded down the steps of the upper lab and down into the Poke'Transfer room.

Delia giggled at the Professor's antics. For being an older man he definitely didn't let life get him down. Anytime the subject of Pokemon was brought up the Professor would turn into a little kid just like Richard and Ash. Bouncing with excitement!

She walked down to the room Professor Oak was in and saw him sitting at one of the many computers in the room, typing away on the keyboard. She walked closer to the desk and saw her son's Trainer Profile pulled up on the computer.

"What are we looking for Professor?" She asked.

He merely pointed to a column in the right hand corner that told all of the Pokemon Ash had and the numbers of how many of the same species he had. Delia was still shocked seeing the number of six Gyarados and the Dragonite that her son had already captured. Gyarados were very hard to train from what she heard because of their temper and most Trainers had difficulties raising one. Her son on the other hand had SIX and according to the Professor, they all listened to Ash perfectly.

Dragonite was another case in point. She knew how rare and powerful they were from the stories Richard had told about his own Dragonite that he had once had. Even her husband, who Pokemon loved, couldn't earn his Dragonits's respect and ended up losing it.

Here her son was however and he already had a Dragonite that listened to him perfectly, loved him if what Professor Oak said was true and it wasn't just any Pokemon either! It was a GIANT, MASSIVE Dragonite! Yes it was true and clear as could be for Delia... Her son was a very special Pokemon Trainer and she could see him going far, very far with his dream.

She suddenly saw the image of another Pokemon appear under her son's 'Pokemon Obtained' list. She looked confused. "What Pokemon is that Professor?" She asked.

"That Delia is a Tentacruel. They're Water/Poison-Type Pokemon that mostly lives in the oceans and are rather aggressive at the worst of times. I guess he must have captured one near the coast where they are now." He answered her.

A few moments later the Pokeball Teleporter in the Lab suddenly turned on and began making a whirling noise, signaling that a Pokeball was on it's way. A few seconds later a Pokeball appeared in a flash of blue light and then the machine cut off.

Professor Oak and Delia walked over to the container tube that had the Pokeball resting inside of it and the Professor reached out and grabbed it. He held it up and inspected it and then took the ball over to some other equipment in the room.

He began performing some routine checks on the Pokemon inside of the Pokeball and then walked back over to Delia when he was done. "It's completely fine! Some of this Pokemon's vitals seems to be a little... Unusual, but that could just be a temporary effect from the teleportation. Since this is a Water Pokemon Delia I would like to take this new addition of Ash's team down to the new 'lake' in the woods that many of his Pokemon now train and gather around. I feel that this Pokemon would be more comfortable getting introduced to Ash's Pokemon in the water instead of on land where it won't be as comfortable I fear." He explained.

Delia nodded. "Sure Professor, lead the way!" She said cheerfully.

...

Professor Oak led the way down into the Poke'Fields of the Oak Ranch as he and Delia made their way down to where Ash's Pokemon always seemed to be.

They passed the pond where his Pokemon used to solely stay near until Dragonite helped create the new large 'lake' in the forest further on. They saw several of Ash's Pokemon doing what they did best as they passed the pond: Training. Hard.

They were all wearing body weights that Professor Oak had Professor Sycamore from the Kalos region send more of over. They saw Pidgeotto and Fearow high up in the air above the pond working on speed drills as fast as they could while they sparred almost viciously.

Nidorina and Nidorino were clashing fiercely together and looked very battered and bruised. They were breathing hard and clearly exhausted but kept battling.

Primeape was savagely training it's body and working it's fighting techniques on a bunch of large boulders further near the treeline of the forest.

Clefairy was alternating between working on her physical training, her attacks and especially Metronome on several big rocks around her, trying to make it stronger.

Staryu and Ash's giant Krabby were drilling speed, agility, attacks and combat in the waters of the pond and were looking very strong.

Professor Oak called out to all of them. "Training going well everyone?" He asked kindly.

They all stopped what they were doing at the same time and called out an affirmitive in a chorus of different Poke'Calls. He nodded and held up the Pokeball he was carrying. "Ash has just captured a new Pokemon and I was wondering if you would all like to come with Delia and I to the 'lake' and meet your new teammate? It's part Water-Type so I think meeting it in it's natural habitat would be better. What do you say?"

All of the Pokemon seemed very eager too meet this new teammate, especially Krabby and Staryu since they were also Water-Types. The Professor received another eager chorus of calls as a response to his question and he just nodded again. "Then follow me everyone." He said as he and Delia continued on into the forest behind the pond, followed by the Pokemon.

They continued on into the forest until they eventually entered a very large clearing that had a large body of water sprawled out before them. Here they saw the rest of Ash's Pokemon training.

Both of the Butterfree and Beedrill were flying in the air above working aerial combat, speed, accuracy and their attack power.

Raticate and the two female Rattata were darting in and out between the trees outside of the clearing, working on speed, agility, endurance and also stopping to do two on one matches with each other.

Paras, Weepinbell, Oddish and Roselia were all engaging in a full on spar with each other, wearing very heavy body weights and working on an area of skill today that was uncommon for Grass/Bug-Types. They were working on pure power and strength both physically and in their attacks.

Usually Grass and Bug Pokemon just relied on the speed of their attacks, strategy and status effective moves to beat their opponents. Which was something that Ash's Grass-Types: Bulbasaur, Roselia, Weepinbell, Oddish and his Bug-Types: Paras, both Butterfree and Beedrill, worked on religiously as well. However, they were also very big into working on areas of strength that was uncommon for Pokemon of their types. Like pure power, strength, endurance and brute force.

In fact, all of Ash's Pokemon did this. They trained for hours every single day, only taking rest long enough to eat, drink and sleep. Professor Oak swore they were as big of training maniacs as Ash was and worked themselves to the bloody bone every day. What was interesting however is the fact that all of his Pokemon trained themselves (on Ash's instruction) in not just their own natural strengths, like strengths unique to their individual species or unique to just themselves... But they also worked vigorously on all things that their individual species, or just they themselves was either weak or not very strong in.

Like Ash's Flying-Types Pidgeotto and Fearow working on running and training on the ground to increase their leg strength and speed. Always while wearing HEAVY body and leg weights! Not as heavy as the 'wing weights' they wore while flying to work their speed, agility and endurance but still heavy. Something Flying Pokemon were not known to do!

Ash had also called into the lab nearly two months ago and asked to speak with his Flying, or at least 'winged' Pokemon, Fearow, Pidgeotto, both Butterfree and Beedrill. He also asked to speak with Staryu and Krabby and had asked his Water-Types to please teach his five 'winged' Pokemon something that truly shocked Professor Oak. He asked for them to start training Pidgeotto, the Butterfree, Beedrill and Fearow how to SWIM, then teach them how to battle, move faster, more gracefully and fight more effectively while in AND BELOW the water if they got ahold of the concept of swimming alright.

Ash said that he realized just how effective battling in the water really was and ended up wanting all of his Pokemon to become very efficient and skilled at moving and battling not just on land, but also in the water. He and his on hand Pokemon had been working swimming drills like crazy in the oceans they were always near lately and he wanted his Pokemon back at the lab to do the same.

To Professor Oak's astonishment... All of Ash's Pokemon began working with their usual all out training intensity and added water drills and swimming exercises everyday to their training regimen under the instruction of Krabby and Staryu. Two Pokemon that, even though they were both Water-Types, never felt they were good enough in their natural habitat and so trained hard on it everyday. Basically, the perfect teachers that worked right alongside their aquatic training teammates everyday.

Every Pokemon of Ash's had all picked up water training very well after much intensive practice and training. Even the two Butterfree, Beedrill, Pidgeotto and Fearow had all learned how to do it and was becoming better every day at it. It was extremely hard for them since they were in NO WAY naturally made for the water but were determined to get it and trained everyday as hard as they could to get better.

They did eventually get better at it, much to Professor Oak's shock, and learned how to really move themselves in the water much more efficiently and also began using the flying motions and natural movements of their wings to move themselves even better in the water. They also, just like all of Ash's other Pokemon, had been learning how to hold their breath, dive and learn the ins and outs of underwater combat.

Yet again, the Pokemon with wings just utilized the same method they naturally used when flying and tweaked it to move the themselves above and below the water. They also had been training to use speed attacks like Agility, Quick Attack and other such moves to make themselves faster and better in the water. Something that most Water-Types couldn't do since most Water Pokemon couldn't use speed attacks as powerful and efficiently as Flying-Types could. This sort of offset the natural advantage that the Water Pokemon had over the winged Pokemon.

Ash's Flying-Types still weren't as efficient in the water as his actual Water Pokemon were however and that was only natural. One thing that they couldn't get past was the need for oxygen that required them to come up out of the water faster than a Water Pokemon. Still, they and all of Ash's other Pokemon had made tremendous gains in aquatic maneuverability and combat. They were all slowly but surely becoming faster, more comfortable and more battle oriented in the water as more time and practice rolled by.

They were even trying to develop their own version of water attacks they could use while in the water. The winged Pokemon of Ash's had been trying to develop a method of using their wings to launch high powered shots of water at their opponents and were also trying to work on physical, grappling like combat using their mouths, wings and appendages to fight while in the water. Sort of like how the Sinnoh region's Staraptor used the same type of physical combat while in the air using a move called Close Combat.

Needless to say, it was hard for Pidgeotto, Fearow, both Butterfree and Beedrill to learn how to fight in the water but they were determined to do so. If they could learn how to fight and move on the land then they could learn how to do the same in the water.

It was this very determination that had excelled them in that goal so far and now they were just trying to perfect and better their skills in the water. Both above and below. All of Ash's other Pokemon had this same determination for aquatic combat, but the winged Pokemon were VERY determined. Professor Oak honestly thought they were hoping to become better in the water than the Water Pokemon themselves they worked so hard! A goal that was very admirable but one that Professor Oak knew was not going to be reached. It was astounding that all of Ash's Pokemon, especially his winged Pokemon, learned how to fight and swim above and below the water but still, every Pokemon was specifically made for some type of terrain and Water Pokemon were just that: Made for the water. Other types of Pokemon were not. Especially Flying-Types. It could be said that water was actually the natural enemy for most all bird Pokemon. Which was just another reason why Ash's winged Pokemon learning how to overcome that natural hurdle was so amazing!

There were a few exceptions like the Hoenn regions Flying-Type Pokemon Wingull and it's evolved form Pelipepper, which were two birds that were part Water-Type and were more natural and comfortable in the water, but these birds were few and far between.

However, Ash believed in all of his Pokemon no matter what they did, they all believed in themselves and Professor Oak had even started believing in them. They knew they could accomplish their goals and even had the Professor start attaching lighter weights than what they usually trained with to their body while they worked out in the water so they could get better and stronger faster.

Another method of training Ash had told Professor Oak he was doing was something that frightened and dumbfounded the aged man.

Ash said that he had taken to finally starting Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander's type disadvantage training since they were now strong enough. He said that for this method of training he always had to be very prepared and have medical supplies on hand for his three Pokemon while they did this potentially very dangerous training.

He worked Squirtle by having the Water-Type stand still and then had Pikachu and Bulbasaur take turns blasting the turtle with moves like Thunderbolt, Razor Leaf, Vine Whip and Giga Drain. He said that Squirtle would have to just stand there and take the attacks for as long as he could, building his endurance to them and then Ash would always step in and stop it so Squirtle didn't get to injured.

Pikachu was different. Since Ash didn't have any Pokemon with him that knew moves Pikachu's type was weak against, he would just build Pikachu's resistance and durability to pain and attacks in general. He would have Pikachu stand still like Squirtle and then have Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander attack the yellow mouse viciously with either physical moves or their individual attacks until Pikachu would collapse.

Ash said that this method of training was hard to do for Pikachu because the small Pokemon had a problem of getting very... Possessed during the heat of battle. He was very much like his Trainer and pushed himself to dangerous limits while training just to get better. Ash said that when Pikachu was exhausted during training he just went faster and harder until he collapsed and when he was hurt in battle he just smiled and kept going. Ash explained how careful he had to be with this type of training for Pikachu since the Pokemon would most likely push himself to life threatening levels in the pursuit of getting stronger. So the 'stand and take the pain' training Ash had Pikachu do was VERY monitored.

The 'Gain Through Pain' as Ash called this 'Type Disadvantage and Pain Tolerence' training, was very tricky to use for Bulbasaur and Charmander. You see, the natural elements that those two Pokemon were weak to was not something to take lightly. The first thing to know is that there are technically two kinds of type disadvantages.

The first type was the most common. This form of disadvantage was when one Pokemon's type and moves just were not as elementally strong as another Pokemon's moves and type. Like an Electric-Type and a Ground-Type. Unless a Pokemon was like Ash's Pikachu and could utilize 'Focused Lightning' to smash boulders and crater the ground with just his electric attacks, most Electric Pokemon were weak against Ground-Type Pokemon because their electric attacks don't conduct on the ground and always end up getting snuffed out, leaving them with only physical attacks.

The Ground-Type Pokemon on the other hand has physical AND elemental moves they can still use against the Electric Pokemon, which makes them 'strong' against Electric-Type Pokemon. However, their moves don't have the possibility of fatally wounding or killing an Electric-Type unless they are attacking with the intent to kill.

With Pokemon like Grass and Fire-Types... This isn't the case. 'Deadly Type Disadvantages' is when one type of Pokemon has elemental moves that could easily wound severely or even KILL the type of Pokemon they're strong against.

For instance: In nature, fire burns foliage and green things like vegetation easily, while water completely quenches and destroys fire. The same rule applies with Pokemon. Charmander could use a Flamethrower on Bulbasaur and, since he is a Grass-Type, eventually burn Bulbasaur to nothing more than a crisp. Squirtle could fire a Water Pulse at Charmander's tail flame, completely extinguishing it and killing the Fire-Type. This was what 'Deadly Type Disadvantages' was.

Before Ash had Charmander start blasting Bulbasaur with fire, he first put his genius brain to the ultimate test and, over the two months that he and his friends had been at Hutber Port, had come up with two absolutely revolutionary techniques for Grass and Fire-Type Pokemon that Professor Oak knew would only serve to make the boy's Pokemon an absolute nightmare in battle to deal with.

For Bulbasaur, Ash had started by explaining that all living beings are made up of mostly water. Fire is naturally null and void when it reaches water unless the amount is so small and the heat is so great that it evaporates the water. Very rare though.

Ash theorized that if Bulbasaur could utilize the energy sapping and pulling effects of moves like his Giga Drain and turn the attack on himself, or more specifically, direct the attack inward, he could use the pulling effects of these moves to draw however much moisture he needed out of his body and make it form almost an armor or 'second skin' of water over his body.

Using this technique, Bulbasaur could use say, Giga Drain, to draw moisture out of his body and form a layer of water over his form to protect himself from fire attacks. Also, since Bulbasaur's body controls the molecular structure of energy stealing moves like Giga Drain and also the temperature of his own body, Ash hypothesized that Bulbasaur could probably regulate the temperature of the molecules that made up the water in his body by using using the tendrils of energy that make up Giga Drain. As the tendrils pull the moisture out, Bulbasaur could focus all of his will into changing the temperature of the water molecules while they were infused with the the tendrils of Giga Drain. Doing this, Bulbasaur could make the 'Water Armor' around him as cold as he wanted to.

Which in the long run would mean that the lower the temperature and the colder he makes the 'Water Armor' while still remaining in liquid form, the stonger and more resistant it would be against hot fire attacks. Since Bulbasaur could only ever pull out so much moisture from his body without killing himself by being to deprived of water in his body, he couldn't ever create a thick enough shield of water around his body to stand really hot fire attacks.

That's why being able too regulate the temperature of the 'Water Armor' through the use of Giga Drain was so important. Bulbasaur may not have quantity of water on his side, but if he could make the temperature of the 'Water Armor' cold enough to withstand most fire attacks he would be fine with just the amount of water he was able to safely draw from his body. The best part was, since Bulbasaur wasn't an Ice-Type Pokemon and couldn't freeze water he wouldn't have to sorry about freezing his 'Water Armor' which would then be to cold and easy for fire to melt through.

Ash had explained this to Bulbasaur very carefully and trained with him on it for the better part of those two months. He told Professor Oak that he wasn't expecting his theory to work and that Bulbasaur had literally shocked him one day during training when suddenly, after all of Bulbasaur's hard work that Ash was sure would be in vain, payed off in full. Bulbasaur found the perfect way of pulling out the moisture in his body with Giga Drain and formed the 'Water Armor' around himself perfectly. He said that it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen and sort of reminded him of what a Water Pokemon looked like when they were using the ability 'Torrent' when they were weak.

Bulbasaur could maintain the 'Water Armor as long as he focused on it and the only side effect of such a technique was how thirsty Bulbasaur was when he was done using it! After they actually worked the 'Water Armor' into existence, Bulbasaur started working on regulating the temperature of it like Ash instructed. Yet again, it was hard but Bulbasaur started to make very good progress with it.

The only problem for right now that Bulbasaur had was that he couldn't move while using the 'Water Armor' since he had to focus so hard on maintaining it. This was what they were working on now. Having Bulbasaur be able to bring up, dispel and move around with the Water Armor much quicker.

When Ash finally had Bulbasaur use this technique during his and Charmander's training, it worked perfectly. Bulbasaur brought up the armor of water around his body and then Charmander fired a powerful stream of flames straight at the Grass-Type. When the fire made contact with the water shell it just started turning to steam and evaporating, encasing Bulbasaur in a thick fog of mist. The temperature of the armor was perfect in keeping Bulbasaur safe from the fire while he still received the heated effects of the flames from within the armor so he could build more resistance to them.

Ash then explained how he had helped Charmander. Fire-Types like Charmander usually always had an external flame burning somewhere outside of their bodies that in some Pokemon's case, helped to regulate their internal body temperature. That's why if something happened to say... a Charmander, Charmeleon or Charizard's tail flame and it was extinguished they would die. They needed that source of flame as a regulator for their intense internal body heat.

This way why Charmander, it's evolutionary line and Pokemon like them were so afraid of water. They knew that if water touched their tail flame it would put it out, resulting in their deaths.

Ash had thought long and hard about this. Studying Charmander and his anatomy intently and developing several different theories and ideas. Finally, he thought about something.

Fire-Types could regulate the high temperatures in their bodies to either warm them up and/or make their fire attacks weaker or stronger... So why couldn't they use that same control on the external flames that always burned on their bodies? Like how Chimchar in the Sinnoh region could extinguish it's tail flame when it slept at night so it didn't risk burning it's surroundings down.

And just like that... Ash found the perfect way to make Charmander all but impervious to all forms of water attacks. He had explained to Charmander that if he could somehow focus on centering all of the heat and fire in his body to his central core and focus all of his will into making that core temperature as hot as he could, maybe he could temporarily extinguish his tail flame and withdraw the fire up into his core and focus on keeping it burning as hot as he can in there so his body temperature stays elevated and he doesn't have an open and exposed flame on the outside of his body that can be put out.

This would leave no reason for Charmander to ever fear water attacks ever again as long as he battled Water Pokemon with his tail flame extinguished and drawn up into his core. He could battle any Pokemon then without any fear whatsoever of ever having a type disadvantage of any kind. Be it a Water or Ground-Type Pokemon it wouldn't matter! As long as he had no flame to be put out he would be an 'Open Type' Pokemon. And not just Charmander either but any Fire Pokemon he ever captured. If he could train them to retract their external flames into the their bodies and keep their internal temperature as high as they needed to during a battle with a 'stronger type' Pokemon, then all kinds of doors would be opened for them!

Of course, their flame attacks would still not have much effect on their 'type superiors' until they learned to elevate their body temperatures to such high degrees that the flames they expel can't be resisted by anything. However, if they could beef up their physical attacks to extreme levels then they could still defeat their 'type superiors' with the type disadvantage null and void.

Ash knew that if Charmander could get this technique down then even Bulbasaur's Water Armor would pale in comparison. Even though Bulbasaur could become very resilient to fire attacks he could still be effected by them. Charmander on the other hand... He could become a complete 'type superior' free Pokemon. Which was huge!

After he explained to Charmander about trying this technique the Pokemon was nervous about extinguishing it's tail flame but after Ash told him the benefits of such a technique and how to first start practicing by regulating his body temperature, Charmander was ready to begin and start the new training.

The Fire-Type took to the training like crazy and worked as hard as he possibly could. Getting the technique down and figuring out the method of it was extremely difficult for Charmander and Ash wondered if it could even be done. He was pleasantly surprised however, when one day while training Charmander's tail fire disappeared and he didn't drop over dead.

Ash watched in amazement as he saw Charmander's stomach glowing a bright orange/red glow, showing that his tail flame had been shifted into Charmander's core and was so hot it was literally making the Pokemon glow.

Charmander had looked back at his now flame void tail with complete shock on his face. Ash was beyond ecstatic for his Pokemon and made no secret of telling him how proud he was of him.

After Charmander had gotten the technique down pat and could elevate his body temperature up and down, keeping the flame in his body burning bright and was able to restore the tail flame with no trouble, Ash had him lineup and prepare for Squirtle's water onslaught.

Charmander had focused and drew his tail flame up into his body, into his core and was then surrounded in the familiar glow that came with burning his tail fire brightly in his core.

He watched with a little trepidation in his eyes as Ash gave the command and Squirtle launched a high powered Water Pulse straight at him. Charmander had braced for the terrible pain that he felt sure was about to strike him and when the water finally made contact with him... He felt nothing. No pain, no horrible agony and the fear of his tail flame being extinguished. Nothing.

Charmander had turned around in an age old instinct that had been ingrained in Fire-Types throughout the many generations and grabbed ahold of his flame devoid tail and cradled it against his body in an attempt too keep the nonexistent flame from going out.

When nothing happened except for the large volume of water that kept crashing onto his back, Charmander's eyes snapped open and he looked down. Upon remembering that his tail flame was now inside of him, Charmander had dropped his tail and then felt his stomach. The bright and warm glow of his inner flame was still burning brightly and making his body glow, showing that Charmander had subconscious control of keeping his tail flame alight in his body.

Charmander had then turned around and threw his arm up in front of his face to keep the water from getting in his eyes, mouth and nose. As he looked down at the beach below his feet, which was where Ash trained them everyday, and rooted himself against the high powered water attack that kept pouring onto him... He was stunned!

He wasn't feeling pain or any feelings associated with the water that he had always been so scared of. In fact, the only thing he had been feeling at that moment was the slick wetness that the water was covering his body in. The water actually felt kind of warm on Charmander's skin because the intense flame that was burning in his body was elevating the temperature of the water upon contact with his skin.

The thing that surprised Charmander the most was that he was actually... Enjoying the feeling of the somewhat refreshing and upon contact with him, warm water on his body! Never would have Charmander EVER thought that he would actually be ENJOYING water!

He had dropped his arm to the side and let the water blast him full force as he stood there and enjoyed the new sensation. Ash watched in disbelief and Squirtle had his eyes wide as he kept the water attack going.

Ash had stopped Squirtle from attacking and then walked up to Charmander who was wet and squinty eyed from the water that was in his eyes, but otherwise totally fine. Upon Ash finding out that Charmander had apparently enjoyed the water after getting over the initial shock and fear, Ash saw an opportunity that seemed insane but to good to pass up.

To Professor Oak's shock, again, Ash explained that he had actually began teaching Charmander... How to SWIM! He started Charmander out in the shallows of the waters at the beach and at first thought that his Pokemon would be terrified at the prospect of swimming in a body of water.

However, something had happened to Charmander. After realizing that water couldn't hurt him as long as his tail flame was drawn up into his core and Charmander kept a subconscious focus on keeping it burning brightly inside of him, the FIRE-TYPE Pokemon... Actually grew to love the water. Especially since whatever body of water Charmander was in turned into his own personal hot tub five feet around him on all sides thanks to his extremely elevated core temperature when it contained his tail flame.

Ash had Squirtle work on teaching Charmander the basics of how to swim and the Fire Pokemon took to it like some freaky fire fish! Within two weeks, Charmander was swimming just as good as Professor Oak had told him his other Pokemon at the lab who were also learning how to swim was doing.

After that, Squirtle began teaching his friend about water combat, diving, holding his breath and every trick to the trade there was. By the end of two months, Ash told Professor Oak that Charmander was swimming like a pro, diving under water, swimming deeper out into the ocean and even engaging in water combat. Charmander also had ways in which he utilized his Fire-Type moves in the water to his advantage. One thing he did was fire super hot Flamethrower attacks at the water around him, causing a huge cloud of thick mist to rise up into the air and hide him from sight so he could execute surprise attacks.

Ash had said that the possibilities of 'Fire Displacement' which is what he named Charmander's technique of absorbing outer fire and burning it brightly in the core of the Pokemon to keep it alive until it's restored outside of the body again, and Bulbasaur's 'Water Armor' was endless and could make any Grass or Fire-Type Pokemon he had complete nightmares for their opponents.

'Type Disadvantage Training' was also a great weapon he was going to finally start drilling into all of his Pokemon along with the 'Gain by Pain' training method they had all started from the moment he captured them. He said that by making his Pokemon nearly impervious to type disadvantages and teaching them to not only take but REVEL in the pain of battle... They would become truly horrific monsters in battle. Which is what he wanted. If his Pokemon became a wraith in the minds of their opponents then victory would be one step closer in everything they did. Fear, deception and theatricality were powerful weapons that he intended to always train and make use of when training his Pokemon.

Just like how Ash didn't believe in having just one battle style and being known for certain strategies, he wanted his Pokemon to be the same. He never wanted an opponent, or anyone else, to ever be able to read he and his Pokemon and call them 'predictable'. He believed in shrouding everything he and his Pokemon did in deception and never being readable.

Professor Oak felt bad for Ash's Pokemon knowing that they were going to soon be engaging in almost cruel training soon but he knew that they trusted Ash and that he would never allow any of them to be truly hurt. Besides, they were all just as train crazy as Ash was and didn't care what they did as long as it made them stronger. Still, the thought of there actually being a 'Swimming Charmander' now was almost to much for Professor Oak to believe sometimes. He knew Ash was intelligent but... To create some of the methods of training and techniques that he had in such a short amount of time being on his journey and only being a rookie Trainer... It truly shocked and impressed him all at once. If he kept up all of the groundbreaking revolutions in training Pokemon that he was, Oak had no doubt that people would start calling Ash a prodigy once he became more well known.

Professor Oak broke from his long musings and looked back over at Roselia, Paras, Weepinbell and Oddish again. If what Ash said was true then they would be the next to learn Bulbasaur's 'Water Armor'. Even though Paras was a Bug-Type, fire still effected it and since it could use Giga Drain now Ash felt confident that the technique would work on him as well.

As the Professor looked at the training Pokemon, his eyes drifted back towards Roselia. Ash captured her as a Budew, a Sinnoh Pokemon, near Route 1 and that had baffled the Professor. He had no idea how that had happened or why a Budew was in this region but one day, after Roselia had trained herself too hard and he was healing her up in the Lab... He got a clue as to how she ended up in Kanto.

...

After the intense training session she had been in, the Professor had placed Roselia under the Pokemon Recovery Machine. It was during this time that he happened to look down at the side of the machine where an X-Ray scanner was outfitted and gave a complete view of either the Pokemon's skeletal or muscular structure, whichever one needed to be viewed at the time.

At that moment Professor Oak saw something that shocked him. There was a small, round looking device that was showing up above the left side of Roselia's ribs. The device looked like it was attached to them and Professor Oak was positively baffled by it.

He scanned the image and then took a copy of it over to a nearby desk and sat down. He studied it more thoroughly with a high powered microscope and came to the conclusion that the device must have been metal. Further confused, the Professor took time to examine the strange device closer and then, like a ton of bricks, it hit the him.

A tracking device! It was a tracking device that he had seen before! Being a renowned Pokemon Researcher resulted in Professor Oak being called out to observe some very strange phenomena in his life and one of them had been a call out to Sinnoh where the police there were having a very hard time figuring out what a strange device was that was found on some Pokemon they had rescued from a group of Pokemon Poachers.

A Nurse Joy had found the small, metallic devices during treatment of the Pokemon when they were brought to her. An X-Ray scan she did showed the devices in the same position as the one Oak had just found on Roselia. Joy had no idea what to make of it, the police had no clue what it was and even Professor Rowan was having a hard time figuring it out.

After Professor Oak had been called out to perhaps help shed some light on the strange devices he also found himself confused as to what the devices were until they had all had the misfortune of coming along a Pokemon that wasn't so lucky to escape the Poachers.

Upon dissecting the Pokemon and removing the strange device, they had found that it was a tracking chip that had been embedded by the poachers so they could find the Pokemon they captured if they ever happened to escape.

Professors Oak and Rowan had found upon studying the chips how they worked and exactly how they could deactivate them inside of the Pokemon that the police had managed to rescue from the poachers without hurting them. It was to risky opening up every single Pokemon just to remove them, so the two genius Professors researched and discovered that the chips could be deactivated by simply generating a focused stream of electricity directly above the area where the chip was positioned inside the body. The electrical current would essentially fry the chips circuits and render it useless. Neither Oak, nor Rowan thought the chip remaining inside of the Pokemon would hurt the Pokemon so they left the chips in after deactivation.

That was exactly what was embedded inside of Roselia! Professor Oak still had no clue how she ended up all the way in Kanto from Sinnoh, but he guessed that maybe the poachers who took her when she was a Budew brought her here to Kanto to sell her on the black market and somehow she got away?

He didn't know the answer to that but he did know that he had to deactivate the chip so she would never be found by the poachers again. He ended up taking a small defibrillator he kept in the lab just in case of emergencies and used it on Roselia while she was still out cold under the PRM (Pokemon Recovery Machine).

He just upped the watts in the shock and did it right over top of the spot where the chip was buried under the skin. After he did it, Oak X-Rayed the sight again and noticed that the chip looked the exact same now as the ones that he and Rowan had deactivated some years back. Confirming for the Professor that the chip was now harmless.

He felt bad knowing that Roselia most likely went through some serious trauma at the hands of the poachers, but was glad that she had found a great Trainer in Ash, friends in his other Pokemon and a safe place to live at the Lab.

He had contemplated on rather or not to tell Ash about the chip and the poachers but he ultimately decided against. It would have only angered the young Trainer at hearing what most likely happened to his Pokemon and besides... Ash was in Kanto and the poachers who did what they did were far away in Sinnoh. Ash was also far to young to ever do anything against such terrible people (if only he knew), which was why Oak ultimately decided against it.

...

Professor Oak scanned over the rest of Ash's Pokemon and then looked towards the large body of water that made up most of the clearing. Ash's Gyarados were currently battling ferociously with each other, working on their moves, power, strength, endurance and skill.

He and Deila watched in fascinations as the bunch of Water-Type behemoths went at it as hard as they could. Each of them was attacking the other in intense intervals. Four would gang up on one and then they would switch it around. The best word to describe this time of sparring/training was just brutal and nasty!

It was funny though, Oak mused. When Dragonite was around, all of the Gyarados fought and sparred with her. All of them at one time. The only one that ever lasted long against her at all and put up the toughest fight was Ash's first Gyarados, who wasn't here at the moment and was instead with Ash. Professor Oak couldn't say he was surprised really. He had been studying Dragonite and Krabby constantly and had definitely come to the conclusion that their enhanced size gave them a MASSIVE power boost in physical and type based attacks. Still, the Gyarados tried and trained hard every day, just like the rest of Ash's Pokemon and they were doing better in their spars against the goliath Pokemon every time they fought.

Professor Oak called out to all of the Pokemon in the clearing to get their attention. "Everyone! Ash has just captured a new Pokemon, a Tentacruel actually and I wanted to bring it down here and release into the lake so it's feels more at home for it's first time meeting you all. Are you ready?" He asked.

They all seemed very excited at meeting the new Pokemon their Trainer had captured and called out their agreement. Professor Oak stepped back and then threw the Pokeball out towards the water. The ball burst open and the shape of a Pokemon began forming.

Professor was expecting to see a normal Tentacruel appear since that's what appeared in Ash's Trainer Profile. However he, Delia and all of the gathered Pokemon were shocked speechless and even a little scared, as the shape of the Pokemon began growing to massive proportions.

Delia gripped Professor Oak's arm tight in fear. "W-What is that Pokemon Professor?!" She asked fearfully as the Pokemon continued to grow in size.

Professor Oak just shook his head with eyes the size of dinner plates. "Another one?!" He said in disbelief.

Eventually, the Pokemon stopped growing and in a quick outward thrust of it's tentacles, the truly gargantuan Tentacruel fully appeared in a burst of light. It's massive form towering far above everything around it as the Pokemon took in it's surroundings.

Tentacruel looked around and saw sprawling countryside, houses peppered here and there throughout the landscape, mountains far off in the distance, forests that was bordering the entire valley around it, a far off town past one of the forests, a long and winding road that weaved through the valley in front of of it, going through the forests, down into another long stretch of countryside until it hit the distant city and then presumably continued on to who knows where. All in all, Tentacruel had never seen such an... amazing and unique looking area before. It turned around and then saw another sight that made it go wide eyed, which was quite a feat for a usually stoic and collected Pokemon like Tentacruel.

What Tentacruel saw that shocked it so was the seemingly endless expanse of the Oak Ranch before it. The many different looking habitats and lands that made up the Poke'Fields and also the dozens, upon dozens, upon DOZENS of Pokemon that were scattered all around the land. Tentacruel remembered Ash talking about his home town and the Oak Laboratory where all of the rest of his Pokemon stayed when they weren't with him. He said it was an amazing place and Tentacruel could see that he was definitely telling the truth!

The giant Pokemon wasn't watching wear it was stepping as it looked around and accidentally set it's tentacles down inside of the very big and VERY deep recently made 'lake' right below it. Now, Tentacruel was over, well over one hundred feet tall, just like Dragonite only slightly shorter. So when it stepped down into the OVER one hundred foot deep 'lake'... Tentacruel sunk like a stone, much to the monolithic Pokemon's great surprise.

Professor Oak was broken from his completely dumbfounded stupor when he saw the massive Pokemon step into the 'lake' and start to sink quickly. He hurriedly called out to all of Ash's Pokemon, "Everyone take cover! The splash from that Pokemon hitting the water is going to be huge!" He yelled.

He and Delia dashed off towards the treeline, followed by the Pokemon, and then watched as Tentacruel actually DISAPPEARED below the waves once it's head hit the water. A huge splash of water was shot skyward and then came pouring down like a small rainstorm had just opened up.

Tentacruel's massive head slowly crested the water a few moments later and then it just scanned the area around it slowly. The Gyarados, who had quickly retreated to the far corners of the small lake to avoid being crushed, slowly swam back out and observed Tentacruel.

Professor Oak, Delia and the others slowly emerged from the tree line and the man just held his hands up as he got closer to the giant. "It's okay Tentacruel!" He shouted. "My name is Professor Oak and this my Pokemon Laboratory! Ash Ketchum, your Trainer, is one of my sponsored Trainers and this..." He pointed to Delia first and then the other Pokemon around them. "Is Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother and the Pokemon you see here with us are all Ash's Pokemon as well! You're completely safe here Tentacruel! I look after all of the Pokemon here at the Lab and take good care of them! That includes you now that you are one of Ash's Pokemon as well okay?! You're totally safe here!" He continued shouting, not really understanding why he was in the first place.

Ash's other Pokemon slowly walked up to Tentacruel and began greeting the giant newcomer to the Ranch, not really put off by it's size after seeing and being around Dragonite. Tentacruel seemed a little unsure at first but he eventually overcame his trepidation and started opening up to the other Pokemon more. Pretty soon they were all having good conversations with the Giant Pokemon in their own language as they welcomed it into the group.

Professor Oak just fell down on his backside, looking at Tentacruel with undisguised wonder on his face. "Where? Where does that boy find all of these huge Pokemon! First Dragonite and now this?!" He sighed. "I swear he's trying to give me a heart attack.."

Delia was still in awe as she at stared at the massive Pokemon. "That's Ash's Pokemon?!" She finally got out.

The Professor nodded. "Yes and I would love to know where he captured it. I thought Dragonite was just some kind of fluke but now this Tentacruel? That Ash is either an oversized Pokemon magnet or he's just incredibly lucky!" He said shaking his head.

"Richard never captured anything like this..." Delia stated, still in slight shock.

Professor Oak stood up. "No he didn't. I'm going to have to talk to Ash about exactly what the circumstances were that lead to him catching another Giant Pokemon." He decided.

Delia finally got over her shock and smiled widely. "That's my Ash! Always surprising people and going above and beyond everything he does!" She exclaimed proudly.

Oak just chuckled. "That he does m'dear... That he does."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Upon Ash and his friends arriving at the docks and beginning their walk through the harbor towards the ferry that would take them out of Hutber, Ash suddenly felt his Xtransceiver start going off signaling that he had a call.

"Ohh boy..." Ash sighed as he looked at the ID of who was calling him.

"What is it Ash?" Giselle asked curiously as she looked over his shoulder.

He held it up to her. "Professor Oak is calling me. He must have just found out about Tentacruel and now he's calling to ask me about it. Ahh man I knew this was coming the moment it's Pokeball got transfered away..." He said frustratedly.

Giselle kissed his cheek. "I'm sure it won't be that bad Ash! Just go ahead and answer it." She coaxed.

He just sighed again and nodded. "I guess your right." He conceded.

He and his friends then stopped walking and sat down on a nearby bench. Ash raised the wrist that his Xtransceiever was on and answered the call that was coming through the small device.

When he opened the call he saw Professor Oak looking back at him and his... Mother? Standing behind the Professor. "Hey Professor, hey mom how are you guys?" He asked.

Professor Oak smiled at the boy and waved to him, as did his mother. "Hello Ash/Hi honey!" They both said at the same time. Before the Professor could get another word in edgewise, Delia suddenly butted in front of the screen. "Ash how are you?! Are you keeping well? Are you getting enough to eat? How about your Pokemon are they okay? What about your friends? Are you and Giselle still doing okay? Are you making sure to change your-"

"MOM!" Ash interrupted her loudly as he blushed red.

His friends snickered behind him and Ash shot them a dark look. Delia just giggled. "Sorry honey hehe! I just wanted to make sure that all is going well for you. You know how much I worry about my baby boy!" She smiled at him.

Ash just groaned as his friends chuckled again. Before Ash could say anything to them, Professor Oak nudged Delia out of the way to get his attention. "Ash m'boy how are things on your end?" He asked kindly.

Ash forgot his friends laughter at his embarrassment for the moment and answered the Professor. "It's all going good Professor! Been training my Pokemon and thinking up some new battle strategies and training techniques. Charmander is surprising us all with how adept he's becoming a swimming and it's still a major shock seeing a Fire-Type actually enjoying swimming in water but I think it's really cool and he's definitely doing awesome at it! Me and my friends have been staying here at Hutber Port for the past two months helping the people rebuild the city and fix the coral reefs. We're actually going to be catching a ferry here soon that'll take us further down the coast to a town that's the sight of the famous Maiden's Peak. After that we're going to travel a route out of the town that'll take us through a lesser traveled part of Kanto and eventually into Lavender Town before we finally reach Saffron City." He explained.

The Professor listened to Ash intently and once he was finished just smiled and nodded. "Well it sounds like you all have quite the travel plans set in store for yourselves hmm? Ohh and nice work helping the city out during that Pokemon invasion Ash. It was truly a wonder-"

Professor Oak was shoved out of the way again by Delia and yelled as he was sent skidding through the lab on his rolling chair. "Ashton Richard Ketchum! You make sure you be careful out there you here me?! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard on the news what happened?!" She scolded him.

Ash just sweat dropped and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah about that mom I'm really sorry... Honestly I am it's just that the city was in trouble and the Pokemon were attacking and-"

Delia held her hand up. "I know why you did it Ash. Your just like your father and can't help yourself when someone is in trouble. I'm very proud of you for what you did. You and your friends were very brave just... Be careful okay? I worry about you and I'm sure Giselle does as well whenever you do dangerous things like you do!" She added.

Said girlfriend just narrowed her eyes at Ash and nodded her head, crossing her arms at the same time. Ash felt imminent danger and instantly strove to change the subject. "Gotcha mom! I'll be more careful from now on okay? I love you very much and appreciate your concern!" He quickly started looking for Professor Oak somewhere on the screen. "So uhh Professor, ahem! Did you end up getting my Pokemon that was teleported to the lab? I forgot to send back Dragonite and that's why you got it." He said, hoping that would change the subject. He really didn't want Giselle upset with him just because his mom decided to bring up such a subject. He was horrified that she would hold out on kisses and cuddling time from him and... Dear Arceus he didn't think he could live if she did that!

The trick worked and Professor Oak was back in front of the screen in an instant. "Yes Ash I did get your Pokemon and I desparetly wanted to talk to you about it! Please tell me how you managed to capture yet ANOTHER Giant Pokemon?! I understood with Dragonite since I thought she was just a fluke of nature but now this Tentacruel! Ash this is incredible and seeing it just left me speechless!" He rushed hurriedly and was out of breath by the end.

Ash just shook his head amusedly. "Well first tell me Professor, how did Tentacruel adjust to the new surroundings? Did my Pokemon like Tentacruel and did it like them?" He asked concerned.

Professor Oak just waved his hand in a dismissive fashion. "Yes yes yes Ash they all got along just fine! Your Pokemon accepted Tentacruel with open arms and it fit right in! Now tell me about the 'how' of Tentacruel's capture please!" He asked excitedly.

Ash nodded and then went on to explain everything about he captured Tentacruel and even how the Giant Pokemon got to the size it was now. Professor Oak listened to Ash with wrapped attention and by the time he was done the older man just sunk back in his chair further.

"I say Ash that one interesting experience you had! As for the chemical turning Tentacruel to what it is now... I have some theories about how that happened. I've managed to formulate some theories about Giant Pokemon all because of studying your Krabby and Dragonite m'boy! I've been making ASTOUNDING headway on the mysteries surrounding Giant Pokemon and I'm sure this latest addition to your 'giant squad' will definitely help the research along even further!" He paused and smiled knowingly. "Of course, I trust you will be wanting to have Tentacruel back for a while so you can train it and start it's own training schedule to follow back here at the Lab am I right?" He asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

Ash was VERY adamant on always taking time for each of his newly captured Pokemon so he could get a chance to set them up on a training schedule. Something the Professor was also very proud of Ash for. He knew that Gary did something similar with all of the Pokemon that he captured and had sent back to the Lab but he didn't train them even CLOSE to as hard as Ash did his Pokemon. It was easy to tell by the way that Ash's Pokemon and then Gary's Pokemon behaved while at the Lab. While Gary's Pokemon were definitely not slouches in any sense of the word, Ash's Pokemon were so strict, obsessed and dedicated to nothing but each other, Ash and training it was nuts. They were so militant and disciplined that it was almost scary.

Ash just smiled sheepishly and laughed. "You know me to well Professor! Yeah actually I would appreciate it of you could send Tentacruel back to me. I'll send Dragonite over and then send Tentacruel back once I've had enough training time with it." He said.

Oak nodded. "I knew you would say that Ash and that's why Tentacruel's Pokeball is already in the teleporter and I just hit the button to have it sent over to you! It should be there in 3...2..."

Just as the Professor said '1' the Pokeball appeared on the teleporter pad of the Poke'Dex that Ash had just pulled out. After he grabbed Tentacruel's Pokeball, Ash quickly placed Dragonite's Pokeball on the pad, said 'goodbye' to her, and watched it disappear. He decided not to send Gyarados back since the Atrocious Pokemon was part of his plan on how to train Tentacruel.

Professor Oak recieved the Pokeball a few moments later and held it up to Ash. "Here she is Ash, safe and sound!" He said cheerfully.

Ash held up Tentacruel's ball. "Yeah and I've got Tentacruel's ball right here Professor thanks!"

At that moment, they heard a whistle blow in the distance and everyone looked off in the direction they heard it from. "Sounds like the ferry is ready to go." Brock observed.

Ash nodded and turned back to the screen of his device. "Hey mom, Professor, the ferry is ready to leave so we gotta now okay? I promise you'll get a chance to study Tentacruel soon Professor and I love you mom and miss you!" He waved to both of them.

They both waved back. "I love you Ash and stay safe okay! Brock, Misty, Pikachu and Giselle you four take care as well! Ohh and please watch out for Ash Giselle!" Delia asked as she waved farewell to all of them from behind Professor Oak.

Giselle smiled and nodded at the elder Ketchum. "I will Delia don't worry!" She assured, taking Ash's arm. Misty looked enviously at Giselle and Delia noticed this, causing the woman to giggle slightly, knowing that Ash had two young ladies who were enamored with him.

"Thank you m'boy I look forward to it but take your time and enjoy your new Pokemon!" Oak said smiling. "I'll talk to you four soon and please take care. Ohh and say goodbye to Pikachu for me!" He finished.

Pikachu suddenly hopped out from Ash's backpack and waved to the two adults on the other side of the Xtransceiver. "Pika Pikachu!" He bid them goodbye.

Ash finished waving to the two. "Alright guys I will, bye!"

Delia and Professor Oak continued to wave goodbye as Ash cut the connection. He then turned back to his friends. "Come on guys let's go!" He said as he took off running for the ferry, his friends close behind him.

...

After reaching and boarding the large ferry, Ash and his friends walked up the deck until they were standing at the back of the ship and were looking out towards the city as Hutber Port started to get smaller and smaller the further the vessel pulled out into open water.

"You know guys..." Ash suddenly spoke up after they had watched the slowly fading city for some time in silence.

"Yeah Ash?" Giselle asked.

He continued to stare in the same direction as he spoke again. "I'm always going to remember those coastal cities. How we met Moe in Porte Vista and helped him finally realize his dream of sailing around the world. How we helped save Hutber from the Tentacool and Tentacruel attack, brought the people of the city and the Pokemon of the reef together and helped them all rebuild their homes at the end of it all..."

"Anddd the fact that you captured a second giant Pokemon probably helped make the whole thing a LITTLE more memorable huh?" Brock interrupted his friend with an eyebrow raised in amusement.

Ash chuckled. "Yeah maybe it helped a little..." This caused all of them to laugh at that.

Misty suddenly spoke up excitedly."Not to mention how we stopped those old witches Brutella and Nastina and got them locked up!" She said in glee.

"How Ash saved me like a knight in shining armor." Giselle as she looked up at Ash with stars in her eyes as she remembered how he saved her from those terrible boys that were hired by Brutella to kidnap her.

"Always." Ash said simply as he wrapped his arms around Giselle, pulled her in against him and kissed her head. The girl sighed happily and leaned back in his arms.

Ash saw the look Misty was giving them and smiled softy. "And we can't forgt how bravely Misty and her Pokemon fought alongside me and my Pokemon. I'll always be grateful for that Mist. Thank you." He said as he extended one arm out to her.

Misty got the hint and smiled widely as she accepted the one arm hug Ash was offering. She looked over at Brock from where her head was resting on Ash's shoulder and pointed her finger. "And we can't forget how Brock helped so many of those people out of the WaterCrown before it was destroyed!" She praised.

"Definitely not!" Ash smiled at his friend.

"Hmmm... Yeah way to go Brock..." Giselle said from where she was, still resting comfortably against Ash's chest with her eyes shut.

Brock shrugged and smiled. "Ahh come on guys I was just helping out like any of you would have done in that situation." He said modestly.

Ash, who had his arms full of two girls at this point, shrugged his head up towards Pikachu. "And we can't forgot how Pikachu singlehandedly won the whole tournament at Porte Vista! Way to go buddy!" He praised his Pokemon.

Pikachu rubbed the back of his head, just like his Trainer did. "Pika..." He said embarrassed.

"Yeah Pikachu is the real hero here!" Brock agreed smiling.

"I can agree with that!" Misty chimed in, now leaning on the railing after Ash released her.

"My little champion Pikachu!" Giselle cooed as she scratched the Electric-Type under the chin, making him 'chaaa' happily.

"Yeah Pikachu is one of a kind. Aren't ya pal?" Ash smiled up at his Pokemon.

Pikachu called out chirpily to his Trainer and rubbed his cheek against Ash's, making the boy laugh happily and the other three smile warmly at the scene. The four friends and Pikachu just stayed there on the deck and watched as the last view of Hutber finally faded into nothing and was replaced with just open sea before their eyes. The setting sun that was dipping below the horizon was casting a glow over the entire ship and framing the group in an eternal picture that looked as though it was created by Arceus herself.

After sometime of standing there on the deck, Misty and Brock decided to venture down to where their cabins were at so they could unpack and left only Ash and Giselle remaining. The girl in question was getting ready to go down below herself and looked at Ash before leaving. "I'm heading down as well Ash, are you coming?" She asked him.

He looked at her and just smiled as he shook his head. "Not yet Giselle. I'm going to stay out here and enjoy the last of the setting sun while I catch up on writing in my Pokemon Researcher In-Training journal. I'll be down soon though." He assured her.

The girl smiled at him and gave Ash a kiss before making her below the ship. Ash took off his bag and then pulled out his journal. He started writing down the important moments of everything that had happened to him Pokemon wise with his adventures in Porte Vista and Hutber Port. He wrote down about how he had worked alongside his first Gyarados to tame his other five in Porte Vista, all about the incident with the reef Pokemon in Hutber and his capture of the giant Tentacruel

After a while Ash was finished and just as night had finally started to fall over the sky. He put away his journal, slung his pack back on and took one last look at the now dark water that was lapping against the sides of the boat. He then looked up at Pikachu. "Let's head down and get some rest whadya say buddy?"

"Pi Pikachu Pi" Pikachu answered while nodding his head.

Ash smiled and scratched his Pokemon behind the ears before he walked over to the door that led below deck and then disappeared into the heart of the ship, anxious to get some rest before the next day of sure to be exciting adventures came knocking.

XXXXXXXXX

(DeadHeat Prison: Cinnabar Islands)

A prison boat had been making it's through the ever churning and dangerous waves of the seas around Eruption Island and finally made it to the island that held the dreaded and feared prison of legend... DeadHeat Prison. The nightmare realm for all criminals of Kanto, Johto and even the Orange Islands.

As the ship finally made birth at the docks, the DeadGuards of DeadHeat came out of a nearby guard station/communications tower and met their mainland cousins of justice. The Kanto police force. Led by none other other than an Officer Jenny herself.

The DeadGuards walked out onto the docks in perfect synch, holding large shock sticks in their hands that, combined with their armor and masks, made them look like true horrors straight out of a VERY bad, Darkrai induced nightmare.

The new prisoners that had been sentenced to life at DeadHeat stood on the docks surrounded by the Kanto police, shackled down and heads held low in fear and dread... Knowing exactly where they were. It was raining as well, heavily, which made visibility somewhat poor for the prisoners and even the police.

As the DeadGuards approached them, completely unhindered by the pouring rain, the prisoners, who were supposedly the worst of the worst that Kanto had to offer right now and consisted of a few K.B.R. criminals that had just been captured recently, making their numbers dwindle even further and leaving only a handful of free K.B.R. members left, and one rather short and haggardly looking older woman with red hair pulled up in two side pigtails... Were literally shaking in fear when they saw the guards approach them. Even the Kanto police were unnerved by them.

Officer Jenny hated meeting with the DeadGuards but since her department was on the only island that was even remotely the closest to Eruption Islan the prisoners that were supposed to go to DeadHeat were always shipped from Fuschia Port, all the way down past the Seafoam Islands, into the Cinnabar Island chain and then to her island, where her and a group of a elite officers would then take over in escorting the prisoners the rest of the way to DeadHeat.

She just constantly thanked Arceus that they only had to do this every once and a while. She could definitely understand why the prisoners of DeadHeat were so afraid of the DeadGuards... The people were honestly terrifying to be around!

Officer Jenny walked up to the captain of the squad, holding tightly onto her police hat so it didn't fly off in the mighty gale of wind and rain that was falling down upon them, and addressed the guard firmly and seriously.

"Officer Jenny of GoldenSun Island and my first division of top officers reporting in with the new prisoners sentenced to DeadHeat Prison! All are accounted for and the sentence stay the same as usual!" She reported.

The guard merely nodded and said nothing to the female officer. The guard motioned to the other guards and they all went and took custody of the prisoners away from the officers around them.

After that was done the guards marched the prisoners up to their leader and then stopped. The lead guard tipped their head to Officer Jenny in gratitude and then turned around marched the other guards and prisoners away without another word.

Officer Jenny shivered a little and turned back to her other officers. She walked back towards the boat. "Let's get out of this place." She told them. A few minutes later and the boat was navigating away from the island again.

The prisoners were marched up the jagged and well worn path towards the prison and eventually reached it's first outer gate. The lead guard stopped and waved up to the tower above the fence. They received a signal of some kind and the gate swung open, granting them access.

They repeated this process with the middle and inner gates and finally arrived at the doors of the prison. Doors so thick that it looked like even Terrakion couldn't bust through them.

Once the lead guard did some other kind of signal the massive doors swung open slowly and the prisoners were marched inside. They were instantly assaulted with the dank, musty smell of the prison that also held an air of cold steel and the nearly overwhelming feeling of dread, hopelessness and fear that came with the very DEAD looking atmosphere of the place.

They were marched through several corridors, all guarded heavily by dozens of guards, cameras, motion sensors... You name it, until they were brought into the processing room. They quickly stripped the prisoners down, branded them each with a hot poker that left behind their prison ID number to identify them with, which caused horrendous shrieks of pain from the prisoners and then marched them out into the massive lock-up section of the prison.

As the prisoners were led to the cells that would become their hellish homes until the day they died, the prisoners already in their extremely high security cells would just watch the newcomers with pity, sorrow and complete brokenness in their eyes. As each guard looked in on them, the prisoners would all cower back in fear and as the few remaining K.B.R. members that hadn't killed themselves yet looked over the new inmates and saw a few members of their now broken organization being led to their own cells, a silent message was passed between them. 'The K.B.R. is dead...' Was the message that could clearly be read going on between them.

The guards passed by cell after cell, placing each new prisoner in their designated cells and sealing the door shut behind them. They wouldn't be walking out of those doors anytime soon for any reason whatsoever. It went this way until they only had one prisoner left and lead the red haired woman up to the next level of cells and passed by several of them before stopping at one.

They unsealed the door and opened it up. The inside of the cell was made of the same metal that made up the rest of the prison and had a bunkbed, a toilet, mirror and sink in one corner, a TV set inside of a steel barred cage that was suspended on the ceiling, a small bookshelf on one wall and a very small dresser pushed up against one of the other walls.

The guards went to push Nastina into the cell but at that moment she snapped. "NOO! I WON'T BE FORCED INSIDE OF SOME CRAMPED METAL BOX D'YA HEAR ME?! I WON'T GO!" She screamed.

The guards just picked Nastina up, one by each arm and threw her into the cell. At the same time, the cells only other occupant had been roused from their sleep on the bottom part of the bunk and got up in a huff.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DAMN GUARDS BOTHERING ME NOW HUH?!" A red haired woman, who looked like a clone of the woman who was being forced into the cell at that very moment, shouted nastily at the guards with a voice that could put an Exploud to shame. "IT'S NOT ENOUGH THAT I HAVE TO ROT AWAY IN THIS FILTHY CELL BUT NOW YOUR COMING ALONG TO RUB IT IN MY FACE?! WELL I WON'T STAND FOR IT YA HEAR?!"

It was at that moment that Nastina came flying into the cell towards Brutella and the formerly screeching woman's face changed into one of shock and her eyes widened as she saw the woman hurdling towards her. She tried to get out of the way in time but couldn't as Nastina came crashing down on top of her.

The guards shut the door and sealed it before simply walking away and not looking back or saying a word. As Nastina lay there on top of Brutella on the cold metal floor, the two of them groaned in pain with swirls in their eyes.

"So they managed to get you too huh?" Brutella managed to get out, still feeling dizzy from the crash.

Nastina, who looked just as disoriented and shaken up from the collision answered with an unsteady voice. "Hey I thought you liked when family visited you..." She groaned out.

Brutella managed to untangle herself from her cousin and stood up. "I meant PLANNED visits you fool! And that was at my home in Porte Vista, not here in some scummy prison where I've been thrown away to rot!" She shouted down at her cousin.

Nastina got up herself and sneered at Brutella. "Well well excuse me! Ya know it's nice to see you with nothing and sitting in some dank prison cell waiting to die pig nose!" She jeered.

Brutella grew a tickmark on the side of her forehead at hearing her nickname from childhood. "Ohh yeah?! Well look at where you are Nassi! Looks like your in the same position as me!" She sneered right back at Nastina. "How it must burn knowing that you lost that nice hotel and resort, ohh yes I knew all about them! Your pride and joy... All those years of scheming came crashing down around you. I have to say, the prison garbs fit you much nicer than that ridiculous 'glamour doll' crap you used to wear! How does it feel knowing that you'll never go to another beauty salon to get that garbage you call a face worked on huh?" She pressed further, her nasty sneer growing wider.

Nastina got right in her cousin's face. "I may have lost everything and been forced to spend the rest of my life in a dark, small and smelly cage with YOU, but at least I'll get the satisfaction of watching you go insane and most likely kill yourself! HAHAHAHA!" She laughed maniacally.

"We'll just see who cracks first COUSIN!" Brutella spat the title out like filth. "Because when YOU are the one that loses your mind at least I'll have some semblance of joy in this by watching you kill yourself! If I'm lucky!"

Nastina rammed her face in Brutella's. "I GUESS WE'll SEE WHO CRACKES FIRST YOU OLD MILTANK UDDER!"

"PIECE OF GOLBAT SHIT!" Brutella fired back.

"WRINKLED OLD SACK OF WALRIEN SKIN!"

"FEEBAS FACE!"

"MUK SLUDGE!"

"TAMATO BERRY HEAD!"

And so, the two Haggersons began the first of what many an inmate and even guard would come to call, 'The Haggerson Hags Squealing and Name Calling Death Match'. In fact, many years from now, LONG after both Nastina and Brutella were dead and gone, future inmates and guards alike would all say that they could still hear the two old prunes continuing their seemingly never ending bout of endless jeers, proclamations of hate and foulest names they could come up with for one another.

This would eventually lead to adding yet another 'Nightmarish Torture' to the already infamous prison's arsenal. Inmates of lock-up would forever be plagued until the end of their days by the sounds of Brutella and Nastina's endless battle. None of them ever knowing a peaceful nights rest.

Of course, no one knew this right now. All of the prisoners that were currently in lock-up with the cousins were just hoping they would end their racket and ear splitting screaming soon. However, the later generations would definitely know! Funny enough, Brutella and Nastina both always wanted to go down in history for something and they were... Just not in the way they were expecting.

The DeadGuards just chuckled to themselves at hearing the 'torture' that the old hags were putting the rest of the prisoners through and simply turned off the audio receptors in their masks as they whistled a jaunty tune to themselves. Completely blocking out the shrill shreaking of the women and the cries of protest from the prisoners.

One thing was for damn sure! Life in DeadHeat had definitely just become MUCH more amusing for the DeadGuards and a WHOLE LOT worse for the inmates!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

(Time Skip: One Week Later)

Ash stood on the deck of the ferry looking out over the ocean as he saw land slowly start to appear in the distance. He held his Poke'Dex in his hand and a Pokeball in the other. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder and was looking towards the approaching landmass as well with excitement on his face.

Ash looked up at his Pokemon and smiled. "I bet you're ready to be off the ship and start training on stable ground again huh buddy?" He asked.

Pikachu just nodded his head vigorously. "Pi! Pikachu Chu Pikachu!" He said looking at the deck of the ship with disdain in his eyes.

Ash laughed. "Yeah buddy me too. I'm sure Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Giselle and her Pokemon are ready to train in a bigger area as well. I know I am." He said shaking his head. He then snickered a little. "I bet Squirtle and Charmander can't wait to reach shore so they can actually swim in the ocean without fear of the ship leaving them behind!" He said as he started laughing, joined in by Pikachu.

They were remembering earlier in the week when Squirtle and Charmander had gotten antsy being on the ship for so long and missed being in the water. It was in the morning right after Ash, his Pokemon, Giselle and her Pokemon had finished training on the deck, the only place big enough for them all to train on the ship, and Squirtle and Charmander were staring at the water below longingly.

Before Ash could stop them they jumped down into the waves and started swimming around the ocean happily, play fighting and chasing each other back and forth. Charmander looked like a bright orange beaken the way his body was glowing with his tail flame retracted up inside of his body.

Ash and his friends watched them in amusement for a time until Ash noticed that the ship started getting further and further away from his Pokemon and they weren't swimming fast enough to keep up.

Ash had called out for them to try and catch up with the ship but no matter how fast they swam they couldn't catch up. Especially Charmander. He wasn't as adept in the water as Squirtle was and couldn't swim as fast.

Ash had managed to save them by calling out Gyarados from it's Pokeball and had him swim out, grab them and bring them back to the ship. Ash managed to reach over the railing and grab his startled Pokemon and then returned Gyarados before the ship could get to far away from him as well.

After that Ash made a strict rule that NONE of his Pokemon were allowed to swim in the ocean while on the boat so the same thing didn't happen again. It was bad enough that he had Squirtle getting antsy and wanting to get in the water but he also had to worry about Charmander, a FIRE-TYPE, getting antsy for the WATER!

Ash and Pikachu stopped laughing and he just shook his head. Leave it to him to get a Pokemon, a Fire-Type no less, that actually enjoyed the water after finding a way to not get you know... KILLED by being exposed full body to it. Ohh well, Charmander was special and even stronger now with his resistance to water then he was before so Ash just shrugged it off. He was proud of the Fire Pokemon. He had done something that Ash felt confident no other Fire-Type had done before by conquering his natural enemy, the water.

Ash looked back up to Pikachu again. "We sure did get a lot done this week didn't we pal?" He stated more to himself than Pikachu. "We got even more training done this week than usual, you guys and Giselle's Pokemon have gotten even stronger and we even managed to get Tentacruel set up on a really good training program as well." He said with a big smile on his face.

Pikachu nodded and also smiled widely. "Pika Pi Pikachu Pi!" He agreed.

Ash looked back towards the approaching landmass and thought about everything concerning Tentacruel's training.

Every single night for the past week Ash would go up to the deck and then release Gyarados into the water. He would jump down off of the deck onto Gyarados's back and have his Pokemon swim them far away from the ship until it was well out of sight and no one would see Tentacruel training. Ash would then have Gyarados track the ship down hours later when they were done training Tentacruel and let him off back on the deck, to which Ash would return his Pokemon and then go to bed. His friends knew he did this of course and were totally fine with it. All except for Giselle who wanted to go with Ash but was always to exhausted by the evening training bouts they always did to go with him so late at night.

During training Ash would release Tentacruel and spend three to four hours working with the Pokemon that he had actually found out was male from his Poke'Dex along with other need to know bits of information. He learned that Tentacruel knew the moves: Supersonic, Constrict, Water Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Ice Beam, Toxic Spikes and Bubblebeam. He also had the ability Liquid Ooze, which was a status effecting ability and made it where any Pokemon that tried to steal health from Tentacruel would actually lose health and energy when Tentacruel's energy made it to their bodies. This ability was supposedly rare for a Tentacruel to possess but Ash wasn't really surprised. After all, Tentacruel was a Giant Pokemon and it was possible ,he supposed, that Team Rocket's 'Stun Sauce' could have effected Tentacruel's abilities and changed into Liquid Ooze since it changed everything else about his physical make-up, both internal and external.

Tentacruel's training had been going incredibly well and Ash was happy to say that he had set up the perfect training program for his newest Pokemon. He had Tentacruel work his attacks and drilled him on making them stronger and more controlled for his massive size. He also worked Tentacruel on speed, power, strength, endurance, stamina and even type disadvantage and 'Gain by Pain' training drills.

Tentacruel's physical training ranged from 'shadow boxing' fake opponents with it's many tentacles, work grappling and Constrict type attacks the same way, diving down as deep into the ocean as Tentacruel could and then speed back to the surface as fast as possible, swim underwater as long and fast as he could, work his moves and techniques until exhaustion came over him and Ash would even have Tentacruel work on jumping as high out of the water as he could repeatedly to work the lower strength in his tentacles. Ash would sometimes just sit back on Gyarados with Pikachu and observe Tentacruel's training and other times he would sit on top of Tentacruel's head and coach the Pokemon when it was doing above water exercises.

He would have Tentacruel devote one hour to move training, two hours to skills and physical conditioning training and for the last hour he would have Pikachu use his electric attacks on Tentacruel to work the 'Gain by Pain' and type disadvantage training.

Tentacruel worked very hard training every night and proved to Ash just how dedicated he was to becoming stronger and getting better with every training session they did. Ash had also set Tentacruel up on the perfect nutrition program and based it off of the same 'Giant Pokemon Nutritional Strategy' that he had created originally for Dragonite. The recipe he made for Tentacruel was perfect for Water-Types and Ash just had to tweak it a little for Poison-Types since Tentacruel was half and half. He kept the Enigma Berry portion of the strategy he used to fill Dragonite up faster with the meals she ate in the mix of food that Tentacruel ate so he would not have to eat so much food to get filled up. Ash could say that he found Tentacrue's tasted, surprisingly and ironically enough, like calamari. How did Ash himself know what calamari tasted like? Professor Oak loved seafood and ate some weird ass dishes!

Gyarados had also been helping Ash train Tentacruel by being a sparring partner and after seeing Tentacruel's current power level in the time they had spent training over the week Ash had definitely decided that he would NEVER use Tentacruel in any battles except in League Conference battles and big tournaments. Using Tentacruel in any normal battle would just not be good sport for him since Tentacruel was so massive and powerful. Basically it was the same situation as with Dragonite.

All in all, the last week had been very successful and Ash was ready to send Tentacruel back to the lab now that his Pokemon had the perfect training schedule to keep up on and nutritional strategy for Professor Oak to follow for the Pokemon. He also knew that Dragonite would be very happy to have her sparring buddy back and he definitely looked forward to those two becoming closer friends. He was sure that Professor Oak would be happy to finally get a chance to study Tentacruel and Ash was also very anxious to finally get Pidgeotto back on his team. He had told Tentacruel the previous night that he would be sending him to Professor Oak's lab today and asked if he was okay with it. Tentacruel was totally content with that decision because even though he enjoyed spending the week with his new Trainer he still wanted to check out the Oak Ranch, get to know Ash's other Pokemon better, especially the Water-Types, and spend more time with his giant kin Dragonite and Krabby, who he hadn't really met yet. Even though Krabby wasn't nearly as big as Tentacruel and Dragonite he was still technically a Giant Pokemon, just not AS big.

Ash broke from his reverie and then placed Tentacruel's Pokeball on the teleporter pad of the Poke'Dex. After saying goodbye one last time he sent the Pokemon away and requested which Pokemon he wanted in return by using the keyboard that was built into the device to type in Pidgeotto's name. Ash decided at the same time that he would also send back Gyarados so he could have his sixth and final spot open on his team as well. He pulled out the Atrocious Pokemon's ball and also placed it on the pad before having it sent away.

A few moments later Pidgeotto's Pokeball was zapped over and Ash picked it up, pocketing his Poke'Dex as he smiled at the Pokeball. "Good to have you back girl!" Ash said happily. "I hope you had fun training with Fearow." He put her ball away and then started scratching Pikachu, who was perched on the railing of the deck, absently behind the ears. The yellow mouse made happy sounds in reply to his Trainer's massaging behind his ears and the two just continued to stare out at the mainland that was getting and bigger and bigger the closer the ship got to it.

Ash suddenly felt hands wrap around his waist and a head gently come to rest on his back. Ash smiled. "I wondered when you would come up here..." He said turning around and coming face to face with his gorgeous brunette girlfriend.

She smiled and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "I just finished packing everything up in my cabin. I'm pretty sure Misty and Brock are almost done too and should be joining us up here soon." She explained as she continued to hug his chest.

Ash hugged her tighter and nodded. "Yeah I'm all packed and ready to go. We should be arriving at the port pretty soon..." He said absently as he gently stroked her hair.

Giselle didn't say anything and instead just looked up at him and placed her hands on his face. She gently pulled his face closer as she leaned up and connected her lips to his in a sweet and loving kiss. Ash wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter to him as they continued to embrace and show their passion for each other, separating and reconnecting their lips like a dance.

They were interrupted a few minutes later by the sound of someone coughing and they separated to find Brock standing there on the deck smirking at them with Misty beside him looking more than a little jealous. Both of them walked up to the young couple as Brock grinned wider. "Not interrupting anything are we guys?" He asked with that same grin on his face.

Giselle just shot Brock an evil glare and Ash narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Ohh no Brock not all!" He said comically throwing his hands in the air. "I guess a guy really can't stand on the deck of a ship and have a romantic moment or two with his girlfriend!" He leaned on the railing and pouted, peeved with Brock's SO inopportune interruption.

Brock just chuckled. "Sorry guys. But hey look at it like this, you'll have plenty of time to play kissy face with each other at the Maiden's Festival that's being held in the town we're about to be let off at." He told them.

Ash suddenly stood up straight and looked interested. "Maiden's Festival?" He asked curiously.

"What's that Brock?" Giselle asked, also curious as she temporarily forgot her frustration at the squinty eyed teen.

Brock shrugged slightly. "Well from what I've heard it's a celebration honoring all of the lives that were lost many years ago when men from the town were called away to fight in the Kanto Civil War that divided the region into East and West factions over two thousand years ago. The festival is pretty big and full of celebration, food, events, music and merchandise that's symbolic to the town itself. Like dummy weapons the soldiers took to war and articles of clothing from the outfits they wore, stuff like that. I really don't know anything else other than the fact that Maiden's Peak is a pretty big deal for some reason but that's it." He finished explaining.

"Hey the festival sounds pretty fun!" Misty exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah it sure does!" Giselle agreed enthusiastically. She turned to Ash. "Doesn't it sound fun Ash?!" She asked him, grabbing his arm and tugging on it playfully.

Ash laughed and kissed her hand. "Sure does! I wanna go." He stated.

Giselle squealed happily and grabbed onto his arm again. Brock shook his head amused and Misty sighed wistfully. Ash looked over at her. "The town is right near the ocean Misty so you may see some cool Water Pokemon!" He said smiling.

Misty smiled brightly at the thought. "Yeah that would be awesome!" She agreed wholeheartedly.

The whistle on the ship blew loudly at that moment, signaling that they would be stopping soon. The kids turned their gazes back towards the direction the ship was heading in and could see the small port town laid out before them. Giselle let her gaze wonder until she saw a very large cliff side with a huge statue of a woman standing atop the peak, looking out over the ocean with her stone hands crossed across her chest.

"Hey guys that must be Maiden's Peak!" She said pointing up to it.

They all looked at where she was pointing and Ash nodded his head. "It looks really cool. That's definitely somewhere I wanna go check out when we get the chance!" He said leaning over the railing.

Brock turned back and looked at the ship. "Come on guys we should probably get around to the other side of the ship so we can be some of the first ones off." He told them.

Ash, Misty and Giselle agreed and then followed Brock towards the exit plank of the ship. They were all very anxious and excited to explore the town and the only thing stopping them right now was just a few hundreds yards of ocean that was quickly disappearing in distance as the ship drew closer towards it's destination.

XXXXXXXXX

The ferry had finally made birth at the docks of what the captain had announced as Amarol Town. Ash and his friends were some of the first ones off of the ship and upon exiting the dock they ventured on until they found themselves standing in the seaside market of the town right next to the ocean.

The first thing that they noticed was just how busy and full of people the small town really was. All of the shops and stands around the marketplace were full of buying customers and half of the people looked to be nothing more than wandering tourists. Some young women came walking by Ash and his group and at that moment they all expected Brock to lunge for the women and be his usual perverted flirtatious self with them.

However they were shocked when he didn't make a move for the women and instead just stood there with his head down and a dark aura surrounding him. "Brock are you okay?" Giselle asked, concerned for her friend.

He just shook his head and dropped to his knees. "No... No I'm not alright!" He practically sobbed.

"For Arceus's sake Brock what the hells wrong?!" Misty demanded from the nearly in tears teenager.

He lifted his head and looked at them. "Isn't it obvious?!" He cried.

Ash, Giselle and Misty just looked at Brock weirdly and shook their heads 'no'. He jumped up and pointed around them. "Look at all of these beautiful girls running around here guys! They're literally in droves!" He said gesturing madly.

Ash looked around and saw that there were quite a few attractive young ladies walking around the town, some of them looking like locals and others looking like tourists. He even recognized a few from the ship. "Yeah so?" He said turning back to Brock.

The teenager began crying anime tears. "All of these beautiful girls and the worst part is... Bikini season is over!" He said crying full on rivers now.

Ash and the others sweat dropped. "We spent so long traveling around and getting involved with all of that stuff in Porte Vista and Hutber Port that I never got to enjoy the women in their bikinis down on the beach! It's October and now the warm weather even around these coastal towns is almost gone! That's means no more bikinis! I'm gonna have to wait a whole year for it again!" By now Brock was curled up on the ground crying with a rain cloud over his head.

"So..." Ash began. "That's why your upset? Just because something as petty as bikini season is over?!" He asked incredulously. "That's just sad Brock-O." He shook his head amusedly.

Brock pointed an accusing finger up at him. "Easy for you to say Ash! You have a hot girlfriend that you got to oogle all over every time she was in a bikini! I didn't get a thing!" He whined.

Ash just shrugged his shoulders and wrapped his arms around his beautiful girlfriend. "Well what can I say Brock? I'm a lucky guy!" He said grinning like mad as Giselle smiled and kissed Ash softly on the lips. "Charmer." She said giving him a mock stern glare.

He just chuckled. "You know it baby!" He said holding her tighter.

Brock continued to cry comically and Misty had enough. Out of nowhere a huge mallet suddenly appeared in Misty's hand, shocking Ash, Pikachu and Giselle. The girl grew several tick marks on her forehead and then brought the mallet crashing down on Brock's head, knocking the poor boy senseless.

Misty's mallet disappeared as fast as it appeared, yet again shocking the others as she reached down and grabbed ahold of Brock. "Get ahold of yourself you creepy pervert!" She yelled as she shook him back and forth by his shirt collar. "Do you have any idea how emabarrasing this is?! Having people hear your friend whine about how much he hates that he missed out on the chance to peep on poor unsuspecting women in their bathing suits!" She screeched. "It's humiliating! No get up off that damn ground and act like a respectable person and not some perverted creepo!"

Brock, in his very jostled state of mind from Misty shaking him back and forth, not to mention the mallet blow to the head, wasn't thinking and must have misheard Misty when he managed to stutter out, "H-How d-did y-you k-know I w-was g-gonna p-peep on w-women's c-changing r-rooms..." He said as Misty continued shaking him.

The girl stopped dead at hearing this and let Brock drop limply from her grasp as he hit the pavement with swirls in his eyes. "What did you just say Brock?!" Misty demanded.

Giselle pushed away from Ash and went to stand beside Misty. "Yes Brock what did you say?! Because I know it wasn't something about how you were going to PEEP on girls in beach changing rooms! Right?!" Giselle also demanded.

Brock had just managed to regain his senses and suddenly remembered what he said. He went wide eyes and he started scooting back away from the two quickly enraging girls. "Nonononono you two that's not what I said at all! I meant... Umm... Well I meant that I wanted to just admire the beautiful young women on the beach in their swimsuits! Yeah that's what I meant, BIGGGG misunderstanding!" He frantically tried pleading his case.

Misty and Giselle just stared down at Brock with murder in their eyes and slowly cracked their knuckles. Ash heard Brock 'gulp' all the way over where he was standing and heard the older boy try to start pleading again... But to no avail.

Misty and Giselle pounced on Brock right in the middle of the street and began pounding him for all they were worth. Ash cringed and recoiled in fear, mirrored by Pikachu on his shoulder, at every horrible ounce of pain and misery the enraged girls were afflicting on poor Brock.

The only thing that could be heard was the wails of pain from Brock and the curses of 'dirty damn pervert!' From Misty and the screams of 'you nasty$&amp; mother$&amp; &amp;$* son of a $&amp;!#&amp; PERVERT!' From Giselle which made Ash blush deep red at the language he was hearing his girlfriend use. Language that far exceeded Misty's and nearly rivaled his own mother's whenever she messed up something she was cooking, broke something cleaning or forgot to water her flowers causing them to wilt. Hell, Ash didn't even know his usually sweet and innocent girlfriend HAD a temper!

People passing by seeing the carnage would quickly give the scuffling trio a wide birth and then look back at the poor boy being beaten with pity in their eyes. Ash looked up at Pikachu who was also watching the spectacle with wide eyes. "Should we... Do something Pi?" He asked his Pokemon.

Pikachu looked at Ash like he just said he wanted them to go and fight an entire herd of Rhyperior with nothing but puny twigs and stones! Pikachu promptly hopped off of Ash's shoulder and ran a few feet away before stopping and standing firm with his arms crossed as he shook his head. "Pika Pika! Pikachu Pi Pika Pi?!" It was almost like he was asking Ash, "Are you fucking crazy?! I'm not getting involved in that!"

Ash shot Pikachu a glare. "Traitor!"

The Pokemon just stayed where he was and wouldn't budge. Ash snorted and turned back to where the carnage was taking place on the other boy. "Don't worry Brock I'm coming!" Ash yelled as he ran to help his friend.

...

(Two Minutes Later...)

"PIKACHU RUN!" Ash shouted as he come running back towards Pikachu looking scuffed and bruised up.

"Pika?" Pikachu twitched his ears in confusion as he saw his Trainer running towards him.

Ash finally reached Pikachu and didn't stop as he scooped his Pokemon up mid-run and threw him on his shoulder as he kept running. "You... Were right... Pi!" Ash gasped out as he ran through the market, staying close to the ocean side and docks. "Never try to stop two girls from beating up a pervert who CLEARLY deserved it!"

Pikachu remained still for a few moments and then busted out laughing at his Trainer's plight. Ash kept running and didn't stop until he was a fair distance away and found himself in an all but deserted area of the docks. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on his hips as he stared out across the ocean. "Man that was crazy!" He said aloud. "I definitely won't be doing that again, Brock can save him damn self and maybe it'll teach him not to be so perverted!" Ash shook his head.

Pikachu was still trying desparetly to not laugh at Ash anymore but he was finding it to be exceedingly difficult. Ash looked up at his starter and smiled slightly while shaking his fist at Pikachu. "Dirty traitor!" He said halfheartedly.

Pikachu continued laughing a little bit and then happened to turn his head to the right and saw something that interested him. He stopped laughing and then tapped Ash on the head. "Pika Pi!" He said getting his Trainer's attention.

Ash looked back up at him. "What is it Pikachu?"

The yellow mouse pointed towards a spot on the docks not far from them and Ash followed his Pokemon's direction. Ash then saw what Pikachu had been looking at. A woman, looking somewhere in her early twenties, with long, light purple hair that fell down well past her waist with a flower on top of her head, wearing a long white dress, was standing on one of the concrete docks, looking out over the ocean with her hands up to her chest.

From what Ash could tell from her side profile she was a very beautiful young women and held a sort of mysterious air about her. As Ash stared at her he suddenly heard a voice saying, _'I'm waiting for you my love... Come back to me.'_

Ash shook his head to clear it of the voice and then started feeling a strange pull, almost like an infectious attraction towards the girl. As Ash felt his mind begin to slip into obscurity he shook his head again. He continued to fight this strange pulling feeling that seemed to get stronger and stronger the longer he resisted it.

Ash fell to his knees and Pikachu looked worried as Ash continued to hold his head, trying desparetly to fight the borderline... Hypnosis he was feeling. Ash felt himself start to lose control and started thinking of the one thing besides Pokemon that would clear his mind. He started thinking of Giselle and just how beautiful, much more beautiful than even the girl standing on the docks in front of him was, how sweet and kind Giselle always was... At least when she wasn't beating on people. How she was almost always smiling and being chipper and happy about everything. How she brightened up his day no matter what. The more these thoughts passed through his head of Giselle, the less and less he felt the invading presence in his mind.

The whole time this was happening Pikachu was switching between watching his Trainer go through whatever was happening to him and looking over at the girl on the dock some distance away. He was confused and very suspicious at seeing the woman now staring directly at Ash with a very concentrated, almost pained look on her face. The strain the woman was showing only got worse the more Ash struggled and the more he started to regain control of his mind.

Pikachu looked back down at Ash. "Pika P!" He said worriedly as he got closer to Ash.

The boy continued fighting as hard as he could and then, with one last bout of strength and willpower, Ash shouted loudly and kicked the invading presence out of his mind. "AHHHH!" He screamed out loud as he fell to the ground and started gasping for air while his head pounded with an intense throbbing. He began trying to piece together exactly what happened and who, or what, had tried to attack his mind, but everything kept coming up as a blank.

Pikachu came a little closer to his Trainer and tapped him on the shoulder. "Pikachu?" He asked concerned.

Suddenly Ash remembered what had happened. "The woman!" He shouted as he sat fully up and looked in the direction that the woman had been in. He was shocked however to find that she wasn't there anymore. She had just completely vanished, gone into thin air!

Ash shook his head and tried to center his thoughts as at the same time he heard someone call out to him. "Ash!" He looked behind himself and saw Misty, Giselle and a surprisingly unscathed Brock running up to him.

Giselle made it to Ash first and stopped just inches from him. "Ash are you okay?! We've been looking all over for you!" She said as she looked down at him with worry in her eyes.

He slowly pulled himself up off the ground and gave her a thumbs up. "Yeah I'm fine Giselle, just wanted to explore a little." He lied.

"Why were you on the ground then?" She asked with an eyebrow raised in curiosity and suspicion.

He just shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to relax for a little while so I sat down to stare off at the ocean." He said calmly. He didn't want to tell his friends what happened yet. He didn't want to worry them with something he didn't even understand himself yet.

Giselle continued to eye him for a little bit and eventually her gaze softened. "Okay... And Ash? I'm really sorry that Misty and I kinda... Attacked you too in our blind rage. It just sorta happened." She said with an embarrassed look on her face.

Misty seemed ashamed as well. "Yeah I'm really sorry too Ash." She said honestly.

Ash just chuckled and waved his hand in the air. "Don't worry about it girls, I learned a valuable lesson out of it. Never get in between two girls beating on a pervert!" He said while nodding to himself and chanting inside of his mind that he would NEVER do that again.

"Hey!" Brock tried to defend himself.

Ash looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Come on Brock you know it's true. You kinda deserved that beating for saying you were planning on spying on the women's beach changing rooms back at Hutber and Porte Vista if you had the chance. I think what you got was pretty fair dude."

Brock just sighed and looked down in a moping fashion. "Yeah Ash I guess your right. Still, that beating hurt pretty damn bad..." He said rubbing a sore arm.

Giselle and Misty both shot Brock a dark look that was clearly telling him to shut up and stop complaining or receive another beating even worse than the last. The squinty eye teen quickly got the message and fell silent.

Ash just laughed and then looked back towards the main part of town near the market. "Come on guys, let's head into the market and see what all they have going on there!" He suggested as Pikachu hopped back up on his shoulder. He was finally feeling better after the strange 'mind attack' he had went through and was ready to get it out of his thoughts completely. He didn't know what was up with that woman but whatever it was he knew it wasn't good. As long as he never saw her again he'd be happy!

His friends eagerly agreed and they started heading back towards the market area. Ash looked over at Giselle and remembered how she helped him overcome the attempt to take over his mind by just being in his memories and giving him all of the happy thoughts and loving feelings he needed to fight back. He smiled and drew closer to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him while they continued walking, Brock and Misty behind them.

"Thank you Giselle." He said simply.

She looked at him confusedly. "For what Ash?" She asked her boyfriend.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. "For everything." He replied.

She just smiled brightly at him and kissed his cheek in reply. "Well your very welcome Ash!" She said in a very happy way.

He smiled back and then they continued on their way to the market.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile back at the dock where the ship was still anchored, refueling before it bordered the passengers that were leaving Amarol Town and headed for Hutber Port, were three very distinct individuals that we all know only to well, peeping up over the side of one the concrete docks. They were dressed in some beach tourist outfits they had stolen and looked just like normal tourists to anybody who would have happened to look over the side of the docks and seen them hanging there on the wall.

"Hehehe hitching a ride in the cargo hold of that ship was a great idea Jessie!" James said to her as they continued to peak over the dock at all of the many people wandering around the town and headed in different directions, mostly all to the market.

"Why thank you James, I do have to wonder how I'm always able to come up with such brilliant ideas while still being so beautiful but in the end I decide it's best to just not question it!" Jessie said with a smug edge to her tone. "It would make sense why all of the women back at HQ can't stand me so. Their jealous! Poor little girls couldn't ever to compare with me anyway so why even try?"

Meowth had heard enough of Jessie's pompous, self glorifying speech and spoke up. "Hey yous twos focus on why we're here in da first place! We showed away on dat ship so we could keep up wit da twerps and then steal dat Pikachu when we got da chance! Also, if we play our cards right while we're here we might be might be able ta scrounge up some loose change dat dese tourists are probably dropping all over da place! If we're gonna pay back da debt we owe to da team so we can get our funding back din when need ta get crackin on making some cash!" He explained to them seriously.

Jessie and James were both surprised yet again by Meowth's serious and driven attitude to get things done. Ever since the incident at Hutber Port with the Tentacool and Tentacruel, Meowth had been behaving very differently and was determined to steal Pikachu and start getting back in their organizations good graces.

Jessie nodded. "Your right Meowth! Luckily we managed to steal these tourist outfits while on the ship so we wouldn't be recognized from Team Rocket." She said.

The three Rockets then climbed over the wall and quickly blended into the crowd of other tourists perfectly. While Jessie and Meowth started looking around for any loose change, James happened to look out in the distance at one of the docks and saw a beautiful young women standing there looking out over the ocean.

James instantly got hearts in his eyes and clasped his hands together as he gawked at her. "Ohh my Arceus that's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!" He drooled as he continued to stare at her from afar. With even noticing he was doing it, James began walking through the market and closer towards the dock where the young woman was at. "She's perfect..."'James said in an almost trance like state.

Suddenly he heard a voice speak in his head. _'Ohh my love I've been waiting for you for so long... Won't you come back to me?' _Is what he heard.

James continued walking forward, completely unaware of anything or anyone else. "Do you mean me?" He asked out to her, pointing at himself.

The woman turned and looked at James with a forlorn and longing expression on her face. Even from the distance he was at away from her he could still her nod her head. He smiled almost mechanically and drawled out, "Of course I'll come to you my dear just wait for me..." He said as he continued moving towards the dock.

James vaguely felt something push into his mind but he was to clouded over with desire to notice and fell completely victim to the presence in his mind. Before he could get any closer to the woman he heard Jessie yell, "James what are you doing?! Get back over here and help us look for money!" She demanded impatiently.

That was enough to snap James from his stupor and he shook his head. "Wha-what the?!" He said looking around. Noticing he was out in a mostly deserted portion of the docks and upon looking back and seeing Jessie and Meowth some distance away in the market waiting for him impatiently he grew confused. "Why am I out here and wh-" Suddenly he remembered the young women he was enamored with and looked back towards he had last seen her. As his eyes scanned the dock for any sign of her he realized that she was gone and a great sadness fell on him out of nowhere. "Where did she go?" He asked aloud in a depressed tone.

He continued looking around but couldn't find any sign of her. Heading Jessie and Meowth call for him again, James abandoned his search with a heavy heart and started trudging back towards the market. He looked back one last time at the dock where he had seen the woman and sighed. "I hope I see her again..." He wished hopefully as he turned back around and continued on his way.

If anyone would have been paying attention then they would have seen a dark, gaseous shape temporarily appear hovering over the spot where the woman stood moments before. It stared after James with a mischievous glint in it's eyes and cackled gleefully to itself before disappearing again as fast as it had appeared.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had been wandering the market for some time now and had been visiting the many different stands, small shops, vendors and different little knick-knack places that were littered all around the market area of the town.

People were literally everywhere and the markets were so crowded and stuffy with people that Ash and his friends had to be very careful not to bump into anyone and knock them over. They were practically having to walk in almost a straight line fashion with Ash holding Giselle's hand behind him so they weren't separated. Misty stayed closely behind Giselle and Brock did the same with Misty, bringing up the rear.

There also quite a few police, including an Officer Jenny that Misty had to stop Brock from lunging for, patrolling the crowded streets and keeping an eye out for any criminal activity that may break out in such a large event as the one that was taking place today.

Ash and his friends had actually been warned by Officer Jenny to not keep loose valuables on them while wandering around the town during such a busy time because pickpockets and thieves were always bad at this time of year whenever the time for the Maiden's Festival rolled around and tourists came from all around to participate in the events.

Ash and the others had seen more than enough of the highly overpriced crap at the market to last them, even the girls, and so they decided to head into the more 'rural' parts of the town where there were several shrines, historical monuments and extremely old sites set up that detailed the town's age old history, honored the soldiers who left to fight in the Kanto Civil War and even told stories about the young women that had become popularly known throughout the town's history as 'The Maiden' and had her stone likeness set up atop Maiden's Peak, overlooking the ocean.

The friends were just now starting to pass through the food portion of the market which was the last thing separating them from finally arriving at the first shrine that was dedicated solely to paintings and other pieces of ancient artwork that detailed things about the town's history.

This section of market was definitely very fragrant indeed and had the smells of several food stands that sold many different kinds of foods, wafting through the street they were walking on.

Ash made a disgusted face and looked back at Giselle. "I can smell the grease they use to make almost all of this food with." He told her with clear disdain in his voice.

Giselle, who was used to following Ash's strict diet plan, agreed with him. "I know and the smell is almost making me sick..." She said as she placed her hand over her nose in an attempt to block the smell out. Pikachu looked almost green he was feeling so sick with the completely unfamiliar smells of greasy foods he was being bombarded with. Ash only fed his Pokemon the healthiest, training specific and most nutritious of foods, which meant that poor Pikachu never had anything as unhealthy as what was being served all around them today in his entire time traveling with Ash. Brock and Misty also looked bothered by the smell of the food because, even though weren't at Ash and Giselle's crazy level they were at with it, they still liked eating and taking care of themselves as best as they could.

In fact, when they had all stopped for lunch at a Pokemon friendly outdoor restaurant so they could also feed their Pokemon the four friends ate salads with mostly lean cut meats and a few pieces of fresh fruit mixed in so they had a good mix of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables, Carbs from the fruit and Protein from the meat. They did this while they watched in disgust as the people around them basically ate plates of grease with a little food sprinkled over the top of it.

So in short, they were all more than ready to get the hell out of the food district!

As they continued to walk they were all blasted by a particularly strong whiff of grease which made them all turn their heads and place their hands over their mouths. "Dammit I hate grease!" Ash cursed as he tried to breath through the nasty odor trying to invade his nostrils.

Unfortunately, since Ash had been covering his face and had turned his head away to avoid the offending odor, he wasn't looking in front of him and the next second felt himself impacting with someone, a rather short someone if the head that hit Ash's thigh was any indication.

Ash yelped in surprise and toppled over head first, taking Giselle with him since he was holding her hand. Brock and Misty watched it all unfold from where they stood a few feet back and a few seconds later Ash was lying on his back with Giselle on top of him and Pikachu sprawled out on the ground next to him.

Ash groaned in pain. "Oww..." He mumbled as he nursed his bruised side that was hurting even worse with Giselle's weight on him.

"Pika!" Pikachu shot his Trainer a glare as he got up and shook his fur loose of anything that may have got in it when he hit the ground.

Giselle slowly rolled off of Ash looked at him. "What happened Ash? That hurt..." She said massaging a leg that had hit the ground and was sore.

He just groaned again and sat up as he answered her, "Sorry Giselle I don't know what happened, I think I hit somebody..." He said rubbing his head.

"Ahh you don't say?!" They heard a slightly shrill voice hell at them.

Ash and Giselle whipped their heads around to the source of the voice and saw a short woman, Nastina sized, with long white hair that looked very wild and untamed, wearing a long purple robe that went down past her feet and was carrying a long wooden staff in he hands.

Said woman was lying on her backside on the ground and was rubbing her forehead with a look of irritation on her very weathered looking face. Brock shared a look with Misty and then walked towards the woman so he could help her up. The woman batted his hands away however and growled at him, "Don't touch me youngin' I can get up myself!" She snapped.

Brock just raised his hands in the air and backed away as the woman struggled to her feet. Ash raised himself back to his feet and then went over and helped Giselle back to her feet. After giving Pikachu a look of apology for accidentally sending the Pokemon off of his shoulder, Pikachu forgave him and hopped back up on Ash's shoulder.

The boy walked over to the old woman, who was now dusting off her purple robes, and bowed to her. "I'm very sorry for running into you ma'am, I should have been paying attention to where I was going. My apologies." He said bowing lower.

When he raised his head back up to look at the old woman again he was slightly unnerved to see her just staring at him with an odd expression on her face as her eyes bored into him. Ash fidgeted a little. "Ahh... Is everything okay ma'am?" He asked nervously.

The woman stayed silent as she continued to scrutinize him and then started walked around him in circles. Ash just looked at Giselle, Brock and Misty for help and they just shrugged their shoulders in equal confusion as to what the woman was doing.

Finally she stopped pacing around Ash and stood in front of him again. Suddenly, as quick as a flash she jumped up and grabbed the front of Ash's tracksuit, bringing him down to her level. She pulled a large magnifying glass out of nowhere and put it right in his face.

"Ahh yes your very special I can see it in your face... Yes that you are alright..." She mumbled to herself as she continued to examine him.

Ash sweat dropped and asked her, "Can I please ask you what your doing?"

The old woman finally snapped out of her stupor and fixed Ash with a sharp gaze. "Beware the Maiden's Curse young man! I can sense it's presence all around you, thing it's hardest to take control and make you do it's bidding! Beware the curse child or find yourself lost forever just like all of the other young men whom the curse chooses at this festival every year!" She warned him ominously.

Ash felt a cold shiver go down his back when the old woman mentioned a 'curse' and how it was trying to 'control' him. His mind instantly went back to the incident on the docks with the young woman and he shivered again internally.

The old woman just stared at Ash closer as she pierced his gaze with her own. "Beware the curse... Beware the curse..."'She continued to chant in an almost creepy tone as she continued to stare into Ash's eyes.

Ash tried to peel his eyes away from the gaze of the woman but found himself in incapable as his eyes were almost locked onto hers. As he continued to stare into the old woman's eyes he felt that same invading feeling start to come over his mind and for some reason he started thinking about that same young woman again in the same way as he had on the docks earlier at that day. He felt like his thoughts were being almost directed onto nothing but her like it was trying to make her his only thought.

Ash felt himself start to slip into that familiar haze again as the old woman just stared at him with an almost hypnotizing gaze without even blinking once. It was crazy but... Ash almost felt like the old woman in front of him was the source of this new barrage on his mind as he could feel the strange aura coming from her in spades.

Ash didn't know for sure but all he did know was that he couldn't let the strange force enter and control his mind. Using all of the force he available to him, Ash began fighting back as hard as he could and struggled to retain control of his mind.

The old woman looked surprised for a split second but just quickly redoubled her concentration and stared at Ash with an even more focused and hypnotic look in her eyes.

Brock, Misty, Giselle who was at Ash's side still and Pikachu, who was on Ash's shoulder, just watched the scene play out with trepidation and uneasiness on their faces but didn't know what to do.

Ash felt the barrage on his mind get even stronger as soon as the old woman began concentrating harder and he winced a little which his friends saw. Just as Ash felt his mind start to give into the presence he looked over at Giselle and did the same thing he did down on the docks. He focused on thoughts that focused entirely on her and the moments they had shared, how beautiful she was and how to him even the 'Maiden' herself couldn't compare to her.

At these thoughts Ash felt strength flood back into his being and he was suddenly able to push back the presence in his mind with a great mental push. He felt the presence get forced from his mind with much more reluctance than last time and at that time he stumbled back a little back and the old woman also recoiled back with a great look of shock on her face as her face returned back to normal.

She stared at Ash with undisguised surprise and not a little bit of amazement on her face as the boy slowly regained his breathing and looked back at the woman with a questioning and suspicious look.

The old woman regained her composure somewhat and narrowed her eyes slightly at Ash as she spoke again. "Yes... Very special indeed... Very special and unique..." She said more to herself than anybody.

Ash went to question her on what she meant by that but he suddenly felt his legs go week under him as he dropped to the ground on his backside. "Ash!" Giselle yelled as she quickly knelt by him and put her hands on his shoulders. Misty and Brock also temporarily averted their attention from the very mysterious and slightly creepy woman as they also rushed to their friends aid.

"Ash what happened?!" Misty asked worried as she also knelt by his side.

He just sat there breathing hard as a light sweat had broken out on his brow. "I-I'm fine guys, I just had a little... Light headedness hit me but I'm okay honestly." He assured them with as much of a convincing smile as could muster.

They eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds and then then just nodded their heads in reluctant acceptance since they knew that here was something more to what had just happened to Ash then he was letting on but one that for some reason he wouldn't tell them. Giselle especially wanted to know what had happened to her boyfriend that messed with him so much but didn't force the issue out of respect for him.

Ash rubbed his head a little and then shook it to clear his thoughts and then snapped his up in the direction that the woman was previously standing who had, at least he thought, 'mind attacked' him.

His eyes widened when he saw that she was gone. Vanished. Like she had just disappeared into thin air like the young woman on the docks had. His friends followed Ash's shocked gaze and when they also saw that the old woman had disappeared they collectively gasped.

"Where did she go?!" Misty exclaimed looking around for the woman.

"It's like she just completely vanished!" Giselle said in complete confusion.

"She probably just melted in with the crowd when we were focused on Ash." Brock tried being the voice of reason.

Ash just stood up and shook his head. "I don't know what happened but let's just forget about that creepy old woman and get to the first shrine before they start showing all the artwork and we miss it." Ash said to them all.

After a few more moments of trying to locate the woman his friends gave up and agreed to continue on to the shrine before the unveiling of the artwork began. As they started walkingn away and finally exited the market a dark shape suddenly formed in the shadows of one of the shops and stared after the kids, namely Ash, with a contemplating and very curious look on it's mostly shadowed face. "Very interesting indeed..." The shape said in a very ghostly voice as it then smirked to itself and let a mischievous grin spread across it's face. "I believe I found something very interesting in the child's mind that I could use to my advantage!" It cackled madly to itself again before disappearing back into the shadows.

XXXXXXXXX

Ash and his friends had finally made it the shrine and noticed that a large crowd was already gathered before the small building. They took their places in the very front and then waited.

A few moments later the shrine doors opened up and an old man with a long mustache that came down to just below his chin, wearing a traditional Maiden's Festival robe with a long pointed hat of some kind on the top of his head, came walking out with two younger men dressed in similar outfits following behind with a few covered pieces of the shrines ancient artwork cradled carefully in their hands.

The man introduced himself as the keeper of the shrine to the assembled crowd, thanked them all for coming to the shrine and then explained a few things about the towns history as the two younger men brought the pieces of art from the shrine.

Ash and his friends, along with the rest of the crowd, watched in awe as the older man walked among the paintings, sculptures and even some ancient looking artifacts from the towns earliest days and explained a little about the history of each piece.

After some time had passed and the older man had showed off every piece of art he motioned to the two younger men who nodded and then disappeared back into the shrine. He then addressed the assembled crowd. "Now ladies and gentlemen, I would like to show all of you the town's most treasured, ancient and precious piece of artwork we have today! The painting you're about to see was created nearly two thousand years ago and is absolutely priceless."

The men finally reappeared carrying a large covered picture frame and sat it down on one of the easels that had been placed upon the small deck of the shrine. They removed the cloth and the entire crowd gasped in amazement.

What they were all looking was a rather large portrait of a beautiful young woman standing atop what everyone recognized as Maiden's Peak. It was sunset in the painting and she stood there with her hands brought up in front of her chest as she gazed out opon the ocean. The angle at which the painter had captured her image made her look like a true form of beauty the way her long, light purple hair flowed out behind her and the fading sunlight seemed to illuminate her features and highlighted her beauty even more so.

More then a few men from the crowd went slack jawed, including Brock, as they stared at the painting. Ash was wide eyed as he stared at the portrait. "It's her!" He exclaimed in shock.

Giselle looked at Ash strangely. "What are you talking about? Who's who?"

He pointed to the portrait of the woman. "It's the woman that-" he stopped himself and thought about the best way to explain how he knew the woman in the portrait.

Giselle leaned in. "Yeah?"

Ash looked around nervously before replying. "She just looks like... That statue that sits atop Maiden's Peak!" He made up on the fly.

She, Misty and Brock all looked closer and Brock spoke first. "Your right Ash, it is her. Wow she was hot!" He said going all pervert mode again.

Before Misty could reel him in the old man spoke again. "What you're all seeing is an actual painting of the young woman that has become famously known around this town as 'The Maiden' and is the very woman who's statue stands atop the very peak that was named after her. Over two thousand years ago her dear lover left with the other men of the town to fight in the great Kanto Civil War. They left on ships and the young woman stood atop the peak that overlooks the sea and waited there for her beloved to return to her from the war. Sadly he never did and after she died that statue was erected at the very spot she once stood in her honor and was forever known as Maiden's Rock." He finished explaining.

Ash was stunned. The very woman he saw on the docks earlier that day was actually the Maiden herself! He didn't understand how that could be possible! That very same woman died two thousand years earlier and yet the woman he saw just today looked very much alive. Still, that didn't explain anything at all! What about the attack on his mind? The woman disappearing suddenly? The old woman who also 'attacked' his mind? Ash didn't understand any of it and it was really bothering him.

While he was lost in his thoughts the old man had just finished his speech and officially ended the viewing, thanking everyone for coming out and wished them all a happy Maiden's Festival as the younger men began taking everything back into the shrine again.

Ash was brought back to reality by Brock speaking. "Well that was fun. What do you guys say we all go and find a nice picnic spot to eat lunch and feed our Pokemon?" He asked.

Gizelle and Misty both agreed and Ash just silently nodded. "Are you okay Ash?" Giselle asked him concerned.

He just shook his head smiled at his girlfriend. "Yeah Giselle I'm sorry... I was lost in thought." He tried to convince her.

"Are you sure Ash? You didn't look very okay during the end of the art showing." Misty said as she looked at him closely.

"Yeah you did look kinda out of it." Brock chimed in.

"Pikachu Pi." Pikachu looked down with an equally concerned look on his face.

Ash looked at them all and laughed. "Come on guys honestly, I'm fine!"

His friends stared at him a little longer and just decided to go with it. If Ash said he was fine then they had no choice but to take his word for it. "Alright then." Brock said as he hoisted his pack further up on his back. "Lets go find someplace to set up."

He and Misty started leading the way as Giselle grabbed Ash's hand and gave him a comforting smile. He smiled back at her and then the two followed their friends. Ash tried to put on a good face but inside he was very confused and had no idea what had been going on. All he knew was that he had a feeling it wasn't over and little did he know just how right he was...

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Darkness had fallen over the town hours later and by the look of things, it was shaping up to be a very foggy night. The mist that was rising up off of the ocean was shrouding the higher areas of the town, especially Maiden's Peak, in a thick and eery mist.

Near the forests that surrounded the top of Maiden's Peak and the large Maiden's Shrine, which was the biggest shrine in the village, was a tall tree with three sleeping figures suspended by Metapod style, hanging sleeping bags. Upon closer inspection it would be easy for anyone to identify the three sleeping individuals as Jessie, James and Meowth. The former two were dressed back up in their Team Rocket uniforms.

One would probably be curious as to why the three Rockets were sleeping suspended from a tree at the top of Maiden's Peak on such a cold and foggy night correct? Well earlier in the day the three bumblers ended up finding their way into the crowd of people who were watching the art viewing at one of the shrines.

Team Rocket being who they were, instantly became attracted to all of the valuble pieces of art they saw on display. Especially the portrait of the Maiden. They had decided to come back late that night and steal the valuable pieces of art so they could then sell all of it for a ton of cash.

Hence, why we find them sleeping in a tree for now on top of the fog shrouded peak. While they slept on a cool chill suddenly blew through the air that ruffled Meowth's fur and woke him up.

The talking Pokemon began stirring around drowsily and opened his eyes. He bleary looked around and noticed the thick fog everywhere. "Boy..." Meowth said yawning and stretching as he groggily shifted in his sleeping bag. "It sure got foggy."

His eyes suddenly snapped open and he reached down into his child sized sleeping bag and pulled out a pocket watch. "4:00 A.M." Meowth read the time. "It's time ta start da heist and get dat artwork!"

Before he could wake up Jessie and James he suddenly felt a very cold chill blow through the peak and saw the doors of the shrine below fly open. Meowth watched as out of the shrine, covered by a thin layer of mist, floated the spectral figure of a woman.

Meowth's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he started stuttering incoherently. "I-It's a G-G-Gho-" The transparent woman looked up at Meowth and her eyes glowed blue for a moment before going back to normal.

All of the sudden, Meowth felt his eyes grow heavy and a content look formed on his face. "Uhh... Must not be time for da heist after all... Back to sleep..." He mumbled as he slunk back down into his sleeping bag and dozed off.

The woman then looked up at James and sent a strong gust of wind towards his sleeping bag. The surprisingly sharp wind cut the bag out of the tree and it fell to the ground. James immediately shot up in his sleeping bag and looked around wide eyed. "W-What happened?!" He said looking around wildly.

When his eyes fell upon the ghostly woman his eyes widened even more. "It's you, the Maiden! You've come back!" He said standing up out of his sleeping bag.

The ghostly woman just smiled and nodded her head at him as she spoke, _'Yes it's me my love and I have been waiting for you for so long now... Won't you please return to me?'_

James nodded his head dumbly. "Of course I'll go with you... you make my life worth living and I will stay with you forever..." He said in a drawl.

The Maiden gave a slight smirk and then motioned for him with her finger. James began following her in trance and as he neared closer to the Maiden she floated away into the shrine as her eyes glowed blue. James's feet suddenly left the ground and he began floating the rest of the way into the building.

No sooner did James enter the shrine and the doors slammed shut. A ghostly laugh filled the area as a dark shape suddenly flew out of the building and into the forest, making it's way closer towards the town and it's second and final victim...

XXXXXXXXX

Ash lay in his sleeping bag looking up the stars, deep in thought and contemplation. They had sat up camp in a clearing in the forest just outside of town since the Pokemon Center was so full with all of the many people and Trainers that were in town for the festival. The Center had rooms but it was so crowded that the four of them had decided to just stay outside.

Giselle was asleep in her sleeping bag a few feet away from him, Brock was closer towards the campfire and Misty was behind Ash a couple of feet. Pikachu was sound asleep down inside of Ash's sleeping bag at his side, exhausted from the training session he and the others had with Ash before bed.

Even though it was past 4:00 A.M. and morning was going to be rolling around in just a few short hours, Ash hadn't slept all night. He kept thinking about everything that had happened to him the-... well he guessed it was the day before now. The most prevalent thoughts on his mind was of the young woman that seemed to be the long dead Maiden and the old woman, both of whom had tried some kind of kind attack on his mind the day before.

He didn't know what was going on but he did know that he didn't like it one bit. He wanted to find out what was happening and get some answers! However, Ash knew that it would be very tough getting any sort of answer to the strange things that had happened to him.

The boy suddenly heard something in the forest and shot up in his sleeping bag. He stared into the darkness of the forest where he heard the noise and waited. A few moments later he saw the nearly transparent form of the Maiden herself form in front of him just at the edge of the forest.

Ash stood up and took a ready stance as he glared untrustingly at the... Thing before him. "Alright who or what the hell are you and what do you want with me?!" He demanded.

The woman just gave him a sad and longing smile as she spoke in her haunting and grief stricken voice. _'Yes my love it's me and I'm here for you... You never returned to me like you promised and I can't wait any longer... Won't you come back to me?'_

Ash felt that same familiar presence try forcing it's way into his mind but after fighting it off twice now he was ready. He focused on thoughts of Giselle, his Pokemon, his dreams, his friends and his family. Anything to fight off the mental attack. It worked and Ash felt the presence fail to enter his mind. When Ash saw the spectral woman grimace and slightly frown he narrowed his eyes at her and went deeper into his fighting stance. "Look lady I'm not your love and I would appreciate it if you just stayed out of my mind! I won't ever go with you, whatever you are, so you better just give up now because I'm not gonna be broken by whatever mind games you're playing!" He shouted at her.

The 'Maiden' let a dark scowl come over her features as her hair shot straight out and up and a darker aura surrounded her. She no longer looked like the sweet and innocent Maiden from the portrait... She now looked like a dark and sinister ghoul.

_'Foolish human! You think you can defy me and keep me from your mind?! I always get my victims and this time will be no different!' _She said darkly as her eyes glowed bright blue and Ash suddenly found himself frozen in place, unable to move even a muscle.

He struggled and strained but he couldn't break the strong hold that was over him. The Maiden began floating backwards into the forest and as she did the psychic bonds that were holding Ash in place lifted him off his feet and started levitating him towards the forest.

He continued to struggle wildly and grunted and groan as he tried to free himself. "LET ME GO!" Ash shouted.

His loud shout awoke his friends and Pikachu who jumped at the sound. When Giselle's eyes landed on the form of Ash being levitated away from them and into the woods at a fast pace she called out, "Ash what's going?!"

He managed to answer back just before he disappeared into the treeline, "Maiden... Or something else... You guys stay away... Not safe..." Is all they managed to hear of Ash's fading voice.

Giselle whipped around. "What do we do you guys?!" She yelled. "Ash is in trouble we have to go after him!" She said frantically.

Misty nodded. "Yeah let's go!" She said getting her shoes on.

Brock stopper them. "But how are we supposed to find Ash? We have no idea where this... 'Maiden' took him. How are we gonna locate them?" He asked them, looking around and racking his brain for an answer as he got himself ready to go after his friend.

Pikachu bounded towards the forest and looked back at them. "Pika Pikachu!" He said urgently as he pointed towards the forest.

Giselle smacked her head. "Of course! Pikachu can track Ash by following his scent!" She said excitedly. "Take us to Ash Pikachu!" She said nicely to the Electric-Type.

Pikachu smiled at her and nodded his head as he took off into the forest. Giselle looked back at Brock and Misty. "Come on guys let's go, Ash needs us!" She fidgeted around impatiently.

"Right!" They both said at the same time as they took off running with Giselle into the forest, following Pikachu and praying the entire time that they found Ash and hopefully also found out what was going on...

XXXXXXXXXX

Giselle, Brock and Misty ran through the thick forest outside of town as quickly as they could. Pikachu was running up ahead of them following the scent trail of Ash as he ran. As they went on further and further away from the town they noticed that Ash's scent trail must have been leading them up to the cliffs above the town since they felt themselves suddenly shift into climbing steep hills.

Eventually they finally came out of the treeline and found themselves standing on top of the Maiden's Peak and in front of them just a few yards away, was a large shrine. They walked forward and followed Pikachu as he ran up to the shrine and started sniffing around vigorously for his Trainer.

He stopped and then pointed inside of the shrine. "Pika!"

"Are you sure this is where Ash is at Pikachu?" Giselle asked as she walked up the steps of the shrine.

He nodded. "Pikachu!"

Brock and Misty followed her up and then the older boy tried opening the shrine doors. Upon seeing that they wouldn't budge he stopped and looked back at them. "The doors are locked, we're gonna have to find another way in." He said as he started looking around for any other way in.

Giselle suddenly heard muffled sounds coming from inside of the shrine and started banging on the door. "Just hang on Ash we're coming!" She shouted through the door.

She and the others then started walking around the shrine, trying to find any other way in. They had no more than made it all the way around the shrine with no luck in finding another way in when Giselle suddenly bumped into someone near the front steps of the shrine, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oww! Watch where you're going idiot!" The angry voice of the person who Giselle just ran into growled out from where they were at on the ground.

Giselle rubbed her forehead and started getting to her feet. "I'm really sorry about that I was just-" She stopped mid sentence when she saw who she was talking to.

The person also got to their feet and their eyes widened as well upon seeing Giselle. The individual was none other than Jessie, of Team Rocket.

Giselle pointed at Jessie the same time that Jessie pointed at her. "YOU!" They both shouted at the same time.

By this point Brock and Misty had made it to Giselle's side and Meowth suddenly came running around the side of the shrine to Jessie's. "Team Rocket?!" Brock exclaimed shocked.

"What the hell are those losers doing here?!" Misty said with anger in her voice.

Meowth shot them a glare. "Watch who you're calling a loser twerpette!" He shot back.

Giselle narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Jessie. "What ARE you guys doing here anyway? Trying to steal Pikachu again!" She accused.

Pikachu started sparking his cheeks at Jessie and Meowth as he growled at them. "Pika..."

Both Rockets gulped and backed away a little bit but Jessie regained her composure and glared back at Giselle as she turned to the side and crossed her arms. "For your information you little priss!" Giselle clenched her fists and glared harder at Jessie. "We're not here to steal Pikachu...this time!"

Giselle, Brock, Misty and Pikachu looked confused and shared disbelieving glances. Giselle didn't believe it. "Oh really? You expect us to believe you didn't follow us up here to steal Pikachu after seeing that Ash isn't here to keep him safe? Well if you think we'll let you steal him then you've got another thing coming!" She said standing in front of Pikachu while glaring daggers at Jessie and being backed up by Brock and Misty.

Meowth looked confused. "Hey where's Ash at anyway? Nuttin happened to him did it?" He said with, strangely enough, concern in his voice.

If anyone heard Meowth's genuine concern for Ash and actually calling him by his name instead of 'twerp' then no one noticed. "Ash was kidnapped by..." Giselle stopped for a second and looked confused. "Well we don't know what it was but something took Ash and brought him here. We followed Pikachu who followed Ash's scent trail all the way up here and apparently he's stuck inside of that shrine..." She said pointing to the building beside of them. "We've gotta get him out of there and I won't let you pain in the asses stand in our way! Ash could be hurt and we need to get to him!" She finished, looking like she would tackle Jessie and Meowth at any minute and tear through them to get to Ash.

Jessie and Meowth ignored her threats and shared shocked glances with each other. "You mean you're missing the twerp too?" Jessie asked with a confused look on her face.

Giselle calmed down a litte bit and reverted back to suspicion again. "Yes... why should you care!" She fired back.

Brock suddenly spoke up. "Hold on a minute..." He said looking at the two Rockets. "Where's James?"

Jessie shot them a mean look. "Not that it's any of your twerpish business but James disappeared while we while we were all sleeping. Meowth and I woke up after we heard him scream like a little girl and then started searching for him. We ended up here after looking and looking for any sign of the idiot and that's when I bumped into little miss Priss here." She flicking a thumb at Giselle who looked at Jessie with intense anger burning in her eyes.

"Do you think the same happened to Ash that happened to James?" Misty wondered aloud.

Before anyone could reply Giselle intervened. "Look it doesn't matter who did this right now! All that matters is that we find Ash!"

Meowth nodded. "I'm wit da twerpette on dis one." He agreed.

Jessie just growled and through her arms up. "Fine!" She snapped. "We'll call a truce for now until we find James and the twerp." She narrowed her eyes at Giselle. "But after this is over we're enemies again!"

Giselle glared back at the red haired woman. "Agreed." She said simply.

Brock nodded his head satisfied. "Good. Now we all now need to find someone to get Ash and most likely James as well out of that shrine." He said walking back up to the door as he began looking around for someway in again.

The others all began looking around as well and after a few more minutes of searching Giselle growled in frustration. "This is taking to long and Ash needs us now!" She studied the door impatiently for a few moments in contemplation until an idea suddenly hit her. She looked down at Pikachu. "I know I'm not your Trainer Pikachu but can you take that door down with maybe... An Iron Tail?" She asked him.

Pikachu just looked at the door and then back at Giselle with a deadpanned look on his face. Almost as if saying, 'Really? After all of the intense training I do you really think I can't take down a wooden door?!'

Giselle just chuckled and rubbed the back of her head in an Ash like manner. "Hehehe... Sorry Pikachu I'm not trying to insult you or anything I just forgot..." She apologized.

"Pika." Pikachu waved his paw in a dismissive manner as he ran up to the door and stared it down with a fierce look on his face. He imagined his Trainer being held captive inside of the shrine and became angry. He backed up further until he was a good distance away and then shot off towards the door like a rocket.

Misty's eyes widened. "Everybody get back!"

They all ran out of the way just as Pikachu made it to the front steps of the shrine and then jumped high into the air. As he approached the door his tail turned a silver color and transformed into incredibly hard steel. He flipped in the air just as he reached the door and with a cry of, "PIKACHU!" He slammed his tail down onto the door and instantly the barrier between them and Ash busted off of it's hinges and flew back into the shrine.

Pikachu landed perfectly onto the ground with a satisfied smirk on his face as he looked back at the wide eyed group of humans and gave them a thumbs up.

"Wow..." They all said at once.

"It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful that Pikachu is..." Jessie said in wonder.

"All da more reason for us ta steal him!" Meowth whispered to her.

Jessie gave Meowth a look that clearly meant for him to shut up just as Giselle took off running into the shrine, followed by Brock, Misty and Pikachu. "Come on Meowth let's go and find James, then when we can focus on stealing Pikachu!" Jessie instructed.

Meowth nodded and then they ran into the shrine after the kids.

Upon entering the small building Giselle immediately started looking around for Ash and found him in a far off corner. He was levitating in midair with his arms and legs spread out and his mouth clamped shut by some invisible force. A little further away in another corner was James of Team Rocket. He however wasn't binded down with anything and was instead just sprawled out on the floor on his back with a love struck look on his face as he kept mumbling about his 'love' and a beautiful maiden.

Brock and Misty stared dumbfounded at the scene before them as Giselle and Pikachu ran over to Ash.

"Ash/Pika Pi!" Giselle and Pikachu both cried out at the same time as they reached him. "Ash what's wrong?! Are you okay? What happened?!" Giselle asked him frantically as she tried to get home down onto the ground.

Ash looked down at her and shifted his eyes towards Pikachu in way that showed he was trying to get them to understand something. Giselle looked at him in confusion and then down at Pikachu. It took a while but she finally got the jist of what he was trying to get across to them.

She looked down at Pikachu. "Pikachu can you please try using a Thunderbolt on Ash? Maybe the attack will knock whatever is controlling Ash out of him." She explained.

Pikachu nodded and then focused on a lower powered voltage as he struck Ash with a watered down Thunderbolt. "Chuuuu!" He called out as he electrocuted his Trainer, something he hated having to do.

Ash winced as the bolt struck him but toughed it out regardless. Eventually the strange aura surrounding Ash broke and he fell to the ground with a hard 'thump'.

He slowly pulled himself up off the ground and was then pulled into a tight hug by Giselle and was simultaneously nuzzled by Pikachu who hopped up on his shoulder. Ash hugged them both back and mumbled words of gratitude to them. "Thanks... A lot... For helping me... You guys..." He also looked up at Brock and Misty while he said this and received acknowledging nods in return from them.

Giselle released him and then asked, "What happened Ash?"

He just scratched his head and sighed. "Well... In order for you guys to understand what happened I need to tell you everything. Starting from today when we first arrived here in town." He stated.

His friends gave have him encouraging nods to go on and he took a deep breath before he started explaining everything that had happened to him, starting at the docks.

While he did this Jessie and Meowth ran over to the practically drooling James, who was still laid out on the floor of the shrine with a stupid look on his face. Jessie pulled him up by his shirt collar and started smacking him back and forth. "Wake up you idiot! What's wrong with you?!" She demanded as she continued smacking him.

Jessie eventually let go of the still dumbstruck James, who now had large red welts on either side of his face from her vicious strikes and looked down at Meowth. "Try using your Scratch or Fury Swipes to wake him up Meowth!" Jessie ordered.

Meowth glared at her. "Hey I ain't your servant Jessie and I ain't your Pokemon!" He fired back testily.

Jessie stomped on him with her boot. "Do it now so we can get James back in his right mind and then focus on stealing Pikachu!" She hissed at the Pokemon below her boot.

Meowth was finally freed from under her boot and gave her a hard glare as he walked over to James and extended his claws. "Wake up James!" He shouted as he raked the man's face with his sharp claws.

The man suddenly shot up holding onto his face as he cried out in pain, "AHHHH!" He held onto his face a little longer and then removed his hands from his face as he took in his surroundings. "What?! Wh-Where am I?!" He said with fear in his voice as he looked around. When his eyes landed on his teammates his eyes widened. "Jessie? Meowth? What are you doing here? Where am I?!" He asked, getting more fanfic by the second.

Jessie huffed. "You should know James! You came here for some reason and Meowth and I had to come after your sorry ass!" She said angrily.

James shook his head vigorously. "It wasn't me, it was the Maiden! She brought me here!"

Jessie and Meowth looked at their teammate in concern. "What are you talking about James?" Jessie said placing her hands on her hips. "What 'Maiden'?"

"Yeah James the Maiden from dat portrait we saw earlier died over two tousand years ago!" Meowth chimed in.

James shook his head again. "No I swear she's alive... or not and she's just a ghost but still! She claims that she's been waiting for me and wants me to be with her!" He tried to convince them.

Jessie grew a couple of tick marks on the side of her head. "So we spent the night wondering around looking for you, missing out on MY beauty sleep!" She stomped James into the ground with her boot. "Had to accept help from the twerps to find you and then discover that you just followed some dead girl here that you had the hots for?!" She seethed as she pressed harder onto him with her boot.

James flailed under her. "No Jessie I swear she- Hold on... The twerps are here?" He asked looking around and spotting them on the other side of the shrine.

Jessie growled again. "Yes and now that we've got our stupid teammate back you're going to help us steal Pikachu AND!" She pointed a finger at him. "You're going to do most of the work yourself, got it?!" She demanded.

James just cried anime tears under her boot as he pleaded how sorry he was and begged for mercy. Meowth sighed and shook his head at the scene. He looked over at Ash's group and without even thinking walked over to them.

Ash had just finished explaining everything to his friends and now they were processing it all. Brock was the first to speak. "So... That's why you're here? The ghost of the Maiden brought you here because she loves you and wants to be with you and has supposedly been waiting for you all this time?" He paused for a second and then dropped to the ground crying anime tears. "Why can't I ever get a girl?! Even a ghost girl?!" He cried comically.

Misty just shook her head and then looked back at Ash. "So you were 'mind attacked' twice? Once by the Maiden at the docks and then by that weird old woman? That's just creepy!" She said shivering.

Giselle looked at him intently. "Why didn't you tell us all of this before Ash? Why didn't you at least tell me?" She asked with slight hurt in her voice.

Ash immediately pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly as he kissed her head. "I'm so sorry Giselle it's just that..." He paused for a second and she looked at him expectantly. He sighed. "I didn't want you guys worrying about me for no reason... I'm really sorry and I should've told you earlier. Can you please forgive me?" He asked with with regret in his voice.

Giselle pulled away and smacked him upside the head. "Ash Ketchum! From now on you WILL tell us anytime something even REMOTELY weird happens like this understand?! No more keeping it to yourself and playing the hero so we don't get hurt! Is that clear?!" She demanded.

Ash just gulped and nodded vigorously. "Yes Giselle I promise!" He said in a voice that would have people saying, 'You're sooo owned!'

She smiled brightly at that and nodded her head satisfied. "Good! Now come here..." She said pulling him in and kissing him fiercly. Ash quickly responded and pulled her tightly to him as he deepend the kiss between them.

Pikachu and Brock watched smiling at the scene while Misty huffed and looked away.

As they broke apart with happy smiles on their faces Ash spotted Meowth standing near them looking uncomfortable. He looked past Meowth and saw Jessie basically beating poor James into the ground and felt only pity for the poor man. After he had arrived at the shrine he had seen James and after hearing him mumble about how much he 'loved' and wanted to be with the 'Maiden' Ash put two and two together and realized that he wasn't the only one being being proclaimed eternal love for by the spectral woman. The only difference between he and James was that he was able to fight off her mental 'attraction assault'. James apparently wasn't so lucky.

He shook his head again and looked at Meowth. "Umm... Meowth? Is everything okay? How were you after that fall back in Hutber? I never saw you again to ask and I was concerned. You didn't get hurt right?"

Meowth felt strange again that someone was so concerned about him but nodded anyway. "Yeah! Course I'm fine! It'll take a lot more den being tossed around by some big squid ta snuff me out!" He said proudly.

Ash just raised an eyebrow and chuckled in amusement. "Okay well... Can I ask why you're over here with us and not with your teammates?" He asked curiously.

Meowth just shuffled around uncomfortably for a minute before replying. "Yeah well ya know... I didn't uhh... Really thank ya's for saving me back at dat city and I just wanted ta... Ya know..." He trailed off and struggled to find the right words.

Ash just reached over and placed a hand on Meowth's shoulder, making the Pokemon look up at him. Ash smiled genuinely at the small Pokemon before speaking. "Hey you don't need to thank me Meowth. I told you that I did what I did because I wanted to and because even though you've done some bad things it still doesn't mean you deserve to get hurt or die. So don't thank me, it was my pleasure." He finished with another smile.

Meowth just looked at him with wide eyes for a minute before stuttering out a reply. "T-Thanks Ash... I appreciate it." He responded honestly.

Ash nodded to Meowth and before he could say anything else, howling winds followed by thick mist suddenly started forming outside of the shrine and began filtering into the small building. Ash knew what was happening instantly and shot up. "Everybody get outside! The Maiden is here and I wanna know what's going on once and for all!" He said as he took off running out of the shrine.

"Ash wait up!" Giselle yelled as she took off after him into the mist outside.

Brock, Misty and Pikachu ran after them and left only the three Rockets inside. Jessie had finished beating James around by this point and was staring after the kids. "Should we go after them?" She asked her teammates.

James nodded. "I for one want to know who this 'Maiden' really is and give her a piece of mind for messing with... My mind!" He finished with a slightly confused, yet still angry look on his face for his poor choice of words.

Meowth had rejoined them by this point. "Yeah dat woman, or whatever it is, needs a good settin' straight!" He said while flexing his claws.

"Yes I'm anxious to see just what sort of person... Or thing would waste their time trying to brainwash you James." Jessie agreed as they and Meowth ran off after Ash and his friends.

...

Ash and his friends were wondering through the mist around the shrine and as they started getting closer to the statue of the Maiden the thick fog started to slowly lift more and more.

They heard something behind them and whipped around, expecting some kind of attack. Instead they were greeted by the sight of the three Rockets fumbling their way through the mist towards them. Ash relaxed and glared at them. "Why are you guys following us huh? Trying to steal Pikachu in the mist thinking I won't see you?!" He accused.

Jessie scoffed. "What we do is none of your concern twerp! Even if it does involve stealing your Pikachu!"

"And we're not even trying to steal it this time!" James added in. "If that weird ghost-er... Maiden thing shows up, then I want to be here so I can teach her or it never to mess with my mind and think it can get away with it!"

"I don't believe them!" Giselle said as she came up and stood beside Ash and glared at them as well. "I've had a bad feeling this whole time that they would try something as soon as this mess was over with!"

Before Ash could say anything the mist suddenly vanished all together and the statue of the Maiden began glowing white. A few moments later the spectral image of the Maiden herself appeared from within it.

Everyone watched with trepidation as the ghostly figure floated closer towards them with that same longing and sorrowful look on her face. James ran towards her with an angry look on his face. "You there woman... Thing... Whatever you are!" He shouted at her. "No one messes with my mind and gets away with it!"

The Maiden turned and looked at James as her eyes glowed blue. James stopped mid sprint and just stood there like a zombie. "My love..." He droned out like a robot. "We'll be together forever..." He said as he started walking towards her in a daze.

Jessie and Meowth comically fell over. "What's dat big oaf doing?!" Meowth said staring after James.

Jessie shouted at him. "What're you doing James?! Get back here!"

"He can't hear you Jessie!" Giselle yelled over to her. "The Maiden's possessing him somehow!"

Jessie and Meowth both shot up and took off running for James. They reached him just before he could reach the ghostly woman and tackled him to the ground. James started struggling wildly as he tried to break free. "Lemme go! I need to be with her... She's waited so long for me!"

Jessie and Meowth struggled to keep a hold on him as Jessie grunted to him, "James... Get a hold of yourself! Aghh! You don't *grunt* love her you idiot!

The man wouldn't listen to reason and continued struggling. Ash looked down at Pikachu. "Quick Pikachu use Thunderbolt and snap James out of his trance!" He commanded.

Pikachu nodded and then ran forward as his cheeks started sparking. "Pika...'Pika... PIKACHU!" He unleashed the electric bolt at the three Rockets.

The bolt hit them and they immediately shouted and jolted around in pain as they were electrocuted. When the electric bolt finally exploded they were seen a few moments later smoking, cinged and twitching with a few sparks still crackling around their bodies.

James snapped his eyes open and looked around. "W-What happened?!" He looked up and saw the Maiden hovering some distance away and smacked his head on the ground repeatedly. "Not again!" He cried.

Jessie and Meowth breathed out puffs of smoke. "At least he's back to his doofey self again..." Jessie groaned out.

"Good for him..." Meowth coughed out another puff of smoke as well.

Ash ran up and stood in front of the spectral woman. "Stop it! You wanna mess with someone?! Then why don't you try your luck with me? Unless of course..." He smirked at her. "You're tired of trying and failing to get into my mind."

The ghostly woman glared at Ash and her eyes glowed blue as she stared into Ash's eyes. _'Don't mock me human! My powers are far greater than you can imagine and I will take you under my control!'_

With that said she sent a strong, focused pulse of psychic energy directly at Ash, intent on breaking his mental barriers. Ash braced himself for the impact and as soon he felt the foreign presence attack his mind he through up his defenses and thought about Giselle, Pikachu, his friends, his family... Anything to anchor himself to his mind and keep control.

The Maiden strengthened her assault on Ash and the two just struggled back and forth for dominance in the mental battle they were locked in. Ash had an intense look of concentration on his face and the spectral woman had an equally as strained look on her own ghostly visage. Ash's friends and the three Rockets just watched with anxious looks on their faces as the invisible battle waged on.

Ash felt the strain on his mind grow more and more as he was forced to struggle even harder and focus on much more intimate things that meant the most to him. He began focusing on just Giselle, his mom and his Pokemon but he quickly found that wasn't enough and instead started focusing on just Giselle and that was it. He focused on everything about her that he loved so much and that was the only thing he focused on.

Eventually he felt himself gain some ground and then pushed back at the Maiden as hard as he could. The Maiden recoiled and floated backwards with a shocked look on her face.

Ash teetered on his feet a little bit and started trying to regain his breath as he wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow. The Maiden just looked at Ash impassively for a few moments and seemed to be in deep contemplation. She finally spoke in her ghostly voice, _'I must admit human... Ash. You have impressed me. I have been taking control of people's minds and making them do my bidding for more years than I can count during the Maiden's Festival and never has anyone fought me so hard and shown such mental strength before.' _She complemented.

Ash grinned and nodded his head in acceptance. "Thanks... You're a pretty good opponent too. I don't ever get to train my mental strength as much as physical so this is a good test for me." He said standing up straight again.

The Maiden smirked then and the dark aura began surrounding her again as her hair flew out and stood up in every direction. _'As interesting as you are for a human the fight ends now I'm sorry to say. You see, in our previous encounter I found something very... Interesting in your mind that I feel certain will break you.' _She gave off a devious smile and Ash narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" He asked with an uneasy feeling in his gut.

The Maiden shifted her gaze towards Giselle. _'I know that you've been using your feelings for her to combat my assaults but tell me... Is she really the one you care for most?'_

Ash looked confused and his friends looked equally as lost, especially Giselle. "What are you talking about? Of course Giselle means a lot to me, she's my girlfriend!" He fired back indignantly.

The Maiden formed a knowing look on her face. _'Hmm... You know it's truly interesting to see one so young have such... incredibly strong and powerful feelings for someone else. And that's definitely something considering I impersonate a woman that waited upon a cliff until her dying day for her long lost love who never returned. Maybe you don't even realize that your feelings for this young woman is as strong as they are... But I'm sure you'll realize just how powerful they truly are sooner than you think.' _She grinned deviously again and Ash felt his stomach start to churn nervously._  
_

Ash completely missed what the ghostly figure said about impersonating the Maiden and only had one thought going through his head. 'She can't know about... Can she?' He asked himself, going slightly frantic in his mind.

The 'Maiden' saw this and laughed. To confirm her suspicions she took the image of the woman Ash had in his mind, reformed it and weaved it into another psychic attack that she sent hurdling at Ash.

He didn't have time to prepare himself and took the attack full force. His mind was instantly assaulted with an image of the very woman that even for a ten year old boy made him feel like dropping to his knees out of pure infatuation and awe of 'her'.

The Maiden stopped her assault and left Ash with a dazed look on his face. She smirked again. _'Ahh... So it seems I was right! Let's bring this little love interest out into the open shall we?' _She said with a tone to her voice that clearly showed she was enjoying Ash's torment.

He went wide eyed and shook his head. "No don't do that!" He yelled as he felt his stomach twist into knots.

Ash's friend's were looking completely lost as to why Ash looked so worried. "What could the Maiden have shown Ash that has him so flustered?" Misty asked curiously.

Surprisingly enough Jessie spoke next. "The twerp is looking really bad..." She observed as she looked at him.

The others looked closer and realized that she was right. Ash looked like he was completely dreading what was coming. "Ash... What's wrong with you?" Giselle whispered.

Brock pointed at the Maiden. "Look! She's changing shape!" He shouted.

Everyone watched anxiously as the specter did indeed begin to change shape. All except Ash who looked like he was about to break out into chills at any second. As the Maiden changed shape her form completely shifted as well. Her hair shortened until it turned a dirty blondish/brown color and took on an absolutely lustrous and glossy shine. The hair came down to about her upper back, had the perfect length and also had two long, curved side bangs framing the still forming gorgeous face of this new woman.

The woman's face formed and was shown to be absolutely flawless. It was even the perfect shape: The face was long and just full enough to accentuate her cute chin and cheeks, she had full lips that looked beyond luscious and a pair of absolutely breathtaking emerald green eyes.

The newly formed woman was wearing black low heeled shoes, black jeans that still managed to show off her long legs, tight, toned back assets and very curvaceous hips through the material, a white lacy top that was cut just low enough to show off her very impressive bust and also wore a white, thin made, long sleeved white jacket.

She was about 5'6" and even though her clothing didn't show it very well, one could tell that the body she was concealing under them would give any normal man a heart attack and/or deadly nosebleed if they ever saw her in any state of undress whatsoever. (A/N: This my dear readers... Is Daisy Oak. Look up her 'Pokemon Adventures' image from the manga).

Everyone on the peak looked on at the new woman that the specter took the form of and couldn't help but gawk. She was gorgious! Giselle was beautiful but... Compared to this new woman she was nothing more than plain and Jessie and Misty might as well have been just two more boys!

Brock and James were practically drooling and had to be restrained by their respective groups so they didn't charge for her... And they weren't even being controlled anymore! The thing that really made this woman seem so breathtakingly beautiful was the almost warm, kind and serene aura that just glowed off of her.

Ash however... He had completely shut down and just stood there in one spot like his feet had been frozen in place by an Ice Beam. The woman saw Ash and started walking towards him with an almost natural sway to her hips that, even though she wasn't intentionally trying to be seductive, it just came off that way. Yet she also seemed so innocent and angelic all at the same time... It was almost otherworldly.

She kept her emerald green eyes locked on Ash's amber ones as she neared him. When she finally reached him she looked at Ash with a look of pure kindness and joy on her face.

"Hi Ash!" She said perkily in a voice that sounded only fit for the heavens themselves it was so smooth and soft, like honey but better.

Ash just looked at her with a look of pure longing in his eyes as he felt like something deep inside his body was almost burning him from the inside out, screaming to get out and reach her as he gazed upon her face. This feeling was almost like it had a will, a mind of it's own and it was something that Ash only ever felt around one person. Even Giselle never came close to making him feel like this.

"D-Daisy?" He said in a daze as he drank in her appearance.

She giggled at him and it sounded like bells being rung on top of the peak. "Of course silly! Who else could it be?" She said smiling at him brightly.

She wrapped her arms around Ash and pulled him into a warm, reunion hug that was as innocent and sweet as it could be. Ash actually groaned as she pulled him close to her. When she did he was instantly blasted with her sweet and intoxicating scent that smelled of daisies, honey and some other scent that Ash couldn't put his finger on but was unique to only her. Yet again he felt that strange, almost other presence within him cry to get out and reach her.

Ash went completely weak in the knees and nearly fell over. Only his extreme willpower kept him up as he melted into her embrace.

She released him eventually and Ash actually stumbled back a little. "Are you still going to become that great Pokemon Master you promised me you would become before you left to go on your journey." She asked him while still smiling.

Ash just nodded dumbly and then, for a split second, came back to his senses. "I told you I would Daisy and I'll never stop... Not even once I accomplish my goal and become the greatest Pokemon Master there ever was or ever will be... I promise you that!" He said resolutely. Even in his almost drugged state Ash's commitment to his dream was still unwavering.

'Daisy' looked slightly taken aback at hearing such conviction out of him concerning his dream but quickly covered it up. "Good Ash... Make sure you keep that promise okay?" She told him sweetly.

Ash nodded his head dumbly again and continued to stare at Daisy like nothing else mattered in that moment. Ash's friends and the Rockets watched Ash in his almost complete trance with confusion. "What's going on with Ash?" Misty asked, completely lost.

"And who's that girl?" Jessie said as she looked at her enviously because of Daisy's almost angel like beauty.

"And why does Ash seem so... Taken with her..." Giselle asked, feeling sad at the fact that Ash seemed so enamored with another girl that she had to admit was much prettier than herself. True this woman looked much older than her but still...

Brock decided to take a shot at who the woman was. "I'm just going out on a limb here guys but... I think that might just be Daisy Oak the Maiden has taken the form of..." He guessed.

"Daisy Oak?" The others said at the same time.

Brock nodded. "Yeah don't you guys remember? Back at Porte Vista Delia and Professor Oak mentioned Daisy and talked about what a huge crush Ash used to have on her?"

Realization struck Misty. "Now I remember! He blushed the color of a Tomato Berry at just hearing her name." She recalled.

Jessie snorted in amusement. "Used to?! It seems to me like the twerp still has that crush, and badly by the looks of it." She said turning her attention back to the enamored Ash.

Giselle looked down. She didn't think Ash's crush on Daisy was THAT severe if the Maiden was having such an effect Ash by just taking the mere form of this girl!

Pikachu looked at all of the humans and upon seeing them not making a move to help snap Ash out of his trance he jumped into action. The yellow mouse took off running towards the boy and reached him in record time. He jumped up on his Trainer's shoulder and slapped him on the cheek with his tail.

Ash's head snapped to the side as he reeled back away from the fake Daisy Oak and continued to stumble until he finally regained his footing. He shook his head and looked at Pikachu. "What was that for Pikachu?" He asked irritated.

Pikachu pointed at the fake Daisy and then back up at Ash with a fierce look on his face. "Pika Pika! Pika Pikachu Pika Pi! Pika Ka Pikachu Pi!" He tried breaking Ash out of his dazed stupor.

Ash looked back over at Daisy who was still smiling at him and in that very moment something clicked in his head. This wasn't the real Daisy! Why on Earth would she be up here on top of Maiden's Peak in the first place? Let alone at so late an hour!

Ash realized this and once he started becoming more conscious and coherent of his own thoughts he immediately felt a sharp pain stab through his head like a blade. He recoiled in pain and dropped to his knees as 'Daisy's' face contorted to one of anger and frustration. Further proving to Ash that this was not the girl he knew to be so kind, sweet and loving. Seeing anger and any kind of negative emotion on her face was just something that Ash knew was impossible.

He started coming back more and more to his senses as the pain in his head became worse. He fell to the ground and started rolling around like mad trying to make it stop. The image of Daisy suddenly morphed and change until the ghostly and now very ugly and nasty version of the Maiden stood before them all once again.

Her face was contorted into one of fierce concentration and strain as she tried to regain control of Ash's mind.

"What's happening to Ash?" Misty asked out loud, looking really worried for her friend.

"I think Pikachu helped him realize that it wasn't the real Daisy and instead was just another ploy the Maiden was trying to use." Brock answered her. "I think he's trying to fight off the hold she has on him now."

Giselle clasped her hands together and called out to Ash. "Come on Ash you've got this! Fight!" She shouted her words of encouragement to him.

Pikachu knelt by his Trainer's side and shouted his own words of inspiration and encouragement to Ash as he continued fighting the control. The Maiden screwed her face up into one of complete focus and concentration as she shouted to him, _'You can fight as hard as you want to but I'm not losing my control over you!' _She yelled out.

Ash continued to thrash around, fighting the control on his mind and was determined not to give up. He heard all of his friends... Brock, Misty, Pikachu and Giselle calling out to him, telling him to fight. He thought he could even hear... Was that Meowth?"

Even out of all of the words he was hearing they were all drowned out as one memory played through Ash's head and gave him the most reason to fight...

* * *

_(Flashback...)_

_Ash was sitting up in his room getting all of his final supplies ready for his journey that he would finally be leaving for on the next day. He had just managed to get everything ready and gathered together when he heard his mother call for him from downstairs. "Ash can you please come down here? Someone's here to see you!' She yelled._

_He replied back down to his mother that he would be down in a minute and then finished putting the last of what he would need into his bag before heading downstairs. Upon entering the living room he saw his mother sitting on the couch talking to someone that Ash knew VERY well._

_When she heard him come down the stairs Delia turned and smiled at her son. "Ash guess who came to see you before you left tomorrow?" _

_The woman sitting next to Delia peeked her head around the couch and smiled when she saw Ash. "Heya there Ash!" The perky and honey like voice of Daisy Oak greeted him sweetly._

_Ash went slightly wide eyed when he saw Daisy and felt his pulse instantly quicken. He felt that same strange sensation eat way away at his insides like something was always struggling to get out when he saw her. He felt himself go a little red as he looked at the oh so wonderful smile that could only belong to Daisy Oak herself. The smile that somehow was always able to lighten up his day up even when it was going absolutely terrible._

_Now, Ash may have only been ten... well he wouldn't be ten until the next day but still, even though he was just a kid there was something about Daisy that drove him insane! Something that wasn't an easy feat for someone who was usually so stoic, calm and detached from everything else like Ash was. The strange feeling he got in the very deepest parts of his soul had ,it seemed, only become stronger as he had gotten older. Now, seeing her sitting on the couch in her usual attire (A/N: The same as described earlier), practically shining with the beauty that she seemed to just radiate... Ash felt his throat go slightly dry looking at her._

_He put on a passive face that showed happiness on it's surface and walked over to them. "Hey Daisy how's it going?" He asked her nicely._

_She smiled at him and replied. "It's been going really well Ash thanks for asking! I'm still training with the Nurse Joy from Virdian City to become a Pokemon Nurse and I'm hoping to be Pallet Town's first one. You'll actually meet her once you finally make it to Viridian after you leave for your journey tomorrow. I'm sure you'll like her just as much as I do too! She's as sweet as they come!" Daisy praised her mentor._

_Ash smiled and sat down on the couch next to Daisy and his mother. "Just keep working on it Daisy and I'm sure you'll make a great Pokemon Nurse!" He encouraged in his usual 'Ash way'._

_She smiled at him again and giggled. "Thanks Ash, you all always know exactly what to say to make a girl smile you know that?" _

_Ash just blushed. "Well... I... I-I don't know about that..." He stuttered._

_Delia silently giggled to herself at seeing him converse with Daisy. She'd seen this happen a million times before but she never grew tired of it! Her boy had the biggest crush on Professor Oak's only granddaughter and it showed clear as day to her, Amelia and even the Professor himself whenever they would see him talk to her. The only person it apparently wasn't obvious to was Daisy herself and that could have just been because she looked at Ash as another little brother like Gary and nothing more. Obviously though, considering she was eight years older than him. Even her kid brother Gary was a month older than Ash, which made him the youngest out of all of the kids in the Ketchum/Oak surrogate family._

_Still, Delia enjoyed watching her son get all flustered and out of sorts around Daisy. It was unbearably cute and it made her want to laugh so hard sometimes! _

_She got up and made to go to the kitchen. "Well I'll leave you two to talk." Delia began. "Would you like anything else while I check on the tea Daisy?" She asked the younger woman._

_Daisy shook her head. "No Delia, thank you though but I'm fine." She responded politely._

_Delia just nodded and then left the living room. Daisy looked back at Ash, who was now fidgeting, slightly uncomfortable at being alone with her. "So Ash, are you ready for your big day tomorrow? I mean wow! You finally get your first Pokemon and start out on your very own journey in just one more day. You must be excited!" She said enthusiastically._

_Ash nodded his head immediately. "Yes I'm definitely ready for tomorrow! I've been training for so long with Professor Oak, mom and even training myself all at the same time just so I could be as ready as I could be when the day finally arrived that I would be able to strike out on my own journey." He said as he remembered all of the training he had done over the last five years._

_Daisy nodded her head knowingly. "I know you have Ash and that's why I'm sure you'll be a great Trainer!" She said with no doubt in her voice._

_Ash looked at her. "You really think so?" _

_She smiled at him again and gave him a thumbs up and a wink. "I know so kiddo! You keep that passion you have burning and always remember to treat your Pokemon right and you'll go a long way!" She said certainly._

_Ash smiled at her. "I promise Daisy! I promise that I'll become the best there was or ever will be no matter what! I'll always treat my Pokemon like family and I'll never back down when things get tough! I'll be great and that's a promise. I'll make sure the whole world knows who I am one day!" He said with passion in his voice._

_Daisy smiled at him again. "I know and believe you will Ash. I'll be rooting for you and my little brother all the way! Just try not to kill each other in your rivalry, kay Ash?" She asked him with another wink._

_Ash blushed again and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I think Gary's a little more into the whole 'rival' thing than I am but I promise Daisy!" He assured her._

_She laughed and hugged Ash. "I can always count on you Ash!" She said as she continued to hug the now beat red boy as Delia giggled silently from the doorway of the kitchen._

_(End Flashback...)_

* * *

Ash snapped his eyes open upon remembering that day and the promise he made to Daisy. "I... made... A promise..." He gritted out through clenched teeth. "To someone... Very special... to me... And I won't let you..." He looked up at the Maiden who was a few yards away from him. "Take away... My ability... TO FULFILL IT!" He began struggling even more and focused entirely on Daisy's face and the promise he made to her as he fought back as hard as he could.

Ash writhed around wildly and came up onto his knees as he continued to struggle and fight. The images of Daisy and her face... The promise... How nice and sweet she always was to him... Everything about her spurred him on to keep fighting as he started regaining more and more control over his mind.

The Maiden looked completely shocked and at a loss as to how Ash was fighting her back the way he was. She struggled and fought back as hard as she could but found it was all for nothing as her control kept slipping away from her. _'No! This isn't possible... I can't lose control! How are you doing this?!'_

Ash looked up at her from his knelt position. "Because..." He ground out. "I'm... Not... Going... To... Let... Her... DOWN!" He leaned up and threw his head backwards as he shouted loudly, "AGHHHHH!"

With that final massive push of resistance and absolutely incredible willpower the Maiden's hold over him was broken.

The ghostly woman flew back and her eyes widened to the size of Pokeballs as she stared at Ash who was now slowly starting to get back to his feet. Pikachu encouraged his Trainer onward as his friends and the Rockets watched in awe from where they were.

Ash regained his breath and looked the Maiden dead in her eyes. "I told you already... You don't have any control over me. I'll never stop fighting you!" He shouted with fire in his eyes. "Now why don't you drop that disguise and show us who you really are! No more shape shifting and no more false forms! Reveal yourself!" He commanded as he pointed at her.

The Maiden stared at him with an intense gaze as she spoke, _'You truly are a unique human. To be able to regain control of your mind even after I used your greatest weakness against you... Very well. I shall show you my true form!'_

Then, before everyone's eyes the spectral woman was surrounded in a dark energy as she started changing shape again before their very eyes. _'Sometimes I'm known as the ghost of Maiden's Peak, taking form of the Maiden herself so I can force my control over the minds of weak men who come to this town for the Maiden's Festival!'_

She changed form again. Everyone gasped when they saw her take the shape of the old woman that Ash had run into the day before. "Other times I'm the old woman that bumps into travelers and seeks to warn them of the danger of the Maiden's Curse!" She said in her weathered old voice.

She changed shape again but this time transformed into something that further shocked everyone watching. The new form of the specter took the form of a dark, gaseous cloud with a face set into it. When it had finished it's transformation everyone gasped yet again.

"That's a-?!" Misty started.

"It can't be!" Brock said disbelievingly.

"I never guessed it was actually THAT Pokemon... Incredible!" Giselle said in both disbelief and amazement.

The three Rockets just shouted all at once, "That Pokemon is a..."

Ash stared at the now revealed Pokemon with a steady gaze as stated simply, "Gastly." He named off the Pokemon's identity.

The gaseous Pokemon looked over them all with a wide grin on it's face. "That's right!" It said in an ominous and slightly eery voice. "I am Gastly! The great impersonator of the Maiden herself and master manipulator of minds!" It laughed madly.

The assembled humans all gaped in shock. "It can talk?!" Misty shouted.

"How is that possible!" Jessie demanded.

"Talking Pokemon?! That's just crazy!" James said. When he saw the look Meowth gave him he instantly changed his tone and laughed sheepishly. "All except for you Meowth! It's cool where you're concerned!"

Gastly looked at them with an amused expression on it's face. "How astute of you simple humans to surmise something as simple as the obvious fact that I can talk. You should feel proud of yourselves!" It said with obvious mock kindness.

It then turned it's attention to Ash. "You on the other hand young Ash Ketchum... Are truly something very interesting. Never before has any human male resisted my guise as the Maiden and not only that, you managed to resist my control even in the face of your greatest weakness! Truly impressive indeed..." It trailed off while still grinning.

Ash looked at Gastly calculatively for a few moments before finally speaking. "Well I never would have imagined you were a Gastly, especially since you were using psychic based powers the whole time. Not something that's heard of for a Ghost-Type." Ash narrowed his eyes. "Just tell me one thing: Why me? Why did you choose me out of everyone else here in the town?"

Gastly chuckled. "You were interesting my child. Simple as that! Never before had I scanned the mind of someone and found it to be so interesting and complex, even after all the years I've lived here and controlled the minds of countless people that come to this town every year for the Maiden's Festival. I knew that this one..." It shifted it's gaze towards James. "Would be easy to get under my control after seeing my guise as the Maiden only once. I wanted to test the strange mental strength I sensed coming from you and so I began my mental assaults. I never would have imagined that a human would really be able to defeat me in a battle of the minds but I suppose there is a first time for everything is there not?" Gastly said while looking at Ash with that creepy smile still on it's face.

Ash looked curious. "Why have you been controling people the way you have been for so long if that's really the truth? Do you really not like people to such a degree that you just want to cause pain to us however you can?!" He asked with his temper slightly rising.

Gastly snickered. "No young one you misunderstand my intentions! I never bring harm to anyone I control! I merely have them do my bidding and fall head over heels in love with the Maiden for the duration of the Festival only and then I release them. The only memories they have are of enjoying the festivities with their friends and their great love for her, all memories of which I implant, and then they go on their way after the festival is over while completely unaware of what happened to them. I do not hurt anyone and the only reason you felt such mental pain and discomfort is because you fought back. That has never happened to me before. Not once." Gastly explained.

"But why do you do what you do though?" Giselle asked. "Why go through all the trouble of brainwashing people just to do your bidding and fall in love with the Maiden, who by the way has been dead for over two thousand years!? All their falling for in their possessed states is your phoney image of her! Why do any of that?!" She demanded.

Gastly turned it's grinning gaze onto her. "My dear don't you understand? My only reason for doing this is so that I may help keep the legend of the Maiden alive! I take no vanity or meaningless pleasure from it. The only reason I do what I do is to keep her story alive! The 'Haunt of the Maiden' that is caused by me every year keeps the legend alive and that's what matters to me!"

Brock looked confused. "But how can you have the power to implant false memories into people's minds? That would take an incredible amount of psychic power and it's already amazing enough that you're a Ghost Pokemom using psychic abilities." He stated.

Gastly just chuckled again. "Hundreds of years of practice." Is all it said.

James suddenly shouted up at Gastly. "I don't care how powerful you may be! You still took control of my mind and you'll pay for it!"

Jessie stood beside of James. "You know what I think we should do James?" She asked him.

James cocked his head to the side. "What's that Jessie?" He asked curiously.

She smirked and pointed up at Gastly. "Let's capture Gastly and give it to the Boss! As powerful and smart as it is the Boss will have to be pleased with us and will probably end up giving us a big promotion!"

James grinned and nodded his head vigorously. "Let's do it Jessie!" He agreed.

They looked down at Meowth. "Are you in Meowth?"

The talking Pokemon thought about it for a little while and when he thought about just how useful this very unique Gastly would be to the Boss, he dreamed of his head cat position being taken back from Persian and raising high up enough in the ranks of Team Rocket to finally impress 'her'.

He nodded. "Let's do tis ting!"

Jessie and James grinned and then faced Gastly as they withdrew their Pokeballs. "Weezing/Arbok GO!" They both shouted at once as their two Pokemon appeared in flashes of light from the devices that confined them.

"What are you doing?!" Ash yelled at them. "You can't possibly think that you clowns are going to be able to capture that Gastly do you? Come on you three have already seen what it can do! Think for once!" He tried talking sense into them.

"Shut it twerp, we don't need your twerpish advice!" Jessie snapped.

"Yeah butt out!" James agreed.

Gastly just chuckled in amusement again. "So Arbok and Weezing ehh? This should be interesting!" It said excitedly.

Jessie growled. "Let's see how interesting you find this! Arbok use Poison Sting!" She commanded her Pokemon.

"Use Sludge attack Weezing!" James followed suit.

The two Rocket Pokemon unleashed their attacks at the Ghost Pokemon and it just stayed levitating where it was with that same grin on it's face. "Child's play!" Gastly said amusedly. "Do you really think such obviously weak and untrained Pokemon can possibly pose a threat to me?!"

Just before the attacks could hit it Gastly's eyes glowed blue and the attacks stopped in midair. With one swift motion of it's eyes Gastly directed the attacks back towards Arbok and Weezing.

"That attack was Psychic!" Brock exclaimed shocked.

"It can use Psychic-Type moves that are that strong?!" Misty shouted. "How?!"

Ash just watched the battle with a keen eye as the attacks hit the two Rocket Pokemon and sent them hurdling backwards. They crashed at their Trainer's feet and grunted in pain. "Get back up and fight Arbok!" Jessie commanded.

"You too Weezing!" James ordered his own Pokemon. "Don't let that mind controlling ghost get the better of you!"

The two Pokemon shakily got back up and Gastly chuckled again. "Why don't we try something else then?" It said while laughing all the while.

It's eyes glowed as it looked at Arbok. "What better for a snake infestation then it's natural enemie?!" With one pulse of psychic energy a giant plume of smoke erupted on the ground near Arbok and a second later a jumbo sized Zangoose appeared out of the smoke cloud towering over Arbok.

"Zangoose Zan!" The Pokemon said as it slashed it claws at the snake Pokemon.

Arbok went wide eyed, slithered back to Jessie and cowered behind her. "Charbok..." It said in a quivering voice as it looked at the Zangoose that was now smirking at it.

Jessie turned on her Pokemon. "What are you doing Arbok?! Get back out there and fight!" She commanded.

Arbok shook it's head and tapped it's head on it's Pokeball that was in Jessie's hand and was sucked back inside of it.

Jessie just stared at the Pokeball for a few moments and then began cursing at the top of her lungs as the oversized Zangoose disappeared. "Where did that Zangoose come from?!" Giselle asked in shock. "That's a Hoenn Pokemon!"

Everyone struggled to find some kind if answer until Ash answered the question suddenly. "It's obvious that Gastly is very adept and powerful when it comes to utilizing it's psychic abilities. I'm willing to guarantee that Zangoose was just a very powerful illusion that Gastly created to scare Jessie's Arbok. Zangoose and Seviper are natural enemies and Arbok is also a snake Pokemon just like Seviper is. I think Gastly mostly fights using it's realistic and very powerful illusions." He explained while staring at Gastly.

"Wow that's one impressive Pokemon..." Giselle said in awe.

They turned their attention back to the fight and saw Gastly turn on Weezing just as James shouted out, "Weezing Smog attack!"

Gastly cackled. "I think you need a little... Fumigation!" It said as it's eyes glowed blue.

A large tank of fumigation spray suddenly poofed into existence in front of Weezing and sprayed a massive jet of it in the Pokemon's face. Weezing started hacking uncontrollably and promptly fell unconscious before it could even launch it's attack.

James stared in opened mouth shock and then returned his Pokemon as he gulped in fear and backed away from Gastly as far as he could.

Jessie looked down at Meowth. "Why are you just standing there Meowth?! Go and do something!"

Meowth looked at Gastly and extended his claws until they were glowing a bright white in color. "Yeah! I'll teach dis chump not ta mess wit us!" He then took off running at Gastly as Ash just face palmed.

"Even if he actually made it to Gastly and hit it with that attack it still wouldn't do anything! He's using Fury Swipes, a Normal-Type move, against a Ghost-Type!" He continued to watch as Meowth ran towards the Ghost Pokemon only to have Gastly laugh again.

"Hahaha! I think kitty needs a little string to play with don't you?" It said as it's eyes glowed blue again and a giant ball of string suddenly appeared in front of Meowth.

The talking Pokemon stopped his charge and immediately went wide eyed at seeing the huge ball of string in front of him. "Ohh yeah come to Meowth!" He shouted as he jumped on the string and started playing with it while making actual PURRING noises the entire time.

Jessie, James and the group of kids just sweat dropped at the scene and Jessie looked at Gastly with a fierce glare. "AGHH! That's it! We're going to capture you one way or another you annoying pain in the ass!" She yelled at Gastly.

The ghostly Pokemon just cackled again. "Well as wonderful as this has been, I've grown tired of these games with you fools and think it's time you leave!" It's eyes glowed blue yet again as Jessie, James and Meowth were suddenly locked into place and couldn't move as they were shrouded by a blue glow.

The ball of yarn that Meowth had been playing with disappeared and was replaced instead by a huge rocket. Gastly moved the Rockets onto the... rocket, with it's psychic powers of levitation and then tied them down with rope it was able to conjure up. The Rocket's eyes were wide in fear the entire time as they struggled and begged Gastly to stop.

Gastly chuckled at them again as it lit the rocket and then eye smiled at them. "Enjoy the ride and please keep your arms and legs inside of the rocket at all times! Thank you for flying Air Gastly! MUHAHAHAHA!" It laughed again as the rocket blasted off in the opposite direction of the town and high into the air as it flew deeper into the mainland. The only thing anyone could hear from the fools was Team Rocket's famous, "We're blasting off again!" Line as they disappeared into the distance.

Ash and his friends watched what happen with wide eyes. "It actually conjured up a Rocket?!" Brock said in shock.

"Amazing..." Misty spluttered out.

"I've never seen a Ghost-Type so strong before!" Giselle chimed in impressed.

Ash looked at Gastly and the Pokemon stared right back at him, the seemingly eternal grin still plastered on it's face. "You really are one hell of an impressive Pokemon Gastly." He praised it.

Gastly grinned wider. "It's always good to know that ones talents are appreciated!" It responded.

Ash grinned back. "If you think you're so great then why not try those tricks on my own Pokemon then? We've already seen that I can beat you in a game of mind vs mind so why not try my Pokemon now? I guarantee that you DEFINITELY won't be disappointed." Ash smirked. "Who knows? You may even learn a thing or two."

Gastly broke out into a grin so wide that if it wasn't for the fact that it was made of mostly plasma, gases and other energies it's mouth probably would have fell right off. "I do love a challenge and you young man have given me more of a challenge and fun than I have had in countless years! I accept!" It agreed eagerly.

Ash nodded. "Alright then!" He looked down at Pikachu. "You're up first pal." He said.

Pikachu grinned and sprinted out in front of Gastly with a fire burning in his eyes and confidence radiating off of him. Gastly floated up into the air a little bit more. "Let's begin shall we!" It's eyes glowed blue. "For such a rodent problem I believe a little... 'trap' must be set!" It cackled as a huge mousetrap suddenly appeared in front of Pikachu. "It's time to exterminate!" Gastly said gleefully.

Ash just shook his head in amusement. "You're going to have to do WAY better then that. Right Pikachu?" He asked his partner.

Pikachu gave him a thumbs up and looked back at the mousetrap with a bored and impassive look on his face.

Gastly stopped laughing. "Well then let's see if you can back up that confidence!" With that the Ghost Pokemon launched the mousetrap at Pikachu.

Ash lazily waved his hand. "Pikachu use Iron Tail."

Pikachu stayed where he was and right as the object nearly made contact with him, Pikachu jumped and spun around in a complete 360 as his tail glowed bright in iron and smashed itself against the mousetrap. The device instantly shattered into pieces and then 'poofed' disappearing before everyone's eyes.

Pikachu landed perfectly and then cracked his neck as he ran back over to his Trainer, not even giving Gastly a second thought. Ash smiled at Pikachu as he hopped up on his shoulder and praised his work before looking back at the Ghost Pokemon. "Next?" He said simply.

Gastly was temporarily stunned with shock at what had happened but shook it's head and grinned again. "Not bad young Mr. Ketchum but let's see what you have now? That Pikachu of yours is truly an extraordinary Pokemon and I should have known that my mind games wouldn't have worked on it."

Ash smirked. "Well let's see how far that... 'Confidence' takes you hmm?"

Gastly frowned at the use of it's own words used against it and watched as Ash pulled out three Pokeballs. "Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander I need your strength and teamwork!" He shouted as he threw the balls into the air.

Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle appeared in the usual bursts of light. "Bulbasaur/Squirtle/Charmander!" they all called out, rip rearing and ready for battle.

Gastly snickered. "A Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle ehh? Why don't we have a little... 'Family reunion'!" The ghost chuckled again as it's eyes glowed blue and three huge poofs of smoke erupted in front of Ash's Pokemon.

When the smoke settled three BIG Pokemon, a Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur stood towering over the smaller Pokemon. Gastly went to speak, "Meet the fully evolved forms of-"

"Venusaur. The third and final evolutionary stage of Bulbasaur, excluding the use of a Kalos region Mega-Evolution stone which could turn it into Mega Venasaur." Ash explained lazily. "Blastoise. The final evolutionary form of Squirtle except for the use of a Kalos Mega-Evolutionary stone like Venasaur." He placed his hands behind his head as he continued. "And Charizard. The final evolutionary stage of Charmander unless, like Venasaur and Blastoise, you use one of two Kalos evolutionary stones on said Charizard. They actually have the ability to evolve further into two different types of Mega-Charizard. This depends on either a Black Fire Mega-Evolution stone or a Dragon's Fire Mega-Evolution stone. The type of Charizard you have also decides which Mega-Form it will take. This is why it's so important to make sure you and your Charizard knows exactly which version you both want it to Mega-Evolve into since a few Charizard can actually evolve into either one." He finished his long winded expantion with a sigh. "Honestly Gastly, contrary to what you think I'm not a simpleton."

Gastly actually gaped in shock at the boy's spot on intelligence and then shook it's head. "Very good boy, now let's see how your precious Pokemon take this!" With another glow of it's eyes Venasaur, Blastoise and Charizard suddenly touched hands to one another and then combined together to form an even bigger and more powerful looking version of the three fully evolved Kanto starters.

The new, combined Pokemon had the shell on it's back and front like Blastoise, the long fire lit tail and the wings of Charizard and the arms and legs of Venasaur. The newly formed Pokemon's face was a mixture of Blastoise and Venasaur.

"Say hello to my newest creation... Charvenustoise!" It cackled gleefully again.

Ash raised at an eyebrow at the monstrous Pokemon while his friends went slack jawed. "That's... Just weird." He deadpanned.

Gastly looked at him with amusement. "Well I guarantee that your three little Pokemon aren't to... What the?!" It shouted in surprise.

The Ghost Pokemon was looking at Ash's three Pokemon and expected them to be trembling in fear at the sight of their final evolved stages, combined as well no less, but they just stared at their opponent with neutral and passive faces. Not looking overly bothered at all, just like their Trainer.

Ash laughed. "Did you really think that... Thing, would scare my Pokemon?! Wow that's just sad..." He said shaking his head.

Gastly actually growled. "Let's see how you handle this then!" It looked up at it's creation. "Charvenustoise, use Hydroleafburn!" Gastly commanded.

The giant, combined illusionary Pokemon pulled it's arms in and then whipped them out hard. At the same time the canons on it's back fired a high powered torrent of water, followed by a large blast of fire from it's gaping maw and finished off by a large volley of leaves that appeared after it whipped it's arms open. The attacks combined together and headed straight towards Ash's three Pokemon, who stood where they were and didn't show an ounce of fear at the incoming attacks.

"Holy Arceus look at the size of that attack!" Misty shouted.

"If it hits Ash's Pokemon it'll do serious damage to them!" Giselle said worried.

"I'm sure Ash'll think of something..." Brock told them with a little uncertainty in his voice.

Ash watched the attack draw closer and didn't even bat an eye. When it was finally close enough he shouted out, "Now you guys use your Counter Dome!" He yelled.

Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur instantly came together and crouched down low to the ground just as the attack hit them, causing a massive explosion to rock the peak.

Ash's friends struggled to stay on their feet and he spread his feet wider into the ground to stay up as Pikachu gripped his shoulder tighter. Once the after effects of the blast had settled everyone looked back towards the impact sight.

Gastly laughed. "I hope I didn't hurt your Pokemon to badly!" It continued laughing.

Ash remained calm and emotionless as the smoke continued to clear. When it did his friends gasped and Gastly went wide eyed. "How is that possible?!" It said in disbelief.

In the center of what was supposed to be the impact sight was a burning dome of fire that eventually dropped, exposing a swirling dome of water and then that dropped as well. Charmander and Squirtle were seen huddling around Bulbasaur and had a caccoon of Leech Seed suspended around them. Eventually the vines dropped as well and Ash's Pokemon separated again, giving each a thumbs up in the process.

"They just used that Counter Shield thing from the battle on the St. Anne again!" Giselle spoke up, incredibly relieved that they were okay.

While Gastly watched on in shock Ash took no time in giving the next commands. "Alright you three charge in towards that wannabe Pokemon quickly!" He commanded.

Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur took off running at fast speeds towards Charvenustoise and Gastly knew it had to stop them. These three small Pokemon were fearless and that shocked the Ghost-Type. It was sure that when it made Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur appear at massive sizes it would terrify them. Didn't work. Then even when Gastly combined them together the three crazy little Pokemon STILL weren't intimidated! Gastly didn't know if there was something wrong with them or if they were just insanely strong minded like their Trainer was but all Gastly knew was that if they managed to attack the illusionary Charvenustoise then it wouldn't be good.

"Charvenustoise stop them with Hydro Pump!" Gastly commanded.

The fused Pokemon launched a high powered blast of water at Ash's charging Pokemon from the cannons on it's back. Ash was quick to react. "Now Charmander use Smokescreen!" He yelled.

Charmander never broke his run as he opened his mouth and released a thick smog that blanketed all three of them while they ran. The blast of water struck the smoke cloud that was concealing Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, causing a large volume of the Aqua to shoot up into the air.

Ash's friends cringed in fear, thinking that the three Pokemon were done for after such an attack. Ash himself just smirked and waited until the smoke cloud settled. When it did everyone gasped in surprise.

A big hole was cratered into the ground where the three Pokemon once stood and there was now no sign of them. Gastly looked shocked. "What?!" It shouted.

Suddenly the ground underneath the huge illusionary Pokemon erupted and out came Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. They rocketed up towards the Pokemon and attacked it with Flamethrower, Water Pulse and Razor Leaf.

The fake Pokemon reeled backward from the attacks as the three Pokemon of Ash's jumped back. Before Gastly could command it's illusion to do anything else Bulbasaur and the other two started charging in again.

Charmander and Squirtle attacked the illisionary Pokemon right in it's face with attacks like Flamethrower and Water Pulse, distracting it while Bulbasaur ran under it's feet. The Grass-Type whipped it's vines out and wrapped them around the fake Pokemon's trunk like legs as he passed under it.

By this point, Charmander was running around Charvenustoise and kept attacking it with different long range attacks while said Pokemon tried to stop the annoying fire lizard with it's own attacks.

Squirtle suddenly ran up behind Bulbasaur, who was rooting itself into the ground as much as he could while he kept a tight hold on the illusionary Pokemon's legs with his vines. Squirtle called out to Bulbasaur for confirmation on what he was about to do and the Grass Pokemon replied with a nod of his head.

Squirtle fired off a strong Water Pulse at Bulbasaur's back and sent the Pokemon soaring towards Charvenustoise again. He passed under the huge Pokemon's legs again and drew his vines together as he did, tightening the grip on the big Pokemon's legs and causing them to straighten out against there will a little bit.

As Bulbasaur did this the illusionary Pokemon wobbled on it's legs slightly and as soon as Bulbasaur landed again he rooted himself to the ground once more and strained as hard as he could as he turned to the side and pulled as hard as possible on the vines.

The illusionary Pokemon wobbled on it's legs a little more but stayed up on it's feet regardless. Charmander took advantage of the moment and blasted his opponent with a strong Flamethrower to the chest.

Charvenustoise threw up it's arms as a defense and tried to step back, dragging Bulbasaur on the ground as it tried to move.

Squirtle fired off a Water Pulse at the illusionary Pokemon's back and this caused it to start falling forward as it's balance really started to suffer. Charmander got a determined glint in his eyes as he took off at Charvenustoise and began climbing up the Pokemon's leg.

As Charmander continued to scale the huge fused Pokemon like a Mankey with amazing speed and coordination, Ash's friends looked on in amazement and Gastly watched with a gaping mouth.

Charvenustoise tried to slap Charmander away with a large hand but he just shot another Flamethrower into the big Pokemon's face with a loud cry of, "CHARR!"

Charmander continued on his way without so much as breaking his speed one notch as the illusionary Pokemon threw it's arms up in front of it's face to avoid the flames coming towards it.

Squirtle and Bulbasaur watched on impressed with their friend and Ash just observed the scene with pride in his eyes.

Charmander reached the top of his opponents head and then jumped high into the air. A bright blue glow started shining in his stomach as he opened his mouth and showed the blue sphere forming in his mouth that was none other than Dragon Rage.

Charmander threw his head forward and unleashed the powerful Dragon-Type attack. It collided with Charvenustoise's head and the Pokemon was powerless to stop it. This was the final push that was needed to bring the huge illusionary Pokemon crashing down to the ground below as it's legs finally buckled beneath the strong attack.

Charmander landed on the ground beside Bulbasaur and Squirtle as the ground shook from the massive illusionary Pokemon's fall. Ash wasted no time and commanded his Pokemon, "Alright you three! Flamethrower, Water Pulse and Razor Leaf that imposter and end this!"

The three Kanto starter Pokemon unleashed their strong attacks at the downed fake of a Pokemon and Gastly could do nothing but watch as the attacks struck it's creation and a massive explosion followed directly afterwards.

After the smoke cleared it showed the combined Pokemon knocked completely unconscious. A few moments later the giant creature disappeared in a puff of smoke and Ash smiled widely as he called out to his Pokemon, "That was amazing you guys! Great job, all of you did so amazing!" He praised.

Charmander, Squirtle and Buibasaur ran over to Ash and practically jumped on him in their happiness. Ash gladly returned the affection as Pikachu also assisted in praising his teammates.

Ash's friends were still wide eyed and shocked at how seemingly easy Ash's Pokemon took down Charvenustoise. "How in the world could they have defeated such a huge and powerful Pokemon like that so easily?" Giselle said loudly enough for Ash to hear her.

He turned around and smirked slightly before turning back and looking at the still stunned Gastly. "It's simply really Giselle. Even though Charvenustoise may have seemed to be very powerful because of it's size, appearance and the scale of it's attacks, it was still just an illusion. No matter how powerful Gastly may be. When it comes to conjuring up illusions, no fake Pokemon made from smoke and psychic energy could every hope to match the power of a real Pokemon. True strength in a Pokemon can only be acquired through rigorous, well developed training programs, blood, sweat and tears and a helluva lot of work. Even though Gastly's illusionary Pokemon may have been much bigger and it's attacks seemingly greater than my Pokemon, it couldn't really hope to match them in power. They train hard everyday and can take a lot more than what Charvenustoise was dishing out."

He crossed his arms. "In all reality, I would wager to say that Charvenustoise only had the actual power level of maybe a Charmeleon, Wartortle and Ivysaur. Even though that would still be more than a challenge for most Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur since they would be facing their secondary stage evolutionary forms, my three are anything but normal. They can easily handle such a challenge. I have complete faith in them." He finished with a prideful smile that was directed at his Pokemon.

Giselle, Misty and Brock looked beyond impressed but Gastly still seemed stunned. "You..." It began quietly. "Are the most interesting human I have ever met." Gastly told Ash with a perplexed look on it's face.

Ash just shrugged. "I have faith in my Pokemon and that's all there is to it. They trust me and I trust them. I don't know what's so hard to believe about that." He replied casually.

Gastly remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking. "One last round. The winner of this match will be decided with this last battle." It proposed.

Ash nodded. "Sounds good to me." He looked down at his three Pokemon. "Thanks for everything you did guys, take a good rest." He said smiling as he pulled out their Pokeballs.

Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur smiled and at their Trainer in reply as he returned them. Ash then pulled out his last Pokeball and threw it. "Alright Pidgeotto! It's your turn now, show us your elegance and grace!" He shouted.

Pidgeotto appeared in a burst of light as she gracefully twirled in the air and trilled out loudly, "Pidgeoooo!"

Gastly observed Pidgeotto carefully, all traces of comedy now gone from the Ghost Pokemon's visage. It was taking the battle very seriously now.

After some contemplation Gastly channeled more psychic energy out onto the battlefield and then, in a burst of smoke, a completely mechanized Fearow took flight and spun through the air, not even half as gracefully as Pidgeotto had.

It's body was all robotic and the eyes were glowing a yellow color as it stared Pidgeotto down. Said real Bird Pokemon looked right back at the mechanical Fearow without a trace of fear in her eyes.

"A robo-Fearow?!" Misty exclaimed in surprise.

"That's definitely new." Brock observed.

"How will Ash and Pidgeotto fight this one?" Giselle wondered aloud.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "A mechanical Fearow eh? Very interesting Gastly. Let's see what it can do." He looked up at Pidgeotto. "Be ready for anything and don't let your guard down for a second for anything. I don't care what it is. Okay girl?" He told her.

She looked down at her Trainer from her current elevation and cooed a firm response. Gastly took the first move at that moment and commanded Fearow, "Use Agility followed by Aerial Ace!"

Fearow trilled out a very robotic sounding response and then it's back feet retracted into it's body as small rocket boosters dropped down in their place. The rockets came to life and the robo-bird blasted off towards Pidgeotto at very impressive speeds.

Ash called out, "Get ready girl."

Pidgeotto just nodded in response and eyed the fast approaching robot. Just before Fearow could strike her she quickly barrel rolled to the side in a very elegant and graceful movement.

Gastly called out, "Fearow use Drill Peck!"

The Pokemon's mechanical beak started turning like an actual drill as it lunged at Pidgeotto again.

"Use Agility Pidgeotto." Ash commanded.

Pidgeotto yet again gracefully dodged the attack with a quick wingbeat to the side. Gastly looked annoyed. "Keep using Drill Peck until you hit it!" The Ghost Pokemon then smirked. "And add a little 'heat' to it." It said chuckling.

Fearow's beak suddenly started heating up and turned cherry red as smoke started coming from it.

"What the hell?!" Giselle began. "It's beak is getting hot! How?!"

No one had the answer and Ash just continued to watch impassively as Fearow started stabbing at Pidgeotto relentlessly. Chasing her all around the sky of the Maiden's Peak as it tried to hit her with it's burning hot beak.

Pidgeotto continued to dodge, weave and roll out of the way of every beak thrust that Fearow threw at her with practiced ease. It was obvious to see that to her, this mechanical phony was nothing compared to Ash's Fearow that she always sparred with.

Ash eventually grew tired of watching the game of chase and called up to her, "Fearow dodge the next attack with Agility, then go into a Quick Attack to strike Fearow and knock it out of the air with one of your wings!"

Gastly tried to command it's illusionary Pokemon to do something but was much to slow. In a flash Pidgeotto stopped, dodged the next thrust of Fearow's beak, cloaked herself in the white light of Quick Attack and shot forward into the robo-Pokemon at blurring speeds.

As she began driving her opponent towards the ground Pidgeotto suddenly twisted in mid-descent and smashed her wing into the side of Fearow's face, effectively smashing the Pokemon's beak and sending it hurdling towards the earth where it crashed and cratered the ground with a loud sound of metal crunching and bending.

After the smoke cloud cleared it showed the robo-Fearow struggling to rise back into the air. It's body looked fairly damaged and it was missing several parts in certain places on it's body.

Gastly actually looked nervous as it called out to Fearow. "Get back into the air and then use Flamethrower on that pesky pidgin!" It commanded.

Ash's friends gasped. "Flamethrower?!" Misty shouted.

"How can it know a move like that?!" Brock said in complete disbelief.

The robotic Pokemon rose back into the air slowly and then opened it's mechanical mouth just as it's underbelly began turning bright orange/red as fire began forming inside of it. The Pokemon's open maw began collecting the flames and then it released them at Pidgeotto.

Ash quickly called out, "Pidgeotto use Agility and Quick Attack combined to dodge that attack."

The female Bird Pokemon built up her speed and then shot out of the way of the fire stream just before it could hit her. Gastly commanded Fearow to follow her around and and keep using Flamethrower until it hit her.

As the two aerial Pokemon continued their dual, with Pidgeotto leading Fearow on a wild chase, all the while avoiding the fire attacks, Giselle rubbed her temples. "Okay so... First that Fearow's beak actually heats up so hot it turned almost completely red and now it's spewing flames out of it's mouth! How is that even possible?!" She said exasperatedly.

Ash answered her without taking his eyes off the battle. "Fearow isn't a real Pokemon Giselle, it's an illusion remember? Gastly can do whatever it wants with these fake Pokemon it's conjuring up. Fearow probably has some built in furnace of some kind that gets hot enough to be used to simulate actual Fire-Type attacks. Gastly is in itself a very unique Pokemon considering it can use psychic power. Something that a Ghost-Type shouldn't be able to do. I wouldn't put anything past Gastly went it comes to illusions." He explained with utmost confidence in everything he said.

Giselle looked across the peak at Gastly. "That's just the thing though Ash... Like you said, Gastly shouldn't be able to do any of the things it's been doing. It's completely unnatural. I for one want to know how and why." She said as she continued to stare at Gastly.

Ash uncrossed his arms. "And we will Giselle, very soon..." He shouted up to Pidgeotto. "Alright girl put on a burst of speed and pull away from Fearow! Once you're far enough away turn around and use Air Cutter!"

Pidgeotto obeyed perfectly and pulled away from Fearow in a quick burst of speed. The mechanical Pokemon opened it's mouth again and fired off another Flamethrower that headed straight for Pidgeotto.

The female Bird Pokemon suddenly whipped around in an elegant, twisting, rolling motion, avoiding the flames that almost made contact with her as at the same time she whipped her wings forward and sent several sharp blades of wind at Fearow.

The robo-Pokemon wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack and was struck head on by all of the small blades of wind. Cutting, ripping and tearing could be heard as the harsh wind tore away even more parts and pieces of the mechanical Flying-Type.

Pidgeotto thrust her wings out and stopped herself as she hovered high up in the air and looked down at her battered opponent. The flames from Fearow's Flamethrower continued on unperturbed and set a collision with the statue of the Maiden.

Gastly's eyes widened as it shouted out, "NOO!"

The Ghost Pokemon's eyes glowed blue as just before the flames could reach the statue, they suddenly poofed away into smoke. Gastly let out an audible sigh of relief and Ash instantly caught onto this.

He smirked and a theory formed in his mind. For some reason Gastly must have been attached or connected to that statue of the Maiden in some way. If he could put the Ghost-Type in a situation where it absolutely had to protect the statue in some way then Pidgeotto would be assured victory much quicker.

Ash called out to his Pokemon again, "Pidgeotto start flying back towards that statue!"

Gastly narrowed it's eyes. "What are you planning?" It called over to Ash.

The boy just chuckled. "You're the one with psychic powers, why don't you tell me?!" He responded back.

Gastly looked back up to where Pidgeotto was flying and saw her getting closer and closer to the statue. When she was almost upon it Ash yelled up to her, "Pidgeotto use Air Cutter on the statue!"

Gastly's eyes nearly popped out of it's head. "Fearow stop that attack! It can't destroy the statue of the Maiden!" It commanded it's illusion frantically. "Use anything! Flamethrower! I don't care!"

Since Fearow was merely an illusion, not a trained Pokemon and a machine on top of all of that to boot, it couldn't process the proper comands and instead just flew towards Pidgeotto as fast it could so it could try and intercept the coming attack like it's creator ordered it.

Ash grinned when he saw this and even Pidgeotto formed what looked like a smirk on her beaked face when Fearow started rocketing towards her. She kept flying in a straight line towards the statue and when she neared it Pidgeotto just continued heading onwards, not slowing down.

"What's Pidgeotto doing?!" Misty yelled.

"She's going to crash into the statue!" Giselle fretted.

At the last second, when Pidgeotto was just about to smash into the statue with Fearow right behind her Ash shouted, "Pidgeotto, up now!"

His Pokemon listened perfectly and just before she hit the statue of the Maiden she suddenly thrust her wings outward, stopping her momentum abruptly as she then shot straight up into the air, the feathers of her stomach just barely grazing the statues surface.

Pidgeotto flew far above the statue and avoided hitting it beautifully. Fearow on the other hand was not so fortunate. The robotic Pokemon didn't have the natural born reflexes and training that Pidgeotto had which resulted in the illusionary Pokemon colliding with the statue, much to Gastly's complete dismay and horror as it watched the mechanical Pokemon explode into pieces upon impact, not able to do anything at all to stop it since it happened so fast.

Ash's friends watched in awe as the illusionary Pokemon exploded into nothing and then the remains poofed out of existence. Somehow the statue remained unscathed. Ash smiled to himself knowing that it was over and held his arm out as he called up to Pidgeotto. "Great job girl! Come on down!"

The Flying-Type descended down onto her Trainer's arm and nuzzled him happily with her beak. Ash laughed and gently rubbed the crown feathers on her head as he praised her for defeating the robo-Fearow.

"I can tell your training with Fearow at the lab is definitely coming along really well Pidgeotto and I'm very proud of your progress! Let's keep getting stronger okay?!" He told her with a wide smile on his face.

Pidgeotto cooed to her Trainer without a moments hesitation and Ash looked at her fondly for a few more moments before returning her. After he was done he looked across the peak at Gastly, who seemed in absolute shock. The statue wasn't damaged in the explosion, as previously stated, since Fearow was just an illusion and couldn't actually do any real damage to it. With the fear for the statue now passed, Gastly was left to the bitterness of defeat as it looked to the ground with disbelief etched onto it's face.

"How...?" Gastly muttered. "How could I have been beaten? How could my illusions have failed me?" It shook it's head back and forth, trying to make sense of what happened.

Ash walked over to the Pokemon until he was standing in front of it. "Do you really want to know why you lost Gastly?" He asked the Pokemon without a trace of cockiness in his voice or seeming like he was wanting to gloat his victory at all.

Gastly looked at him curiously. "And what pray tell would that be?" The Pokemon didn't sound like it was mocking Ash at all and was genuinely wanting to hear what the boy had to tell it.

"It's a simple matter honestly..." Ash began. "Even though you truly are an impressive Pokemon Gastly and your abilities to use psychic power as a Ghost-Type are astounding to say the least... You rely to much on your illusions and have fooled yourself into believing that they can't be defeated. The simple fact of the matter is that no strategy, no technique and no battle style is unbeatable. You may be able to defeat hundreds of opponents using the same strategy but eventually, your technique will be dissected and weaknesses will be found. Just like how I discovered the weaknesses in your illusions. You are a very impressive Pokemon and have the potential to be beyond great, however you will never reach that potential unless you learn to adapt, evolve and become stronger through many different means. If you can do this then you will become stronger and you will improve. You just need to take the steps to get there is all." He finished with a kind smile.

Gastly seemed stunned. The first human that had ever defeated it was not only still being kind to it, even after all it did to him, but he was also trying to help the Ghost Pokemon by telling it ways in which it could become stronger. If Gastly thought Ash was the strangest and kindest human it had ever met before then now it was absolutely baffled by the young Trainer.

Gastly formed a very curious look on it's face. "Why are you so... Kind to me young Trainer?"

Ash just shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "To be honest Gastly... I see a lot of promise and potential in you. Regardless of how long you've been doing what you have I think you are a very special and unique Pokemon. Hell with the right training I think you would make an amazing Pokemon for somebody!" He exclaimed with a thumbs up at the Ghost-Type.

Gastly, for the first time in hundreds of years... Ever since the time of the Maiden, actually felt like someone actually cared for it. Gastly couldn't understand, especially since it had put Ash through so much!

Ash spoke again. "Look Gastly, I'm willing to forget everything that happened with no questions asked if you just promise me one thing." He said, holding up a pointer finger.

Gastly floated a little closer to Ash. "What is it?"

Ash smiled. "Just please promise me that you'll never kidnap or torment anyone else during the Maiden's Festival or otherwise ever again and I'll forgive and forget everything." His smile softened upon seeing the Pokemon's uncertain expression. "Gastly... I know why you've always done all of this. You feel for some reason that you need to keep the legend of the Maiden alive and in order to do so you kidnap and torment people disguised under the illusion of the Maiden herself so people will remember her every year during the festival when you go on your attacks." The boy laughed slightly. "It's an honorable goal and shows just how loyal you can be if you've really spent hundreds of years doing the same thing. However..."

Ash paused for a few moments before continuing. "You need to realize that people aren't going to forget about the Maiden just because you stop 'haunting' people disguised as her. This town has so much pride for the men who went to war and the Maiden herself, for the sacrifice she made waiting for her lover to return, that she will never be forgotten. No offense since I know your intentions were good Gastly but... By haunting, kidnapping and torturing people, all you're doing is making people develop bad feelings towards her. So please Gastly..." Ash pleaded. "Will you please stop impersonating the Maiden and hurting other people even though I know that's not your intention. Will you please do this?" Ash asked, looking the Ghost Pokemon dead in the eyes.

Gastly shifted it's eyes towards the statue of the Maiden and then floated over to it. The Pokemon rose up until it was eye level with the Maiden and then sighed deeply before it spoke. "You have earned my respect young Ash Ketchum and for that I shall share some history with you and the reasons for why I do what I do."

Ash looked extremely curious and looked at Gastly expectantly as his friends walked up to join his side as they too looked very curious.

The Ghost-Type continued to stare at the statue as it spoke again. "My birth was a very unsual story..." Gastly said with a sigh. "My parents were actually two giant Pokemon that hailed from a once great and thriving civilization, a city that has been lost from memory for thousands of years and once resided here in Kanto. This ancient city was a place inhabited by a people that lived here in this land long before the first overseas settlers arrived and shared, coexisted and lived in harmony with the many different species of Giant Pokemon that once lived all throughout the land in abundance."

Ash looked surprised. "You mean to say that Giant Pokemon used to be common here in Kanto?"

Gastly nodded. "Indeed they were. You see, the city I speak of was called Pokemopolis and was one of the two great civilizations that once existed here in Kanto. The other was called Pokelantis and people of both ancient cities lived in harmony with not only each other but also the Giant Pokemon that lived here long before they themsleves did. You see, there was a time when Giant Pokemon were the majority of Pokemon in this region and the Pokemon of today were the minority." The Ghost-Type explained.

Giselle looked over at Ash. "That explains Dragonite some more Ash! She's just a holdover from the days of Pokemopolis apparently! Won't Professor Oak be happy to hear that?" She said excitedly while smiling brightly at him.

Ash chuckled at his girlfriends enthusiasm and pulled her close to him. "That does shed some more light on her actually." Ash admitted. "I bet Professor Oak really will be glad to find this out." He said while hugging her closer to him.

Gastly looked interested at hearing that. "You've actually seen a Giant Pokemon?! Where?" It asked anxiously.

Ash looked back at Gastly. "Yeah I have actually, a giant Dragonite. I met her at a lighthouse by the ocean near Vermillion City sometime back. She apparently had been wondering the oceans of the world for a long time before I met and captured her-"

Gastly went wide. "So she's your Pokemon now? You captured a Giant Pokemon?"

Ash nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah I have actually. And a Giant Krabby and Tentacruel."

The Ghost-Type looked thoroughly impressed. "I would give anything to be able to meet them... What an honor it would be!"

Misty brought Gastly's attention back to the topic at hand. "So what were you talking about earlier Gastly?" She asked impatiently.

The Pokemon snapped back to attention. "Ahh yes! Well as I was saying: The two great cites of Pokemopolis and Pokelantis lived in harmony for many years until a great and terrible king came to power over the throne of Pokelantis after betraying and killing the previous king. This king, who's name was Arangok, wished to use the power of a few powerful magical objects to tame and control the power of the Legendary Pokemon of the Kanto and even Johto regions so he could rule the world. The people and Giant Pokemon of Pokelantis had no choice but to bow to the whims of the tyrant king who had possession of these powerful magical artifacts. They were then forced to go to war with the people and Giant Pokemon of Pokemopolis, who opposed the terrible king and stood against him."

Gastly looked out over the ocean. "The fighting between the two peoples and Giant Pokemon were terrible and vicious. They battled and wared for what seemed like ages, pitting humans against humans and Pokemon against Pokemon." The Ghost Pokemon stopped and a fond smile crossed it's face. "It was during this war that my parents met. My mother was a giant Gengar from Pokemopolis and my father was a similar sized Alakazam from Pokelantis. Naturally my parents were natural enemies from the time they met not only because they were from warring cultures but also because their species, Psychic and Ghost-Types, were natural enemies as well. However, after my father saved my mother from the attack of several other Giant Pokemon that were from Pokelantis, my fathers own comrades, they overcame their differences and became mates. Something that was unheard of for two complete type opposites. Sometime later my mother had my egg in secret, not wanting anyone to know of their matehood or of me. Especially not during the war. Then everything changed when 'it' happened..."

The Ghost Pokemon trailed off and Ash looked concerned. "What happened next Gastly?" He asked gently.

The spectral Pokemon sighed before continuing. "The war ended and the evil king Arangok was defeated when the great and mythical Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh descended upon the people of Pokemopolis and Pokelantis to end the fighting between them. Most of Kanto's population of Giant Pokemon was exterminated during the war and Ho-Oh was enraged at the human's for their relentless and savage fighting that was the cause of so many Pokemon losing their lives. It came down upon the ancient people with all of the fury of an enraged Legendary and raised the cities to the ground. By the end of the destruction and chaos Pokemopolis and Pokelantis were all but decimated, the tyrant king was killed, supposedly sealing Ho-Oh away in some powerful magical stone before he did and only small pockets of people from both cities were left over from the carnage. These survivors decided to leave Kanto and migrate for another home, which would later be known as the Orange Archipelago, making them the first ones to settle the islands, but not before hunting down the last of the Giant Pokemon and ending them. My parents and a giant Jigglypuff, who was a friend of my mother, were the last Giant Pokemon that I know of that were... Dealt with. I'm guessing they were killed."

A few tears escaped Gastly's eyes before it went on to finish it's tale. "My egg had been hidden away by my mother as I stated earlier and ended up in many different places over the many hundreds of years that followed the war. My father was a very strong Psychic-Type being an Alakazam and was able to place special psychic powers over me that delayed the hatching of my egg until it was safe for me to hatch. My egg somehow ended up being washed out to sea during my incredibly long incubation period and to this day I consider it Arceus fated that my egg wasn't destroyed. After some time adrift my egg ended up here on the shores of this small town, which was nothing more then a small village back then. A man found my egg and gave it to his lover shortly before he and the rest of the men were called away to fight in the Kanto Civil War."

Giselle had a look of understanding flash across her face. "It was the Maiden wasn't it?" She asked the Pokemon softly.

The Ghost-Type nodded it's head and smiled with a reminiscing look on it's face. "Yes it was..." Gastly answered. "After her lover left she watched over my egg like a mother to her child and raised me once it was finally time for me to hatch. She was all I had and I was all she had with her lover gone. Over the years I began to began to discover that I had abilities far exceeding that of what the Maiden, Artiana was her name, taught me about my species. I continued to unlock more of the strange psychic powers within me over time at the same rate in which I learned and honed my Ghost-Type moves and abilities. Artiana helped me along the entire way even as she began aging into her senior years."

Gastly paused to collect all of it's thoughts before continuing again. "I eventually was able to unlock an ability in which it revealed to me my subconscious egg memories and my heritage. I had many questions and Artiana urged me to go out into the world and find them. Even though I hated the thought of leaving I knew I had to, so I left. For many long years I was gone and managed to find out the truth of what happened to the Giant Pokemon, the ancient cities, my parents and how rare it was that I had the mixed powers and abilities of both Ghost and Psychic-Type Pokemon. Something that should have never happened. I also learnt that the Giant Pokemon of old, bore strange ink markings of different designs on their bodies and that the reason I wasn't born both oversized and with the same markings as my ancestors was merely do to one of the many things I learned on my travels called 'recessive genes'. Apparently my embryonic development was so focused on developing my Ghost and Psychic abilities and powers that I simply 'skipped' the large mass and markings during my development within the egg. Something I really don't mind in the least to be honest. Such size, it would be nothing more than bothersome!"

Gastly chuckled at itself before continuing again. "Through my very advanced Psychic abilities I also learnt how to pick up on human speech quite easily. Just in case you were wondering how I could talk, which I know you were." The Pokemon chuckled again and Ash just shook his head in amusement as Giselle giggled a little. Brock, Misty and Pikachu seemed to be completely immersed with the story Gastly was currently sharing with them and missed the joke.

Seeing as how his comedic crowd was pretty dead right now Gastly continued it's story. "I was luckily able to learn everything I did about my heritage and the war by speaking to a few of the more 'ancient' Pokemon families of the Kanto region. Some of the, what we call today as 'normal sized' Pokemon like myself, had ancestors that lived and saw the time of Pokemopolis, Pokelantis and witnessed their fall. If not for these great descendants that were so keen to listen to their elder's tales throughout the generations to keep the stories alive I would never have found out even half of what I did. In fact, you are probably the only humans alive as of right now who knows this much about the ancient cities, what happened to them and the Giant Pokemon of old. Most human... What do you call them again?... Ahh yes! 'Archeologists' who study the myths behind Pokemopolis and Pokelantis don't even connect the dots that they are actually interconnected with one another. Some speculate but no actual real research is done into it." Gastly explained.

"Whatever happened to Pokemopolis and Pokelantis?" Giselle asked curiously. "You said they were destroyed but even now there should be ruins in the areas where the cities once stood. Why has no one ever found them? Did Ho-Oh really destroy the cities that badly?"

Gastly sighed and shook it's head. "I'm afraid m'dear that those two great cities, or at least what's left of them, are now buried into the earth and/or now encased and capsulated within mountains, hillsides and have generally been swallowed up by the earth itself. I myself believe from the stories I was told that much of Pokemopolis and Pokelantis could possibly still exist, just covered up by time, forever holding in their secrets. I believe that some scholars place the location of the two great lost cities somewhere around the more southern areas of Kanto if memory serves correctly..." Gastly wondered absently.

Misty decided to ask the next question. "Gastly, we all know why Ash's giant Tentacruel and Krabby doesn't have the markings that the Giant ancient Pokemon did. Krabby and Tentacruel are both from modern times and as a matter of fact, Tentacruel was actually made it's size by a chemical he was exposed to. Dragonite however is a different story. She could very well be from the more ancient times so why doesn't she have the markings?"

Everyone else looked at Gastly, liking an answer to such a bright question. The Ghost Pokemon finally answered her after a few moments of contemplation. "That is a grand question young lady and I will answer it! Most likely this Dragonite is either not that old or she's like me and the marking gene within her didn't come to the forefront. It's also possible that she is from a more modern line of Giant Pokemon that have retained the size, done away with the markings but are still directly related to the giants of old. Either way, I'm sure she's a descendant of the Giant Pokemon of ancient times no matter how you slice it." Gastly laughed again and everyone could tell it's mood was starting to lighten again and for some reason... It made them all happy to know that.

Ash was anxious to hear more of Gastly's tale and asked, "So what happened after your travels were finished?"

Gastly's face grew somber looking. "By the time I finally came here years later Artiana had passed away. I was very sad to know that the one who was like a mother to me had left this world but I was also happy for her at the same time. For to long she had mourned and longed for her lover that had never returned to her. I knew that he had to have passed in the war but I never told her. I believe deep down she knew it as well but chose to deny it. It was shortly after coming back and finding Artiana had passed that also learned of just how famous she had become as the longing and broken hearted 'Maiden'. I felt as though I needed to do something to keep Artiana's memory alive so she was never forgotten. She was a wonderful woman and after everything she did for me I felt as though it was my duty. So..."

Gastly lingered for a moment before continuing. "I started using my psychic abilities to change form into Artiana, or at least the image of her that the town had come to see her as. I waited and lived here at the Maiden's Peak, living in the shrine and then every year the Maiden's Festival came I would don the illusion of Artiana and then hypnotize men who came to the festival into becoming infatuated with the Maiden. As you all witnessed tonight with the blue haired man that I was successful in hypnotizing, I was very able to make the men do whatever I wanted while they were under the 'spell' of the Maiden and this resulted in my forcing of them to do anything that left a 'memorable impression' of the Maiden on the town. I did this for more years than I could count and I even created the persona of an old woman that would warn the men I would mark as the targets of my control to beware the Maiden for she would enslave and make them her servants!" Gastly said dramatically and then chuckled at it's own antics.

The Ghost-Type grew somber again as it looked towards the statue again. "In all truth... It never crossed my mind that the things I did could have been potentially harming the image of Artiana. I only ever wanted to help keep her memory alive and the only thing I've done all this time is make people afraid of her... See her as nothing more than a monster in some ways..." The Ghost Pokemon hung it's head in shame and a depressed aura clearly formed around it.

Ash smiled softly and walked closer to Gastly. Once he was standing in front of the Pokemon he spoke gently to it. "You know what Gastly? You had your heart in the right place for everything you did. Even though you didn't necessarily go about doing it right I understand that you just wanted to help keep Artiana alive through people's remembrance. She took care of you from the time you were an egg and you loved her for it. If you would have just went about things differently all this time then I truly believe you would have really made a positive impact on the legend and memory of the Mai- Artiana. But you know what though?" He asked.

Gastly looked at Ash curiously. The boy smiled as he spoke. "You don't need to do anything to keep the memory of Artiana alive. The people of this town will always remember her for the amazing loyalty and eternal love she showed to her lover who went to war. The people of this town revere her for waiting on this very peak everyday for him to return. It showes that love never dies with your loved ones, it lingers on and remains until you go on to join them. It's great that you felt so attached and indebted to Artiana that you wanted to keep her memory and story alive but you don't need to. You should hear the way the people talk about her! They love her, regardless of what you've done disguised as her. I promise you Gastly that if you stop doing what you've been doing for so long the people of this town will not forget her, ever."

Gastly stayed silent for a few minutes until it finally spoke. "But... What would I do if I stopped being the ghost of the Maiden? There's nothing left for me here and I have no idea of where I would go or what I would do..." The Pokemon asked this question more to itself than anyone else as it turned around and floated away slightly, head down in thought.

Ash thought to himself a couple of minutes while everyone stayed silent, all deep in thought. An idea suddenly formed in Ash's mind but he quickly shook it away. He knew that there was no way Gastly would want that...

Giselle seemed to have came to the same train of thought a few seconds later and an excited look sparked in she eyes as she turned to Ash and grabbed his arm. She spun him around and looked at him. He looked back at her and the two seemed to have communicated without speaking as she began gesturing towards Gastly with her head as she looked at Ash expectantly.

The boy in question just shook his head and held his hands out in a gesture that seemed to mean, 'It would never go for it!'

Giselle gave Ash a cute pair of Growlithe puppy dog eyes as she gestured towards Gastly again and then back at Ash, giving him the most pathetic look possible. Ash stubbornly shook his head and made the same gesture again.

Giselle started to look frustrated and placed her hands on her hips as she glared at Ash. The young Ketchum just looked at her dumbly and then started to feel uncomfortable as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Ash stubbornly shook his head again and crossed his arms in defiance. Giselle crossed her own arms as her foot started tapping the ground in irritation like an angry Buneary. Ash started sweating a little and when Giselle took one step towards him he broke.

Ash threw his arms in the air and made the gesture of, 'Alright you're right! I'll go!' He conceded in defeat.

Giselle quickly reversed moods and smiled brightly at him as she reached up and kissed him sweetly. After she was done she pointed towards Gastly, but much more relaxed and innocent this time.

Ash wasn't about to try his luck and quickly made his way towards Gastly. Upon reaching the still deep in thought Pokemon he called out, "Gastly hang on!"

The Pokemon turned around and waited for Ash to address it. The boy took a breath and then began, "Gastly look... I don't expect you to want to take me up on this offer but I... I just really feel like I need and want to extend this offer to you because honestly... You've really impressed me and I truly think you are a very special and unique Pokemon. I see now just how loyal and kind hearted you can be with all of the years you devoted to Artiana. I know that you would make an absolutely incredible and not to mention powerful Pokemon for any lucky Trainer and well..." Ash trailed off and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well I was thinking about... Inviting you to come with me and join my team if you wanted to. I could understand if you didn't want to Gastly but I just thought that I would... You know, extend the offer." Ash finished with a sheepish grin as he laughed a little at what he thought was a stupid offer.

Gastly just simply looked dumbfounded by Ash's invitation to join him on his team. After everything it did to Ash he would openly accept it as his own Pokemon?! It was safe to say that Gastly was beyond shocked. Never before had it ever considered becoming someones Pokemon. In fact, the very thought of ever belonging to some Trainer and being forced into a Pokeball had always completely repulsed the spectral Pokemon. Right now though, after seeing just how special and kind hearted of a person Ash was from their battle, the almost beckoning light and goodness that radiated off of him, everything he had heard the boy talk about and by just witnessing how much his Pokemon seemed to love him and the bond they shared... The thought of becoming a trained Pokemon, Ash's Pokemon... Didn't seem so bad. Not bad at all. Gastly had no doubts after tonight that Ash would definitely take care of and respect it just like he did his other Pokemon. Hell, after seeing Ash's Pokemon's battling abilities and how strong they were against Gastly's own illusions it had no doubt that Ash could help it become much stronger with no question...

Gastly broke from it's thoughts and looked at Ash. The boy seemed a little uncomfortable after making the offer and Gastly could tell that he was probably feeling foolish for offering something that he most likely felt it would definitely reject.

The Pokemon then looked back up at the statue of the Maiden and felt conflicted. If it went with Ash then Gastly knew it would become much stronger and probably have a much better and more fulfilled life. However, leaving meant it would no longer have connections to... The Ghost-Type shook it's head and finally spoke. "The fact that you would offer for me to join your team and come along with you after all I've done is beyond astounding to me. You truly are a one of a kind human Ash Ketchum and joining forces with you would truly be something that would make me very happy..."

Gastly sighed. "But at the same time I'm conflicted. This place is all I've known for so long and my last connections to Artiana is here..." The Ghost Pokemon looked back up at the statue again. "It's not an easy decision to make..."

Ash nodded in understanding. "I understand Gastly, really I do. As I said it was just an offer and if you decide you don't want to come with me then I totally understand. Why don't you think about it? We won't be leaving until the day after tomorrow when the festival is finally over so you have until then to decide. Once you make your decision then come and find us or we can come back up here and find you. How does that sound?" Ash suggested smiling.

Gastly smiled as well and nodded it's head. "That sounds very reasonable Ash and I thank you for giving me time to think."

Ash continued smiling as he waved his hand dismissively. "No problem Gastly, I know it's a huge life choice so take your time thinking." He yawned suddenly and looked towards the sky that was just starting to show a glimpse of dawns first light over the horizon of the sea. Ash looked back at his friends and saw that they all looked equally as tired as he felt. Pikachu was teetering back and forth with heavy eyelids, Misty was yawning, Brock was rubbing his eyes and poor Giselle looked like she might fall asleep standing up at any moment. But even in her exhausted and droopy eyed state she was still smiling at the happy scene between Ash and Gastly.

Ash smiled softly at Giselle's unwavering faith and dedication to him before walking over to her. She watched him approach with that same tired smile on her face and when Ash got close enough he motioned for the tired Pikachu to hop onto his shoulder, which the Pokemon complied with happily, and then he reached out for Giselle and wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her in close.

"Come here sweetheart..." He said tenderly and pityingly as he pulled her in and held the exhausted girl close to him. Giselle snuggled into his hold and sighed contentedly as she closed her eyes. Ash kissed the top of her head and gently rubbed her back as he looked back at Gastly. "Well since dawn's almost here and we're all so exhausted we'll leave you now Gastly."

Said Pokemon looked somewhat sad at hearing Ash was leaving now but knew it would see him again soon. "Yes young Ketchum and I shall see you very soon with my answer to your offer." Gastly replied back respectfully while smiling genuinely kindly.

Ash nodded as a response and then, using the very impressive upper body strength he had for a kid, scooped Giselle up bridal style and looked at his friends with a tired smile. "Let's go to the Pokemon Center guys, we've a long night and I think we could all use some rest. I don't care if the place is packed or not, I just want a soft bed and not the hard ground."

Brock and Misty agreed without any qualms and then said goodbye to Gastly before slowly making their way towards the path in the forest nearby that would take them back to the town.

Ash repositioned his beautiful, now sleeping girlfriend in his arms and his heart fluttered warmly when she snuggled into his chest cutely. He then looked back at Gastly one last time before leaving for the night-er... day. "I'll see you soon Gastly, take care." He said waving while Pikachu did the same.

Gastly smiled at it's potential Trainer and nodded. "Yes Ash Ketchum I will see you soon. Have a good sleep."

Ash smiled tiredly in return and then followed after Brock and Misty with a sleeping girl in his arms and a nearly asleep Pokemon on his shoulder.

Before Gastly returned to the shrine to rest for the day it looked at the retreating form of Ash one last time. "I shall see you soon... long awaited Chosen-One." The Pokemon smiled softly again before phasing into the shrine. All the while thanking the Goddess Arceus for it's abilities to see into minds. If not for that then Gastly would never have learnt from the memories it had seen of Ash's great destiny, the meeting between Ash and Arceus when he was younger and also never would have discovered that the creator of everything was actually a Goddess and not a God. Gastly didn't mention that it had learnt these things to Ash since it also saw from the boy's memories how he hadn't told his friends those great secretes yet. It wasn't Gastly's place to reveal such things so it didn't.

The last thought the Ghost Pokemon had before it fell asleep in the dark rafters of the shrine was that even if it didn't go with Ash it still knew the boy would do positively extraordinary things. That much was for definite certain...

(The Next Evening)

Ash stood in his and Brock's shared room at the Pokemon Center, staring out the window of the room at the town just outside of it. It was lit up with many lights and the entire town was practically buzzing with celebration and excitement. Tonight was the last night of the Maiden's Festival and it was the biggest celebration as of yet. This final night would have music, games, food in abundance, entertainment and also some dances that would take place before the annuel fireworks show began. The night would then be wrapped up by everyone at the festival placing teaboats that had candles set inside of them into the ocean from the beach. The people would then light the candles and push the boats out to sea and watch them fade away into the night as everyone watched on in respectful silence. This was done to honor and remember all those people through the ages that have been lost at sea, spirits that are trying to find their way back home so they can be put to rest. It's also a memorial to the soldiers who left the town long ago and died in the Kanto Civil War as well as the Maiden who is also remembered during this final stage of the festival.

Ash couldn't help but think about Gastly at this time. It was their last night in the town before they had to leave the next day and continue on their way towards Saffron City. He had been really hoping that maybe just maybe Gastly would want to go with him and become a part of his team since it was such a loyal, powerful and all around amazing Pokemon. However, Ash had a feeling that Gastly wouldn't decide to go with him. The Ghost-Type felt so connected to Artiana that Ash truly didn't believe it would be able to leave the town and by extension, her. It was a real shame too... Gastly would have been a great addition to his team.

Ash also contemplated the current situation between he and Giselle while he stared out the window lost in his thoughts. Ever since that morning his girlfriend had been acting very strangely around him. She was somewhat detached and more than a little distant from him the entire day. It was so bad that they didn't even have their usual good morning kiss like they had taken to sharing between each other ever since they became a couple. This had really bothered Ash and he tried to find out what was going on with Giselle but when he did she just changed the subject or walked away from him.

Ash wanted to help her get past whatever it was that was bothering her so much, especially if it concerned him, however one of the many lessons his mother taught him on how to handle a woman was that if she wasn't ready to talk out the problem yet then you needed to let her have her time to cool down and then talk to her. In the mean time all you could do was be loving, caring and understanding to her and be patient. You never, ever just forgot there was a problem and moved on though, hell no! She just explained that it was best to let your lady and by extension, yourself, calm down before tackling the issue. This was advice that Ash took to heart.

No matter what had upset Giselle he just hoped she would talk to him soon so he could maybe help fix whatever was happening between them right now.

Ash sighed and then stepped back from the window, shutting it as he turned to look at Pikachu who was resting on his bed. "Come on Pi, the others are waiting for us down in the lobby, let's not keep them waiting." He told his partner.

Pikachu got up from the bed and bounded up onto Ash's shoulder in an instant. Ash smiled at his Pokemon and then exited the room, locking it behind him, before heading downstairs.

Upon finally reaching the lobby he saw his friends waiting for him near the door and when he saw Giselle his heart soared. She was wearing make-up and her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with two long bangs on either side of her face. She was wearing a black silk skirt, white button up shirt and low heeled black shoes.

Ash walked up to them and then greeted his friends. "Hey guys, I'm ready to go."

"Alright I'm so ready for this festival!" Misty said excitedly.

"Good! Now that we're all here we should head out." Brock suggested.

Ash nodded. "Yeah let's get go." He said as he started walking towards the door. Once he reached it Ash stepped aside and allowed Brock and Misty to take the lead. He waited until Giselle walked past him then he stopped her. "Hey Giselle..." He began.

The girl stopped and turned around. "Yes Ash?" She replied, not unkindly but also not in her usual sweet voice either.

Ash smiled at her. "You look beyond beautiful and I wanted you to know." He complemented her.

Giselle have him a smile that he could tell was fake. "Thanks Ash, you look really good too." She replied.

Ash went to step forward and take her hand but she quickly walked out of the Pokemon Center and hurried to catch up with Misty. Ash just stood there and sighed in frustration and irritation again. "What am I doing wrong Pikachu?" He asked his Pokemon.

The Electric Pokemon just gave his Trainer a sympathetic look and patted his head comfortingly. "Pika Pi... Pika Pikachu Pi." He tried consoling Ash.

The boy looked at Pikachu and smiled. "Thanks buddy, you always try to cheer me up don't you?" He said scratching the Pokemon behind the ears.

Pikachu gave his Trainer a thumbs up and smiled. "Pikachu Pi!"

Ash laughed a little. "Yeah Pi... I hope you're right. Anyway, let's go and catch up with the others okay?"

Getting another nod from Pikachu, Ash left the Center and headed down the road to catch up with his friends. He just hoped that he found out what was up with Giselle before the night was out or otherwise he wouldn't be able to enjoy the festival. Her happiness was one of his top priorities and he would make sure he helped her however he could.

XXXXXXXXXX

Gastly hovered over top of the statue of the Maiden, overlooking the dark ocean that had been shrouded by nights black curtain. The waves lapped hungrily against the cliffside far below and the moonlight shone down it's celestial light upon the ocean and the peak, giving everything a rather ethereal look to it.

The Ghost Pokemon in question was currently in deep thought as it kept going over Ash's offer to join him and become his Pokemon. The more and more Gastly thought over the offer the more it realized just how much it kept being pulled to the side that said to join with Ash. He knew how special Ash was in this world from the memories it saw of the boy's meeting with Arceus but that wasn't the only thing. After seeing how kind, understanding and committed Ash was to his Pokemon during and after their battle Gastly had to admit that he undoubtedly loved his Pokemon and they loved him in return.

The spectral Pokemon had never had that kind of close Trainer and Pokemon bond with anyone before. Gastly definitely had a close relationship with Artiana since she was like a mother to it but that was still different than having a bond that only a Trainer and Pokemon could have. Gastly could say with certainty that if a Trainer would ever be good enough for it, then Ash would be the one.

The only thing that kept Gastly from making a definite decision to join Ash was the connection it had with Artiana and the fear of losing said connection. Gastly was also afraid that without it around... Who would keep her company? It was all extremely difficult to decide on and Gastly was feeling torn in two.

As the ghost continued to stare out at the ocean it suddenly felt a very familiar presence make itself known beside it. Gastly knew who it was and smiled as it turned it's body around and looked at who had just joined it.

Floating there beside Gastly, sort of 'sitting' on top of the Maiden's head... Was none other than the the spirit of the Maiden, Artiana, herself. She was dressed identical to both her counterpart in the painting that Ash and his friends had seen at the first shrine they had visited and the form of her that Gastly had donned many times. The only difference was that the real her looked more transparent and had a much more somber and longing look on face. However it shifted to one of happiness when she saw Gastly.

_'It's not as hard of a decision to make as you think it is Gastly.' _Artiana said in a very ghostly and steady voice. _'I believe you already know what it is you want deep down. I watched the battle and interaction between you and the boy who offered for you to go with him. He reminds me so much of my love... From just the little bit I saw and heard from him I can tell he is a very honest, caring, pure human and Pokemon Trainer. Of all the years you disguised as me and pulled your stunts I have never seen another like him before. Out of all the people you brought to this peak under your hypnosis none has been as strong willed or as kind of heart as he. After seeing the way he treats his Pokemon I know that you believe he would care for you just the same way. You would also get to see and experience more with that boy on his traveles than you have ever have before. Be honest Gastly... You have already made your decision but you care about leaving me to much. I am right am I not?' _She said with a knowing look.

Gastly just chuckled in amusement. "You have always known me so well I could never hide anything from you. You could see right through me like I'm 'transparent'!" Gastly laughed aloud at it's corny joke and even the Maiden got a few giggles from it.

The Ghost-Type stopped laughing eventually and then looked more serious and slightly melancholy itself as Gastly looked out across the ocean. "But yes my dear Artiana... You are right. As usual. You know that I have never had any desire to belong to a Trainer and live the life of a trained Pokemon but... After meeting Ash and seeing just how unique and different he is from all other humans I've seen, aside from you of course, I felt for the first time that I would not mind it at all. In fact, the idea of becoming Ash's Pokemon, training and battling alongside of him actually sounds... Pleasant. The only thing holding me back was that I didn't want to abandon you after we've been together for so long. You've waited for so long for your lover to return and I promised you long ago that I would be by your side until he did." Gastly said looking at her with conviction in it's eyes.

Artiana smiled gently at the Pokemon. _'Gastly, you have stood by me for countless years and have been a great friend and companion to me. Even though the boy, Ash, was right when he said that you were wrong for controlling people against their wills to help keep my memory alive, I am still more than flattered and grateful that you cared for me enough to devote so many years to me the way you did. However, now is your time. There is so much left for you to see and do and I fully believe that Ash is the one who will help show you these things. I saw something in him when he was here that makes me believe that he will do amazing things in this world. Join him on that journey Gastly and become a part of that destiny.' _Artiana urged with a rare smile on her face.

Gastly looked wide eyed. "But what about you Artiana? If I leave then you'll be alone." The ghost said with a frown.

Artiana smiled sadly and looked out over the ocean. _'I'm not foolish Gastly. I know that my love is long dead just the same as I am. I believe in my heart that someday one of the teaboats that are set off at at the end of every festival will find the spirit of my love and bring him back to me. When he does and we are reunited the two of us will finally be able to pass into the next life and live together in happiness. Please Gastly... I know how much you want this and I want you to finally be happy doing what you want to. I know that your true happiness lies with this young Trainer and it would mean so much to me if you followed what your heart wants. You don't have to worry about me any longer Gastly. Do this last thing for me and go with Ash. Do what makes you happy.' _She stared at Gastly intently with that same kind smile on her face.

Gastly just looked at her for a few minutes with a thoughtful expression on it's face. After sometime of deep contemplation the Ghost Pokemon finally softened up it's expression and smiled. "Thank you Artiana. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me over the many years. I will never forget any of it and I will never forget you." Gastly said bowing it's head in respect.

Artiana smiled and bowed her head in return. _'Good-bye Gastly, thank you for always standing by me and being my friend through the ages. Now go out and live your dreams. Make yourself and the amazing things you can do known to the world and watch over the boy Ash. I have lived, or existed, for over two thousand years and in that time I have seen countless people pass through this town. Out of all of those people I have never seen someone that simply radiates the pureness of heart like that young Trainer from last night. I know he is meant for great things and I hope you watch over him and help him achieve that destiny. More than anything just be happy Gastly.' _Artiana waved to Gastly after she finished with her parting words and started floating back towards the statue of herself.

Gastly smiled and dipped it's head again before looking back up at Artiana with a look of true happiness. "I shall Artiana, farewell and I hope to see you again." The Pokemon bid it's mother figure and friend a final fond farewell before turning around and floating off towards the area outside of the town where the final night of the festival was currently being held. Gastly hoped that it would find Ash and tell him of it's decision to join him soon because at the moment, the Ghost Pokemon was more excited then it had been in many years.

Artiana smiled fondly after Gastly and just before she vanished she whispered in a voice that was carried away with the wind, _'Thank you... Gastly...'_

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash was currently walking around the festival grounds that was sat atop a large hill that overlooked the town below. He, along with Pikachu ever present on his perch atop his shoulder, were making their way amongst the crowd of celebrating and partying tourists/townsfolk.

The young Trainer looked around as he walked through the area at all of the fun that people seemed to be having by engaging in all of the different activities the festival had to offer. People were playing some of the many carnival games set up everywhere, watching the street performers and their Pokemon put on cool shows, buying souvenirs, eating the horribly unhealthy foods from the stands that were set up every ten feet it seemed like and just the general fellowship and atmosphere that permeated the area.

Ash however... Wasn't having such a great time. He and the other others had ended up separating so they could all go do whatever they wanted to and Ash had hoped he could have taken that opportunity to be with Giselle and find out what was bothering her, maybe help fix the problem and then be able to just enjoy the festival together as as a couple. Maybe they could have even found a nice, secluded and romantic spot to just hold each other and not have to worry about about anyone else since Brock and Misty were off on their own. Of course Pikachu would be there but that was just a giving since he was pretty much an extension of his Trainer.

All of it would have been great but Giselle had ended up running off on her own before Ash could even stop her and it was really depressing him. All he wanted was to just be with her tonight. She was looking even more gorgious than usual and he really wanted to talk with her, laugh with her, hold her close and caress her smooth skin while inhaling her intoxicating scent... But none of that was happening.

It was bad enough that Gastly seemed to have made the decision not to go with Ash after all but now Giselle was giving him the Ice Beam like cold shoulder and he didn't know why. Everything seemed fine when she was falling asleep in his arms the previous night so why now? What had happened?

It was driving Ash crazy and that's why he decided to just say to hell with trying to have any fun by himself. He wanted his girlfriend and he was going to find her and find out what was going on rather she was ready to talk or not!

He had been searching for some time now all over with Pikachu sniffing the air for any trace of her. Which was really hard to do since the air around them was thick with the smells of food, other people and just about anything else one could think of.

Ash kept walking around the big hilltop, going down between vendors that were lined up on both sides of the path he was on, thanking Arceus for his taller than average height for his age so he could see through the crowds better. After some time had passed, Ash eventually found himself walking through a portion of the big hillside that had nothing but food vendors on both sides of him.

It was hard to find anyone or anything in this new part of the area because everything around Ash was decorated so densly and in so many different colors that it messed with his eyes. There were paper orbs with lights inside of them and small little flags of different colors strung up over head that was connected to the vendors on both sides of the path all the way down as far as Ash could see. The worst part was that, with all the many squeezed together vendors, small outdoor eating areas, bright and colorful decorations, the tons of people all dressed completely different and the music that was being played everywhere... Ash felt like he was looking for a needle in a hay stack.

After some more time had passed walking, Ash looked to his right and finally saw about twenty yards away at one of the outdoor eating areas near a food vendor, Giselle sitting down at one of the tables with a salad in front of her it looke like.

Ash didn't really register what she was eating or anything else for that matter because at that moment the only thing he could take in was the four guys that looked to be around Brock's age and were hovering around Giselle's table trying to talk to her. Two were sitting beside her, leaning in closely while they talked to her and the other two were standing near Giselle on either side of her.

He could tell they were all trying to talk to her and judging by the lecherous looks they were giving Giselle, Ash could tell that they didn't have 'innocent intentions' on their mind at all.

Ash could only think of the guys that nearly raped Giselle back in Porte Vista when looking at the scene and judging by the way she was trying to avoid them and get them to leave her alone, all while she looked very nervous and unsettled, he could tell the same thing was going through her mind.

Ash felt pure anger rise up in him and his eyes flashed blue for a brief second and instantly his 'Protect Giselle' instincts kicked in as he clenched his fists tightly together until his knuckles were white and his teeth started grinding together. All he could see was a bunch of trash coming onto his Giselle and there was no way he would let that pass.

Pikachu looked at Ash worriedly and tapped his shoulder. "Pika Pikachu?" He asked with concern in his voice, making sure Ash wasn't going to lose control. Especially not in such a public place.

Ash breathed out slowly and answered his Pokemon with a deadly calm tone to his voice. "Don't worry Pikachu... I'm not losing control. I just want to 'talk' with those guys."

Pikachu studied his Trainer for a few moments and upon seeing that he was being sincere let a grin overtake his face. "Pika Pi Pikachu!" He said while looking at the boys and sparking his cheeks.

Ash's eyes twinkled madly and he grinned himself. "I like your way of thinking Pi." He said as he started walking calmy towards Giselle and the guys. He subconsciously cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck while Pikachu continued sparking his cheeks with a freaky grin on his face.

Ash neared the table and started hearing what was being said. "Come on beautiful! Just come and party with us for awhile!" A boy with short dark hair said.

"Yeah we promise it'll be fun!" A boy with longer than average orange hair chimed in.

One of the guys next to Giselle on the bench scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What's the matter sweetheart? Don't you like getting a little wild sometimes?" A red haired boy said with his intentions for Giselle almost stamped onto his forehead and screaming gangbang.

The last guy, this one with slicked back blue hair, that was sitting beside Giselle placed his hand on her thigh as she instantly freezed and went wide eyed with fear. "You sure got nice legs honey, makes me wonder what's hidden up under that skirt..." He said grinning sickly.

Giselle gulped audibly. "N-No! I already said that I have a boyfriend and I don't want to go anywhere with you so please just g-go away!" She slightly stuttered out with fear in her voice.

The guy with his hand on her thigh moved it up a little higher as he chuckled nastily. "Hehehe! Maybe you just need a little convincing sugar!"

Ash had seen more than enough and picked up his speed slightly with a gleam of fury burning in his eyes so subtly hidden that most wouldn't have seen it past his calm facade.

Ash reached the table and stood behind the guys and Giselle. The two guys standing up didn't notice him and the two guys sitting with Giselle were to preoccupied with her, or staring at her thighs and breasts through her clothes, to notice either.

Before the guy with his hand on her thigh could move his hand up any further under the frozen Giselle's skirt, Ash placed both hands on each guys shoulder and squeezed with a strength that was starting to become enhanced by the power bubbling just below Ash's boiling surface.

The boys felt an immense and painful pressure, like a vice, gripping down onto their shoulders and made them yelp in pain as they instantly released their hold on Giselle and cringed.

"I don't think the lady cares for your company fellas." Ash said in a voice so cold and calm it would send shivers down your spine. "I think it would be in your very best interest to get up, walk away and leave her alone... Now." He finished as he stepped back and pulled down on their shoulders, making the boys fall back out of their seats and onto the ground.

The other two boys spun around and stepped back quickly at the newcomer as Giselle snapped out of her stupor and turned around in her seat. Upon seeing Ash her eyes widened. "A-Ash?!" She said in disbelief.

Ash flashed her a look that said, 'It's going to be alright now' before he turned his attention back to the boys who were standing back up from the ground.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing ass hole!" The spiky haired boy ranted when he stood up.

"Yeah what's the big idea?!" The other boy said with an angry look on his face.

Ash stared at them with ice cold eyes and didn't flinch or move a muscle at the menacing anger in their voices. "That's my girlfriend you were feeling up and I would appreciate it if you would apologize for making her feel uncomfortable and then leave. If you would be so obligatory." He said in a voice that dripped with hidden malice in each word.

The boys looked at Ash and then Giselle before busting out in laughter. Ash just stood there and glared them down with something akin to a predators gaze as he took their laughter without a word.

They finally stopped and the spiky haired boy wiped a few tears from his eyes before speaking again. "So you mean to tell me that this hot piece of ass is with some kid like you? What are you, ten?! Hahaha! That's a funny joke kid but we weren't born yesterday!" He laughed again.

The orange haired guy sneered. "Yeah so why don't you run off now and go play while we turn our attention back to the lady here!"

The guys laughed again as Ash crossed his arms. "How about this..." He began, making them all go quite. "You either leave now or I will break each and every one of your hands for touching and/or even thinking about touching my girlfriend. How does that sound?" He said with the hatred for the boys in front of him slowly starting to show.

The spiky haired boy laughed again. "Ha! Some kid like you beating all of us?! That's even funnier!"

The spiky haired boy placed a hand on Giselle's shoulder and Ash's eyes flashed blue again quickly as his muscles clinched and the anger rose again. In a flash Ash was in front of the boy and grabbed his hand, pressing down on a pressure point in between the boy's thumb. The boy yelped loudly in pain as his grip loosened and Ash pulled his hand off of Giselle's shoulder. He kept a tight grip on the hand and quickly pulled the boy towards him with a hard jerk.

Ash hit a low forward arrow stance and rammed his palm into the boy's stomach just as he reached Ash. The boy gasped out loudly and was lifted off of his feet as Ash struck him hard with a grunt of force and power.

The boy sailed back into one of his friends and they both fell to the ground. The other two boys backed up further as Ash stood in front of Giselle protectively.

"That's it kid!" The boy Ash just attacked gritted out while clutching his stomach. "You're dead meat!"

Ash slightly tensed his muscles and slid his feet out into a slightly wider, but unnoticeable stance as he relaxed his hands. The boy pointed at Ash. "Get him you idiots, don't just stand there!" He ordered.

The other three nodded and then moved to surround Ash. Giselle backed away and looked at the scene with worry in her eyes but Ash didn't so much as blink at the situation he was in.

One of the boys suddenly lunged at Ash with his fist cocked back and Ash just stood there, unmoving. When the boy was finally upon him Ash simply slipped to the right side and blocked the punch with an inside block. He then stepped inside and kneed the other boy in the gut, followed by bringing one hand behind the boys head, another under his chin and then pushed the boy straight backwards.

He had slid his other foot behind the boy's legs and this caused him to fall unbalanced. The other boy fell down and his back met Ash's other knee, making him arch up in the air and grunt loudly in pain.

Ash kept the boy elevated on his knee and the pulled his head back by his hair and exposed his neck. Ash made a fist and slammed it down into the boys throat quickly. He dropped his knee at the same time and the boy fell down to the ground and rolled around, clutching his throat in pain as he struggled to breath with panic stricken eyes.

Ash knew his first opponent was out and turned around just in time to see another one of the four boys come charging into him. Ash didn't let this surprise him and instantly wrapped his arms and legs around the boy as they fell to the ground.

Upon impact Ash hugged the boy closer to lessen the blow and then released him as he brought his hands down and kept his legs wrapped around the others boys torso. The guy on top of him clumsily sat up and then went to bring a fist down on top of Ash.

The talented young Trainer blocked the downward fist with a side swing block and smacked it hard enough to knock the boy on top of him off balance. Ash used the momentum from the block and the leverage of his legs wrapped around the other boys body to swing his own body up to the side as he cut his elbow right across the side of the boys face.

The perverted boy reared back and held his face in pain as Ash stayed up by wrapping both arms around the boy's neck. He then brought his head forward with a grim look on his face and smashed his head into the boy's face, breaking the guys nose instantly and making his head snap back. Blood gushed out of the boy's nose as he fell back and Ash took this time to lay back quickly and then unwrapped his legs from the boy's torso.

He quickly shoved his legs into the boy's chest and sent him flying backward. Ash kipped up and crouched down low before rushing the boy that was trying to stand back up.

Ash slammed the boy down into ground hard and then straddled him as he shoved the boy's head to one side and punched his ear hard. The boy screamed in pain as Ash quickly repeated the process with the other ear, hitting it hard enough to draw blood from the inside.

With his opponent holding both of his ears and screaming in pain, Ash quickly looked to the side and saw the boy with orange hair come charging in.

Ash quickly stood up and jumped on top of the boy's chest on the ground just before the orange haired one could reach him. He used the chest of the other boy as a springboard and jumped into the air. He slammed both feet into the charging boy's chest and sent him falling backwards.

When Ash landed on the ground he instantly kipped back up and took off running towards a table that was near the orange haired boy and jumped on top of it. He quickly sprang off the table and twisted in mid-air as he brought his foot around.

The orange haired boy only had enough time to turn his head in Ash's direction and was met with Ash's foot slamming into his face hard enough lift him off his feet as his head whipped to the side and blood gushed out from his mouth, a tooth going with it.

The boy toe skidded across the ground before falling face first into another table and then dropping to the ground like a stone. Out cold and with blood still trickling from his mouth.

Ash looked at the last boy, the spiky haired one, and narrowed his eyes as he walked toward him. Giselle and all of the people nearby were watching with baited breath as Ash stalked towards the last boy with a 'go rot in hell' face and his eyes looking so cold they could freeze people with one glance.

The last boy growled loudly and grabbed a nearby chair. He hurled it at Ash and the fighting prodigy simply dropped to the ground and caught the chair as it passed over him by hooking his foot into one of the open grooves on the chairs backrest.

He rolled backwards with the motion of the chair and sat it down behind him with his foot. He quickly sprang up and saw the spiky haired boy running at him with a pocket knife in his hand.

Ash quickly kicked the chair into the air and then jumped up and spun around, kicking the chair and sent it flying towards the charging boy.

Said boy stopped and raised his hands in front of his face as the chair collided with him and broke on impact. The boy lowered his hands and saw Ash nearly upon him. The spiky haired boy sliced at Ash with his knife and the young Ketchum simply rolled towards the ground and under the knife.

He rolled until he was right in front of the boy's legs and then brought his feet up while he was lying on his back. He slammed his feet into the inside of the other boy's kneecaps and made him go bow legged instantly.

Ash whirlwinded his feet around while on the ground and hit the other boy's knife hand, knocking it out of his grip and sending it flying.

Ash kipped up right in front of the other boy and when he tried to swing at Ash with a punch, Ash leaned his head back and did an inside block. He quickly pushed the boy's arm into his chest and stepped to the side as he struck the boy under the armpit hard with a closed fist.

Said boy cringed in pain and tried to swing at Ash again but he was to quick. He slipped under the punch and stepped behind the boy in a quick movement. He brought his leg up and slammed it longways into the back of the other boy's left knee, which made him fall to one knee instantly.

Ash stepped to the boy's other side and grabbed his arm. He shifted his weight and pinned the arm close to his chest. He then slid a leg in between the other boy's legs. He twisted to the side hard and used his hips to lift his opponent off his feet as he swung him around his body and then flipped the spiky haired boy over his shoulder and into the ground.

Ash fell down with him and kept his arm in a tight grip as he twisted around and locked his arms and legs around the appendage. He fell past the other boy's head and pulled on his arm, drawing him into an arm bar.

The other boy's back arched as Ash applied pressure and then, with a hard yankand twist to the side, Ash pulled the spiky haired boy's arm out of socket. This resulted in a scream of pure agony from the other boy as Ash let his arm go and it fell limply above the boy's head.

Ash twisted around again until he was straddling the other boy perfectly and then grabbed the boy's throat. He raised it slightly off the ground and then brought his fist up. He looked down into the boy's terrified eyes and said darkly, "Next time you lay your hands on my girl I'll break your bones into dust." He was completely serious and the boy could apparently tell because he started nodding his head vigorously showing that he understood.

The spiky haired boy tried to plead for mercy but Ash just brought his fist down in a mighty swing and hit the boy hard enough to send his head into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

Ash stood up after a few moments and began breathing in and out slowly to calm himself down. He looked around once he was calm once more and saw that two of the four boys were now unconscious and the other two were nursing their injuries in pain on the ground as they tried desperately to hide themselves away from Ash.

Ash saw several people looking at him with something akin to fear, respect and awe in their eyes. He could care less about them though. All he cared about was the girl he had come for.

He spotted Giselle standing where he left her, looking at the scene with wide eyes. Ash didn't care what was wrong with her right now because at that moment, he just knew that he wanted... No needed to kiss her and feel her.

Ash started walking towards Giselle and just before he reached her she looked away with a nervous look on her face. "Ash... I..." She began but was cut off when he finally reached her and scooped Giselle into his arms.

"Come here." He said with no room for argument as he kissed her deeply right then and there.

Giselle was shocked by the sudden kiss but eventually melted into it and kissed him back just as fiercely. The two of them stayed interlocked for a little over a minute and finally separated.

Ash took her hand gently in his and then looked her in the eyes. "Come on... We need to go talk." He said seriously without breaking eye contact with her.

Giselle looked into his eyes deeply and then nodded nervously. Ash smiled gently at her and led her out of the large crowd of people gathered around the small outdoor eating stand.

A few moments after they had left the crowds began dissipating and pretty soon the only people left at the stand was the four beaten boys who were still lying on the ground, in way to much pain to even think about moving.

Officer Jenny showed up then and looked down at the beaten and injured boys. She sighed audibly and massaged her temples. "I really hate how crazy this festival gets..." She complained to herself as she went to work on assessing the damage done.

One thing was for sure: Those boys wouldn't be up and hitting on other guy's girlfriends again for quite some time. Of course, after tonight, they would most likely reconsider ever messing with any girl again!

XXXXXXXXX

Ash had led Giselle to a portion of the hillside that was mostly devoid of people and at a spot that overlooked the town. The small little overlook was shadowed somewhat by trees on the outside, the ground was cobblestone and there was also a railing set up towards the front of the miniature cliff that would keep people from tripping and rolling down the huge hill. A small bench was set up near the front of the railing and that's where we find our favorite young couple seated at now.

Giselle still looked a little nervous and was looking anywhere but Ash while said young Ketchum just looked at Giselle from where he was seated beside her for a few moments before he smiled gently and took her hand in his.

"Giselle..." He said softly, getting her attention. "This is crazy. We haven't so much as said five words to each other all day long now and I'm really confused. I can tell something is up with you because usually we would be inseparable. So please sweetie..." Ash tenderly kissed her hand. "Please tell me what's going on. Seeing you like this tears me apart and I want to help. If it's something I did then please just tell me what it is."

Giselle looked at Ash and then back down towards the town again. Ash gently lifted her chin up to meet his eyes again as he continued. "Please Giselle... This isn't healthy for you, for me, or our relationship. We have to talk to each other and we need to start now. Please talk to me..." He begged.

Giselle just looked into Ash's eyes and then away again a few seconds later when she felt tears start to sting her eyes. She took a shaky breath to calm herself down and then spoke. "It's just... Ash it's just that I..." She choked back a sob as she said the next part. "I know that you aren't really happy with me and don't truly want to be with me..." She let the tears freely fall down her face after saying the last bit.

Ash looked completely stunned. "W-What?!" He said in disbelief. "Giselle... How could you even say something like that?!"

The girl sobbed again as she stuttered out. "L-Last night... On the p-peak... W-When Gastly took the f-form of Daisy O-Oak... I saw how you l-looked at her and I could t-tell that what you f-felt for her was much m-more than a simple l-little crush! Y-You want to be with h-her and I'm just s-second best!" She finished as she freely broke down and cried openly.

Ash for his part was struck completely speechless. He honestly would have never thought that Giselle would have been so effected by seeing Gastly take the form of Daisy! He knew that he had almost buckled when he thought she was there and saw her standing in front of him but he couldn't help it! She had been his major crush ever since he was old enough to know what the word 'crush' meant!

It was true if he admitted it to himself that he still carried a flame for her and yes, she was still a major crush for him. However, Ash knew that she and he would never be in this life time. She was eight years older than him! He was ten and she was eighteen! He didn't actually think that they would ever be but that didn't change the fact that he did still have a crush on her and that wasn't his fault.

However, he could now understand exactly what had been bothering Giselle so badly all day and he knew she had every right to feel the way she was. She honestly thought, after seeing his reaction to Gastly's illusion, that she was just his fallback girl and that hurt her, badly.

Ash felt incredibly bad for Giselle going through such pain, especially since her fears were completely unfounded! Yes he still had a flame for Daisy but that didn't mean that he was with Giselle just because he was holding out for Daisy. Even if he did have a shot with her it wouldn't matter! He honestly loved being with Giselle and cared about so deeply that he wondered sometimes if it was transcending to something else.

He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt how lucky he was to have found Giselle and never wanted her to feel like she was just second best to him when she actually meant the world to him. He was going to make sure that she understand right then and there just how much he really cared for her and prove to her that she wasn't just second best. She was first!

Ash took hold of her shoulders and gently spun her around to face him completely. Ash stared at her intently, with a gentle smile on his face, as he brushed her tears away with his finger. He tilted her face back up to look at him and he nearly died when he saw the pain collected there in her beautiful eyes.

He tightened his grip on her and continued to look deeply into her eyes as he spoke. Trying desperately to convey as much truth, honesty and compassion as he could to her though his eyes.

"Giselle please listen to me when I say this..." He began as Giselle looked at him tearfully. Ash looked down. "Look... I'm not gonna lie that yes I do really like Daisy and yes I've always had a crush in her. I still do like her. When I saw Gastly take the form of her last night on the peak it really messed with me because anytime I'm around Daisy it just makes me feel really frazzled and my head swims. If I had any clue that it would have bothered you the way I acted then I would have controled myself better. I should have known that you seeing me act that way would have hurt you. Hell it would bother anybody! I should have known and I'm sorry..."

Giselle looked down and a few more tears fell down her eyes. "It's okay Ash... I understand that you-" Ash stopped her with a raised hand as he placed both of his hands on hers and drew them close to his chest as he scooted closer to her. "No Giselle, don't apologize for anything. Please don't..."

He kissed her hands softly. "Yes I still have a crush on Daisy. Yes I still like her. But you have to know. You HAVE to understand here and now that..." He began massaging her hands comfortingly. "You need to understand just how much I honestly and truly care for you Giselle. Daisy is just my crush but you are my girlfriend! Sweetheart I care about you more then you can even know. Everything you are... You're beautiful, kind, smart, caring, funny and an all around amazing person! You light up my life and my day by just being you and being in my life ever single day. My crush on Daisy is NOTHING compared to how I feel about you! I want to be with you, hold you, laugh with you and just feel you're light and warmth every single day we are together."

Ash placed his hands on both sides of Giselle's wide eyed and shocked looking face and smiled gently at her as he used his thumbs to wipe the tears away from her face. She had stopped crying by this point and Ash gently leaned his forehead against hers. "Giselle... My dream is to become the greatest Pokemon Master there has been or ever will be, my ambition is to raise all of my Pokemon to be the strongest of any in this world or the next and be the happiest they can be, but do you know what you are to me?"

Giselle shook her head dumbly. Ash kissed her forehead gently and let his lips linger there for a moment before breaking the contact and looking back into her eyes. "You my beautiful Giselle are my guiding light and the angel of my eye. I would do anything for you and come for you no matter where you were. So please don't ever question my feelings for you because you are one of the greatest treasures I've discovered on my journey." Ash kissed her forehead again and then backed away as he smiled at her warmly.

Giselle was crying again but not from sadness. She had a truly beautiful smile on her face and her eyes were shining. She flung herself into Ash's arms and clung to him tightly. "Ash that was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me! I don't even think most poets and the sappiest romance novel could outshine what you just said to me." She separated herself from him but kept her arms around his neck. "I am so sorry I was so bitchey and ignored you all day long when I wasn't like that last night when you were carrying me down from the peak. I was just so upset and sad when I woke up this morning after thinking about it all that I didn't know how to handle it. It didn't bother me at first with you having a crush on Daisy but I didn't know it was so serious and I guess finding out how deep it was just shocked me. I had no right to act that way and I promise that from now on I won't do anything like that again. Can you please forgive me?" She pleaded with him.

Ash simply leaned his head in and captured her soft lips in a passionate and breathtaking kiss. Giselle closed her eyes and gripped his hair firmly as she kissed him back fiercely.

After they unlocked their lips Ash just smiled at her again. "Just promise me that from now on any problems we have with the other we'll talk them out. Okay?" He asked.

Giselle nodded. "Absolutely. Ohh and..." She kissed him again quickly. "Thank you for teaching those boys back there a lesson. They were real creeps and I started getting bad flashbacks..." She said shivering.

Ash pulled her in close and hugged her. "I know... But nothing will ever happen to you while I'm around okay?" He assured comfortingly while stroking her hair tenderly.

Giselle nodded her head from Ash's chest and then giggled slightly after a few minutes of silence. Ash looked down at her in confusion as her giggling grew into full on laughter.

"What's so funny?" He asked her amusedly.

Giselle continued laughing and after a few moments finally calmed down. She wiped the tears of mirth that had collected in the corner of her eyes away and then answered Ash's question. "It's just..." She giggled again. "Did you have to beat them down so badly? I think they may need therapy after that pounding you gave them!" She said laughing again.

Ash chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah well... Hey! When you mess with my girl then prepare for a beatdown!" He said with fire in his eyes.

Giselle shook her head and pulled him again. "Come here killer..." She planted her lips back on his again and the two engaged in another make-out session.

Pikachu watched it all with a smile on his face and called out happily. "Pika!" He bounded up in between the two Trainers and climbed up on Giselle's shoulder. He nuzzled her cheek happily and the two humans broke apart from their kiss as they laughed.

"See?" Ash said. "Even my Pokemon adore you! That's enough for me to know that you are one in a million." He said smiling.

Giselle smiled and scratched Pikachu under the chin. "I'm just glad that this little cuty likes me!" She cooed to the Pokemon as he sighed contentedly.

The small group suddenly heard heard someone approaching and turned their heads when they heard those same people calling for them. "Ash! Giselle!"

When the two of them turned around on the bench they saw Brock and Misty running up to them. Ash and Giselle stood up and ran over to greet their friends.

"Hey guys!" Giselle greeted happily.

"What's up?" Ash asked them once they had all met up.

Misty placed her hands on her hips. "We were looking for you guys that's what! It's about time for the dances to begin before the fireworks are set off. We wanted to meet up with you guys so we could all go together." She explained.

"Ohh that's right!" Ash said hitting his head. "I almost forgot!" He laughed.

Misty sighed, Gisells shook her amusedly and Brock chuckled a little. "So... Is everything okay between you two now?" Brock asked the couple a little awkwardly.

"Yeah things were kind of tense between you guys all day." Misty added.

Ash and Giselle shared a look with each other and then smiled as Giselle wrapped her arm around Ash's. "Everything is great now guys!" She answered. "Sorry if we made things, you know... awkward." She apologized.

Ash nodded. "Yeah guys and I'm sorry as well. We had a few things to work out and it's all good now." He said tightning his hold on Giselle.

Brock waved his hand. "Don't think anything of it you two. Couples fight and they make up. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't understand that?" He said smiling

"Don't sweat it at all guys, everything is good!" Misty agreed, also smiling.

Ash and Giselle smiled in return. "Thanks guys." They both said together and then blushed and laughed when they realized they had said the same thing at the same time.

Misty rolled her eyes and Brock laughed. "Well how about we get going now guys?" He suggested.

Giselle nodded eagerly. "Yes let's go! I'm so eager to dance!" She practically squealed as she began pulling Ash along. Pikachu hopped from Giselle's shoulder to Ash's when she started getting to excited.

Ash, Misty and Brock all laughed in amusement and started following the anxious girl. They didn't get far however because they suddenly heard someone call out to them from behind. "Well well well!" A raspy voice said. "You kids heading out for the closing festivities ehh?"

The group whipped around and saw the shadow of a person standing near the treeline. "Well not before I get to talk with that one!" The person said pointing at Ash. "I believe I have an answer to give him."

The figure stepped out into the open and revealed a familiar face that made them all become both excited and nervous all at once. Well all except for Ash who just seemed excited and happy.

Ash smiled widely upon seeing the form of the old woman he ran into, literally, the day before. However that was just a guise. Ash knew who it really was. "Gastly!" He announced the true identity of the new arrival with happiness etched onto his face.

The old woman smiled and then began changing shape and form until, in a cloud of smoke, the gaseous form of the Ghost-Type Pokemon Gastly was hovering in front of them all. The grin it usually always wore was ever present on it's face.

The Pokemon grinned wider upon seeing Ash's happy and surprised face. "Hello there young Ketchum! I have returned to give you my answer to your most gracious offer just as I promised I would!" It said dramatically as the Pokemon spun and flipped a few times in the air in a showy display of agility.

"Wow it actually came back like it promised!" Misty said shocked.

"I really didn't think it would..." Giselle stated.

"Me neither." Brock agreed.

Gastly turned it's grinning gaze onto the other three humans and grinned wider. "Why the lack of faith in poor old Gastly? I'm hurt!" It said in mock sadness.

Ash chuckled and shook his head. "You know Gastly, I have to be honest here. I really didn't look for you to show up either. Given Ghost Pokemon's prankster nature I'm sure you can understand our feelings." He said with a small smile on his face.

Gastly turned back to Ash and a more serious look adorned it's own face. "Ahh yes... I'm more than aware of my kin's love of pranks and shenanigans. Even though I spent hundreds of years controlling the minds of other people in the form of Artiana and have always had a very tasteful sense of humor, the prankster nature of my species was something I never developed. I do apologize however for keeping you in waiting for so long. I can understand your believing that I would not show up and honor or agreement." Gastly said in slight shame.

Ash just shrugged and waved it off. "Hey don't feel bad Gastly. I probably should have had more faith that you would show up but either way, you're here now and that's all that matters." He said smiling.

Gastly returned the smile and bowed. "Thank you for understanding Ash."

The boy nodded. "No problem! So..." He suddenly looked a little anxious and nervous. "What did you decide about the offer I made last night Gastly?"

The Ghost Pokemon grinned widely and floated around in the air. "Yes Ash I definitely did not forget your most gracious and kind offer. In fact, I spent all day and night thinking on it even though I had come to the decision long before then on what I actually wanted to do. However I was torn between loyalty towards Artiana and wanting to listen to my own desires. If it wasn't for speaking with Artiana herself then it's hard to say what would have been decided." Gastly admitted.

All of the kids looked surprised at what Gastly had just said. "Did you just say that you spoke with Artiana? The actual Maiden herself that's been dead for over two thousand years?!" Giselle said in disbelief.

Gastly looked at her and nodded. "I did. A rather long and enlightening conversation if I do say so myself." It grinned again.

"How is that possible?!" Misty asked. "She's dead!"

Gastly chuckled. "Yes dear girl, Artiana is most certainly dead. However her spirit has lingered upon that peak all of this time. She is still waiting for the spirit of her lover to return to her by someday following one of the tea boats back here that the people who celebrate the Maiden's Festival send out across the ocean every year from the beach. When this happens she and her lover will then depart into the afterlife and live in peace and happiness together finally after all these years. Her spirit is the one I seek council with I am lost in confusion and need guidance." The Pokemon told them.

"That's so romantic but also so depressing..." Misty said sadly.

"True dedication is what that is." Brock said in respect.

"I hope they find each other someday." Giselle said hopefully.

Ash cocked his head confused. "So why did you need to talk to Artiana's spirit about the offer I made you?"

Gastly smiled genuinely and floated closer to Ash. "You know... From the moment I saw you get off that boat and step into this town I could sense something different about you Ash. I was instantly interested in you and after the first time I tried to take control of your mind at that dock and failed..." Gastly looked over at Giselle. "Courtesy to you my dear. You were one of the strongest thoughts he used to fight me off. He truly cares for you deeply." He said sincerely.

Giselle blushed and she hugged Ash closer. Gastly smiled to itself. It had seen how upset the girl had been whenever Ash went all 'mush minded' over the illusion of the Daisy girl that it had pretended to be and now Gastly was feeling bad over it. It wanted to help fix any problems it may have caused for Ash and his companion. That's why the Pokemon said what it did to Giselle.

Gastly continued. "After that failed attempt I tried again but this time disguised as the old woman and yet again you fought me off the same way. However I managed to obtain some very... Useful information that I thought would assure me control of your mind in the process."

Ash grimaced at the memory of the illusionary Daisy and tightened his grip on Giselle. Gastly sensed the unease with the situation and quickly moved on. "But I was wrong again. You were still able to fight off my control even in the face of your greatest weakness. I thought I could best you in a battle but yet again you proved me wrong by showing a bond between you and your Pokemon that I have never seen before. Your Pokemon so willingly listened to you and I could tell that they wanted nothing more than to please you. This level of affection and bond ship was very alien to me and interested me beyond anything else..."

Gastly looked down and continued. "That was the first time I ever wondered what it would be like to have that sort of bond myself with my own Trainer. You continued to amaze by being so kind and understanding to me even after everything I did to you. Then you extended that offer to me and after the shock and disbelief passed I found myself feeling something I hadn't felt in a very long time..."

The Pokemon looked out over the town. "I felt excitement and wonderment when I started thinking about what it would be like if I were to go with you. I thought about it over and over again and I eventually came to the decision of what I wanted. I had made my choice but I was still torn. It wasn't until I spoke to Artiana on this very night that she helped me make the right decision and advised me to do what I wanted to do with my life for once. After speaking with her I was finally able to come to the conclusion. I made my choice and have no more questions on if it's the right decision anymore." Gastly finished as it continued to look out over the town with a calm and serene expression on it's usually mischievous and constantly grinning face.

Ash looked extremely anxious and let go of Giselle as he walked forward. "And... What did you decide Gastly?" Ash was very anxious but not expectant. He honestly didn't think Gastly would want to go with him. The Pokemon had so much for it here with Artiana, the familiar surroundings and the festival every year that allowed Gastly to have it's 'fun'. The boy just shrugged to himself. Yes it would have been awesome having Gastly on his team but he knew what they said: You couldn't catch them all.

Gastly turned around and smiled widely. It spoke with complete conviction and certainty in it's voice. "I have decided that I want to come with you and join your team as your Pokemon Ash." The Pokemon said as it's grin widened.

Brock, Giselle and Misty all jaw dropped at the same time. "WHAT?!" They shouted all at once.

Ash looked like he was stunned still. His mouth was slightly ajar and he was wide eyed. "W-What did you say Gastly?" He asked. Not believing what he just heard and needing to be reassured that he wasn't just hearing things like some crazy person.

Gastly grinned like a mad Pokemon and chuckled. "I said that my decision is to join you on your journey as your Pokemon Ash. I want you as my Trainer. Will you accept?"

Ash stood there dumbly for a few moments more until Pikachu slapped his head with his tail to knock the boy back into his senses.

"Ouch!" Ash yelled as he rubbed his head, making the Ghost Pokemon laugh. He let the pain on his head subside before his mind finally registered what Gastly had been asking. He looked up at the spectral Pokemon with wide eyes again. "W-W... Are you sure Gastly? You do know that being a trained Pokemon isn't an easy life. It's a lot harder than you think. Especially the way I train my Pokemon. Are you absolutely positive you want this?" He asked the Pokemon seriously.

Gastly looked back at Ash with equal seriousness. "Tell me something Ash. Do you believe that I have potential as a Pokemon? Do you believe that my powers both psychic and ghost can be honed and trained upon to become something truly powerful? Do you not concede that I would be an invaluable asset to your team?" It asked.

Ash just scoffed. "Are you kidding?! Of course you would be an amazing addition to my team! I know that you could be several times stronger than you are now with the right training and could undoubtedly unlock many other abilities and moves. Especially when you evolve!" He said like it was common knowledge.

Gastly smirked. "And do you believe that you could help me achieve that potential?"

Ash instantly nodded. "Of course! I know I could help you become something truly astounding. Even more so then you are now!" He said with his voice full of surety.

Gastly grinned wide. "Then wouldn't you say that it would be in both of our best interests if we joined forces?"

Ash stopped and thought about it for a while. He eventually grinned himself and looked back at Gastly with his eyes almost gleaming brightly with excitement. "We truly would become a force that has never been seen before." He agreed. "With you and all of my other Pokemon we will literally shake this world to it's foundations..." Ash nodded and stuck his fist in the air towards Gastly.

"Alright then Gastly! Welcome to the team!" He shouted.

Pikachu called out as well. "Pikachu Pika Pi!" He yelled out with the same fire in his eyes that his Trainer did, obviously welcoming Gastly aboard.

Gastly grinned so wide it looked unnatural. It loved this feeling! The energy, the life, the determination and heart that was radiating off of Ash, Pikachu and even Ash's other Pokemon from inside their Pokeballs... It was addicting! Incredible!

In that moment Gastly knew that it wanted nothing more than to become Ash's Pokemon right then and there. Gastly spoke with a fire in it's voice that it had never heard coming from itself before. "Then let's make it official shall we?!" It said as the Pokemon started soaring towards Ash at fast speeds.

Ash grinned like crazy and pulled a Pokeball out from his belt in a fluid and graceful movement. He spun the ball around in his hand and then tossed it in the air before catching it again. He eyed the approaching Pokemon with a fierce gaze and then reared back as he threw it forward at high speeds.

"Here we go Gastly!" He shouted.

The ball soared towards it's target and Gastly sped forward to meet it. In just seconds, ball and Pokemon collided together in a perfect mesh and instantly the ball opened itself wide. Gastly was transformed into a red energy and was quickly sucked inside of the Pokeball without a seconds hesitation.

The ball snapped shut firmly with a 'click', satisfied that it now had it's intended target captured inside of it and then fell back towards Ash who ran quickly towards it. The boy jumped into the air and his outstretched hand met the ball in a perfect catch.

Ash landed back on the ground on one knee and then raised back up and held the ball out in front of him. He stared at it intently as the Pokeball shook in his hand, Gastly obviously trying to get use to being inside of the small device.

Eventually the ball stopped twitching and fell still. It 'dinged' and blue sparkles burst from the device, showing that the capture was now complete.

Ash smiled widely and then spun around and faced his friends, the Pokeball that was now containing Gastly held firmly in his grasp. "My first Ghost-Type guys!" He shouted happily. "Gastly... Another powerful addition to my team!"

Misty shook her head with a smile. "How does Ash get so lucky?" She asked humorously.

Brock shrugged. "I don't know about that but I do know one thing. I feel really lucky myself that I'm here to witness when these amazing things happen to Ash. He deserves everything he gets and I'm happy for him!" He said honestly, smiling at the scene of Ash cradling the Pokeball that contained his newest Pokemon.

Giselle also smiled warmly at Ash as he was happily showing Pikachu the Pokeball that now contained Gastly. "He really does deserve every good thing that comes his way... I'm so happy for you Ash." She said while still smiling.

Ash finished admiring the Pokeball containing his new Pokemon and then clipped it onto his belt next to his other Pokeballs, nodded in satisfaction at how perfectly it fit and then walked over to his friends. "Alright guys! Let's head out, there are dances and the end of a festival waiting for us!" He exclaimed in an excited voice, clearly rejuvenated from his capture of Gastly.

Giselle and Misty cheered and Brock smiled. "Yeah let's go!" Misty cheered.

"Come on then!" Giselle said as she grabbed one of Ash's arms and Misty grabbed the other two.

The ladies then yanked hard on the unsuspecting boy and pulled him off his feet. They began dragging a chibi Ash down the path and towards the main site of the festival at high speeds, an also chibi Pikachu holding onto Ash's shoulder for dear life. Brock called out to them as he took off as well, trying to catch up. "Hang on guys, not so fast!" He yelled as he ran comically.

XXXXXXXXXX

The final hours of the festival ended up being huge fun for the group of friends after they got to the large open area where the musical groups played the dance music. The amount of people gathered at the event was huge and the decorations that were set up all over the area made everything look brighter and more colorful than the late hour it actually was.

The friends, or more like Giselle and Misty, drug Ash out into the dancing area as soon as they arrived and spent the whole time dancing to every song that played. Ash danced with Giselle for one song and then he would dance with Misty the next song so she didn't feel left out. Some songs he would even dance with both of them.

It didn't matter what type of songs they were either. Fast or slow dance songs, Ash danced with the girls to all of them. He had made sure it was okay with Giselle that he danced with Misty to the slow, romantic songs and she had given him the absolute okay and told him to please do so that Misty didn't feel left out. Yet again proving just how amazing she was to Ash. Misty of course was ecstatic about being able to dance with the boy she had such deep forming feelings for and spent the entire evening on cloud 9.

The music played was a mix of both traditional music that had been passed down through the town's generations and also very popular songs that were known throughout Kanto. None of the music had any words, they were just for dancing and that was it.

One thing that really surprised both Giselle and Misty was just how adept at dancing Ash was. They had brought this up to Ash and he responded by saying that his mother was a very good dancer, having learned many different styles when she was younger from many great instructors.

He said that she had insisted he learn all he could from her dancing wise when he started his five year training and even though he questioned her at first she had told him that when on his journey, dancing would be a great thing for him to have under his belt when he ended up meeting a nice young woman he needed to impress.

In that five years Ash had trained dancing styles under his mother, in their living room with all of the furniture moved away, it was grueling and physically intense but all of it had payed off in the end. The proof of it was showing itself now as Ash kept on impressing the girls with his dancing prowess. The best part about it all was that Ash had more than the physical conditioning necessary to sate Giselle and Misty's dancing desires for every song that played. He had actually ended up wearing them, the dance crazy girls, out!

Pikachu had even joined into the fun by using his moves like Quick Attac, Agility and acrobatic techniques to move to the music!

And as for Brock? Well... He ended up chasing around every attractive young woman he saw with hearts in his eyes. This had really pissed Misty off since she was forced to go and get him back under control several times, which interrupted her dancing time with Ash. This quickly ended after the fifth time when she had enough and knocked Brock over the head with her 'no one knows where it comes from' mallet so hard it left him unconscious for the rest of the time the dancing fest went on.

After the dancing portion of the festival had ended, the entire crowd of people moved down to the beach outside of town for the launching of the tea boats. Each tea boat, complete with candle, could be bought from a stand near the beach which was ran by the old man that showed everyone the painting of the Maiden and the other pieces of art at the historical art shrine the day before.

Each tea boat was ten Poke'Credits each and the proceeds all went to things like maintenance, upkeep and repairs on the shrines, the statue of the Maiden and also helped to pay back whatever expenses the town spent for the festival that they didn't make back from the stands, merchandise, food and other such things.

The turnout for the tea boat launching, which ended the festival, was immense and after everyone had boat their own boats they went down to the waters edge and sent the boats out into the water.

Ash, Giselle, Brock and Misty all bought their own boats, with Ash being the gentleman and buying Misty and Giselle's for them, even against their protests of them not wanting him to spend his money on them. Of course Ash just waved them off and said he was happy to do it for his two favorite ladies. This of course made both girls blush and caused their feelings for the raven haired Trainer to only deepen.

The kids were only to eager to buy the boats not just because of what the launching of the boats symbolized but also, since the proceeds went to things dealing with the Maiden and keeping her legend alive, they were even more eager to help. Especially since Ash's newest Pokemon had such a close relationship with the Maiden, or Artiana.

After everyone had gathered at the beach and Officer Jenny and the old man explained again just what the tea boat launching symbolized, the large mass of people released their boats into the ocean after lighting the candles on the inside of the boats. The entire audience of people stepped back and watched the boats glide across the dark and glassy smooth surface of the ocean. The glow of the candles within the boats made a stark yet brilliant contrast to the water around them that was bathed in the darkness of the night.

Ash and his friends quickly retreated for the top of Maiden's Peak after they sent their own boats off and upon reach the top they leaned over the railing and looked out at the tea boats as they sailed off into the night from their high up vantage point. From where they were it looked like hundreds of little stars shining upon the water's surface.

Ash suddenly had an idea and pulled out a Pokeball. "Gastly you need to see this!" He said as he released his newest Pokemon from the confines of it's Pokeball.

The spectral Pokemon appeared in a flash of light and shook it's head. "It's going to take some time getting used to that..." Gastly mumbled while feeling slightly dizzy.

Ash smiled at his new Pokemon. "Hey Gastly, check that out..." He said pointing to the ocean below them.

Gastly looked over the railing after regaining it's bearings and gasped at the sight it was greeted with. "I-Is that...?" It stuttered in disbelief as the Pokemon looked at all of the hundreds of boats down in the water. Gastly knew that people had to buy the tea boats to send them off and also knew what they symbolized and where the proceeds went.

Ash smiled wider. "That's right Gastly. All of those people down there bought those boats because they honor, respect and remember the legend of Artiana and all of the men who left this town and gave their lives in the war. It's as I told you before, you never needed to help keep the memory of Artiana alive because the people of this town and the ones who come here for the festival every year do that for you. If no one cared or remembered then you wouldn't be seeing so many tea boats down there would you?"

Gastly just stared at the sight in awe and nodded it's head. "You were right Ash, just as Artiana was... Her memory and the memories of the soldiers from so long ago will never be forgotten in this town. It just took all of this for me to finally see it..." The Pokemon said in wonder and slight shame.

Ash walked up and stood beside Gastly. "Don't feel bad Gastly. We all have times when we can't see things totally straigh and it takes certain circumstances for us to finally see them clearly. So don't beat yourself up over something so trivial. Use this as closure so you can move on to the next phase of life without anything holding you back!" He urged.

Gastly looked at it's new Trainer and smiled. "You're right Ash. I needed this and I thank you for letting me have the opportunity to see such an amazing sight." The Pokemon said gratefully.

Ash nodded and then everyone turned their attention back to the boats that were now almost out of sight. Giselle leaned her head on Ash's shoulder. "This is actually pretty romantic..." She whispered to him as she kissed his cheek. He nodded and kissed her back as they just held each other close.

"It's been a great evening..." Misty said absently as Ash pulled her into a one arm hug so she could join he and Giselle.

Brock leaned over the railing and nodded in agreement. "Yeah it really has been a great night." He said while staring at the unique and beautiful scene.

They all just watched the fading tea boats in silence for the rest of the time until suddenly the first couple of fireworks was set off overtop of the ocean and bursted into every different color, shape and size that one could imagine. Everyone down on the beach started cheering loudly as the fireworks show began and Ash and his friends just watched the beautiful and dazzling show from where they were at the best possible vantage point there was.

The show went on for about an hour and once the final couple rockets were set off and the grand finale had ended, everyone down on the beach and in the town erupted into loud applause once more. After that was done the crowds began dispersing and everyone started heading back to their homes/lodging rooms for the night.

Misty yawned. "Well... That was really fun but now I'm exhausted!" She said yawning again.

Giselle did the same thing and relaxed further into Ash's embrace, laying her head on his chest. "Hmm... I'm tired too..." She said sleepily.

Ash looked at his Xtransceiver and saw it was well last midnight. He looked over at Brock. "We better head back to the Pokemon Center. It's late and we need to get some sleep since we leave tomorrow and start heading out for Saffron City again. We've got a big day ahead of us."

Brock nodded. "Yeah let's head back." He agreed.

The four friends then started heading towards the path that would take them off the peak towards town but Ash stopped when he realized that Gastly was still behind them, looking up at the statue of the Maiden.

He gently pried Giselle off of him, much to the girls great annoyance and disappointment, and addressed his friends. "You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up okay?" He said.

Misty and Brock just nodded and continued on their way but Giselle looked at Ash with tired eyes. "You'll come back soon right?" She asked while yawning cutely.

Ash nodded and kissed her lips gently. "I promise. No and get some sleep beautiful, I'll be down there soon." He assured.

Giselle smiled at him tiredly and nodded before kissing him again and then following after Brock and Misty.

Ash turned around and walked over to where Gastly was still looking up at the statue of Artiana. "It's always hard to say good-bye." Ash broke the silence after looking up at the statue with his new Pokemon for a few minutes.

Gastly nodded. "Yes it is. She did so much for me and I will miss her. Part of me fears that her lover will return to her while I'm gone and then I'll not see her again. However another part of me hopes that does happen so she and he can finally rest in peace. We had a good couple of hundred years together and now it's time I move on." Gastly looked at Ash with the grin on it's face. "It's time to start my new life with my new friend and follow my true destiny. Which lies with you... My Trainer." Gastly bowed it's head to Ash in respect.

The boy nodded his head in return and gave the Pokemon a thumbs up. "And you can guarantee that we'll both grow stronger and better as we follow our destinies, together. I promise I'll be the best Trainer you could ask for Gastly." He promised.

Pikachu gave a thumbs up as well to Gastly. "Pikachu Pi!" He said smiling.

Gastly nodded and smiled. "I look forward to it." The Pokemon then looked back up at the statue of Artiana once last time as Ash prepared to return Gastly to it's Pokeball. "Good-bye... Dear Artiana." It said with a gentle smile as it was returned to the ball a second later.

Ash looked down at Gastly's Pokeball and smiled. "I promise you'll become great Gastly." He vowed.

The boy then looked up at the statue of Artiana. "And I promise you that Gastly will be in good hands. I hope you find peace someday." With that said, Ash turned around and started walking away.

He suddenly felt the wind pick up behind him and he turned around. What he saw shocked him speechless. Artiana, in her ghostly form was floating in front of her statue with a smile on her face.

_'Thank you for all you've done Ash Ketchum. I know Gastly is in good hands and I wish you luck on your travels through life. Take care of yourself and farewell... Chosen-One.' _She waved to Ash with those few words and then slowly disappeared back into the statue.

Ash stayed where he was, confused and happy that he had actually seen the real Artiana, yet completely baffled as to how she knew he was what Arceus called 'The Chosen-One'.

In the end and after much contemplating on the subject Ash decided to just settle for blissful ignorance since he was so tired, only this once, and merely smiled up at the statue. "Thank you Artiana." He said with a bow as he then turned back around and started heading towards the Pokemon Center again.

Strange things definitely happened to Ash Ketchum but that was what made his life so memorable and exciting! At least... That's how he saw it.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(The Next Day)

Ash and his friends awoke bright and early the next morning and packed up everything in their rooms, had breakfast and fed their Pokemon. Ash and Giselle even had time to train with their Pokemon before they all had to go.

When the time to leave finally rolled around at around 8:00 A.M. the four friends, plus Pikachu, left the Pokemon Center and headed for the outskirts of town where the mostly unused route through the more scenic parts of Kanto began.

When they finally got out of the town they found themselves standing at the beginning of a rather unused looking road that seemed like it still stayed pretty much in the coastal direction and had a road sign telling which way to go. Brock then pulled out his map. "Okay guys. This is where our REALLY long detour to Saffron City begins. The first stop for us will be the Butterfree Cliffs since their mating season is set to begin soon and Ash wants to go there for his Butterfree. There are two small towns with Pokemon Gyms in them that we will pass along the way and if we are okay with taking detours then we can hit them. The second leg of our journey after the Butterfree Cliffs is Lavender Town. Again, we'll pass two towns with gyms in them that we will have to detour to get to. After that we head to Saffron City." He finished explaining their route to them.

Misty and Ash nodded in understanding, content with the planned route, but Giselle looked at Ash confused. "Why do you still want to go to Lavender Town Ash? You already have a Ghost-Type and a really strong one at that to use against Sabrina." She asked.

Ash smiled at her as he answered. "Yeah but I still want to see any new place I can and Lavender Town sounds really interesting. Plus, I really want to see that Pokemon Tower." He explained.

Giselle nodded. "Ohh okay! Yeah that makes sense." She said.

Ash kissed her softly and then took her hand as he stepped onto the road. He turned back and looked up at Pikachu, then Giselle and lastly his friends. "Well guys... This is the next leg of our journey. Let's go out there and rock everything and everyone we come across!" He said with a fiery grin.

"Pika!" Pikachu pumped his fist in the air.

"Let's do it!" Misty agreed enthusiastically.

"All the pretty girls I'll probably meet!" Brock said drooling until he caught Misty's glare and instantly clammed up.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Giselle urged. "Let's go!" She yelled.

Ash smiled brightly at her as they all started walking the road and began their long and sure to be adventure filled journey towards Saffron City. What awaits Ash and his friends along the way? You'll just have to wait and see!

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_(End Chapter Eight)_

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A/N: **ANDDDDD DONE! Whew finally! My final word count is over 175K! This is not just a record for me, I believe it's a record for all long chapters here on Fanfiction in general!**

**Let me start things off by saying that I really hope you all enjoyed this long awaited update to my story and I'm sorry it took so long. I know many of you were biting at the bit for it, (You guys know who you are;) and I'm sorry again it took forever.**

**However, I want you all to know that as of right now I am setting myself a word limit of an easy 30-40K so I can get chapters out faster. This chapter ended up so long because I had a personal goal I set for myself and wanted to reach it. **

**Now I will also say this and everyone needs to listen! If there are times when I'm not updating constantly or responding to your messages just remember, I'm a very busy man.**

**...**

**Now is the part of the A/N where I'm going to explain some things with this chapter and the story in general that I'm sure many of you wonder about and seek to find the answer to, especially after reading this chapter.**

**1: The K.B.R. Is my more evolved and expanded version of the bike gang from the games and the one that Jessie and James were apart of in the show. To everyone wondering, the K.B.R.'s final mention will take place during the 'Bridge Bike Episode'. I created this organization so I could take down the bike gangs all at one time instead of Ash fighting individual pockets of them, which would take forever.**

**2: I realize that I changed the names of the Charizardite used to Mega-Evolve Charizard in this chapter and I did that on purpose. I think my names for the stones are cooler. Plain and simple.**

**3: To anyone that doesn't like and is complaining about how Ash's Pokemon are trained, as in: They can all swim, Bulbasaur's Water Armor and Charmander learning how to swim and loving the water... Tough shit. I like it and I'm sure many of my other great readers love it as well. The rest of you who don't like it can bite me and stop reading my story. You won't be missed. I don't write my story for complainers. I give in-depth and possible explanations for how Ash's Pokemon can do the crazy things they do. If you are to nearsighted and close minded to see these possibilities then that's not my problem. Ash's Pokemon are going to be doing even crazier shit in the future so be warned to all those who don't like this. Thank you:)**

**4: Even though I'm following Canon events, actual places and locations from the show and am even keeping some parts of the episodes the same way as they happened originally, other things are not going to be this way. I realize that I'm changing the way some locations look, the way some of the characters look and dress and other things like that. Rest assured I'm doing these things on purpose. Nothing I do in this story doesn't have a purpose. Sometimes you just need to wait and see for yourself. Just remember: this story is a mix of Canon and non-Canon.**

**5: I am keeping an updated list of Ash's Trainer Profile on my bio and it will consist of Ash's accomplishments, badges, titles, Pokemon and other need to know info. I will update this everytime something new happens in a chapter but just be warned again: I will NOT write down the moves for all of Ash's Pokemon. That would be a waste of time since they are constantly learning new ones. It would be a big damn hassle and I won't do that. It interferes with the actual story writing itself and I KNOW you all don't want that!**

**6: I have decided that I will be splitting each region of my story into different 'books'. The reason is because each region will be very long and putting all of that into one story will be to much. Thanks to all of you who helped me decide this and offered your suggestions on this matter!**

**7: I would like to reiterate that anyone who doesn't like my story, doesn't like the way things are happening or maybe just doesn't like me... Can go and screw yourselves. I write my story for myself and all of the loyal and great readers/friends I have on here that is following this story. I don't write for you pansy ass whiners that only care for complaining about everything that's happening in MY story.**

**I gladly accept good ideas and opinions and I listen to anyone who offers suggestions to me in a civil and friendly manner. I have actually implemented several of those very suggestions into this story so far. However it's ultimately my say because I am the writer. You bitchers that just demand and complain won't get shit and you can guarantee I won't even so much as consider anything you say to me. So don't waste your time. I support constructive cristism, not mindless drabble.**

**...**

**Okay, I think that's it! I want to say a huge thank you to everyone out there who is supporting this story and is offering such incredible help, ideas, support, and reviews. You guys and girls... Especially you ladies;) are an invaluable treasure to me and I feel so fortunate that so many love this story!**

**Another HUGE thank you to Saber364 for inspiring me to start writing with his own work of art. Welcome back dude, welcome back:) I would also ask that you all please read, or continue to read the following stories that are similar to mine in that they all have a KICK-ASS Ash!**

**1: 'Like No Other' by Midnight Fedora. A truly promising story!**

**2: 'Chronicles of The Chosen One: Pokemon Master' by Saber364. Again, you have that guy to thank for the birth of this story.**

**3: 'A Legend Is Born' by Kevin1984. This is a great read and encourage checking it out heavily!**

**4: 'Ash's Master Quest' by Shadow10503. This story seems to be inspired by Saber364's fic but with some really cool and awesome differences.**

**5: 'The Ascension to Pokemon Mastership, Ash Ketchum's Most Epic Voyage' written by PokeLoverTJC. This story features a very Omnipotent Ash and his Pokemon. He is paired with Serena in this fic and it is overall a great read!**

**On a side note: Anyone who is a fan of Rayshipping, (AshxCynthia) then you HAVE TO READ 'When Two Lives Meet' by 'The Immortal Doctor Reid'. This story is THE BEST Rayshipping fic on the site and I encourage ALL OF YOU RAYSHIPPERS to read it!**

**Also: To anyone who is big time Advanceshippers, (AshxMay) then you NEED to go and read 'Pokemon: The True Ash and May Stories' by 'StartsoverLegends'. This is a GREAT AshxMay story but very few people have read it. Only 29 reviews and 1 follower and favorite! I don't get it either since the grammar is great and the plot is really good. If you want a good Advanceshippers story then READ, REVIEW, FOLLOW, FAVORITE AND PM THIS WRITER AND ASK THEM TO CONTINUE IT PLEASE!**

**...**

**So there you have it folks! These stories are some of the leading 'Ultimate Ash' stories on this site and need to be read and supported! Also: To anyone out there who loves reading stories like this but wants to see some stuff done your way or maybe you just want to write your own, GO FOR IT! **

**People this is Fanfiction and it's all about letting your imagination soar! If you want to write a crazy powerful Ash story then who's stopping you huh? Nobody that's who! You grab that bull by the horns and you start writing your story! There are way to few good Pokemon stories on here and even fewer where Ash and his Pokemon are truly the prodigies they should have been!**

**So to anybody reading this, have no fear and start typing! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, trust me:)**

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**Alrighty then peeps that's all for this writer! I look forward to the next update and seeing the joy in your reviews after you're done reading! Thanks again everybody, YOU FUCKING ROCK!**


	9. Season of Love, Fog of Hate

'**The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be' ****Chapter Nine: 'Season of Love, Fog of Hate...'**

**Remember, my story has extremely long chapter lengths. If you easily get lost in long chapter lengths, I would recommend you to download my story through "Ficsave".  
Downloaded stories are easier to read because they're like a book, where there are page numbers, which helps you keep track of your reading progress.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or anything affiliated with it.**

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The day was peaceful, the sky was clear and the air was a cool and comfortable temperature, this there was no denying. Without a doubt the picture perfect day for any wondering travelers passing through the area to just stop and truly enjoy the splendor of the beautiful day that Arceus had blessed them with.

As luck would actually happen to have it, the most important of any aforementioned travelers could be seen passing through said area at that very moment.

Who could be seen is none other than aspiring young Pokémon Trainer, Ash Ketchum, making his steady way down the long road he was currently treading along with his faithful partner, first Pokémon and trusted friend Pikachu perched atop his shoulder.

Also traveling by the young hero's side was his beautiful and kind girlfriend Giselle Yūtō, as well as close friends, Brock Stone and Misty Waterflower. The four friends walked the long road that stretched far ahead of them with nothing but content and serene expressions on their faces, clearly enjoying the wonderful day it was shaping up to be.

Most travelers, on the other hand, would most likely find the route the young trainers were traveling to be somewhat rugged, unused and ill-maintained. Thus... ruining any attempts those individuals would have at recognizing the beauty of the day.

Ash and his friends could obviously care less about such trivial matters and simply took the true beauty out of the situation they were presented with.

Unfortunately... the mostly unused, overgrown, wild looking appearance of the route they were on was definitely clear and undeniable proof that it was NOT very popular among most travelers. One of the many reasons why this poorly maintained, out of the way road was so undesirable to most people was for the simple fact that there were other ways to get to both Lavender Town and Saffron City.

Which were the very destinations the route in question eventually led to and also the same destinations Ash and the others were heading to currently.

This, as most people would call it, 'undesirable' route took much longer to make it to both places than some of the shorter and more popular routes did, but the beautiful and awe-inspiring scenery more than made up for it in the eyes of Ash and his friends. This was not the case with the rest of the general traveling populace as previously stated though.

In all truth, all sad truth that it is... many people in the current time were just too busy to stop and 'smell the roses' as it were to ever take the time to go even five minutes out of their way. Much less a few days or even, Arceus forbid, weeks travel.

In fact, if not for Professor Oak's many lectures on patience and taking the time to breath that Ash had been tutored on over the years, he would most likely have been the same way. Never stopping to admire something beautiful or unexpected and instead always rushing like a fool on fire towards his next gym badge with no real plan or strategy. Yet another subject of many that Ash made mental notes to thank the Professor for later in life.

Sometimes it literally made him cringe just THINKING about how unprepared and disorganized he would have been on his journey if not for his meeting with Arceus at five years old (which revealed to him the true depth and importance of his destiny) and the years of rigorous training he went through with his mother and the kind old, yet still extremely spry, Professor.

For Ash it wasn't much of a stretch at all to believe just how big a laughingstock of a trainer he would have been otherwise and that thought alone nearly gave him nightmares. Just thinking about how if all of Gary's immature taunts about him being a loser would have actually been... true... just made the boy want to hurl.

Even though Ash knew he was always a studious and focused child, always doing everything he did with the purpose of preparing himself for the day he became a Pokémon Trainer, still... he felt certain that without his mother and Professor Oak, he would not have been even half as prepared for the oftentimes harsh reality of the real world as he was now.

Sure, he had no doubts that he would have caught on eventually and wizened up a bit through MUCH trial and error but in Ash's view... why intentionally put yourself down the hard road filled with disappointment and failure when you can instead prepare yourself properly for something as extremely important and life changing as starting your very own Pokémon journey?

After all, Pokémon are living, breathing creatures that put all of their faith, well being and hopes into the hands of their trainers. Not acting like the responsible trainer you HAVE to be in order to raise Pokémon by not knowing how to properly raise and take care of them was just disgraceful in Ash's eyes.

He honestly couldn't imagine promising his Pokémon that he could help them grow stronger and then not having the knowledge on how to do so. Trainers like that were not capable in his eyes to raise any Pokémon and needed to do some serious re-evaluating if they ever wanted to succeed as a Pokémon Trainer.

He knew he had a LONG way to go but at least always learning and improving was far better than forever remaining clueless and doing everything half-assed while relying souly on guts and luck to succeed. Such reliances in his opinion were just foolish. A little luck and guts were fine but a whole lot more than that was needed in the life of a trainer and the young Ketchum knew this.

But going back to the topic of the route they were currently on, a quick description of the surrounding area would be the most fitting. On the right side of the road was a dense forest that stretched for quite some ways until it came to the beginning of a large mountain range. To the left side of the road was also a forest, more jungle really, but much less dense and very near to the ocean, which was only a short walk away from where the group of friends were now.

One could actually smell the salt air mixed in with the wild smells of the forest on the opposite side of the road, something that made for a very unique and pleasing scent combination. It still shocked the kids to see how both terrains on each side of the road, one slightly jungle looking before it led to the ocean side and the other leading to lush mountains in the far distance, could be so close together but still fit so well in an odd way.

Yet another miracle by Arceus.

For the past three weeks, Ash and the others had traveled the scenic, mostly deserted route through much of the same type of terrain, which was primarily coastal, in a happy and mostly upbeat mood.

Much like today in fact.

They had spent a lot of time just enjoying each other's company and getting to know one another better, spending time with their Pokémon and in the case of Ash and Giselle... training themselves and their Pokèmon even harder than usual. Being that Ash had increased their training intensity and time intervals yet again.

The two had also spent a lot of time in the evenings just cuddling together, talking, laughing, kissing around the campfire and walking side by side every day with their hands intertwined tightly. Something which made both Brock and Misty jealous but for two completely different reasons. One wishing he had what Ash did with a girl while Misty merely desired to be in Giselle's position.

Something that had also happened during the three weeks they had been traveling was the way 'cooking dynamics' in the group had changed. Ash had really wanted to cook a meal one evening but Brock was initially unsure since he was the only one who ever cooked for everyone, including the Pokémon food. Of course, the squinty eyed teen had to follow Ash's recipes for his Pokémon's strict diet but other than that, the eldest of the Stone children thought up every recipe and cooked everything by himself.

Ash had actually ended up challenging Brock to a 'cook off' of sorts for supper one evening, to which the other boy gladly had accepted, believing this was one thing that Ash couldn't possibly beat him in.

After they had finished preparing their respective meals, both for their friends and the Pokémon, and placed them in front of Giselle, Misty and their Pokémon they stood back and watched as everyone eagerly ate with gusto. After the food was finished Brock had looked at them all anxiously, believing without a doubt that he had to have won.

However, he was completely shocked when both girls and even the Pokémon honestly couldn't decide who's cooking was better, his or Ash's. They were both that good. The older boy knew that Ash's mother had trained him how to cook since she was very accomplished at food preparation herself but he had no idea Delia was THAT great.

He had made a mental note right then and there that when he saw Ash's mom again he would study her cooking habits closely so that he could hopefully polish up on his own culinary skills.

Brock was surprised to be sure but he had instantly begun seeing Ash in an entirely different light once he tried some of the food himself and found just how delicious it was. The only problem at that point was deciding who would continue making the food for all of them. Brock had offered the position to Ash out of kindness but the younger boy had politely declined and said that they could share the duty from then on out.

Brock was very happy with the decision and agreed immediately to the deal, gaining even more respect for Ash who was being so kind and considerate of him and what he liked doing. They even ended up teaching each other some of the best recipes and cooking secrets they knew, both family secrets and recipes they had invented themselves.

Misty and Giselle would frequently tease them and say that every time they cooked together it was like watching a really nerdy cooking channel, which drove both of them crazy.

Their laughter never lasted long however because every time they teased them,Brock and Ash would shoot the giggling girls fierce glares and then swiftly remind them in perfect unison that the well being and fullness of their stomachs, which by extension also meant their lives, was in THEIR hands.

This effectively ended the jokes and teasing anytime it came up. The two boys would then share high fives when the girls weren't looking and return merrily back to their cooking, feeling rather smug and proud of themselves for standing up for their 'male cooking rights' as it were.

Going back to the present though, as Ash continued to walk and mull over that particular funny memory in his head, he felt Giselle squeeze his hand tighter and he looked over at her. "What's wrong Giselle?" He asked concerned.

The brunette just shook her head. "Nothing's wrong Ash I was just thinking..." She then trailed off.

The boy quirked his eyebrow. "Thinking about what?"

Giselle smiled at him. "You have nine badges after the last two gyms we went to. You qualify for the Pokémon League now you know," She told him with clear happiness in her voice for her boyfriend.

The young trainer looked back towards the road again and let a smile come across his face. "I sure did huh? I still can't believe it..." He lamented while slipping off into his memories again and thinking some more over the past three weeks they had been traveling.

* * *

(Flashback)

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_The first week after he and his friends left Amarol Town, home of the Maiden's Peak and one of Ash's most memorable adventures for many years to come, they came across another coastal town named Windy Cliffs Village on the seventh day of traveling._

_This particular community, which was situated atop a chain of connected large cliffs overlooking the ocean, was the sight of Ash's eighth gym match. The town definitely lived up to it's namesake because at such high elevations and being so near the ocean, the small community was constantly being blasted by strong, high winds that took Ash and his friends by surprise when they first arrived._

_This was something that they had, unfortunately, learned the hard way. Upon arriving at the town, a strong gust of wind had blown through the area, nearly knocking the companions off their feet. Giselle had been in front of Ash since she was so excited at seeing as much of the new town as she could right away and unfortunately had been the target of the cruel wind's sick humor._

_The strong gust of wind had blown Giselle's white skirt up to her lower back, giving everyone behind her a very clear view of a pair of cherry red panties that, for anyone who wasn't blind, could plainly see definitely shouldn't be worn by a girl her age._

_This event caused Misty to blush red and look away, Brock's jaw to drop and start gushing blood from his nose, Pikachu to look confused at what the big deal was and Ash to turn a shade of red that would have made a Darmanitan that wasn't in Zen-Mode proud._

_The boy had instantly rushed to his girlfriends aid and quickly pulled her skirt back down so no one else could see it and humiliate her any further. All the while looking back and giving a death glare to Brock that had clearly screamed 'Say anything and you're dead!'_

_There had been no one around fortunately but Giselle was still beyond humiliated. Luckily though, after some calming words and soothing affection from Ash, beating Brock down for being a gawking pervert and arguing with Misty for telling her she got what she deserved for wearing such short skirts, she overcame her embarrassment and made the smart decision to wear a pair of jeans that she had packed away for the rest of the time they were in the area._

_After her incident of embarrassment had ended, the friends then made their way to the reason they had traveled to the wind beaten town in the first place and that was because it had it's own Pokémon gym. One of which was located atop the highest cliff in the area and actually looked like a big, fancy, well made beach hut._

_The battling field had been out back of the gym and was suspended atop a large platform that hung out over top of the cliff the gym was situated on. Which was held in place by large supports that jutted out of the cliff side and attached to the underside of every corner of the platform. The entire battlefield was completely open on every side which led to a chance of the battling Pokémon falling off and plummeting to the ocean far, far below._

_As it turned out however, the reason for the battlefield being the way it was all had to do with the type of gym it was. Ash had studied up extensively on the gym and it's leader while he formulated some battle strategies and in that time he found out all he needed to know. The gym specialized in Flying-Type Pokémon, hence the reason for the suspended battlefield over the cliff side, and the leader's name was Kiida. He was a boy a little older than Brock and had been working with Flying-Types since he was young._

_He was physically a lean young man with a sharp face, similar to a bird's, and had dirty blond hair that was long on the top, slicked forward all in one direction and came over his forehead like the brim of a cap. The boy wore a pair of jean overalls, white undershirt, brown forearm gloves for handling Flying Pokémon and brown work boots._

_After meeting with the gym leader and having his challenge accepted, Ash decided to use for the battle both of his own Flying-Types, Fearow and Pidgeotto. Sending Bulbasaur and Squirtle back to the lab temporarily so he could have them._

_The battle itself was, for lack of a better word, fast paced and very agility based. A match between two teams of very well trained Flying-Types in a battle to prove which team was superior to the other._

_The first battle had been between Kiida's Fearow and Ash's own Fearow._

_In terms of speed, agility and flight maneuverability, both of them seemed to be evenly matched at first. Both Pokemon, since they were Fearow and extremely dominant types, went at each other as hard and fast as they could the entire battle. Sometimes Kiida's Fearow would gain the upper 'wing' and at other times Ash's Fearow would gain the advantage and deliver a good barrage of attacks._

_More than once they would become locked up in a fierce grappling bout with both of them using their beaks, talons and even wings to try and do damage to the other._

_At one point, both trainer's Fearow were locked up in an intense battle while they went diving through the air from the sky above. Kiida's Fearow managed to shift it's position to be on top of Ash's Fearow just before they hit the ground, which led to Ash's own being slammed into the battlefield._

_His friends had cringed and called out to Fearow in worry, afraid that the Pokémon was done for, but Ash had just stood where he was with his arms crossed and a stoic look on his face._

_Much to everyone's surprise, when the dust cloud had finally settled it showed Fearow standing on it's feet with it's wings spread out, looking pissed off and ready to go again with a vengeance. Ash had merely smirked and then commanded Fearow to 'return the favor'. Fearow listened without hesitation and instantly took off on it's feet far faster than anything Kiida had ever seen before out of a Flying-Type._

_Fearow had also added some Agility to his run as he shot off the ground like a rocket straight towards the other Fearow who was just hovering in the air, looking shocked that the other bird was still battle ready after the harsh ground smash he had endured. Not to mention the fact that he could also RUN on the ground, something which had further shocked Kiida's Fearow since it knew it definitely couldn't do such a thing._

_Kiida had then ordered his Pokémon to use Agility followed by Drill Peck and then charge towards Ash's Fearow as a counter. Both Pokémon flew at each other in the air with determination on their faces. Ash's Fearow flying from down low and Kiida's from up above._

_The Pokémon were nearly upon each other when Ash had suddenly commanded his Fearow to use Air Cutter right when he was almost upon his opponent, followed by a quick barrel roll to the side to avoid the collision._

_Just before both Pokémon collided together, Ash's Fearow suddenly launched his attack right in the face of the other bird and then folded his wings in before rolling to the side quickly. Kiida's Fearow stopped mid-flight and tried to avoid the blades of wind but couldn't move in time and ended up getting sliced into painfully by the attack._

_Ash didn't leave any time for rest as he had then commanded his Fearow to use another Air Cutter followed by Agility, backed up by another charge at the other Fearow._

_Ash's Fearow performed the attack combo instantly and had shot off towards the other one in a blur. Kiida tried to warn his Pokémon to move and dodge but it was too shaken up and hurt by the previous attack to think quickly enough as the next barrage of Air Cutter came faster than it could even blink._

_While the opposing Pokémon tried desperately to avoid as many of the air blades as it could, Ash's Fearow flew towards it at incredible speeds. He then collided with with the other Fearow in mere seconds and began driving both of them towards the ground._

_Ash had then shouted up to his Pokémon to wrap his wings and feet around the other Fearow and increase their descent speed with Agility. Kiida had no idea what Ash was up to with such a dangerous command and ordered his own Fearow to try and fight to get free. His Pokémon couldn't do anything however because it's feet and wings were pinned right down to it's side by Ash's Fearow, making it completely immobile._

_Ash then commanded his Fearow to do something that shocked everyone. He ordered him to stick his beak into the other Fearow's MOUTH and use Drill Peck while picking up the speed. No one understood this strategy but Fearow listened anyway. He had simply smacked his opponent hard on top of the head with his own and raked his talons down the other Flying-Type's soft underbelly as part of his attack._

_Kiida's Fearow screeched in pain and the other one didn't waste a second before sticking his beak into his kins' now open mouth, initiating Drill Peck right after. The effect of this move was instantaneous. As soon as Ash's Fearow began the attack, the incredibly fast spinning movement of Drill Peck did something that NO ONE was prepared for as it started turning both Pokémon's bodies in an extremely fast circle while they plummeted to the battlefield below. Both Fearow looking like a spinning mass of brown and white feathers as they did so._

_Ash had then shouted up to his Fearow to try and focus on one point and center his mind so he didn't get too dizzy as he fell in the free spinning circle. He did so and just before the Pokémon collided with the ground, Ash ordered his own Pokémon to untangle himself from the other Fearow and use his feet to shove off hard from his opponent._

_Fearow had obeyed beautifully and did just that. He quickly untangled himself and pushed off of the other Fearow seconds before colliding with the ground. Kiida's Fearow was so dizzy and disoriented from the fall and the spin that it couldn't do anything to stop it's descent towards the ground, even as it's trainer kept yelling up at it to do something to right itself._

_In a matter of seconds, Kiida's Fearow impacted with the battlefield, cratering the ground and causing a dust cloud to shoot up into the air. Ash's Fearow quickly descended towards Ash's side of the field and landed in front of him nimbly. When the smoke settled in the middle of the field it had showed Kiida's Fearow out cold with swirls in it's eyes._

_The next battle had been between Kiida's Golbat and Ash's Pidgeotto._

_This particular battle was different from the previous one with both Fearows because it wasn't so much based on speed and agility as it was strategy and tactics. Golbat was nowhere near as fast as Pidgeotto but what it lacked in speed it made up for in it's cunning attacks and status effective moves._

_Pidgeotto was able to get a few hits in on the bat Pokemon with moves like Quick Attack and Air Cutter by utilizing her very impressive speed and agility but Golbat was able to dodge many of the attacks by using moves like Haze to take cover and Supersonic to try and throw Pidgeotto off of her rhythm due to needing to dodge the confusion inducing move._

_Pidgeotto had managed to fake Golbat however out at one point and did manage to get a solid hit in with a well placed Air Slash. The attack threw the Poison/Flying-Type for a loop and while it was trying to right itself Ash had commanded Pidgeotto to fly in close and use another Air Slash attack._

_Right before Pidgeotto was able to make contact however, Kiida ordered Golbat to use Supersonic at the last minute. Ash's Pokémon was too close to evade the attack unfortunately and ended up getting hit head on with it._

_Pidgeotto had then instantly became confused and lost control of her wings as she fell down towards the ground. Kiida took advantage of the situation and ordered Golbat to fly in and use it's own Air Slash on the descending bird Pokémon._

_Golbat flew down quickly and came right underneath of Pidgeotto and attacked her hard with Air Slash, knocking the female Pokémon for a painful spin and sending her careening towards the ground before smashing into it._

_Ash had narrowed his eyes at the attack but kept his arms crossed as he watched the dust cloud fade away. When it did it showed Pidgeotto standing back up, looking a little scuffed up and still confused as she teetered around back and forth. Kiida had quickly commanded his Pokemon to use Leech Life and Golbat flew in towards Pidgeotto._

_Ash knew that his Pokémon wasn't able to do anything at the moment because of her confusion and could only watch as Golbat landed beside Pidgeotto and sunk it's fangs into her as it started sapping energy out of her._

_After it had sucked enough energy from Pidgeotto, the bat Pokémon slapped her away with a Wing Attack on it's trainer's command, sending her skidding away across the battlefield. Kiida quickly ordered his Pokémon to use Air Cutter on Pidgeotto while she was down to end the battle. Golbat then thrust it's wings forward and sent many sharp blades of wind at her, intent on taking her out._

_Ash had at that moment looked to Pidgeotto and called out calmly but firmly that he needed her to snap out of her confusion and evade the attack. He knew she could do it and believed in her with no questions. This managed to get through to Pidgeotto and she snapped out of her confused state just before the blades of wind could reach her._

_She quickly barrel rolled to the side on her wings and then, using the anger and frustration she had at Golbat for confusing her, shot forward at blurring speeds after she had regained her footing._

_The bird was like a bullet as she flew towards Golbat with a fierce look on her face. Kiida had swiftly commanded Golbat to use Sludge Bomb and stop Pidgeotto but she just started using Agility while she flew in, zig-zagging every poisonous projectile that came her way. She made it to Golbat the very next instant and bashed the Pokemon across the face twice with each of her wings and then head smashed the bat down into the ground._

_She had then hopped back and thrust her wings forward, churning up a strong Twister attack that sucked Golbat up into it's funnel and beat it around viciously before spitting the Pokémon out of it's swirling confines, tossing the energy sucking leech into the ground like a stone._

_Pidgeotto didn't rest and took off again at Golbat, who had been struggling badly by that point to get back up. Kiida knew his Pokémon was in trouble but saw that Golbat was too exhausted to make any quick maneuvers. He thought of the next best thing and just as Pidgeotto was nearly on top of Golbat again with her wings beginning to thrust forward in the sign of the finishing attack, Kiida ordered his Golbat to use Toxic._

_Just as Pidgeotto thrust her wings forward and launched a fearsome Air Cutter at her foe, the soon to be doomed dual type Pokémon opened it's mouth and then spat a dark ball of sludge at Pidgeotto._

_The two attacks struck at the same time and Golbat was sent tumbling back across the field towards it's trainer while screeching in pain as the blades of wind cut through it. By the time it finally rolled up to Kiida's feet it was unquestionably unconscious._

_Pidgeotto could not dodge the sludge in time since her wings were still out however and was struck head on with the foul substance due to that. The force was enough to send her skidding backwards across the field towards Ash while the poison took it's effect._

_Once she had finally came to a stop and regained her senses a little bit the female Pokémon slowly stood back to her feet and was instantly stricken by the poison that was at that point coursing rapidly through her system._

_She fell forward again and caught herself with her wings as she slowly righted herself and then started breathing in and out slowly to calm her heart rate (Ash had instructed her and all of his other Pokémon during training to do this so that if they were ever poisoned, it wouldn't get pumped through their bloodstream too quickly) as she stood as tall and proud as she could._

_That had ended the second battle but the last and hardest one came next._

_Kiida's last Pokémon had been none other a large and impressive looking Pidgeot that stood strong and towering over top of the battle winded Pidgeotto, a confident smirk on it's beaked face. Ash was originally going to return Pidgeotto and use Fearow since she was so battle worn and poisoned on top of it all. However, Pidgeotto had declined firmly and made it clearly known to Ash that she wanted to battle regardless of how tired she may have been._

_Ash had faith in his Pokémon and agreed to let her battle with Pidgeot._

_The battle was, for the most part, almost a complete outmatch the entire time. Even though Pidgeotto was incredibly well trained and strong, Pidgeot was her final evolved form and was physically stronger and faster than she was. She wasn't able to get even so much as one hit in on Pidgeot the entire time and was slowed down even more by her poisoned state._

_Every time she would try to use an attack of some kind and would come even remotely close to scathing Pidgeot she would be frozen in place by the poison that was coursing through her system. This would just give Pidgeot another chance to attack her and cause more damage._

_Ash knew that things were looking really bad for Pidgeotto but he had faith in her and believed that she could pull out the win no matter what. During one particular instance where Pidgeot met her head on in the air and slammed into her with an Aerial Ace hard enough to send her crashing into the battlefield, cratering it in the process, she had struggled incredibly hard to stand back to her feet after._

_Ash had taken this time to encourage her and told her that no matter what, he believed that she could come out of the spot she was in and win. He believed in her and her abilities. He said that all of the training they did everyday and all of the mental strengthening exercises he put her and the others through all this time was for the very situation she was in now. He told her that the pain and the feelings of hopelessness she was feeling was nothing more than a mind game and that if she wanted to come out on top as the winner, she could do it if she just told herself she could and truly believed it. He told her that if she refused to fall and lose the battle then she wouldn't. Everything was all just a mind game and that her success and abilities were entirely dependent on how much control she had over her mind._

_Pidgeotto had let this truly awaken her inner fire and determination. Despite the immense pain and exhaustion she had been feeling at that moment, she let her trainer's words, words that reached down to her very soul, fire her up and unleash all the strength and power she had within her._

_She had then stood up and screeched out loudly in defiance as the poison tried to course through her again and immobilize her body. She envisioned her victory, she felt her inner power and in that moment she took complete control of her mind and put everything else aside except for the one and only thought that was passing through her mind at that moment... and that one thought was to WIN no matter what!_

_She had stared Pidgeot down with a look of pure fire in her eyes as she spread her wings out imposingly and screeched at it before shooting off towards the other bird at speeds that should not have been possible for a Pokémon that was so damaged and poisoned on top of it all. Pidgeot had recovered from it's shock though and took off at it's opponent with the same impressive speed that it had been demonstrating all battle long. Both Pokémon then clashed together in a blur of talons, feathers and beaks._

_Pidgeotto fought it's evolved form like a Pokémon possessed, with a fury that had shocked not just Kiida and Ash's friends but also Pidgeot itself because, even though it was stronger than Pidgeotto, she had somehow begun getting the advantage on it in the battle. More and more attacks she started landing on Pidgeot and even though the poison in her system kept trying to stop her, she wouldn't let it._

_Kiida had ordered for his Pokémon to break away from the enraged and madly attacking Pidgeotto but it couldn't. Every time it tried Pidgeotto would just sink her talons into it's skin and dig in tightly while she continued to beat at Pidgeot with her wings and beak. Kiida had commanded his Pokémon to use anything it knew in order to get free from Pidgeotto and it listened as it started flying around all over the battlefield in crazy directions, using it's beak to stab at Pidgeotto and anything else it could think of to get free._

_Ash didn't want to lose the momentum they had gained though and ordered Pidgeotto to dig her talons as deep into Pidgeot as she could and peck at it's eyes. His Pokémon was relentless and merciless as she did as told and dug her talons into Pideot's body deeper, making the Pokémon screech in pain while she poked at it's eyes with her beak. It looked as though she was really aiming to take out Pidgeot's eyes but it was more of a distraction than anything else. She hadn't really been trying to blind the bigger bird at all._

_Pidgeot continuously dodged the pecks and beat on Pidgeotto as hard as it could with it's wings and beak. However, no matter how hard and how much it bashed on Pidgeotto, she just wouldn't let up. She was in the zone and she wasn't stopping._

_It had been at that moment that Ash had suddenly had an idea form in his head that he knew would assure he and Pidgeotto the victory. Following through on his plan, he had then commanded Pidgeotto to fly herself and Pidgeot towards the ocean below the battlefield as fast as she could._

_Pidgeotto sunk her talons into Pidgeot further and then, with a massive upheaval of strength that came from Arceus only knew where, shot down towards the ocean with Pidgeot in tow. She quickly angled herself until she was on top of the other Pokémon and pressed down with all of her might as she drove them towards the water far below._

_Kiida had no idea what Ash was planning but knew that if his Pokémon hit the water, it was over. Pidgeot couldn't swim and would have had to forfeit the battle. However, he knew there was also no way that Pidgeotto could swim either so Kiida had no idea why Ash issued the command he did, aside from some form of desperate attempt not to just outright lose._

_That question was answered just moments later however. Pidgeot was unable to break free from Pidgeotto's grasp no matter how hard it tried to, even with the shouts of encouragement from it's trainer. Both Flying-Types then hit the churning waters below with a huge splash, disappearing below the surface instantly._

_Ash, Kiida and the others had ran to the edge of the battlefield and peered over the edge, searching for any sign of them. Pidgeot had just risen from under the water and was flailing around madly, trying desperately to free itself from the water and get to dry land. Pidgeotto however just calmly rose up out of the water and, to Kiido's astounded surprise, swam towards Pidgeot with her wings at a fast speed before attacking the Pokémon viciously again._

_Pidgeot could do nothing to stop the beating it was currently enduring and could only try staying afloat as best as it could while the waves continuously pummeled the completely out of element Flying-Type. Kiida had known in that moment that Ash and Pidgeotto had them beat since there was no way his Pidgeot could fight an aquatic battle against another Flying Pokèmon that had somehow learned how to fight, quite well at that, in the water._

_It was with that decision made up in his mind that Kiida threw in the towel and admitted defeat to the referee of the gym, forfeiting the match._

_After the exhausted and frightened Pidgeot had been returned to the safety of it's Pokéball way up on the battlefield platform above, Ash had then called down to Pidgeotto to see if she could make it back up or not. The female bird Pokémon was to stubborn and proud to be returned to her Pokéball and instead had just squawked in insistence that she could make it back up on her own. She merely jumped up out of the water and, using her wings to twist herself, spun around in fast circles until her wings were dry enough to fly._

_Once she was able to, Pidgeotto made the long and exhausting (at least exhausting in her current condition) trip, back up to the battlefield while Ash watched her carefully. Eventually, after much panting and fighting off more painful attacks of the poison coursing through her, Pidgeotto made it to the top and then landed heavily on the ground. She had been breathing heavily and looked as though her whole body was aching, a grimace of pain etched across her features._

_Ash had been worried for his Pokémon's well being and started to make his way over to her quickly, ignoring the fact that he had won the gym battle and being only concerned for her health. However, before he could make it to her, Pidgeotto threw her wings out to the sides and stood up tall and proud as she raised her head up and started loudly cawing her name. Obviously very proud of the fact that she had managed to defeat her evolved form, especially when poisoned and already tired from the previous battle against Golbat._

_She had continued to call out loudly with fire in her eyes until suddenly... her whole body had begun glowing a bright bluish/white as she started to morph and change shape._

_Ash and the others then watched on in amazement and, if you were Ash himself, pride as Pidgeotto began to evolve. The crown of feathers on her head grew out long until it came down past her back, her wingspan grew to much greater lengths and her entire body as a whole grew much larger._

_When the evolution was finally complete, the newly evolved Pokémon had spread her wings up into the air as the light burst away from her and she called her new name loudly to the sky. Everyone then stared in awe as the newly evolved Pidgeot displayed herself proudly for them all to see, a look of pride, elegance and grace now exuding from her in an even greater degree than they did before. All of the previous fatigue and even poisoned status condition she had suffered from as a Pidgeotto was gone as she now looked completely healthy._

_After Ash had hugged, praised and congratulated Pidgeot on not just winning the match for him but also evolving, which could only mean even tougher training from there on out for her, he returned his second fully evolved Flying-Type and then had his post-battle words with Kiida._

_The older boy had congratulated Ash for his off the wall strategies, amazing battle tactics and the obviously unorthodox but very effective methods of training he must have had his Pokémon undergo if seeing Pidgeotto, or rather Pidgeot as she was now, swim and battle in the water was any clue at all._

_He then presented Ash with the Avian Badge. The badge was a perfect rectangle in shape with a 'V' emblazoned upon it. The 'V' itself was a dark pink in color while the area around the letter was more of a lighter pink._

_Upon receiving the new badge and adding it to his case, Ash had then looked at all eight of his hard earned badges. The Boulderbadge, Cascadebadge, Aptitude Badge, Thunderbadge, Cunning Badge, Reflex Badge, Nature Badge and the newly acquired Avian Badge. He could hardly believe in that moment that he now had the required eight gym badges needed to compete in the Indigo Conference and that, on top of it all, it had only taken him a few months into the beginning of his journey to do so._

_It had just seemed so surreal for him that he was now officially able to enter into the tournament he had always wanted to be in from the time he was young and had been watching the battles on TV... and he still had months until the next Conference to prepare for it._

_Ash was definitely happy with his accomplishments and felt proud of himself and his Pokémon, there was no doubt at all about that. However, he wouldn't let any of those accomplishments get to his head and especially wouldn't let it happen to his Pokémon. He knew they still had many things they needed to work on and learn and that's why he felt even more resolute at that moment to travel all throughout Kanto and earn every badge there was alongside his Pokémon to get stronger and stronger. One could never get enough experience and training and he knew this._

_When Kiida found out that Ash, upon earning the Avian Badge, had the last one he needed for entrance into the league and recovered from the shock of discovering just how little of an amount of time it took him to earn all eight, he had congratulated the other Trainer and said that he was very happy his gym was the last one standing in Ash's way of his eighth and final badge (an honor that Kiida's gym was very rarely ever fortunate enough to have since it was so out of the way). He was further surprised when Ash told him that he was actually going to try to challenge and win every gym badge there was in Kanto but ultimately wished him luck and said that he would be rooting for Ash every step of the way._

_After thanking Kiida and sharing their parting words, Ash and his friends then headed to the town Pokémon Center and stayed the night before heading out the following day for their next destination._

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

* * *

_The second badge Ash earned was only a few days and a slight detours travel further down the coast at a town that was actually located on the beach and was squeezed in-between two large gorges. The seaside community, called Tide Town, was not very large since it was literally fitted in-between the two large ravines, which put everything fairly close together._

_The buildings and houses were all made similar to the way Kiida's gym was constructed back in Windy Cliffs Village and was actually a good thing since the beach hut style houses sat perfectly on the sand, making a perfectly stable foundation on the loose ground that made up the beach's terrain._

_During the few days that Ash and the others had been traveling between towns, the raven haired trainer took as much time as he could to work with his newly evolved Pidgeot. He had returned Fearow the day after his gym battle with Kiida so he could have Bulbasaur back but as he promised her after the gym battle had ended, Ash wanted to help his Pokémon increase her training so as to allow her to continue gaining newer and greater levels of strength. The only way to do this was to keep increasing Pidgeot's training load with each new level she attained that way nothing ever became easier for her._

_Still though, even with Pidgeot having finally reached her final stage of evolution, Ash couldn't take her training to the level he truly wanted her to just yet. Pidgeot, along with his other Pokémon, were just too young to handle any training that went too far into the spectrum of 'extreme' or otherwise since their still maturing bodies would most likely break under the stress._

_Because of this, the only things Ash could do to increase Pidgeot's training level was to up the amount of her leg weights for her ground training, water weights for aquatic drills and also her wing weights for all of the intense aerial training she did with Fearow back at the ranch. He also increased the intensity, duration and time intervals of every aspect of her training. Move training, physical conditioning, battle strategy and combat drills against Fearow._

_All in all, by the time he sent her back in return for Squirtle, he felt very confident that she had more than enough to work on where her training was concerned to keep her well off for quite some time._

_But going back to the current topic of focus. The Pokémon Gym of Tide Town was located right on the beach near the waterside and looked much like a big surf shop. Of course this was probably due to the fact that the gym also doubled as an actual surf shop at the same time._

_The gym leader's name had been Devon and he was the very definition of the term 'Beach Bum'. He was around his early twenties and had long brown hair that was done up in dread locks at certain places. He obviously didn't shave much because his whole face was covered in rough, patchy stubble and his appearance generally looked to be the one of a person who was totally laid back and calm about pretty much everything._

_He wore baggy tan shorts and flip flops on his feet, a sea blue tank top, a Gyarados tooth necklace and a leather bracelet on his right wrist. The man even spoke with the tone of someone who had baked far, far too long in the sun. He specialized in Water-Type Pokémon, like Misty, and after greeting one another the standard three on three gym battle began. Ash had decided to switch his Pokémon out once again and decided on the line-up of his Squirtle, Staryu and Krabby. Sending Charmander and Gastly back in return._

_The first match had been between Squirtle and Devon's Wartortle._

_Even though Wartortle technically had the advantage over Squirtle since it was the evolved form of the latter, Ash knew that little issue would be completely null and void in this battle. Squirtle was more than a challenge for Wartortle with the intense training he did on a regular basis so Ash wasn't worried._

_His confidence wasn't unfounded either._

_The entire battle was mostly a powerhouse match between both of the same species Pokémon as they went at each other as hard and with as much power as they could. Devon honestly was baffled by the sheer power and strength Squirtle had behind all of his water attacks when it was compared to his own Wartortle. Who of which was SUPPOSED to be stronger automatically because of the evolutionary advantage._

_However, Squirtle was able to stand toe to toe with Wartortle the entire match. For most of the battle they were evenly matched with Squirtle landing a few hits on Wartortle and the latter connecting it's own strikes on it's pre-evolved cousin._

_At one point Wartortle managed to hit Squirtle with a Rapid Spin, followed up by a strong Water Pulse which had sent Ash's Pokémon sliding across the concrete battle platform (which was located outside the shop/gym on the beach). Wartortle had taken advantage of this and began unleashing a barrage of different attacks on Squirtle that the still dazed Pokémon had a tough time dodging and ended up taking quite a few of them._

_Ash had known that his Pokémon was in trouble and after assessing the situation for a few moments he quickly formulated the perfect strategy to take Wartortle down with. Right at the time Wartortle launched another strong Water Pulse at Squirtle, Ash commanded his Pokémon to take the attack head on but retract into his shell and bounce off of the ground just before the attack could hit._

_Squirtle did just that and right as the blast of water hit him he withdrew into his shell and bounced off the ground. The water launched Squirtle high up into the air, making Wartortle, Devon and Ash's friends have to squint in order to see his form, which was silhouetted against the sun's bright backdrop._

_Ash then commanded his Pokémon to use his newly learned Bubblebeam on the grounded Wartortle far below. Squirtle listened and unleashed a mass of bubbles down towards the ground, which surrounded the bigger turtle and made visibility a near impossibility because of it._

_On the way down into his descent, Ash ordered Squirtle to use a combination of Water Pulse and Rapid Spin on Wartortle as he neared it. Squirtle did just that and the large volume of water he expelled, boosted by the speed of Rapid Spin, connected with Wartortle down below and caused the Pokémon to root itself to the ground in order to avoid getting knocked off of it's feet._

_Ash then commanded Squirtle to concentrate the speed of his Rapid Spin into the hardest head smash he could. With the bubbles still everywhere and Wartortle being off balance, Devon knew his Pokémon couldn't effectively dodge the attack and instead ordered it to withdraw into it's shell and protect itself from the impact._

_Ash had smirked at this and right before Squirtle came close to making contact he commanded his Pokémon to break Rapid Spin and use Water Pulse on the ground right under Wartortle. Squirtle did this, much to the confusion of everyone watching, and the blast of water temporarily knocked Wartortles's shell upright until it was standing on it's end. Ash then ordered Squirtle to stick his arms out and land on the top of Wartortle's currently upright shell with his hands._

_Squirtle focused hard and using as much control as he could, stuck the downward landing on Wartortle's shell. He was, at that, point in a hand stand on top of Wartortle's shell, looking down into the hole of where the hiding Pokémon's head would be. Ash then commanded Squirtle to quickly switch hand positions until he was suspended behind where Wartortle's head would be and then had him use Water Pulse directly inside of the shell._

_Squirtle did so and after just a few seconds of blasting water down into the shell, Wartortle's head popped out looking dazed, slightly drowned (even though it was a Water-Type) and out of breath. Ash was on the opportunity in a heartbeat and had ordered Squirtle to quickly turn around, wrap his tail around Wartortle's neck and then fall backwards off of his opponent while twisting to the side._

_Squirtle had quickly did as told and turned around as he wrapped his tail around Wartortle's neck and dropped off of the shell he was perched on. He twisted to the side as he hit the ground and tightened his tail's grip on Wartortle's neck, making said Pokémon gasp for air and go bug eyed. Ash then ordered Squirtle, who was on his back behind Wartortle, to lock his small legs around the other Pokemon's neck, over top of his tail, and then tighten his grip even more._

_Squirtle obeyed and upon locking Wartortle up in a grip it couldn't escape from, started pulling back as hard as he could on his opponents neck with his tail, all while cinching everything down with his legs. Essentially making a mutated version of a standard choke hold. Wartortle couldn't break the tight and extremely unusual hold on it's neck and started struggling and gasping for air as Squirtle pulled back harder and harder. Devon could only watch in sick fascination as his Pokémon was literally being choked out of the battle before his very eyes._

_Once Wartortle began turning a shade of blue much darker than it normally was and stopped struggling, Devon knew it was over and threw in the towel so his Pokémon didn't get hurt. After Ash had congratulated and hugged Squirtle for such a great, hard fought battle he returned him and then prepared for the next battle, which was between his Krabby and Devon's Poliwhirl. The man was surprised at first upon seeing such a large Krabby but ultimately recovered from his shock and began the battle._

_For the most part, Devon's Poliwhirl was a heavy hitter that relied more on physical attacks it knew rather than Water-Type attacks. Krabby on the other hand was well trained from the regimen Ash had him following back at the lab in just about everything. His speed was, surprisingly enough for a Krabby, equal to Poliwhirl's because of all of the intense weighted speed exercises Ash had him do. His already very hard shell skin was even harder from all of the body hardening he did and could be in increased even further by the use of Harden. This was how he had managed to withstand it whenever Poliwhirl would manage to connect with some of it's powerful physical attacks like Mega Punch, Mega Kick and Headbutt._

_Krabby's attacks themselves were very powerful and not only from the intense move training it did but also because of it's technical status as a 'Giant Pokémon'. It's body was not only enhanced in size but it's physical make-up on the cellular and muscular level made it's attacks much stronger than other Krabby of regular size. Basically the same situation as with Dragonite and Tentacruel._

_That was how most of the battle went between the two Water-Types._

_Ash's Pokémon would sneak in a few attacks here and there with it's abdormal speed and Poliwhirl would occasionally manage to connect with Krabby using some of it's brute force attacks, only causing minimal damage due to both Krabby's extreme training and size increased defense._

_It was obvious that neither Devon nor his Pokémon were used to dealing with the strength and unique abilities of a Giant Pokémon, that much was easy to tell from the battle. Even Ash was shocked with Krabby's enhanced battling prowess that came from, again, not just his training but also his size. He knew that Giant Pokémon had many 'physical enhancements' due to their size but... he didn't know it would be the same way for Krabby, who wasn't anywhere near the size of Dragonite or Tentacruel._

_Eventually though, Poliwhirl was able to box Krabby in and then started hammering away on his rock hard skin with moves like Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Dynamicpunch and a move that really effected Krabby, Ice Punch. Poliwhirl struck Krabby with an ice encased fist and froze the spot of skin it connected with. Poliwhirl then struck that same patch of skin with another punch and managed to hurt the skin there, making Krabby wince in pain and stumble backward._

_Poliwhirl performed this routine a couple more times and managed to do some damage to Krabby before hitting him again and sending him back towards Ash. The boy in question had been studying Poliwhirl's battle tactics for awhile and had managed to formulate a strategy during that time he believed would work in taking it down. After Krabby managed to recover from the fierce barrage it had taken, Ash ordered him to switch battle strategies and start using 'evasive tactics'. Krabby had merely nodded in understanding and then went to work putting the new strategy info effect._

_The crab Pokémon had then began jumping and moving to several different spots on the battlefield every time Poliwhirl would rush in to attack him. He never met his opponent head on with any attacks and instead chose to just dodge and move away from every attack thrown his way with a nimbleness that surprised everyone but Ash._

_What really surprised everyone however, was when Ash commanded Krabby to come down out of every jump he was in and use moves like Stomp on the concrete floor as hard as he could. Both the downward force of gravity that propelled Krabby at quick speeds and the heavy mass in which he was carrying around as a Giant Pokémon proved to be a very 'destructive' combination. This meant that every time Krabby would land he would crack the area of concrete floor around him. Poliwhirl would then come chasing after him and either jump onto the same spot or strike it with a powerful physical attack that would completely shatter the already weakened concrete, exposing the bare sand beneath._

_Both Pokémon repeated this process over and over again with an irritated Poliwhirl chasing relentlessly after Krabby. Since it obviously wasn't very adept at any other moved except for it's physical strength ones, it had to chase Krabby down if it wanted to attack him. This was a very exhausting process for Devon's Pokémon as it clearly didn't have the same level of physical conditioning training that Ash's Pokémon had._

_After some time of repeating the same boring process, at least boring for anyone watching, practically the entire battlefield was destroyed. Leaving nothing but extremely torn up sandy ground in it's place. There were huge cratters, indents, hazardous looking pits and uneven patches in the battle torn sand that made moving and jumping around much more difficult._

_With next to no concrete left, the sand having left huge craters behind in it and Poliwhirl not being nearly as light on it's feet as Krabby, Devon's Pokémon found itself having a very hard time moving around without getting tripped up by the uneven terrain. Krabby was having no problems at all since not only was he lighter on his feet but his legs were also much smaller than Poliwhirl's._

_Meaning that whenever he landed on the sand, his thin and stick-like feet would just slide into the loose ground like a pin. He was then able to easily jump up again and move to the next location without difficulty. Poliwhirl however had more 'trunk-like' legs than Krabby had and would sink into the cratered sand holes, nearly causing it to trip over._

_Everything became even harder for Poliwhirl whenever Ash ordered Krabby to start using Bubblebeam on the entire area of sand that was now currently acting as the battlefield. Since the bubbles were made of water and the sand absorbed said substance, after a few minutes of Krabby performing this action the entire battleground started to resemble a mucky, mud-like marsh._

_Then, every time Poliwhirl would land in the sand it's feet would sink down into the muddy ground with a 'plop' and would cause the frog-like Pokemon to struggle desperately to free itself. Krabby yet again had no problems moving because of his nimbleness and the shape of his legs. He just kept jumping around the battlefield while using Bubblebeam to make the sand around them even muckier and harder to move in._

_Both Devon and Ash's friends were beyond confused as to why Ash had his Pokémon do what he did but eventually... they saw why._

_During one of the occasions where Poliwhirl became stuck in the mucky and wet sand, it was so exhausted from constantly trying to attack Krabby and all of the fighting it had been doing to free itself time and time again from the harsh terrain, that it struggled harder than it ever had before at trying to get free from the sopping ground._

_Ash had seen his chance since Poliwhirl was exhausted and then commanded Krabby to jump up into the air again and use Stomp on Poliwhirl._

_Krabby was in action not a second later and jumped into the air, bringing his foot up as he descended towards Poliwhirl at fast speeds. Devon knew his Pokémon was in trouble and had tried to command Poliwhirl to do something to avoid the sure to be damaging attack but Poliwhirl was almost completely exhausted from struggling against the sand for so long and couldn't react in time. The gym leader could only watch as Krabby came down on top of Poliwhirl's face with a high powered Stomp attack so hard that the other Water-Type's head snapped to the side and it's legs slightly buckled from the force of the strike._

_Krabby landed on Poliwhirl's shoulders and gripped onto his opponent tightly with his pincers. Ash smirked and then had quickly ordered his Pokémon to start hammering his claws down on top of Poliwhirl as hard as he could. Devon wasn't quick enough to issue any kind of defensive maneuver because at that very moment, Krabby used Harden on his pincers to make them pack even more force. He had then brought them up above his head before slamming them down on top of Poliwhirl's head, face, shoulders and any other area of his opponent's body that he could reach._

_Poliwhirl had only been able to cry out in pain with every strike that Krabby ruthlessly assaulted it with. The extra hardened pincers, massive strength and over sized mass that Krabby possessed only made each hit that much more intense. Finally, Krabby brought both pincers up into the air and then swung them down hard onto Poliwhirl's head._

_As soon as the attack made connection, Poliwhirl's eyes slightly bugged out and it's knees completely buckled. Krabby leaned forward onto the other Water-Type and then vaulted off of Poliwhirl as he landed some distance away in front of Ash, pincers still up and ready for battle._

_It wasn't needed however because just one minute later, Poliwhirl started teetering back and forth on it's feet before falling backwards onto the wet sand with swirls in it's eyes, showing the battle was over as the Pokémon began sinking ever so slowly into the wet, mucky sand._

_Devon had then returned his Pokémon before it could sink any further into the wet sand as Ash thanked and congratulated Krabby on a great battle well fought. After that was done, he returned his Pokémon and the third and final battle went underway._

_The last battle to decide the match had been against Ash's Staryu and Devon's Gyarados._

_This particular battle could be classified as nothing short of intense and brutal. Ash's Stayu had strong attacks and combinations, as well as speed and endurance from all of the intense training it did, while Devon's Gyarados was nothing short of an insane powerhouse._

_Even though there was nothing physically wise that made Gyarados stand out from others of it's species, it's attacks were very strong and if connected with their target, could cause large amounts of damage. Especially to a much smaller Pokemon like Stayu. Gyarados also had a very foul temper much like almost every other Gyarados did and this made it an even fiercer and much more dangerous opponent._

_Luckily for Staryu, it had trained with Ash's Gyarados on a regular basis so it pretty much knew how to handle such an opponent. Still, that didn't mean Staryu took the battle lightly in any way shape or form. Ash had made sure to constantly remind it not to let it's guard down at any point... something Staryu payed very close attention to._

_There was not much that the smaller Water-Type could do against such a vicious, constantly attacking and enraged opponent like Gyarados. Which meant that all the Star-Shaped Pokemon could do most of the time was use the incredible speed it possessed when spinning to dodge all, or at least as many of Gyarados' attacks as it could._

_The Atrocious Pokémon definitely had powerful attacks and could use them repeatedly many times over without getting tired. Ash had felt certain that Devon trained his Pokémon to battle in such a way since throughout the entire match he had formed a strong suspicion, just by observing it's style, that Gyarados was more of a 'one dimension' type of battler._

_Meaning that Devon seems to only train his Pokémon in certain aspects that made them as strong as they could be in one particular area of strength. Which, in Gyarados's case, meant being able to use very strong attacks over again and again without much fatigue following._

_Gyarados had used nothing but Aqua Tail, attempted to use Bite, Hyper Beam and Dragon Rage the entire battle. Staryu continuously used evasive moves like Rapid Spin, Agility and would occasionally even be able to hit Gyarados with Swift if it got lucky enough. Most of the time however, Staryu just dodged. Ash had known that his Pokémon wouldn't be able to keep that up though and had started going through all kinds of strategies that could possibly bring the powerful dragon-like Pokémon down._

_Misty, at the same time, had been completely lost as to how Ash would pull out a victory against such a strong Gyarados with a Pokémon like Staryu because, even though she was a Water-Type specialist, she couldn't see any way to take down such a Pokémon if she were to have been battling it with any of her own. In fact, only when Staryu was dodging one of Gyarados's Dragon Rage attacks did Ash himself finally come up with a strategy that he had felt would work._

_Just as Staryu had been hit with Gyarado's tail and sent crashing into the sand near Ash, the boy waited for his Pokèmon to stand back up and shake the dizziness from it's head before issuing his strategy. He commanded Staryu to charge back in towards Gyarados with a Rapid Spin/Agility combination while firing Swift at the large Pokèmon._

_Staryu had taken off at Gyarados like a bullet, spinning like crazy while firing off Swift at it. Devon had commanded his Pokèmon to use Dragon Rage to cut through the energy rays coming towards it, hopefully hitting Staryu in the aftermath._

_As soon as Gyarados launched it's attack Ash ordered Staryu to break away from it's head on charge and instead start spinning in a fast, wide circle around Gyarados. Staryu dodged out of the way just as Gyarados' Dragon Rage attack was released and cut through the star shaped rays of Swift like nothing. Staryu then begin rotating around Gyarados in a wide circle while slightly leaning to the side, it's speed greatly enhanced by Agility._

_Devon and everyone else had watched on in confusion as Staryu continued to spin around Gyarados in a circle that started to get tighter and tighter. Gyarados couldn't follow the fast movement and grew frustrated as it started lashing it's body around, trying madly to stop Staryu in some way._

_Everyone eventually saw Ash's strategy though as the spinning in circles around Gyarados that Staryu was doing started causing a massive sandstorm to whip up and surround the much larger Pokémon, blinding it from being able to see anything around it at all._

_Ash had then commanded Staryu to get inside of the sand cloud and attack Gyarados with Rapid Spin and Swift. Staryu disappeared into the sandstorm and all anyone could hear after that was Gyarados' cries of pain and anger as Staryu attacked it's body with close range Rapid Spin attacks and long distance Swift rays._

_Devon eventually was able to think of something as a counter however and ordered his own Pokemon to use Aqua Tail to try and hit Staryu._

_Gyarados had then used the attack as ordered by it's trainer and was lucky enough, unluckily for Staryu, to connect with the Star-Shaped Pokémon just as it was coming back in with another Rapid Spin. The strong hit caused Staryu to fly out of the sand cloud and into the ground near Ash with a painful 'thud'._

_Devon then issued his Pokémon to use a Twister attack to blow away the sand cloud and Gyarados did so, disposing of the irritating and accuracy reducing annoyance in a matter of seconds._

_Staryu had just gotten back to it's pointed feet then when Devon ordered his Pokémon to fire a Dragon Rage at Staryu. Ash knew that such an attack would mean definite trouble but also had a crazy thought enter his mind at the same time._

_Running off of his insane plan, he had told Staryu to stay where it was as Gyarados released it's attack and the powerful blast of energy went rocketing towards his Pokémon, never saying another word as it came closer and closer._

_Finally, just as the attack was right upon them, Ash told Staryu to start spinning in place with an Agility enhanced Rapid Spin. Staryu did so and just before the blast could connect with it, Ash commanded his Pokémon to jump off the ground. Staryu quickly spun/jumped up into the air as the explosion of Dragon Rage hit the ground where it just was and sent the smaller Pokémon flying high into the air._

_Staryu utilized this to it's advantage and used the momentum of the explosion and the speed of Rapid Spin to shoot towards down Gyarados from above, firing the star shaped rays of Swift at it's opponent completely unbidden by Ash, something the boy was thankful to his Pokémon for._

_Gyarados still had it's head slightly forward and mouth open from using Dragon Rage and because of this, it was defenseless as the rays of energy started slicing into it, making the large Pokémpn reel back in pain._

_Staryu kept it's forward momentum and continued using Swift as it eventually reached Gyarados and managed to land on top of it's thrown back face. Staryu had then looked down into Gyarados' gaping maw from where it was perched atop the Pokémon's lip and, charging up extremely powerful rays of energy from the gem within in it's center, started pelting them down inside of Gyarados' mouth._

_Devon and Ash's friends had just looked on in shock at what was transpiring as Gyarados shut it's eyes and bellowed in pain and rage as the sharp rays of Swift were continuously shot down into it's open mouth. Devon had no clue what to do in such a completely unorthodox situation and was left temporarily stunned._

_Fortune, however, was kind to both Devon and his Pokèmon because at that very moment... Gyarados' rage reached it's boiling point._

_Finally having lost complete control of it's temper due to the immense pain it was currently experiencing, a red aura began shrouding Gyarados and once the energy became so bright and vibrant that it was almost a flaming red, Gyarados' eyes shot open and revealed them to be completely ruby red._

_Gyarados then suddenly tilted it's head backward a bit more and Staryu's concentration was broken by the action as it stopped using Swift and began sliding into the larger Pokémon's mouth._

_The Atrocious Pokémon took it's opportunity and quickly clamped down on one of Staryu's appendages, making the smaller Pokémon grunt in pain as Gyarados' mouth tightly constricted the star like Pokémon to where it was._

_The sides of Gyarados' mouth then started glowing a golden color and Ash instantly knew what was coming. He tried to warn his Pokémon but it was far too late. Gyarados opened it's mouth then at the last second and revealed a large orb of bright yellow/gold energy glowing within it's throat._

_Just before Staryu could fall into it's mouth, Gyarados unleashed the massively charged and rage enhanced Hyper Beam straight at it, completely enveloping the smaller Pokémon in the catastrophic beam of energy as it then zipped straight towards the ground many, many yards away and impacted with a loud 'BOOM'!_

_A huge sand cloud was kicked up around the impact zone and Ash, his friends and Devon watched with baited breath as it cleared away slowly._

_Once it did everyone saw a sight that they weren't completely shocked with. Staryu was lying in the middle of the large crater with scorch marks covering it's body and the gem on it's body blinking slowly. Ash's friends and Devon (the latter of which who was smiling confidently, believing that Gyarados had won the battle and thus, brought them back from the precipice of a total defeat) all felt certain that it was over and that Staryu was out for the count._

_Ash hadn't moved or said a word however and just stared at the spot where Staryu was laying at intently. All of a sudden and to everyone's great surprise, Staryu slowly stirred and began moving around. No one could believe what they were seeing, least of all Devon, as Staryu then, very slowly but surely, stood back up on it's wobbling appendages._

_Ash had smiled softly at the sight of his Pokémon having so much heart and started calling out words of encouragement to Staryu just as they all heard Gyarados suddenly bellow loudly. Ash looked across the beach at Devon's Pokémon and saw that it was still shrouded in a red aura with it's eyes the same exact color and a look of complete rage on it's face._

_Ash knew what was going on with Gyarados from the moment he looked at it. He had seen it one other time with his Dragonite and felt absolutely certain of the fact that Gyarados was now under complete influence of Outrage. It's temper had finally spilled totally over and it's rage was at critical mass._

_Ash had then realized that Staryu would most likely not be able to defeat Gyarados while it was in such a state. Not while it was so incredibly battered and exhausted. It had been with those thoughts of Staryu's safety in mind that he had made the decision to return it and use either Squirtle or Krabby to hopefully finish the match._

_However, that wasn't what happened. Gyarados was so lost in it's rage that it no longer needed, nor would most likely listen, to any commands from Devon._

_It had then opened it's mouth and formed an Outrage enhanced Dragon Rage that it quickly fired at the wobbling Staryu. Ash had hurriedly called out to the Star-Shaped Pokémon to move out of the way but his Pokémon was only able to just manage to hop far enough away that it missed the worst of the impact. However, the radius of the blast still managed to catch the weakened Staryu and sent it flying through the air towards Gyarados._

_The outraged Pokémon didn't waste a second and quickly brought it's tail forward with Outrage enhanced speed and smashed it into Staryu in mid-air, causing Ash's friends to cringe as they could hear the impact of the attack._

_Staryu was then sent hurdling back to the ground again as Gyarados swung it's tail up behind it and started forming a funnel of water around it. Everyone could see that the enraged Pokémon was about to use a very powerful Aqua Tail on Staryu and most of them were unsure if the smaller Pokémon would be able to take it and not get severely injured._

_Devon had tried calling out to his Pokémon to stop but it wouldn't listen to him, it's rage being in full control of it's conscious_

_Gyarados had then swung it's tail forward with great force at the spot where Staryu was laying at. Time seemed to stop as the sand cloud where Stayu lay became cleared and everyone saw Ash's Pokémon barely standing up in the crater it was in. The water vortex surrounding Gyarados's tail then slammed into Staryu with earth shattering force, causing a slight shock wave._

_Staryu was lifted off of it's appendages and sent skidding back through the sand at incredibly fast speeds, large clouds of sand being kicked up all the while, before the smaller Pokémon finally impacted against one of the sand dunes that had been created during the intense match with another loud 'BOOM'!_

_Ash's friends and Pikachu had actually cried out in fear for Staryu while Ash kept an unreadable expression on his face as he looked to the place where Staryu was now resting. A giant sand cloud having been kicked up into the air and obscuring everyone's vision from the harsh impact. Devon had shouted up to his Gyarados, who by that point was bellowing loudly as it thrashed around, to stop again but it still wouldn't listen to him._

_Finally, after some time, the dust cloud had lifted and everyone was able to see again. What they all saw was Staryu lying in a crater the same size as it's body was, looking even more battered than before. The gem on it's front had actually been cracked a little from the intense blow of Gyarados' Aqua Tail and there were several scuff marks on it's body._

_Now, most trainers would have been panicking and freaking out of their minds at the sight of their Pokémon being in such a state but Ash was- once again- very different. He knew that in Pokémon battles your Pokémon could and would get hurt, perhaps even seriously. However, if a trainer truly knew their Pokémon's limits they would be able to know just how much they could take before they were technically in 'serious danger'._

_Staryu, along with Krabby, trained and fought with all of his Gyarados each and every day at the lab. Both of them sometimes getting greatly injured from the intensity of their battles if what Professor Oak told him was true. If those two could battle against his group of Gyarados, whom of which Ash knew that any one of them had greater power than Devon's did just by watching it battle, then he knew Staryu would be okay._

_'Okay' yes... however he hadn't been sure if Staryu was still able to battle or not._

_Ash at that point had begun calling out to Staryu in a loud, calm, but yet also firm voice. He told Staryu just how proud he was of it for everything it did in the battle. He told it how impressed he was with just how strong it had become ever since leaving Melanie's cottage. How he was proud to call such a dedicated, loyal and strong Pokèmon his own. He had also told Staryu that if it couldn't battle anymore then it was okay to throw in the towel. It had battled incredibly hard and Ash wouldn't think anything less of it for taking a rest. Sometimes admitting defeat was the wisest thing to do in certain situations._

_Staryu had heard it's trainer's words from the precipice of near unconsciousness and had begun to remember everything that Ash had done for it. From taking it in as an abandoned Pokémon along with it's friends from Melanie's cottage... how he trained all of them alongside his other Pokémon and taught them how to become truly strong and unlock their potential..._

_Staryu remembered being introduced to it's new home at the Oak Pokémon Ranch and how it and all of it's other former village comrades had been accepted with open arms by not just the kind Professor Oak but also Ash's other Pokémon..._

_Staryu thought about all of this and realized that after all of the love and dedication Ash had shown it ever since they had met, it couldn't let him down. Staryu remembered in that moment what Ash had told them all about pain being only a trick of the mind, no matter how severe, and then took in all of the kind and uplifting words Ash had just spoken to it._

_The battered Pokémon felt a fire alight in itself right then and there. An extremely hot and burning fire that felt as though it was starting to surge throughout it's whole body... igniting something deep down within it. Staryu's mind had started to feel hazy, yet also incredibly clear all at the same time, as it's entire being felt as though it was exploding with some incredible power deep down that the Water-Type somehow felt like it should just... know in some way. Like it was something ancient that was rooted far into it's very genetics._

_It was at that point that Staryu stood up slowly, to the utter disbelief of Ash's friends and Devon, with a strange, wispy and white aura glowing around it that only became more thick and visible as Staryu continued to stand. The aura became even stronger around it as the odd wisps of smoke seemed liked they were starting to glow with light as they wrapped themselves around Staryu's body. The resilient Pokemon had then pulled itself up to it's full height and let out a loud cry of determination as suddenly, to the even further disbelief of almost everyone watching... it's body began glowing in the obvious signs of an evolution._

_Ash's companions and Devon had watched with mouths agape, Ash himself with clear excitement and also amazement on his face, as Staryu slowly began changing shape, size and form as the evolution continued._

_When the change was finally complete and the light from the evolution burst away in a flurry of sparkles, a whole new and much more impressive Pokémon stood in place of where Staryu once did. The new Pokémon was bigger, colored a sort of bluish/purple with a much brighter, square shaped, un-cracked gem set in it's chest and had two sides to it's star shape instead of Staryu's single one. It also looked much stronger than it's previous form had._

_Everyone had known what Pokémon they were looking at from seeing Misty's so many times before, only this one actually looked bigger, stronger and more regal than her own even did. The only thing dumbfounding to them all was exactly how Ash's Pokémon had evolved the way it did WITHOUT the use of a Water Stone. Which was, as far as known, the only way for a Staryu to evolve._

_Yet, right in front of their eyes, Ash's Pokémon now stood. Fully evolved and looking not only completely healed from the damage it had taken in the battle before as a Staryu, but actually better than it had before the battle even started._

_It looked stronger, more powerful and even more confident than Staryu did before evolution. What it had evolved into was nothing short of one of the most impressive and powerful looking Starmie that any of them had ever seen fresh out of evolution._

_Everyone could only stare at the newly evolved Pokémon for a short while though before they suddenly heard Gyarados bellow loudly. They had then turned their attention towards Devon's outraged Pokémon and saw that it had a truly enraged look on it's face at seeing that it's opponent was not only back up and ready to go, but also seemed totally healed from the damage it taken._

_Before anyone could so much as blink, Gyarados suddenly charged forward as fast as it could with it's tail surrounded by a large, swirling vortex of water. Just as Gyarados had made it to Starmie and brought it's Outrage enhanced Aqua Tail around to strike it, Starmie suddenly jumped into the air and began spinning in a faster Rapid Spin than anyone had ever seen Misty's own do._

_It quickly spun up into the air and over top of the other Pokémon's tail, which had just come crashing down onto where it had been seconds before. Starmie had then continued on with it's momentum and spun itself in a quick circle and got around in front of Gyarados in mere seconds._

_The newly evolved Pokémon then slammed it's spinning body into the side of Gyarados's face hard enough to whip the larger Pokémon's head completely to the side. Starmie then spun away as it turned around in mid-air until it was facing Gyarados again and unleashed a swarm of sharp looking Swift rays, far more than it had ever made as a Staryu, directly into Gyarados's still pained face. Gyarados had reeled back and roared in pain as the dozens of energy rays not only cut into it's face but also the entirety of it's front side._

_The angry Pokémon continued to reel back in pain as Starmie landed on the ground in front of it gracefully. After Gyarados had finally recovered from the pain of the strong Swift attack, it glared down at Starmie with rage emblazoned upon it's face. The large Pokémon had then opened it's mouth wide and formed a huge Outrage enhanced Hyper Beam in it's mouth that it quickly unleashed at Starmie, intent on finally crushing it's opponent._

_Starmie had merely stood where it was as the attack bore down upon it. As the beam of powerful energy was about to connect with it, Starmie suddenly began glowing with a blue kind of energy as the gem in it's center did the same thing. The energy field around it expanded outwards and stopped the huge beam of energy in mid-descent._

_Almost everyone watching had nearly frozen in shock upon seeing Starmie use what had to be none other than Psychic. Not just Confusion like Misty's Starmie could use but the most powerful (as far as was known) Psychic-Type move a Pokémon could learn._

_The Hyper Beam remained in a suspended state as the psychic energy pulsing around both it and Starmie looked as blue as a sapphire. Everyone had held their breath and Devon stared on with wide eyes at what was happening. Gyarados looked shocked that it's attack was levitating in mid-air but it's shock quickly turned to fear when at the very next moment, Starmie shifted the energy aura in an entirely different way._

_In one swift movement the beam of energy started falling towards Starmie again but quickly changed direction and started flying straight back towards Gyarados. The Atrocious Pokémon was so shocked at what it was seeing that it had merely stayed where it was in place as the already very powerful Outrage enhanced Hyper Beam (which was further increased in power by the psychic energy of Starmie's Psychic) was sent rocketing towards it._

_In mere seconds the energy beam connected with Gyarados and caused a huge explosion that rocked the beach and caused everyone to wobble where they were standing._

_As the huge smoke cloud that was kicked up from the explosion finally cleared away, everyone saw Gyarados hunched up in a strange looking coil with scorch and burn marks covering it's body. The damaged Pokémon was wincing and lightly shaking from the intense pain that was racking it's body and looked to be in a great deal of agony._

_Ash, being the battle minded and quick thinking trainer he was, quickly overcame his surprise at the change of events faster than anyone else did and was quick to take advantage of the situation since he saw that Starmie was still very much in the battle._

_Upon taking a moment to observe his Pokémon's new physical form while it was using Psychic on Gyarados's Hyper Beam, he noticed something about Starmie's body that he believed would make an extremely effective 'weapon' of sorts if his plan worked right. He knew it was a long shot but he had to try it._

_Ash had then called out to Starmie while Gyarados was still frozen in pain and told it to do something that made all of his friends and Devon look at Ash like he was crazy. He told his newly evolved Pokémon to jump into the air and then spin itself in circles with an Agility enhanced Rapid Spin. He followed it up by telling Starmie to at the same time use Swift on the ends of both sides of it's pointed appendages. He had then finished his command by advising the star-like Pokémon to brace for a lot of pain._

_Starmie began following through on the command and spun itself in circles in mid-air with Rapid Spin as it directed the attention of the gem in it's center towards the ends of it's pointed appendages. It started firing the sharp energy blades of Swift at the ends of it's legs and instantly started grunting in pain as the energy stars actually started slicing away at the ends of the 'legs' on both sides of it's body._

_Everyone but Ash watched on in disbelief and also slight fear as they saw the pointed ends of Starmie's appendages become quickly whittled away by the sharp energy blades of Swift. By the time Starmie had finished and stuck it's 'legs' back into the sand, the ends were much narrower, pointed and now looked, for all intents and purposes... Sharp. Very sharp._

_Ash had then quickly commanded Starmie to attack Gyarados by using Rapid Spin and to make sure the ends of it's 'legs' came in contact with it's skin. Starmie quickly took off spinning towards Gyarados, the ends of it's now sharp looking appendages on both sides of it's body rotating in such a way that they looked like saw blades._

_They eventually came into contact with Gyarados' skin and the sharp ends of it's 'legs' left deep and painful looking gashes in the side of the larger Pokémon's body as Starmie struck it with each pass. Gyarados roared in pain as it was sliced open and recoiled away as Starmie changed direction and did the same thing to it's other side._

_Starmie continued to repeat this over and over again as it spun all around Gyarados while it's razor sharp ends left deep gashes in the blue scaled Pokémon's skin everywhere they touched it. Gyarados could only bellow and roar in terrible pain as Starmie hacked away at it's body like a saw blade cutting through wood. Devon meanwhile was absolutely dumbfounded at seeing his Pokémon being attacked by a technique he had never seen or heard of anyone ever even thinking of using before._

_After Starmie had sliced thoroughly into the skin of Gyarados' entire body with it's 'Rapid SawSpin', the name that Ash would come to name the very damaging and painful technique, it then spun around in front of Gyarados and shot straight up into the air with it's body facing downward as it started unleashing another volley of energy stars from it's center down at Gyarados._

_The Atrocious Pokémon reeled back from the further increased pain on it's body that came from the powerful Swift attack and backed away with it's eyes closed as Starmie started spinning rapidly back down towards it. The quickly increasing in speed Star-Shaped Pokémon added even more speed to it's descent by using Agility._

_Everyone down on the ground, specifically Devon, could only watch in shock as Starmie came down from the sky like a rocket. Right before Starmie impacted with Gyarados, it turned it's body front side so it's gem was facing downward. Ash was glad Starmie was doing this because if it were to hit the top of Gyarados's head with the now sharp ends of it's 'legs' then it would have most likely split right through the formerly dominant Pokémon's skull and killed it._

_Before Gyarados could barely even look up, Starmie crashed down on top of the it's head with a resounding 'crash', causing Gyarados to completely buckle under the force and fall to the ground with Starmie pressing itself as hard down onto it's opponent as possible. When Gyarados finally hit the ground a huge cloud of sand and dirt was thrown up into the air and everyone was left to watch in trepidation for everything to settle so they could see the results of the impact._

_Once it finally did they were all greeted by a sight that hardly none expected. Starmie was standing atop Gyarados' head, looking somewhat tired but really none the worse for wear. The Pokémon that Starmie was standing on however wasn't so fortunate._

_Gyarados had it's head laying to the side in the sand with the rest of it's body straight as an arrow on the ground. There were bruises and cuts all over it's body and two big swirls in it's eyes, showing that the enraged Pokémon had finally been defeated._

_After the shock of seeing the final result of the battle had passed, the match had been called in Ash's victory and Devon returned his defeated Pokémon. Ash's friends and the gym leader were further surprised when the gem in Starmie's center started to pulse vibrantly as the ends of it's now serrated appendages began growing back to their original shape before everyone's eyes._

_Ash had been the only one not surprised by what Starmie was doing. He thought Misty would have known what was happening to his Pokémon since she had her own Starmie and Staryu and also since she knew so much about Water Pokémon. Apparently however, the shock of seeing Starmie essentially growing back the normal shape of it's legs had made her temporarily forget (or perhaps she just never knew) so Ash explained to them all what was happening._

_He told them that he had known about Staryu and Starmie's ability to regrow their limbs since they were after all regenerative Pokémon and it was in their genetics. He had been playing around with different ways to possibly use the very ability he had had Starmie implicate in the match to an actual in battle and the fight against Gyarados just gave them the perfect opportunity to use it._

_He had hated the fact that using the move would cause Starmie pain during the 'sharpening phase' of the technique but his Pokémon had understood and was willing to undertake the pain when he first brought up the move during training sometime back. After all, if the training Ash had all of his Pokémon do taught them one thing it was how to take pain._

_To say Ash's friends and Devon were impressed with his ingenuity and incredible battle tactics would definitely have been an understatement and they had been just as fascinated as they were slightly wigged out by the obvious insanity that went on in his mind when it came to creating new moves and training methods._

_After Starmie had finished re-growing back the original shape of it's appendages and Ash affectionately hugged and thanked his Pokémon for all it's extremely hard and dedicated work, he returned it and had then had his post battle conversation with Devon._

_Once the gym leader had thanked Ash for a great battle, complemented he and his Pokémon for a match well fought and praised him for their battle styles and strategy, Devon presented Ash with his ninth gym badge... The Depth Badge._

_This badge greatly resembled and in fact looked almost exactly like the Cunning Badge that Ash had earned from Ethan in Ceras City. It was the same exact shape as the aforementioned badge but had a shape slightly more similar to a claw/tooth and was colored a deep sea blue. A fitting color for the name of the badge itself._

_Devon had been very impressed when he saw Ash open his badge case and place the newest one within it. Upon noticing that Ash now had nine gym badges with the addition of his gym's own badge he found it to be very impressive and inquired to Ash as to why he was still going for badges since he had all he needed to qualify for the Indigo Conference._

_The young Ketchum went on to explain to Devon the reasons for why he was doing what he was and the friendly beach bum had instantly gained more respect for the boy and wished him nothing but luck on his future endeavors, promising to watch and cheer for Ash in the League on TV._

_After Ash had thanked Devon again, he and his friends left the gym and decided to stay in town for the remainder of the day and visit the beach, which Devon had told Ash he would help teach him and his friends how to surf free of charge if they wanted, before leaving to continue on their journey the next day._

_(End of Flashback)_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Coming out of his long recollection, Ash chuckled to himself when he thought of the rest of the day after his match against Devon.

Him, Giselle, Misty and even Pikachu who had balanced on Ash's board with him, all managed to learn how to surf from Devon in only two hours of constant practice that afternoon. Poor Brock was the only one who seemed to be 'equilibrium challenged' during the lesson unfortunately.

The teen could barely even stand up on his board and every time he managed to stand up, the first big wave that came along would knock him head over heels and off his board. Leading Ash, the girls, Pikachu and even Devon to desperately try and hold back their laughter at Brock's plight.

Eventually the squinty-eyed Stone ended up retreating good naturally to the shore after he realized that surfing just wasn't for him and had happily began cooking lunch for everyone while himself, his own and Giselle's Pokémon watched their friends have fun on their boards out in the water.

All of Ash and Misty's Pokémon had been out with them at the time since Ash had sent back his Krabby and got Charmander and Gastly in return, the former of which would have been heartbroken if he wouldn't have had the opportunity to enjoy a day on the beach. He had decided to keep Starmie though so he could train it for a while being that it had just evolved.

The only Pokémon of his that hadn't been in the water was Gastly, who of which stayed on the beach with Brock and the others. The older boy had assumed that Gastly not joining his trainer and fellow Pokémon in the water was due to the fact that he just hadn't been apart of Ash's team long enough yet to try such a crazy act that was completely out of his species' nature like the boy's other Pokémon routinely did.

The teenaged pervert hadn't thought too much over it though. If Ash had managed to get Charmander, a full fledged Fire-Type with well known deathly weaknesses to water, to fall in love with it and overcome said weaknesses then there had been no doubts in his mind that Gastly would be following suit very soon and doing things that were also against his nature.

Coming back to the present for a moment, Ash further chuckled at the thought of the 'trick contest' that he, Misty, Giselle and Devon had had that day on their boards and he could easily say that the highlight of the entire day, even more so than winning his ninth gym badge, was when Giselle fell off her board and led to him receiving the pleasurable experience of having his bikini clad girlfriend land on top of him. Being that he had been beside of her when it happened.

He blushed faintly at the thought and shook his head as he turned his... 'colorful thoughts' away from the past and towards another matter that had been on his mind ever since it had happened.

The issue that was bugging him so much was Staryu's spontaneous evolution into Starmie without the use of a Water Stone.

This completely baffled him since he had never heard of any Pokémon that was supposed to evolve through evolutionary stones doing so through any other means. He was pretty certain that Professor Oak had never heard of such a thing either but he had ended up telling him all about it anyway through video call when he had sent Starmie back to the lab once he was finished training with the Star Shaped Pokémon.

The Professor had definitely been stumped at hearing about the phenomenon and told Ash that he had indeed never heard of such a thing happening before. He had guessed that it possibly could have been due to, in part, the incredibly strong bond Ash had with his Pokemon.

As in, perhaps the depth of the bond somehow was able to overcome the need for an evolutionary stone at the time when Starmie was in an extremely stressful situation in battle and didn't want to lose for Ash.

It was just a theory the Professor had but he had also told Ash that he would make a point to look into it more thoroughly. Ash had agreed and thanked the old Professor, saying that he would look further into it as well as a part of his Pokémon Researcher training. He had already jotted down the strange evolution concerning Starmie in his journal and the Professor was proud of Ash for taking so much initiative at both striving to be a Pokémon Master and possibly even becoming a Pokémon Researcher himself one day.

In all honesty, Ash didn't know why strange things like Starmie evolving the way it did happened to he and his Pokémon but... he had to say that he was happy for it. Every strange thing that happened to him so far just added more mystery and flare to his life and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Ash suddenly realized that he had been straying off into dreamland again with his thoughts and had completely forgotten that Giselle was still waiting for a reply to what she had asked him about having the required eight gym badges needed to compete in the Indigo Conference.

He then turned his head to look at her and saw his girlfriend staring at him patiently with a cute expression of expectance on her face. Ash chuckled lightly and kissed her forehead. "Sorry sweetie... I was just thinking about my last two gym battles and Starmie's strange evolution," He admitted to her with a thoughtful look still on his face.

Giselle seemed thoughtful herself at that. "Yes that was really strange wasn't it?" She then smiled at him warmly. "Though I'm sure you and Professor Oak will figure it out eventually."

Ash smiled back in return. "Thanks Giselle I bet you're right."

Misty suddenly interjected the two of them, "Seriously though Ash, it's gotta feel great having nine gym badges now right?"

Ash looked back at her and smiled. "It sure does. I can't wait for the next two gyms we go to before Saffron City!" He exclaimed anxiously.

Brock looked up from his map. "Well after the Butterfree Cliffs we'll then have to head to Shadow's Hallow for your next gym badge Ash," He informed with a grim look on his face.

Misty seemed confused. "Shadow's Hallow? I've never heard of that place before," She said with a finger to her chin as she thought back to if she had definitely ever heard of the town before or not.

"Yeah me neither," Giselle admitted. "Is it just not popular for anything besides the gym?" She asked curiously.

Brock shook his head and put the map away before pulling out the book he had on all of the gyms of Kanto. "Actually, Shadow's Hallow isn't a very... popularly visited place here in Kanto. It's barely considered a town in the first place and resembles more of a small, old village from what I've heard of it. Supposedly the town was one of the first settlements here in Kanto, even before the Civil War between east and west, but never grew to a very well known status like some of the other cities and towns our region is famous for. They don't really have any natural resources to distribute, no sort of attraction that makes it an ideal spot for vacationers and the people are supposedly less than friendly."

Brock looked down at the gym book again while continuing, "The gym itself is actually pretty new and apparently specializes in a type of Pokémon that's not seen often here in Kanto and the gym leader is also rumored to use Pokemon that are mostly from the Johto region. No one hardly ever challenges it for that very reason," He finished explaining

Ash seemed automatically interested. "What type of Pokemon do they specialize in Brock?"

The older boy flipped the book he had open to the correct page and then walked up to Ash's side and showed him. When Ash looked at the description of the gym he saw what looked like an old, run down looking building in the middle of a thick hallow of trees. It was mostly bathed in shadows and gave the entire building an eery look. The only thing that really made the old structure stand out as a gym was the symbol of the Pokémon League above the door that all gyms certified by the League were required to have. Though it looked somewhat faded for supposedly being a newer gym.

Ash trailed his eyes down to the info about the gym and saw that the leader was a man named Ivan, no other description was given, and that he specialized in Dark-Type Pokémon.

He looked up at Brock then with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Seriously? Dark-Types?! Brock that's awesome! I've heard, read and studied all about Dark-Types from Professor Oak when I was training with him and have always wanted to battle them! I also studied up on all of the major gyms in the other regions and was really upset when I found out that none of them specialized in Dark-Types at all," He finished with an equally excited edge to his tone.

Brock just looked at Ash for a minute in surprise. A lot of trainers would shy away from challenging a gym that specialized in a type of Pokémon that was very rarely ever focused on and given the reputation of this gym in particular, the location, the people, the town and apparently even the gym leader himself, Brock was definitely surprised at Ash's unhampered determination.

Well... only slightly surprised. Ash kept proving time and time again how usual he was so it was becoming a little more usual to learn new and unexpected things about the trainer from Pallet.

Brock snapped out of his stupor after a few moments and responded to Ash's enthused reply. "Well like I said, this gym is really new. In fact, I honestly don't know if the gym has even had many challengers at all, let alone any winners. The town itself really isn't very pleasant at all and from what I understand, most people from the outside just avoid it."

Misty deadpanned and appeared dreading. "Then why do we need to go someplace that's supposedly so bad?! What if the people there don't like outsiders and they chase us out?!" She fretted.

Giselle took one look at her boyfriend's excited and anxious face. He wanted to challenge the gym in Shadow's Hallow so badly that she could see it in his eyes. She just wanted for Ash to be happy no matter what and would do anything she had to in order to make that happen.

Wrapping her left arm around his right tightly, she looked at Brock and Misty and said sternly, "Ash really wants to do this you guys. I'm behind him one hundred percent and if the people there do try to chase us out by some unlikely chance, I'll hold them back while Ash goes and has his gym battle if I have to. Are you guys with me?" She asked them seriously.

Brock and Misty looked at Giselle and Ash for a few moments before looking to each other. After a few more seconds they glanced back at their friends and smiled. "Of course we're with you guys. That's what friends are for," Brock said patting Ash's shoulder.

Misty appeared ashamed. "You're right Giselle and I'm sorry. Ash is always there for us and I should have been less selfish. I'm with you guys too," She answered with a smile.

Ash looked at his friends, Pikachu and then Giselle in turn as he smiled brightly. "Wow guys, thanks so much! This really means a lot to me and I really appreciate your support. I can't thank you enough."

Brock patted his shoulder again. "Anytime Ash. Now whadya say we walk a little further and then find someplace to stop and eat lunch?"

Misty's stomach growled and she blushed. "Hehe... that sounds good to me," She conceded.

While Brock and Misty continued walking down the road to find a good place to rest and have lunch, Ash turned to Giselle and quickly leaned in as he kissed her. The girl squeaked in surprise but quickly returned the affectionate gesture eagerly as she deepened the kiss.

After they parted Ash leaned his forehead against hers and smiled. "I don't think I can ever tell you enough how great you are can I Giselle?" He asked.

She blushed and hugged Ash tightly. "I just want to make you happy Ash, that's all."

He squeezed her tightly one more time before releasing her and smiling even wider. "You definitely succeed there sweetie!" He looked up at Pikachu then. "Right buddy?"

Pikachu looked down at Giselle and hopped onto her shoulder from Ash's. "Pikachu Pi!" He nodded affirmatively as he nuzzled her cheek.

She giggled and scratched Pikachu behind the ears. "Aww thank you Pikachu, you're so sweet!"

Ash chuckled and then took her hand in his as they started walking down the road again after Brock and Misty, hand in hand and leaning together closely while the three of them just basked in one another's presence.

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

The friends ended up stopping a short time later by the side of the road near some trees that made up a nice little shaded picnic area. They released their Pokémon shortly after settling down and were now waiting while Ash and Brock made the food. Ash taking the Pokéfood and Brock making the regular meals.

Ash and Giselle had already taken time to train with their Pokémon and currently, only Ash's were still going at it hard. At the present time he had with him Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Gastly, Pikachu not even worth mentioning since he was always with Ash. The boy preferred keeping a spot on his team open as often as he could for any last minute send offs he might make for one of his Pokémon back at the lab or even if he added a new member to his family at some point.

He had wanted to keep training with his Pokémon at the present time but unfortunately couldn't since he had to make his Pokéfood which the Pokémon had all grown to love (much to the chagrin of Brock). He and the older boy still swapped cooking duties but it was more set in stone as to who had what job now.

After Ash finished making the Pokéfood and adding the special ingredients, vitamins and other supplements his Pokémon needed for their training regimen into it, he distributed the dishes out to each of them and then sat back against a nearby tree while he waited for Brock to finish their food.

Giselle walked by and looked down at Ash then. The two shared a silent communication with one another before Ash spread his arms out to her. The girl smiled softly at him then as she slowly sat down in front of her boyfriend in his lap and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him softly on the lips before turning back around and sitting with her back leaning against his chest. She took Ash's arms and wrapped them around her waist as she leaned her head back into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes contentedly.

Ash leaned his head down on top of hers and watched his Pokémon eat. His gaze eventually fell on Gastly, who had used it's unorthodox psychic powers to poof into existence a fancy one seater dining table, complete with table cloth, candle and floating violin that played a very eery, yet soothing melody. Gastly had even transferred it's food onto a very fancy looking plate and had some silverware floating beside of it that brought each piece of food up to it's face so Gastly could eat properly. There was even a fine cloth linen next to it that the Ghost-Type would use to wipe it's 'mouth' off after each bite.

At first glance it would seem to most people that Gastly was being serious in what it was doing, like it was trying to be proper, but Ash knew better. The moment he connected eyes with his newest Pokémon he saw Gastly break out into a wide grin as it's eyes shined with mischief.

Ash chuckled and shook his head amusedly as Gastly did the same and went back to it's meal. The humorous Ghost Pokémon was always doing something funny for a good laugh and catching other's amusement, almost always.

Taking the time to reflect on his time with Gastly over the weeks since it joined his team, Ash had to admit that there was much more to the Pokémon than met the eye. Well, 'it' should actually be changed to 'he' since Ash had found out from scanning Gastly with the Pokédex that his newest Pokémon was actually a male. Something that should have been pretty obvious from the tone of Gastly's voice but everyone made mistakes.

One big thing that all of them quickly discovered about the Ghost-Type was just how funny, good natured and great fun he was to have around. Even though Gastly loved doing things for humor, he didn't pull any tricks that put anyone in harm's way or tormented them. At least... not since he had joined Ash.

Honestly, the boy believed Gastly only pulled most of the mean tricks he had prior to joining the team mostly out of boredom and lack of self worth. Since he joined Ash and actually had a purpose now, Gastly became nothing but a joy to have around.

Even all of the other Pokémon had grown to love Gastly, especially Ash's own. The Ghost-Type definitely rounded out his battle team very well and that was something he could say with confidence after putting the Pokémon through his new training regimen, both singular and team oriented, over the past three weeks.

The first thing he did before starting Gastly on his training program was the same thing he did before training all of his new Pokémon. He checked the Ghost-Type out thoroughly with the Pokédex.

It turned out that Gastly truly had a treasure trove of moves and even abilities at his disposal. He had the massive move list of Hypnosis, Lick, Mean Look, Curse, Night Shade, Shadow Ball and Confuse Ray. These were the moves he knew as a Ghost-Type. However, since Gastly was a Ghost/Psychic-Type hybrid he knew the Psychic-Type moves Confusion, Disable and Miracle Eye.

It had shocked Ash when he realized that Gastly didn't know Psychic and that the attack he had been using to create illusions, battle and perform many other incredible feats was nothing more than his ability to use very powerful Confusion attacks. He hadn't even known that Confusion had the capability to do any of those things until he met Gastly. This also made Ash wonder just how strong Gastly's Psychic attack would be when he finally learned the move, which in turn, only served to excite him even further.

However, the one move that captured Ash's attention the most, especially after learning that he would be going up against a Dark-Type gym next, was Miracle Eye. He knew that this move enabled Psychic-Types with the ability to hit Dark-Type Pokémon with their attacks, which was otherwise not possible, and since he already planned on using Gastly in that particular gym battle, him knowing Miracle Eye worked out perfectly.

Even though Gastly was only part Psychic-Type, Ash didn't want to take any chances that his incredibly strong moves wouldn't have an effect on the gym leader's Pokémon so he had really been training with him hard on the use of Miracle Eye, even though he had no Dark-Types himself.

Ash knew the match wasn't going to be easy and that's why he was going to prepare and strategize out everything he could before hand.

Gastly didn't (surprisingly enough) realize that he knew Miracle Eye but after hearing his trainer's plan of using him in an upcoming match against the Dark-Type Pokémon, saw the potential problem since he was part Psychic-Type and didn't want to take any chances that his attacks may not be effective. He had then agreed in a rare moment of complete seriousness to work on Miracle Eye with Ash until he had mastered it.

When Ash had scanned for Gastly's abilities he was even further surprised to learn that not only did he possess the obvious ability of Levitate, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to float in place, but he also had the Psychic-Type ability Magic Guard. This ability prevented Gastly from being hit with any form of attack unless it was a direct, physical attack. Of course, Gastly was primarily a Ghost-Type so this meant that he was immune to direct attacks also.

This would undoubtedly fool most dummy trainer's into thinking they had an invincible Pokémon since Gastly was technically resilient to both special and direct attacks but Ash wasn't about to let that get to his head. He had learned too much from Professor Oak to let that happen and knew that there was always a way to defeat a seemingly 'unstoppable' Pokémon and/or strategy.

It was his job as a trainer to not only create ways for his team to defeat those very opponents with better strategies, but also assure that no one could do the same to he and his Pokémon in return if at all possible. Overconfidence was any trainer's downfall and Ash knew this very thing well. His mom and especially Professor Oak had drilled the same lesson into him regularly over the years.

Still though, it truly was very beneficial that Gastly had such great abilities and Ash most likely had to thank his Pokémon's giant Alakazam father for the Magic Guard ability since he himself was a Psychic-Type.

He had yet to find out how Gastly was able to create such powerful illusions and other such things with his psychic power but Ash had a hunch that it was because Gastly's Psychic/Ghost-Type abilities had somehow merged together and were working to allow abilities no one had ever seen before. Yet another thing Ash added to his list of research to figure out.

Gastly's actual training program was very unique in itself. Since he wasn't really a 'physical' Pokémon and couldn't ever develop any unnatural physical strengths like his other Pokémon due to his body's gaseous make-up, Ash focused Gastly's training program to be entirely focused on his mental and energy based skills. Something that was new for him as well since he had never trained a Psychic or Ghost-Type before. Let alone a hybrid. Needless to say it was difficult.

He worked Gastly just as hard as his other Pokémon, which was intense, every day and even though he couldn't physically wear down Gastly like the others, he could still mentally and energy-wise drain him.

He accomplished this by having Gastly work on each if his moves until exhaustion for around one hour each day. Working on making them stronger, more effective, more widespread, last longer and make him less tired when using them until the moves eventually drained him of very little energy.

Another thing that Ash had Gastly work on extremely hard was his ability to create illusions. He believed that the Pokémon's ability to create illusions could make for an extremely effective method of battling. If Gastly could create illusions that were strong, durable, versatile and powerful enough to actually battle opponents, either physically or through manipulating the other Pokémon fears, then he could essentially fight his battles entirely with illusions while physically staying out of harms way.

Of course, in order to do this Gastly would have to train incredibly hard with his psychic abilities and hone the use of his illusions to a near flawless level and even then it was still possible for the illusions to fail him since they were just that after all... illusions.

That's what Ash had Gastly work especially hard on, mastering his illusions to a point and degree that such occurrences would hopefully not happen to him during his battles. Or at least, not happen until he became extremely exhausted and unable to maintain the illusions.

Ash would essentially have his Pokémon work on his illusions until the point of near collapse every day. Gastly would practice on making multiple illusions at one time, making area wide 'field illusions', create illusions while under constant fire of an enemy Pokémon (for this Ash would have either one or all of his other Pokémon attack Gastly while he created his illusions) work on the time in which he could hold the projections, changing illusions instantly, conserving energy when making one and just about every other method of training one could imagine for this particular area of skill.

If it was mental, energy, move based and/or Psychic/Ghost-Type focused areas of skill and ability then Ash had Gastly work on it. He was determined to make sure that everything his newest Pokémon lacked in physical prowess due to his physical form, he would make up for in every other way. After all, a Pokémon with great mental, spiritual and energy based abilities could defeat a physical powerhouse any day. Brain over brawn always triumphed.

Ash had heard all about one of the Kanto Elite Four members, Agatha, and her strongest Pokémon which happened to be a Gengar. It had been a long time since someone had taken the Kanto Champion's League challenge but Ash knew from all the studying and watching of old battles he did just how strong Agatha's Gengar was.

Many a horror story from trainer's who had battled her spoke of the terrifying power that her monster of a Ghost-Type possessed. It's ghostly abilities and power was unmatched and allowed it to pretty much steamroll over all six of a challenger's Pokémon without even trying.

This wasn't a feat to be taken lightly either since the challengers of the Champion's League were not only winners of that year's Indigo Conference but they also would have had to have defeated both Prima/Lorelei and Bruno to even make it to Agatha in the first place. For one middle aged woman to completely annihilate those same challenger's ENTIRE team with only one Gengar was almost incomprehensible.

Needless to say, Agatha hadn't lost a match in many years which meant that Lance himself, the Champion, hardly ever battled. It was truly impressive and awe inspiring to be sure but it only made Ash that much more anxious to battle them all himself and spurred him on to train even harder with his Pokémon.

He knew that his Gastly could eventually become much stronger than Agatha's own godly powerful Gengar with enough time and effort and it showed with the training they had been doing every day for the past three weeks. True it would take a lot of training, much more experience and not to mention time but that did nothing to wain his confidence.

His eighth and then ninth gym badges had lit an even hotter fire under Ash and caused him to train himself and his Pokémon to even harsher levels. He had even called Professor Oak at the lab and told him to relay the message of increased training time to his Pokémon that were staying with him and had been training himself, Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Gastly into the ground.

He knew Gastly's training was effective because every day after their long training bouts, the Pokémon would float to the ground until he was touching it and then gasp and sweat, yes sweat, in exhaustion. Muttering good naturedly all the while about 'slave driving trainers, 'devil children' and Ash could even swore he heard on more than one occasion Gastly crying out for Artiana during the final few brutal minutes of their training sessions together.

So, with all that said, it was definitely safe to say that the Ghost-Type's training was so utterly effective that he always ended up completely drained, both mentally and energy based wise, at the end of it all. In fact, Gastly couldn't even levitate or create an illusion as simple as a puff of smoke after training was over.

Even though it was tough however and Gastly admitted that he had never worked so hard or been so exhausted in all his years of living, he still couldn't have been happier with his decision to go with Ash.

Gastly felt for the first time ever that he actually had a family comprised of others besides Artiana and to him, that was more precious than anything else he could have ever possibly been gifted. The fact that he felt himself getting stronger every day made it all that much sweeter but mostly, Gastly was just happy to feel like he finally belonged.

It truly did Ash's heart good to see all of his Pokémon getting along so well together and how Gastly's face would light up every time they would all train, talk and just generally fellowship any chance they had. The Ghost-Type had finally found acceptance and happiness and he was beyond glad for it.

Obviously it helped matters for Ash that the five Pokémon eating in front of he and Giselle were a powerful team together (which was proven true by the team training sessions they did every day and how Gastly's abilities made the Counter Dome even more powerful) but it was mostly the family, companionship and bond between them all that truly mattered to him the most.

As he continued to watch Gastly eat he started thinking about the process he had to go through in order to create his newest Pokémon's nutritionally rich meals. The process behind it was the same as it was, generally, for the rest of his Pokémon, only slightly different.

He knew he had wanted Gastly to get the same energy, health, growth and power aiding supplements his other Pokémon received in their food so that was the foundation he started off with. The problem he encountered was creating a meal plan for Gastly that he not only enjoyed but would also help boost his Psychic and Ghost-Type power.

The way in which he did this was fraught with trial and error for the better part of a week after he first captured Gastly. Leading to his Pokémon eating food he didn't enjoy for that time period. Finally however, Ash managed to create, with Gastly's help, the perfect recipe for Ghost/Psychic-Types. The end product was the same, preparation wise, as it was for every other meal he made for his Pokémon but was good enough to satisfy a Ghost-Type's very obviously picky tastebuds.

Perhaps it just had something to do with their very usual biological make-up or maybe it was just Gastly, he had no clue. The only Ash did come to know for a fact was how to make food that Gastly would love each time he ate.

He would start by adding the standard ingredients first, such as the specific brand of Pokéfood for whatever type of Pokémon he was making food for (he had ended up buying both Ghost and Psychic-Type Pokémon food in one of the small towns they passed through and then just mixed the two together) then he would add in the vitamins, minerals and supplements he always kept in stock with him that the food needed to give it that really healthy and power increasing kick. The secrete ingredient in the food lay with, surprisingly enough... Enigma Berries.

He knew from using the berry in both Dragonite and Tentacruel's food that it truly lived up to it's name of being completely enigmatic. The old saying about the berry being able to provide the individual with whatever the user needed it to provide was without a doubt true.

The Pokéfood breakthrough he made because of it, which he wrote down in his journal about, made him thank both his mom for getting the first berry for him and him thanking himself for planting them in the soil of wherever he was staying every night in order to grow new ones for the next day.

He, on a hunch and suggestion from Gastly, had the aforementioned Pokémon use his psychic powers on one of the berries. What he would have Gastly do was keep the berry wrapped up in a caccoon of the psychic power while slowly infusing that very same energy into the berry's core.

Ash had told Gastly to focus on what he needed the berry to provide in his food while he was infusing the psychic energy into it and hopefully, those mental influences boosted by the psychic waves would help make the berry not only allow the food to taste great but also provide it with all of the Psychic/Ghost-Type power boosting nutrients it needed that the standard capsule and powder form supplements weren't giving him.

Gastly did this and after it was finished, Ash added in the enhanced berry and finished the food. Upon Gastly tasting the recipe he fell in love with it straight away and sometime after eating it, he and Gastly had trained together. The benefits of the new food wasn't seen to an extensive degree since it hadn't had a chance to build up in his system yet but Gastly's power was definitely stronger, even if only by a small degree at first.

Needless to say, Ash believed that he had finally found the perfect recipe for not only Psychic/Ghost-Types (which most likely he wouldn't ever run into again... probably) but also regular Psychic and Ghost-Types as well. All he would need to do was deviate from the recipe he made for Gastly a tiny bit here and there for the other two aforementioned types and he would then have the meal plan aspect figured out for both groups of Pokémon. At least he hoped so.

Sometime after he had broken from his thoughts around ten to fifteen minutes later and everyone had finished eating, Ash and the others packed up their supplies, cleaned up the area and then returned their Pokémon before continuing on their way towards their next destination.

The Butterfree Cliffs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Two hours of brisk traveling later found Ash and his friends finally arriving at the wide open plains of the Butterfree Cliffs. The sight that greeted them was nothing short of jaw dropping for the four young trainers. What they saw was a sky that was literally peppered with hot air balloons everywhere they looked. The balloons all had different designs on them ranging from varying colors, patterns and some even had faces of Pokémon on them.

"Ohh... My... Arceus..." Giselle said in awe as she looked up at the sky.

"I didn't know there would be so many of them!" Misty also exclaimed with wide eyes.

Brock shook his head. "Neither did I. There are always a lot of trainers here during the mating season I've heard but... this is a bit much."

Ash looked up his shoulder at Pikachu. "Do you think any one of these trainer's Butterfree will be good enough for mine buddy?"

Pikachu looked up and scanned the crowd of hot air balloons high up above of them with a critical eye. None of the Butterfree had been released yet so it was impossible to tell at the moment.

He looked back down at Ash and shook his head in an unsure way. "Pikachu Pi, Pika Pika."

Ash nodded. "Yeah you're right Pi. It's hard to tell right now so I guess I can only hope for the best right?"

Getting a nod from his Pokémon, Ash smiled and scratched him behind the ears as he turned to his friends. "Let's go see if we can find a place here to rent a balloon so we can get up there before the releasing starts guys," He suggested.

Brock looked out over the plains and saw a small shack about one hundred yards away or so that had a few hot air balloons anchored to the ground around behind it. He then pointed towards the building. "I think that's where we can get a balloon."

Ash took Giselle's hand in his and started walking again. "Let's go get one then before it starts."

Brock and Misty fell in step behind the couple and just a few minutes of walking later they found themselves standing at the shack's door. They entered into the small, somewhat dimly lit building and saw a man with short brown hair who looked to be around his mid-thirties standing behind the counter.

Ash walked up and conversed with the polite and helpful man, who's name was Donny, for a few minutes and then rented a Pikachu balloon for all of them, much to the actual Electric-Type's joy. They split the cost for the balloon, except for Ash who payed for Giselle's half under her nose (which earned him a hard but playful punch on the shoulder from said girlfriend) and then went outside and climbed into the balloon. The basket being rather large and more than spacious enough to fit them all inside of it.

While they waited for the shopkeeper to come out and operate the balloon for them, since they were his last customers for the day, Ash took the time to pull out his Pokédex and made a call for Butterfree. He had talked to Professor Oak earlier and asked him to explain the situation to his two Butterfree and inquire if either one, or both, would want to potentially find a mate.

His first Butterfree had, according to Professor Oak, enthusiastically agreed no sooner than the words left his mouth. His second Butterfree however, the one from Melanie's cottage, declined. This had surprised Ash but the Professor explained that he didn't believe Ash's second Butterfree was as mature as his first and thus, didn't feel ready for a mate quite yet.

Just a few moments after Ash made his transfer, the shopkeeper came out and climbed into the balloon. He fired it up and the kids looked out over the edge of the balloon in excitement as it began to lift off into the air and climb and higher. Within mere minutes the balloon was at height with all of the others, giving the kids an awe inspiring view of the area around them.

They saw the ocean to one side, the sprawling plains of the area below, the forests to the other side of them and far away in the distance stretching far in-land was what looked to possibly be Lavender Town. Brock had checked the map and confirmed their suspicions shortly afterwards that it was indeed said town.

Soon enough, all of the Trainers began releasing their Butterfree by the dozens and Ash took that as his cue. He spun Butterfree's Pokéball in his hand and then tossed it into the air. "Alright Butterfree it's time to rock 'n' roll!" He shouted as his Pokémon burst forth from the Pokéball and did an impressive twirling circle in the air before thrusting his wings out and releasing a few shiny spores from his wings that sparkled out around him in a beautiful and elegant display.

Butterfree gracefully descended and landed on the lip of the balloon basket with his short arms crossed over his chest and a confident look on his face. Before Ash could say anything Brock suddenly bowled him out of the way and started sputtering words of romantic nonsense to the Bug-Type, "Okay Butterfree listen to me very carefully because I'm going to tell you all about the sure fire, fool-proof way to win the heart of your beloved and never let her g- AGHH! Misty that's my ear!" Brock yelped in pain as an irritated Misty drug him to the other side of the basket by his ear. "Not now Brock! Butterfree wants to get a mate, not off every female in the area!" The irate orangette scolded.

Ash just shook his head in amusement and then spoke to his Pokémon, "Alright Butterfree, now let me give you some advice that's not going to get you smacked or ignored."

Butterfree turned to look at his trainer then as Ash suddenly spun around to Giselle's side, quickly stepping behind her as he interlocked his fingers around her waist and kissed her cheek. Said girl looked shocked at Ash's sudden movement but quickly melted as he gently grabbed her arms and crossed them in front of his own. He then commenced to gently stroking them while laying feather soft kisses on her cheek and neck.

"Let me... tell you... something... Butterfree..." Ash told his Pokémon in-between the tender, soft kisses he was laying upon Giselle's sweet skin. "Winning a ladies heart... isn't about playing some fancy tricks... games... or giving silly speeches..."

He stopped his kisses, making Giselle whimper in displeasure. However that didn't last long and quickly turned into moans of pleasure as Ash began massaging her shoulders in a gentle, yet firm motion. He smirked then and looked at Butterfree with a mischievous but confident look in his eyes. "The true way to a ladies heart my dear Pokémon, is by following a few very simple methods. First..."

He spun Giselle around and took hold of her, one hand on her waist and the other holding one of her hands. "Be calm and cool," He instructed simply as he looked directly into his girlfriend's eyes and swayed in a few fast dance steps that looked to be perfectly in rhythm even though there was no music. Giselle moved perfectly in step with Ash as she looked into his eyes deeply in return and allowed him to lead their bodies in perfect harmony.

Ash ended the small dance by dipping Giselle low and supporting her by placing one hand in the small of her back. He teased her by lowering his lips to hers but not allowing any contact to actually be made, merely brushing across one another. He kissed Giselle's nose and looked back up the enraptured Butterfree with that same smirk still in place. "Lesson two... confidence."

He pulled Giselle back up and as she rose he let his hand leave her back, which in turn lead to her starting to fall backwards. Ash quickly stepped behind her and caught his girlfriend before she could fall, wrapping his arms around her warmly as he pressed his body to hers and raised her back up slowly. He pressed his cheek to hers and gently brushed a few strands of hair away from her ear as he began whispering barely audible sweet nothings to her.

Ash kissed his now very flustered girlfriend on the cheek softly before looking at Butterfree again, whom had his eyes locked onto them intently, while this time grinning like crazy. "Last lesson... passion."

He then picked Giselle up slightly and spun them both around before gently sitting her down on the lip of the basket against one of the support poles as he put one hand on her waist to brace her and let his other hand gently caress her cheek. He turned his head slightly to the side but still kept his eyes locked with his girlfriend's own, an equal burning in both their eyes. "Now pay attention Butterfree... this is important."

With that said he closed the remaining distance between he and Giselle and placed a soul-searing, though not inappropriate, kiss on her lips. Their bodies merged closely together until they seemed to be one person as Ash deepened the kiss and massaged his hand through her hair, bringing it to the back of her neck and drawing her closer to him.

By the time Ash finally pulled away from Giselle she had a starry eyed and dumbstruck expression on her face. He gently let her back down and her legs began to give out as she started to fall to the floor. Ash grabbed ahold of her and softly placed her on the floor of the basket until she was resting comfortably against the side of it. Leaving his blissful looking girlfriend where she was with one last soft kiss to the lips, he stood back up and walked over to where Butterfree was still perched atop the edge of the basket.

The Pokémon was staring at his smug looking trainer with undisguised awe in his eyes while Pikachu, who had left his trainer's shoulder and was also sitting on the edge of the basket near Butterfree, just shook his head in amusement.

Ash leaned against the basket and shifted until he was leaning on one arm and looked at Butterfree with that same confident look on his face. "You see Butterfree? Don't try so hard to impress whatever other Butterfree you fall for. Being yourself, acting confident, being calm and collected and even staying... what's the word I'm looking for here..." Ash wondered absently as he looked out across the sky and tried to find the right word to tell Butterfree.

Pikachu looked over at his Trainer and twitched his ears. "Pika?" He suggested.

Ash snapped his fingers and grinned widely. "Thanks Pi that's exactly the word I was looking for!" He said gratefully as he scratched his Pokémon on the head.

He then looked back at Butterfree and continued what he was saying previously. "What I was getting at Butterfree is about acting somewhat... aloof and playing it smooth if the one you have a thing for seems to not like you back. In situations like that, trying to impress them won't do you any good no matter what you may try. You'll only succeed in somehow making a fool of yourself. Instead, you need to make them want you.

Demonstrate how tough, cool, caring and strong you are in an indirect way. Act like their seemingly apparent disinterest in you doesn't mean a thing because you know how great you are and that them rejecting you won't change that. You say, 'Hey you're missing out' and then go on your way. If they really do like you but are playing hard to get then making them want you is the most sure fire way of winning them over. Just remember two very important things!"

Ash gestured with his fingers to get his point across, starting with one. "Don't ever get all teary eyed and upset in front of the female you like when and if you get rejected! Doing something like that will only show a lack of confidence which is not attractive to any member of any species of the opposite sex! And second!"

Ash came within a few inches of Butterfree's face while holding up a second finger with a serious expression on his own face."Don't ever let your 'playing it cool' act come across as being some cocky, arrogant jerk. No female worth their while will find that attractive. That's almost as much of a turn off as having no confidence at all. Understand?" He asked Butterfree firmly.

His Pokémon just nodded with a gleam of determination in his eyes as he called out affirmatively, "Free Free!"

Ash smiled and nodded his head in a silent signal as Butterfree turned around and then took off into the sky towards the large mass of other Butterfree gathered higher up in the sky. Giselle had recovered from Ash's romantic assault by this point and stood beside him while he smiled proudly after his Pokémon.

"When did you get so smart and wizened about romance and matters of the heart Ash?" Giselle asked. "I've known ever since we started dating that you're a romantic at heart but... what you just did was amazing!" Hearts formed in her eyes as she latched onto his arm and kissed his cheek.

Ash chuckled and squeezed her firmly but gently to him. "I may be young, too young some might say for the things I know and the ways I act, but you have to remember Giselle that I was raised by my mother. She's a big time romantic and very gifted at reading people's emotions and feelings. She didn't want a... how did she put it? 'Romantically dense Mankey' for a son that wouldn't know the first thing about love and how to impress a girl when I met one I liked. She always said my dad was like that when she first met him and really had to work with him a lot to knock, literally sometimes, the denseness out of him. She didn't want the same for me so she worked and drilled this type of stuff into me constantly."

He smiled as a fond look came over his face. "Professor Oak and his family helped my mom raise me from the time I was little and Amelia is just like her when it comes to matters of the heart, so I got it from both of them. The Professor is also quite a romantic himself and has always had a way with words so he had a hand in it too. He actually writes some pretty good poetry to be honest and that's something I really wanted to learn those five years I trained with him but we never had the time. After the Indigo Conference is over I would really like to finally start learning about it if he'll teach me, which he said he would."

Ash grinned after saying that. "Actually I think Professor Oak was ecstatic when I asked him to teach me about poetry. It was almost as intense of a reaction as the time I told him I wanted to study how to become a Pokémon Researcher." The memory of the Professor dancing around in joy at finally having a pupil to pass on the knowledge of all the many things he knew brought a full on laugh from the young Ketchum as he remembered the day he asked the Professor to take him as a student.

Giselle looked starry eyed at the prospect of Ash learning poetry as said boy just shook his head. "Anyway, you can understand where I get my... romantic prowess from now if you wanna call it that. Living around a bunch of love fanatics for so long really rubs off on you I guess." Ash scratched the back of his head and laughed cheesily. "Of course I'm no expert by a long shot but at least I'm better than Brock." He flicked a finger in the other boy's direction and Brock looked immediately indignant.

"Hey!" He started to defend himself.

Misty just slapped him over the head. "Shut up Brock you know it's true!" She then went on to grumble about 'rotten perverts' while Brock merely whimpered and clutched his sore head.

Giselle giggled and kissed Ash's cheek. "Yes you most certainly are." She then suddenly had a thoughtful look come across her face after saying that. "What about your rival Gary though Ash? Didn't he ever get 'the lessons'?" She half joked, half genuinely asked.

The raven haired Trainer looked at his girlfriend for a second before busting out into laughter, holding his side from the pain of laughing so hard. Giselle seemed confused. "What's so funny?" She asked perplexed.

Ash wiped his eyes of the tears that had collected there during his laughing fit and took a few deep breaths before answering Giselle's question. "Well uhh..." He began, still refraining from laughing again. "Let's just say that Gary was always so focused on being the 'cool kid of Pallet' and bragging about how great of a Pokémon Master he was going to be that he never took the time to learn hardly anything the family had to teach him. If it wasn't directly related to making him better than everyone else he didn't want to 'waste his time' as he put it."

He then shrugged. "Besides, him learning from the Professor would have meant being in the same room as me for an extended period of time and he always said that he didn't want to catch my 'loser syndrome' by being stuck with me for too long. So no Giselle, anything Gary may know about winning over the opposite sex came almost entirely from self instruction. Anytime his mom would try to talk to him he would just wave her off like she knew nothing," Ash finished while shaking his head and sighing at the end of his story.

Giselle looked aghast. "Seriously?! Arceus how can someone be so... arrogant?! Even when I was a stuck up bitch back in Pokémon Tech I always was anxious to learn something new. For anyone to act that way... especially towards their own family is just... ugh!" She snorted in disgust and then shook her own head. "Weren't you and he really close as young kids too?" She asked.

Ash nodded his head, a somewhat sad look forming on his face. "Yeah we were... when we were really little. Being that my parents were always so close to the Oaks my mom and I were almost always around them. Daisy is about eight years older than me but she was still always really nice to both me and Gary. Always looking out for us and making sure we didn't get into too much trouble. She treated me just like she did Gary and he really was her brother..." Ash trailed off then as he thought about the attractive, kind young female Oak who was always so nice to him.

Suddenly remembering the incident back on Maiden's Peak and Gastly taking on the form of Daisy, which really bothered Giselle when she saw how much it effected him, Ash quickly got back on topic. "Anyway, me and Gary got along just like brothers from the time before we could even walk. We would always get into so much trouble that Daisy would then have to get us out of it!" He laughed out loud at some of the funny memories that suddenly flashed through his head of an angry Daisy Oak dragging he and Gary back to the adults by their ears, only to get the most painful butt spankings of their life afterwards.

Ash sobered up a little from his laughter then as a melancholy expression came back over his face again. "It didn't stay that way forever though... I remember that even from my earliest days I was always obsessed with two things, learning and Pokémon. The learning part usually always being about Pokémon and how it could benefit my journey when I came of age. Even before my mom told me stories of my dad being this great Pokémon Trainer himself, I was already obsessed with the idea of becoming one. Hell, she told me that the first word out of my mouth was the name of a Pokemon!"

Misty laughed from where she was leaning against one of the support beams for the balloon. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me at all about you Ash..." She said while shaking her head in amusement.

Ash shot her a mock glare before looking back out at the large expanse of sky before them. "She doesn't remember what the name of the Pokémon was but she knows that it was definitely the name of one. A huge shock for a parent expecting their kid's first words to be either 'mama' or 'dada' or something like that. That was just me though, always obsessed with Pokémon and I really can't put my finger on why."

Well actually, he had a feeling it had to do with him being this "Chosen-One' that Arceus told him he was all those years ago but he couldn't be sure and besides... he still wasn't ready to tell his friends about that yet anyway.

Ash just shook his head then and continued on. "Gary always jokingly teased me for being such a 'nerd', even though he was equally as excited to start his own Pokémon journey, but he always saw past that and we remained friends. It wasn't until he and I turned about eight that he really started changing then..."

Giselle looked curious. "What happened?" She coaxed.

Ash sighed. "He started hanging out around all of the other kids in Pallet and I became more... reclusive. See, I was an odd ball, a freak to all of the other kids because of my crazy obsession with studying about Pokémon and training with Professor Oak. I never hung out with them, only Gary, and he never really minded my obsession besides the occasional teasing he did. He didn't let them calling me a 'weirdo' and a 'freak' change his view of me and we stayed friends.

He never stuck up for me though since one, they never said anything to my face and two, I told him not to bother because their words never bothered me even if I did hear them. It was just immature ramblings of children. With that understanding we continued getting along just fine."

Ash frowned. "However, after my fifth birthday I became really serious about preparing for my Pokémon journey and started working almost constantly with Professor Oak and my mom. Me and Gary began hanging out less and less and eventually he started running around with all the other kids almost constantly. Two of which actually became trainers the same day me and Gary did."

He sighed again. "You can imagine that with Professor Samuel Oak, world renowned Pokémon Researcher being his grandfather... everyone expected a lot of Gary. Ever since we were little and started showing interest in becoming Pokémon Trainers ourselves, almost all of Pallet Town expected Gary to be some great prodigy that would rock Kanto. He's always been really smart, really good with Pokémon and more than a bit of a showboat even though he never really trained or put himself through any intense studying or training. He was just naturally gifted..."

"Like you," Giselle interrupted with a sweet smile at her boyfriend.

Ash smiled softly and kissed her forehead. "Well... I don't know about that but thanks. I really don't know if I have any natural talent because I started training myself from the time I was practically still a toddler. Because of that, any talent I may have concerning Pokémon Training I would like to think has come from my training and hard work instead of just having naturally without working for it."

He just shrugged and smiled then. "Besides, any skills this group has comes from my Pokémon." The boy looked over at Pikachu, who was still perched upon the railing of the balloon. "Right Pi?"

Pikachu looked back at his trainer and smiled, pointing back at Ash. "Pikachu Pi Pikachu!" He chirped enthusiastically, almost as if he was saying, 'Nah, its a team thing'.

Giselle shook her head and smiled, kissing Ash's cheek once more. "Okay then Mr. Modest, what happened next?"

Ash looked up at the clear blue sky and took a deep breath. "Well, Gary was pretty much the showboat of Pallet as I said before. Even when he wasn't trying to be. The other two kids that left on the same day we started our journey, who I really can't even remember their names right now but anyway... even they were naturally pretty good when it came to Pokémon and bragged about their 'greatness' all the time. They were the ones that really started getting Gary into the whole bragging and 'I'm better than everyone else is' attitude."

He looked down at the ground far below then. "They kind of turned him into the ring-leader after a while I suppose. With them always fawning over how 'great' he was gonna be and the way almost all of the adults in Pallet bragged about much pride Gary and the other two, mostly Gary, was going to bring to the town, they couldn't help getting big heads. Gary especially. He started believing all the hype everyone was pushing at him just like the other two did and he just fell into that circle. It didn't take him long and he even began believing what all the kids were saying about how much of a 'weirdo, loner loser' I was. After that I just became 'Ash the Loser' in his eyes and our friendship ended. At least on his end."

Giselle raised a delicate eyebrow. "On his end?"

"Why didn't anyone think you were also going to do anything great Ash, besides your family?" Misty chimed in.

"I thought your dad was a really good Pokémon Trainer?" Brock also stepped into the conversation.

Ash just chuckled. "I'll answer Giselle first. To Gary our friendship is done but to me, I never let anything he said even after he changed into who he is now bother me. I still don't. He's just caught up right now in his own hype and fantasy world where no one is better than him. I have no doubt that eventually he'll come down off the pedestal he's on or he'll be forcefully pulled off by someone who shows him just how much he still has left to learn. A loss so intense that he won't be able to block it out like he did after he battled against that Team Rocket Admin on the Anne. When that happens, Gary'll eventually either change for the better or worse. If its for the better then I'll be there to pick our friendship back up and move forward. Maybe get that brotherly bond back that we used to have."

He shrugged. "Even though Gary looks at me as nothing more than a 'loser' he still sees me as his rival for some reason. He's obsessed with always making sure he's better than me and stays three steps ahead at all times, or at least in his mind he's always ahead. I honestly could care less who's further 'ahead' and quite frankly don't see him as a rival at all. To me he's just another aspiring Pokémon Trainer like myself that has big dreams and will try his hardest to achieve them in whatever way he sees the most effective.

I respect Gary for his own skill as a trainer and would never underestimate him in a battle no matter how much training my Pokémon and I do. Nor would I ever do the same with anyone else. Still... I personally foresee looking at anyone as a 'rival' to be utterly pointless. Instead of striving to achieve the level of someone else and obsessing over how to defeat one person, I find it more worthwhile to put that same attention into broadening your horizons for every trainer you encounter out there. Training both yourself and your team in such a way so that you may defeat any opponent you happen upon, instead of just some rival that you've been obsessed with beating. You do that and you become one dimensional."

He turned to Misty. "To answer your question Mist... I never showed any talents I may have possessed nor my knowledge of Pokémon that I learned through my own hard studying and from Professor Oak. No one ever knew if I was adept at anything concerning Pokémon or my future as a trainer. Most everyone in Pallet besides my family counted me out as another hopeful that would barely make it out of the gate. Even now no one really knows of my current progress besides mom and Professor Oak and that was the way I requested it. Surprise and deception are one of a trainer's greatest weapons after all. I want everyone back home to be shocked beyond belief when they see my Pokémon's progress at the Indigo Conference."

Ash crossed his arms and then looked at Brock to answer his question. "To answer you Brock, my father is a very talented trainer and successful in many ways from what my mother always told me. However, for all of his talent he never achieved any renowned success for himself. He never claimed victory in any League Tournaments, only smaller competitions. From what I was told he had a reputation for... succumbing to pressure at the major conferences and thus, never brought any real fame or notability to Pallet Town."

Ash looked down. "I'm not going to be known for the accomplishments of my father. I would refuse them even if he had any. I want to be known for mine and my Pokémon's own achievements. Doing the things my father never could and paving my own way in this world. I will refuse anything less."

He finished with such a sense of determination and seriousness in his voice that it took his friends slightly aback. Though... Giselle could have sworn she heard an ever so slight amount of bitterness in Ash's voice whenever he mentioned his father. She just brushed it off as most likely hearing things however since it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Well I respect that about you Ash," Brock commended after breaking the silence. "It shows that you're willing to make your own way regardless of what others may think of you."

"Those others back in Pallet will be in for a huge surprise when they finally see you and your Pokémon perform!" Misty assured with a grin as she thought about all of the people Ash was going to prove wrong about him.

"You know Ash, I think the way you view your relationship with Gary is very mature and shows that you won't be brought down to his level," Giselle stated with a smile.

Ash smiled at her and his friends in return, nodding in gratitude, before turning his attention back to the crowd of Butterfree that was now flying all over the sky trying to find their mates. He spotted his own Butterfree flying just above all the rest as he kept looking around and scanning the female Butterfree. None of them must have peeked his interest or seemed good enough for the Bug-Type though because he would look intently at each female he would see, only to snort in disinterest and look away.

Many trainers were still releasing their Butterfree during this time and as Giselle looked at the faces of all the trainers, she was surprised to see a mixture of both happiness and sadness in their expressions. In fact, not a single trainer except for Ash didn't appear this way.

She turned to her boyfriend in confusion then. "Ash, why do all of the trainers look so sad?"

He looked at her and then back to the large mass of Butterfree as he tightened his grip on Giselle's waist and began massaging Pikachu behind the ears. "Don't you remember what Brock told us back at Hutber Port? When trainers come here to let their Butterfree find mates they usually know what it means. Letting them find a mate means, most of the time, that they will have to be released so they can follow the rest of their kind to the Butterfree mating grounds somewhere in the Orange Islands and have their babies," He explained.

Giselle seemed to understand as she nodded. "But you won't have to do that though since you can send your Butterfree and whoever it gets as a mate back to Professor Oak's lab so they can lay their babies there right?" She asked.

He nodded again and smiled. "That's right. It's like Brock said before, most trainers can't keep a mating pair of Butterfree with them because they lay so many eggs and it wouldn't be possible to take care of them all on the road. I on the other hand have the wide open and largely expansive territory of the lab to send mine to. They can lay their babies there and raise their family without any fear of danger or lack of food." Ash silently thanked Arceus as he said all of this and felt fortunate yet again for Professor Oak.

Giselle smiled at him again and leaned into him. "You should be proud you thought ahead like this Ash. I know it would have really been upsetting for you if you would have had to have released Butterfree."

Ash nodded once more and looked down for a moment. The very thought of releasing any of his Pokémon, practically members of his family, for any reason at all made him feel sick to his stomach. The only way he would ever release a Pokémon was if that Pokémon itself specifically requested to be released.

He quickly shook his head free of such thoughts and turned his attention back to the Butterfree. He saw his own Pokémon still flying around while looking this way and that, gazing at all of the choices he had laid out before him but not looking overly impressed with any of them.

Misty stifled a laugh. "Wow Ash your Butterfree sure is picky!" She prodded teasingly.

Ash laughed himself. "What can I say? He inherited his trainer's exquisite tastes!"

Before Misty could respond Brock suddenly lunged forward and leaned over the side of the balloon, nearly falling out in the process and was only kept from doing so by Ash and the balloon merchant grabbing ahold of the back of his shirt frantically.

Ash grunted as he pulled Brock back. "The hell Brock! Are you trying to fall out of the balloon and kill yourself?!"

The teenager just pointed forward at another balloon some distance away from them with a starry eyed and love struck expression on his face. "Right over there!" He shouted. "That balloon right there!"

Ash and the others followed Brock's gaze and saw who he was pointing at. A young woman was standing in the basket of her balloon some distance away in front of them with a Pokéball held tightly to her chest and a sad, yet bittersweet expression on her face. She spoke something to the Pokéball that obviously none of them could hear and then threw it out into the sky.

The Pokémon that came forth from the Pokéball did nothing short of amaze every single one of the kids in the balloon, especially Ash. Even Donny looked shocked.

What they were all staring at in awe was none other a beautifully colored pink Butterfree. Almost completely solid pink.

The Pokémon twirled around in the air after being released with very impressive grace and beauty. So much so that everyone had to assume with no questions that she had to be female for not even Ash's own Butterfree was so elegant and graceful. There was just always something about the way a female could move their bodies that no male, no matter how well trained, could ever hope to replicate. That was just a truth with all species.

The young woman in the basket said what was obviously a tearful farewell to her Pokémon and Ash managed to catch a glimpse of her placing her thumb on the release button of the Pokéball. Anytime a trainer ever wanted to release their Pokémon they would have to first call them out from the ball, point it at the Pokémon and then press and hold the button on the front of the device. A fail safe method of keeping constant pressure on the ball for one minute and a command phrase would assure that accidental release didn't occur if pressure was mistakenly applied to the ball for some reason.

After one minute of holding constant pressure on the small button followed by saying the word 'Release' a white beam of light would shoot from the ball and touch the Pokémon. This white beam was sort of like a 'detachment function' that separated the Pokémon from the Pokéball by eliminating the cellular recognition feature that allowed the devices to contain their tenants.

The only other way one could release their Pokémon was by crushing the Pokéball like Charmander did with Damian.

Ash watched as the woman completed the release of her Pokémon and waved one last tearful good-bye to it before the pink Butterfree took off into the crowd of other Butterfree. All of the other Bug-Types turned their heads upon noticing the arrival of their strangely colored, yet very elegant kin. Nearly all of the male Butterfree took immediate action and started flocking to the pink one, proving that it was definitely female.

Ash watched on in amusement as nearly all of the males started doing everything imaginable to catch her attention and impress the new object of their attraction. They tried everything from showing off their moves like Agility, Tackle, Silver Wind and Confusion, to displaying their speed, strength, agility and grace in flight.

Ash observed all of the rather sad and wasted attempts at impressing the pink Butterfree, who clearly couldn't care less, with a keen eye. He could tell from watching that none of these other Butterfree came even close to his own and his amusement only further increased when the males started fighting one another for the pink ones attention.

The pink Butterfree was obviously not amused with all of the brutish attempts at winning her over and would merely look in the opposite direction every time one of the males would get the courage up to actually approach her side and talk to her. This led to many of the more sensitive Butterfree flying away towards the forests in the distance with tears streaming from their eyes, caused by the rather harsh rejections from the pink Butterfree. The trainers that hadn't released those same Butterfree yet would follow them down in their balloons in order to find and comfort their now distraught Pokémon.

Ash actually cringed a few times when one of the more persistent Butterfree would apparently annoy the pink one so badly that she would slap them hard with her wing in attempt to get them to leave her alone. This naturally caused the struck Butterfree to feel great shame, rejection and pain as they would also fly towards the ground while crying historically afterwards.

As the kids and Donny watched the pink Butterfree shoot down more and more of the males, leading to tears and the descending of many hot air balloons so the trainers could comfort their Pokémon, Giselle spoke up with a tone of amazement to her voice. "Wow... I never would have believed that the Butterfree mating season would be so... harsh and cruel! Are all the female Butterfree like this?" She asked the balloon merchant as she looked out over the other female Butterfree that didn't look to be nearly as hard to impress as the pink one.

Donny shook his head. "Not at all. Usually the rituals of the Butterfree finding mates is a rather harmonious and peaceful time. Every year up to now has been a real joy watching the Pokémon pair off, for both myself and the many trainers who come here. Male Butterfree are usually not aggressive with each other since there are always so many females to choose from but this year... out of all the years I've done this I have never seen such hostility, nor I have I ever seen a female as hard to impress as that pink one is. Either she just has a bad attitude or is very hard to catch an interest," He explained with a frown.

Misty glared after the pink Butterfree. "I think she simply has a bad attitude! Its just cruel being so cold and abusive to those other Butterfree! What makes her so special besides that pink coloring? Nothing!" She fumed as she turned away and crossed her arms.

Ash shook his head and then spoke, "Its not that simple Misty."

Giselle looked at him. "What do you mean?" She asked confused while Misty also seemed curious.

He looked at the pink Pokemon in thought for a few moments and observed the way she flew and carried herself before answering. "I don't believe her 'bad attitude' is just because she thinks her odd coloring makes her better," He began. "Just by watching the way she's been moving around I can tell she must have been pretty well trained and taken care of. She looks to be pretty strong if the hits she's been giving those other Butterfree are any indicator. She's also very elegant, graceful and most likely pretty agile if that showy release from her Pokéball is any clue."

Misty interrupted him. "But what does any of that have to do with her being such a priss?!" She demanded.

Ash held his hand up. "Think about it Mist, in the world of Pokémon there is always an established hierarchy no matter what the sex or species. A strong Pokémon won't 'lower' themselves to breed with a weaker one. Professor Oak explained to me that its only in a Pokémon's nature to be attracted to the stronger specimens in their species. Its an obvious occurrence if you think about it because breeding is for what? Reproduction and the continuation of that species. Both Pokémon want to give birth to as strong of an offspring as they can or otherwise it may not survive. Its ingrained into a female's instincts to only mate with a male who is as strong as them or even better, stronger. You can't fault a Pokémon for their natural instincts, its just who they are," He told her like he was giving a lesson.

Misty huffed again. "Its still rude in my opinion."

Ash quirked an eyebrow at her. "Would you have went out on a date with say... Brock's younger brother Forrest? Someone who is both younger and more immature than you, thus 'weaker'?" He inquired.

Misty looked taken aback. "No of course not!" She denied vehemently.

Ash smirked. "And what would you have done if he would have went all 'Brock junior' on you and wouldn't have taken no for an answer?"

Misty slammed her fist into her palm. "I would have pounded the annoying little pervert that's wh-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence and let the words she just said sink in. She realized that what she would have done to Forrest in order to get him to leave her alone would have been the same thing that the pink Butterfree was now doing to all of the males that were annoying her and wouldn't leave her alone. She tried to get them to see she wasn't interested by turning her head away and when they didn't listen, she struck them. It was a natural instinct that Ash just proved even she herself had.

Forrest was younger, more immature and in a sense 'weaker' than her. She obviously wasn't attracted to such a thing and would never go for him. Ash himself was younger than her by around two years and Giselle even a little older than her at thirteen. However, the rules were completely different when it came to him. Ash didn't act, look or even seem younger than any of them. Given the unnatural height for his age, he stood right at equal height with both her and Giselle. Brock being taller only because he himself was fifteen, five years older than Ash was.

Besides, even with the physical issues being covered, Ash always acted much older mentally than his real age. Even out classing Brock in that aspect many times over the past few months that they had all been traveling together. After one were to go through all of that information it definitely wasn't so hard to believe that Ash would have Giselle, a girl three years his senior, as his girlfriend and Misty herself forming such deep feelings for him.

That was just Ash though and he was a complete oddity in every way, shape and form. Meaning one couldn't use him as an example. Especially not when comparing him to Forrest. That was like trying to compare how similar water and fire were to each other.

Upon Ash seeing Misty's sudden understanding he smiled to himself and patted her on the shoulder. "Now you get it." It wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement.

Giselle looked up into the sky, a little farther away from where the pink Butterfree and her horde of admirers were at, and saw Ash's Butterfree flying high with his own group of female Butterfree flying around him, desperately trying to get his attention. She could tell Butterfree was playing the cool act, which was what most likely gathered his little fan base along with a few flashy displays he probably did here and there with his physical abilities. She could see he wasn't impressed but however, he was handling the 'annoyance' much better than his pink counterpart was.

Every time one of the females would try get his attention, Butterfree would politely acknowledge them on a friendly basis and then switch his attention to the next one. Every once and awhile he would do a quick flourish with his wings that would kick up some wind and cause his yellow scarf to blow around, giving him a very 'flashy' and 'debonair' look that would make the female Butterfree around him swoon. Never once would he ever raise a wing to any of the females bugging him though, which Giselle was very proud of him for. Even though he wasn't her Pokémon.

She did however suspect that Butterfree was enjoying the attention and that's why he seemed to be egging it on, which made her giggle to herself and be reminded of just how alike trainer and Pokémon could be as she looked to the side at her flirty boyfriend. He had also followed her gaze up to his Pokèmon and was smirking at how Butterfree was acting with the females. She could literally see the pride he had for his Pokémon in that moment eeking out of him and it made her shake her head amusedly.

She turned her head to the side of the basket then where Pikachu was perched and thought she would see him also shaking his head at his trainer and fellow Pokémon's antics but was surprised when she instead saw him covering his mouth with one paw, along with his eyes slightly squinted and upturned in a mischievous looking way. She couldn't understand what he was doing until she noticed how his body was very lightly shaking, almost trembling. She feared Pikachu was having some sort of attack and quickly leaned in to check him out closer. She was only further puzzled when she started hearing sounds, strange sounds, coming from the Electric-Type.

"Pik... Pika Pika... Pika Pika Chu Pi!" He muffled out through his paw in that same strange way.

Giselle scrunched her brow up and looked at his face, slightly leaning over the basket in the process. It was then she realized that Pikachu wasn't having an attack, nor was he in any kind of pain whatsoever. No... the little yellow mouse was actually giggling... perversely... as he looked up at Butterfree high in the sky whom was still surrounded by all of the females.

Pikachu still had his paw over his mouth with his eyes upturned in that strange and mischievous way as he continued laughing in the perverse manner, obviously with many improper thoughts passing through his head at the moment.

Giselle grew a deadpanned expression on her face then as a sweat drop formed at the back of her head. Her lips puffed out comically and her eyes took on the look of two thin lines just like Brock. She brought herself completely back into the balloon after a moment of watching the now revealed to be closet pervert Pikachu and then dropped her chin to her chest as she started massaging her temples. All while murmuring something about being surrounded by perverts as she did so.

Almost as if someone had prayed to the silver haired, wart nosed 'super pervert God' Brock suddenly lunged forward again and pointed to the pink Butterfree while he shouted up to Ash's own, "Look Butterfree! Right down there at that pink one!"

Butterfree turned his head after hearing Brock's shout and gazed down through a slight opening between the flying bodies of the many female Butterfree surrounding him and tried to spot just who his trainer's perverted friend was telling him to go for.

Brock made another wild gesture and thrusted his arm further out of the basket towards the pink Butterfree. He was nearly tipping out of the balloon once more and was stopped from falling yet again by Ash and Donny grabbing the back of his shirt-vest again and pulling him in. "She's the one you want Butterfree!" He shouted wildly. "Go for her and ignore all the rest! SHOW HER THE WINGED STUD YOU TRULY ARE AND WIN HER HEART!" He encouraged loudly.

Ash and the older man managed to pull Brock back in as Giselle crossed her arms and looked at him with a perplexed look on her face. "Why are you so dead set on Ash's Butterfree and that pink one getting together Brock?"

The teen brought his hands up in front of him in a swift motion as he began talking with stars in his eyes. "That pink Butterfree's former trainer is one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen Giselle!" He then placed a hand under his chin while grinning. "Its only common knowledge that if two trainer's Pokémon get together then their trainers are almost always guaranteed to do the same thing!" By this point the older boy now had hearts for eyes instead of stars as he stared droolingly across the sky at the pink Butterfree's trainer, who was still watching her former Pokémon fly around.

Everyone else in else in the balloon sweat dropped until Misty suddenly bashed Brock over the head with her fist and knocked him to the floor of the basket. "Stay out of Pokemon love affairs Brock! If you go trying to taint the admittedly good advice that Ash gave Butterfree with the sad, pathetic little excerpts you've amassed in that sorry excuse for a love diary of yours then he'll never find a mate!" She scolded.

As Brock nursed his sore head with river tears running down his face, Ash looked back up towards the sky and saw that his Butterfree had managed to finally pick out the pink one. At the same time his eyes found her form she turned her head and their gazes met. Both shared a brief glance with one another while still trying to fend off their admirers and then looked away quickly.

Giselle sighed heavily and leaned forward onto the basket. "Well that didn't work... they aren't interested in each other either." She raised her fist to the sky. "Man this is so frustrating!"

Ash didn't say anything and instead just continued to watch his Butterfree. He did this for a while and as he did he started seeing something that made him smirk inwardly. He chuckled out loud after a few minutes of silence. "I actually think we may be in for a surprise." He announced.

Misty quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

He pointed up at his Butterfree and then down to the pink one. "I believe those two are actually interested in each other." He announced with a smile on his face.

Everyone else in the basket looked back at the two Butterfree. "How can you tell?" Giselle asked. "I haven't seen either one make an outward move on the other even one time yet!"

Ash shook his head. "Actually, I've been watching closely and every couple of moments or so they'll steal a glance at one another when one thinks the other isn't looking," He informed them. "If that's not some form of interest then I don't know what is."

The others looked closer and after a few moments of careful observation they all witnessed Butterfree turn his head quickly to the side to catch a glimpse of the pink one before looking away again. This action was mirrored just seconds later by the oddly colored female.

Giselle clapped her hands together and hopped happily in place. "Aww they really do like each other! We gotta do something to help them!" She said eagerly.

A hand on her shoulder stopped her from hopping. She looked at the source of the hand and saw Ash shaking his head. "Lets just see how Butterfree handles this Giselle. One never learns by having others do all the work for them. I want to see if Butterfree can find a way to win her over by himself," He stated firmly.

Giselle just sighed and dropped her shoulders. "Its so aggravating just watching them cast little glances at each other though!" She wined loudly.

Ash chuckled lightly and crossed his arms. "Just have faith Giselle, I have a feeling Butterfree will find out exactly what to do," He said confidently.

With nothing better to do they all just turned their gazes back to the sky of Butterfree and centered their focus on Ash's Butterfree and the pink one, eagerly awaiting to see how everything played out.

Both Butterfree, who was the center of everyone's attention, continued stealing random glances at each other while trying to entertain the female Butterfree (in Ash's Butterfree's case) or just flat out trying to get rid of the male Butterfree (in the case of the pink one). This went on for some time and if at any point either Pokémon met the other's gaze they would quickly look away.

Ash watched this all go down with a calculating eye and started to wonder if Butterfree was going to make a move on the pink one at all until suddenly... something happened.

One of the male Butterfree surrounding the pink one decided that it had had enough of being ignored and moved in close to the female, touching her side with it's wing. The pink Butterfree took great offense to this action and quickly brought her own wing around and slapped the male in the face, sending him tumbling away from her.

The struck Butterfree instantly grew angry at being attacked and quickly flew back in until it was level with her face as it began angrily ranting in Pokéspeech at her. Whatever the angry male was telling her apparently started making sense to the other males because they also began to grow angry looks on their faces. Instead of merely flying beside her they instead started to surround her, making the female Butterfree look very uncomfortable.

Before the male Butterfree who started the trouble could do anything else, a blackish/purple streak came zooming in out of nowhere and slammed into the male. The force of the strike was so hard that the unsuspecting Butterfree was sent tumbling through the air several yards away.

The other Butterfree surrounding the pink one were suddenly caught up in a powerful gust of wind that was whipped up by the new arrival who had stopped in mid-air and spun itself around in a fast circle, flapping it's wing fast enough that the strong currents of wind blasted the other male Butterfree away from the pink one.

The blurring figure finally came to a stop and hovered in front of the pink Butterfree, revealing it's identity to be none other than Ash's own, very angry looking, Butterfree. All of the other males that had been blasted away by Butterfree's strong Gust attack were able to right themselves and once they did they glared at their attacker with clear as day fury in their eyes.

Ash's Butterfree began speaking angrily at all of the other males then, "Free Free! Butter Free Free!" His words apparently held quite a few insults and stinging comments in them because all of the males instantly bristled and looked even angrier than they did just moments prior.

They all began slowly surrounding Ash's Butterfree, who was hovering protectively in front of the pink one, in a wide circle with the one that Butterfree had tackled earlier taking the front position.

From the balloon, Ash and his friends were watching the new events unfold with trepidation and anxiety building within them. "Uh-oh..." Brock murmured. "This isn't good," He stated ominously.

Giselle glanced at Ash nervously. "Uhh... Ash? Don't you think you should do something to help Butterfree? Maybe send out Gastly or something because he's completely outnumbered..." She observed while glancing up at the ring of flying Bug-Types that was quickly boiling over into a bad situation. A situation that could easily turn into a full blown battle at any second now.

Ash kept his arms crossed and his eyes to the sky while he simply shook his head and replied calmly, "No. I want to see how Butterfree handles himself in a situation like this. He trains for multiple opponent battling every single day brutally with Beedrill and my other Butterfree. Both of them are strong, tough opponents so I have no doubt Butterfree can handle himself here if he remembers his training," Ash explained with confidence.

Giselle blinked. "But..."

Ash cut her off with a hand to her shoulder. "Don't worry, everything will be fine." He winked at her. "Trust me sweetie."

Giselle smiled and nodded her head. "Okay... I trust you know what you're doing," She conceded with faith in him. Ash smiled warmly at her and then turned his attention back to the throng of angry Butterfree.

"Show em' what you can do Butterfree..." Ash whispered to himself.

XXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Some distance away, on the other side of the valley that made up the Butterfree Cliffs and was nestled in between the middle of two large canyons, were none other than the most loved and hated trio of Team Rocket... Jessie, James and Meowth.

The two humans were currently standing around a large black helicopter with a red 'R' etched onto the side for 'Team Rocket' while the furriest member of their team, Meowth, was inside of the machine on the driver's side finishing up with what looked to be like the wiring for the control panel. The helicopter itself was parked just outside of a large, abandoned looking warehouse that actually belonged to Team Rocket and was used as a storage building for miscellaneous machine parts, the occasional rendezvous point for teams of grunts and currently, serving as a base of operations for the trio.

The red haired woman groaned in exasperation and put her hands on her hips. "Are you about finished yet Meowth?!" She yelled irritably.

James also looked impatient as he crossed his arms. "Yeah Meowth we've been waiting for ages for you to finish what you're doing! Hurry it up already!" He pressed.

Meowth grunted as he worked on the wiring. "Just keep ya pants and skirts on yous twos, I'm workin' as fast as I can!" He yelled back.

Jessie groaned once more. "Why are we even doing this again?!"

James scratched his forehead with one finger while he thought about it. He then cupped his chin and hummed to himself. "I'm pretty certain it has something to do with a bunch of Butterfree gathering nearby... right?" He answered slightly confused.

Meowth finished the wiring at that same moment and jumped out of the chopper. "Ya don't remember da plan James?!" He asked in exasperation. "Its da Butterfree matin' season and trainers from all over da region come to an area near here ta release all their Butterfree so dey can find mates. We're gonna capture em' all wit da chopper here and din deliver em' to da boss!" He explained in irritation.

Jessie crossed her arms under her bust. "And why pray tell would the boss want so many flying insects? How much use could they really be!"

Meowth shook his head lamely. "Butterfree can learn some really strong status effectin' moves and even Psychic-Type ones like Confusion. Wit enough Pokémon like dat it could really help bolster da Team Rocket Pokémon ranks and make our jobs a whole lot easier! Not ta mention da boss'll be sure ta give us all a big cut for it!" He grinned darkly.

Jessie and James shared an excited look between each other after Meowth's explanation. "And once we get our big cut from the boss we'll move up in the Team Rocket ranks and have our own squad of grunts to command around as a bonus!" Jessie said merrily with a glint in her eyes.

James looked up at the big helicopter again and placed his hand under his chin in thought once more. "How are we going to go about catching all of the Butterfree though?" He directed his question at Meowth.

The talking Pokémon pointed to the underside of the chopper. "Dares a big net under da chopper dat'll open up when we get out over da swarm of Butterfree. Its got a lid dat'll shut over it once we get em' all and da net itself is infused wit steel fibers so it won't break dat easily." He smirked. "We'll get dim Butterfree no problem!"

Jessie raised her fist in the air. "What are we waiting for then?! Let's go and get those pests rounded up so we can get payed!" She shouted.

James shared in her enthusiasm and Meowth just hopped into the middle seat of the helicopter. He looked back at James. "You drive James and I'll operate da net!"

James and Jessie entered the machine and the blue haired man turned on the chopper. The back and top propellers came to life as the helicopter hummed with, low yet very loud whirling sounds and after a few seconds of letting it warm up, the Rockets took off into the air and headed towards the gathering area of the Butterfree.

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Back at the mating grounds, Ash and his friends were watching the tense stand-off between his Butterfree and the other males with concern and slight worry etched onto their faces.

Butterfree remained hovering resolutely in front of the pink one with a determined expression on his face as he stared down the other Butterfree. All seemed to be at a stand still until the lead Butterfree suddenly flapped it's wings quickly and sent a fast Silverwind attack at Ash's.

The scarf wearing Butterfree quickly responded in kind and launched his own Silverwind attack at his opponent's as the two collided together, canceling each other out. It was at this point that one of the others suddenly charged in at Butterfree's side.

Ash's Butterfree saw this coming and quickly spun out of the way just as his opponent passed him by. Butterfree then grabbed the other one by the wings quickly and turned it around using it's own momentum against it and threw it into one of the other Butterfree.

Two more Butterfree came quickly charging in again on either side while Butterfree quickly turned around and blasted the pink female out of the way of the fray with a soft, yet strong Gust attack, not wanting her to be in the way and potentially get hurt.

Just before his opponents could reach him, Butterfree zipped straight up into the air and let them collide painfully with each other.

From where he was at Butterfree saw a wing in the corner of his vision and turned just in time to see another of the Butterfree swinging it's wing at him. Butterfree quickly threw his own wing up and blocked the strike as he placed his other wing behind the blocking one and pushed forward hard, knocking the other male a little off kilter. He then did a spinning side flip in the air and brought both wings down on the other Butterfree, sending it downward into a quick descent.

No sooner did he do this and then Butterfree saw a large rush of wind coming at his front and a Silverwind coming from his back.

He spun himself around in a fast circle and started flapping his wings wildly as a funnel of strong looking wind whipped up around him. Both attacks collided with the much stronger gale and quickly beat themselves out, not able to withstand against it's might.

From inside the funnel of wind, Butterfree could see three others rocketing in towards him. He took advantage of this and waited until his opponents were nearly upon him. When they were close Butterfree flapped his wings out with a mighty thrust and then dropped from the funnel just as it was sent heading straight towards the other quickly approaching males.

Unfortunately for them, they were going much too fast and couldn't avoid the funnel as it sucked them up in into it's makeshift vortex and beat them around for awhile before expelling and whipping them arounnd to different corners of the open air while looking very dazed.

Butterfree then felt his wings go temporarily rigid and looked to see the lead Butterfree using what appeared to be Confusion to hold him in place. Although with much effort it seemed.

Butterfree saw another of the males come speeding towards him in an Agility enhanced Tackle. Thinking quickly, he used his own Confusion at the last second to take control of just the lead Butterfree's wings and slapped them down over it's face. This cut the visual connection and allowed Ash's Butterfree to be freed.

He then goaded the incoming Butterfree to come in faster with a gesturing wing and the other male became even madder as it picked up speed.

Ash's Butterfree waited until the very last second and then barrel rolled to the side just before impact could occur. This move caused the other Butterfree to look back at Ash's with confusion in it's eyes but then it looked back forward again and saw that it was heading towards the leader at speeds too fast to stop.

The lead Butterfeee still had it's wings over it's head and didn't see the other Butterfree until it was too late. The two then crashed into one another with a loud and painful 'WAM!' which knocked them both for a loop.

Then, with no reprieve, Ash's Butterfree was suddenly engaged in a vicious wing battle with two other Butterfree at the same time and fought back vigorously. Even though it was two on one, Ash's Pokémon was much more well trained and was able to defend against his opponents efficiently.

Ash's Butterfree suddenly had a bright idea come to mind then and sent both of his opponents reeling to the sides with a strong blast of wind from his wings. Just as both Butterfree prepared to charge in again, Ash's Pokémon prepared himself quickly.

Before his opponents could strike him with their wings, Butterfree quickly flapped his own towards the ground. The gust of wind from the wing beat was enough that it launched him much higher into the air just before his enemies could reach him.

The other two Butterfree went wide eyed when they saw this but couldn't stop in time and crashed into each other hard. They were both sent hurdling away from one another after the impact and it was at this moment that Butterfree went on the offensive.

A dead serious look crossed over his face as he started flapping his wings at a very fast speed which caused a small twister to kick up. The vortex of wind expanded and swept across the airspace, sucking up all of the enemy Butterfree that tried to escape too late. It spun them all around viciously inside of it's funnel and then thrust them out and away from each other in different directions with an intense display of power.

Ash and his friends looked on impressed as Butterfree took advantage of his now dazed opponent's states and then shot off like a rocket at the nearest one.

He came right up on top of one of the other males and smashed right into it with a punishing head smash that sent the other Bug-Type reeling across the sky and into another Butterfree.

Ash's Butterfree then quickly spun in mid-air and flapped his wings together, sending a strong Silverwind at a cluster of three other males.

The attack was pinpoint accurate and the fact that the Butterfree were still dazed from being trapped in the miniature twister earlier didn't help them at all. Upon making contact with them, the attack cut across the Butterfree like water through a screen as they fell towards the ground.

Five more of the males decided to swarm Butterfree all at once, even though they were still dazed, which made their 'tight formation' not so tight at all anymore and more of a loose circle instead.

Ash's Butterfree hovered in the center and shut his eyes while calmly turning his head from side to side, remembering all of the training it did with Beedrill and Ash's other Butterfree.

Just as one of the males came rushing in to attack, Butterfree spun around in a fast circle and brought his foot up into the other Pokémon's gut just before it could reach him, causing a gasp of pain to escape from said Pokémon.

As that Butterfree fell away, three more of the five came rushing in all at once. One of them thrust it's wings forward and sent it's own Silverwind at Butterfree while the second one launched a gust of wind at him and the third one just kept charging in.

Butterfree looked towards the Silverwind and gauged the situation. He then leaned back and rocketed towards the attack as fast as possible. Just before he came in contact with it, Butterfree beat his wings forward and caused a gust of wind to shoot ahead at the Silverwind, cutting a path straight through it.

Butterfree then folded his wings in and barrel rolled through what was left of the attack. He came up right in front of the very surprised Butterfree that had used the Silverwind and smashed into it with his head. He then got around behind the reeling Pokémon and sent it flying towards the incoming Gust attack that was sent by one of the other males with a strong gale of wind from his own wings.

The male Bug-Type was sent hurdling towards the gust of wind and became caught in it. Ash's Butterfree added to the effect by pushing his own powerful Gust into the weaker one, making it double in power and start to form another twister.

The small, yet powerful twister, pushed back towards the male that had initiated the 'battle of wind' with the other male still trapped within it's funnel. The attack quickly sucked in the other Butterfree and began beating the two Pokémon around inside of it's mighty tempest.

Eventually it dispersed and sent the two Bug Pokémon falling away with scrapes and bruises all over their bodies.

Ash's Butterfree turned his attention towards the fifth and final male and noticed that not only was it the last Butterfree in any condition left to battle, it was also the one that had started the whole fight by trying to force itself onto the pink female earlier.

He narrowed his eyes at his final opponent and crouched forward slightly, wings extending out towards the sides... a look of complete and utter calm, yet fierce aggression shining on his face.

The last male Butterfree of the group had a look of fear in it's eyes as it saw Ash's Butterfree prepare his attack. After seeing what the insane Bug-Type did to it's fellow males during the battle, it knew it wouldn't stand a chance and was feeling terrified at the prospect of what was to come. The Pokémon was so scared it couldn't even move it's wings properly to fly away. Instead it just hovered in place, watching as it's harbinger of pain prepared to deliver swift retribution upon it.

The only thing it could think of in that moment was how the crazy strong Butterfree in front of it could have the pink one for all it cared. No female was worth all of the intense pain it's brethren, and soon to be itself, had went through. It wished dearly it could take back trying to force itself upon the pink Butterfree but it was too late now. Even Pokémon knew about some form of karma and now it was time to pay.

In that same exact moment, Ash's Butterfree rushed forward in a burst of speed and power, signaling the start of an intense beating for his final opponent.

Before the other Butterfree could so much as blink, Ash's slammed into it with a hard bash of the head into the gut. The Pokémon doubled over in pain just as Butterfree rose up over the top of it and slammed his wings down onto his opponents back, careening it ground-ward.

Butterfree wasn't finished though and quickly flew down to meet his descending enemy. He reached the other Butterfree in seconds and flew below it, turning around and looking up at his opponent as he sent a strong gust of wind at it.

The other Butterfree was sent soaring back up into the sky immediately after the strong blast of wind hit it. Ash's Pokémon then flew up and met the other Butterfree with a passing slap of his wing.

He just continued repeating this process over and over again. With every pass he would make he would strike his opponent with either his wings or his head. The other Butterfree looked like a pinball as it was continuously thrashed around by his stronger kin.

Ash's Butterfree eventually started flying around his barely hovering opponent in a fast circle. As he continued soaring around in circles, the other Butterfree tried to keep up with it's eyes and even tried to attack with a few weak Gust attacks but every burst of wind would only hit an after image of Ash's Butterfree.

Eventually, Butterfree started flapping his wings towards the center of the circle he was flying around in sporadic, untimed intervals. Each of these flaps would release a strong Silverwind attack at the injured Butterfree, who was in the center of the circle the stronger one was making, and impact with it hard. Being so exhausted and beaten, the weaker Butterfree could only sadly attempt to block each Silverwind that came his way or try and move out of the way. These of which were almost constantly futile attempts.

After Ash's Butterfree had flown around in his circle, tossing Silverwind after Silverwind at his opponent, for several moments he finally stopped mid-flight and ended the assault.

The other Butterfree, who looked very beaten and battered by now, went to fall out of the sky but Ash's quickly flew towards it and caught it in his tiny but firm grip. He held a fierce scowl, fiercer than any Pokémon should have, as he held his nearly limp opponent in his tight hold. Ash's Butterfree then began rapidly and furiously speaking to the other one in their own native Pokéspeech as he shook it to get his point across. Whatever that point may have been.

From where Ash and his friends were watching from the balloon, they were all equally confused as to just what exactly Butterfree was doing to the other one.

"Ash, do you know what Butterfree is doing?" Misty asked, never taking her eyes off the scene before them.

The raven haired trainer merely shook his head as he stared intently up at the two Pokémon. "Have no idea Misty. Whatever it is I'm sure it has to be really important to Butterfree in order to make him so mad." He guessed.

Brock suddenly pointed up at the Butterfree. "Look what's happening guys!" He shouted.

They turned their attention back towards the Butterfree and saw that Ash's was now dragging the one he had in his grip through the air and back towards the pink Butterfree, who had been staying back a safe distance the entire fight while watching on in fascination at how powerful and skilled Ash's Butterfree was. He finally made it over to the female Butterfree and then shoved the other male at her.

The uniquely colored female just looked at the beaten male that had been delivered to her and then at the still angry looking Butterfree of Ash's with a look of slight trepidation on her face. Ash's Butterfree just smacked his felled opponent across the back with one of his wings and then pointed at the pink one with a fierce look etched onto his features. He then said something that no one in the balloon could hear but appeared as though it sounded very angry and commanding.

The weaker Butterfree lowered his head submissively and then turned to look at the pink one again. With a look of utter shame he began rapidly speaking to the female, whom just listened to him with shock clearly present on her face. The beaten and battered Butterfree continued speaking hurriedly to the female in an almost pleading manner while Ash's Butterfree watched him with a scathing look.

After the male Butterfree had finished with his rapid speech he stopped and looked at the pink one with a pleading and nervous expression. The female took a few moments to process everything that had just happened and eventually just gave a slight nod of her head in acknowledgment, still seeming rather taken aback.

The worn looking Butterfree went wide eyed and bowed to her as he said a few more hurried words in a gesture that looked very similar to gratitude. Ash's Butterfree then spun it around and looked into his opponent's eyes with that same stony, fierce expression. He said a few brief but very commanding words to the other Butterfree, who promptly nodded his head quickly, and then moved slightly to the side and made a 'get out of here' motion with one of his wings.

The shamed Butterfree bowed his head low as he quickly took up Ash's Butterfree on his generous offer to leave without any further harm. Without so much as looking at either of them again, the offending Butterfree flew as fast as posssible away from them and towards the large mass of other Butterfree that was still gathered all throughout the sky some distance away.

Ash's Butterfree spared one final glare at the retreating form of his opponent and then turned his attention towards the female just in front of him. Upon the both of them meeting eye contact, an awkward silence began to fall upon them. They both fidgeted about for a few moments, looking anywhere but each other until Ash's Pokémon eventually worked up the nerve to speak to the pink one.

No one in the balloon could hear what was being said but tried reading the Pokémon's body languages to tell what was happening. It seemed as though Ash's Butterfree was trying to ask the pink one if she was okay after what had happened and it was at that moment the pink Butterfree also seemed to have a sudden drastic change in attitude.

Instead of the somewhat timid and unsure persona she had been displaying after Ash's Butterfree stopped fighting and approached her, she seemed to completely change once he asked if she was alright. The female simply bristled in rage as a response and her face became one of anger, shame and a slight hint of embarrassment at the male's words of thoughtfulness.

She quickly turned her head to the side and crossed her tiny hands in front of her then in the show of a pout as she huffed.

Ash's Butterfree seemed to be at a complete loss as to what he did wrong and just hovered there for a moment looking unsure. Hesitantly he reached out to communicate with her and the pink female quickly used her wing to slap his hand away as she turned completely away, arms still crossed in that same pouting fashion.

The male rubbed his now sore appendage with a confused look on his face as he spoke to her. "Free Free? Butter... Free Free?" He asked slowly.

The moody female spun around to face the male with a look of irritation on her features. "Free! Butter Free Free!" She said angrily. Ash's Butterfree looked even more confused as the female continued, "Butterfree! Free Free Butterfree!" She made a gesture at the male as she made a swooping in motion with one of her wings in an exaggerated fashion. "Free Free Butterfree!"

She continued her rant and then pointed to herself before gesturing at the large crowd of other Butterfree, specifically the males Ash's Butterfree had beaten up, someways in the distance. "Butterfree! Free Butterfree!" She finished with another angry huff before turning away once again.

From inside their balloon, Ash and his friends were watching all of this take place and saw the angry little rant the female had just put Ash's Pokémon through. The young trainer seemed to understand what was going on eventually and simply slapped his palm to his face while groaning, "Man... out of all the crap!" He groaned again as he hung his head and draped himself over the balloon.

Giselle looked at her boyfriend with concern. "What is it Ash?"

He just raised his head and pointed at the two Pokémon. "I know what's the wrong," He grumbled miserably.

The brunette seemed curious. "And that would be...?" She pressed.

Ash stood back up fully and sighed. "I think the pink Butterfree is mad at mine for interfering in that fight and beating up all those other males. I think she believed that she could take them all on and when my Butterfree flew in and did it for her, to defend her honor, she got mad. Like it was attacking her pride or something." He sighed heavily again. "Of all the rotten luck..."

Misty looked up at the sky and glared at the pink Butterfree. "Hey what's the big idea getting all mad and upset at Ash's Butterfree uhh?! He was just trying to protect you from those other males and you attack him for it just because it hurt your pride? Well guess what! You're not worth his time you little-UMPH!" Brock suddenly slapped his hand over Misty's mouth then and pulled her back into the balloon while she continued ranting in his hand.

"Calm down Misty!" Brock struggled out as he held onto her. "This is a Pokémon affair, you can't get involved!"

While Misty and Brock continued their struggle, Ash and Giselle looked back up at the two Bug-Types, anxious to see what happened next.

It only took Ash's Butterfree a few seconds to process what the pink one had just ranted to him about and once it did, he formed an angry, defensive and frustrated look on his face. "Free Free! Butterfree Free! Free Free Butterfree!" He attacked back heatedly.

He wasn't confused anymore about why she was angry. Now that he knew she was mad at him just because he stepped in and defended her like any respectable male would do... it quite frankly pissed him off! He didn't get into a fight against multiple opponents, beat up his own kin and put himself in harms way just to get brushed off and scolded by some prissy, hot-headed female that didn't know when she was in way over her head. No way! He wasn't going to just roll over and let the 'pink princess' talk down to him for doing a good thing!

The pink Butterfree seemed surprised at how forcefully Ash's Butterfree responded back to her and didn't just fly off crying like the other males would have done by now. She just went slightly wide-eyed as he defended his actions to her and let it be known how he didn't appreciate her being so ungrateful for him saving her.

This last comment attacked her pride and instantly re-lit the anger she was feeling towards him as her eyes narrowed and caused her to fly right up into his face, biting back with harsh and stinging comments. Saying that he should have just kept his wings out of her business and let her defend herself since she was completely capable of doing so.

Ash's Butterfree simply leaned back as the female towered over him, angrily yelling in his face about how she had everything under control and that he just needed to mind his business, not making any other attempt at moving.

This obviously didn't sit well with the male though and as soon as she finished her second rant, he was up in her own face (much to the female's great surprise) fighting back and defending himself with just as much ferocity as she had been attacking him with.

This angry little back and forth continued on for several minutes with neither side giving an inch. The pink Butterfree would get into the male's face and give another stinging rant and then Ash's Butterfree would return fire just as readily without showing so much as an inch of being ready to back down. The entire thing looked quite comical really if you were watching from Ash and his friend's point of view.

Watching two angry Buterfree go at each other in a vicious exhibition of what looked to all observing as a classic 'lover's quarrel' with neither side budging an inch. Each of them taking taking turns getting into the other's faces with funny little 'chibi' forms as they fought on and on.

They actually managed to draw quite the crowd during their fight from not just the trainers in balloons but also several of the other Butterfree. Who would temporarily break their courtship rituals just to watch the intense back and forth battle play out.

Eventually, half of the entire flock of Butterfree had gathered around and were now watching the somewhat funny, yet incredibly terrifying verbal battle between male and female. Two stubborn Butterfree that absolutely refused to concede to the other.

Ash and the others merely watched from their balloon with sweat drops rolling down their backs as they watched the now very popular feud go back and forth with no end in sight. Giselle kept her eyes locked onto the spectacle with wrapped attention as she leaned over and whispered to Ash, "Something tells me that when you mentioned earlier about your Pokémon becoming known by everyone... you didn't have this in mind did you?"

Ash looked over at his girlfriend and saw that she had a very amused expression on her face that she was trying desperately hard to keep contained. He merely sighed again and hung his head.

"Why me?" He asked himself as his friends couldn't but laugh a little at the situation. Even Pikachu gave a small snicker which made Ash shoot his head up and give the Pokémon a dirty look. "Traitor! He's your teammate!"

Pikachu just pointed at Ash and laughed a little harder. "Pikachu Pi!' He chirped while shaking his head. Almost as if he was saying 'but he's YOUR Pokemon!'

Misty suddenly placed her hands above her eyes and squinted as she looked at the large mass of Butterfree that was now gathered around the fighting pair. She leaned up on her toes and tried to look over or in-between the mass of flying bodies but she couldn't. After a few more times of trying to get a better vantage she sighed in frustration. "AHH! I can't see them anymore because of all those other Butterfree surrounding them now!" She whined.

Ash looked back at Donny. "Can you take us up any higher so we can hopefully see over top of them?" He asked.

The merchant merely smiled and nodded. "Sure thing, everybody hold on!" He said as he pulled down on the lever below the fire grate that helped propel the balloon.

Ash grabbed onto one of the balloon supports while Giselle grabbed onto him, Pikachu hopped hopped onto his shoulder, Misty grabbed the railing and Brock took ahold of another of the support beams. They all watched as the balloon started climbing into the air higher and higher the longer Donny held down on the rope and sent flames through the mechanism.

Eventually the balloon had climbed to a height to where they were now the highest balloon in the sky, far above the mass of Butterfree down below but still in clear enough sight that they could now see Ash's Butterfree and the pink one hovering the middle of the crowd, still going at each other relentlessly. Ash leaned against the railing and continued to watch the two with a keen eye as he tried to figure out who would break first.

They all continued to watch the interesting encounter below them for several more minutes until suddenly, Pikachu's ears perked up at a sound he was hearing some ways away.

"Pika?" He said curiously as he bounded to the other side of the railing and looked out in the direction he was hearing the noise coming from.

Ash looked at his Pokémon and called over to him, "What's the matter Pi?"

When he didn't get a response from the electric mouse, Ash walked over until he was standing right beside of the railing Pikachu was perched on and looked out in the direction his Pokémon was. He stared off into the white, fluffy expanse of clouds that were blanketing the direction he was staring at and merely observed patiently while listening to whatever it was Pikachu was so interested in.

After a few moments of listening in silence, Ash began hearing something that sounded almost like the humming wings of several dozen Beedrill all at once and by the sound of it... whatever the object could be was getting closer and closer. Ash just leaned back into the balloon and continued to stare out at the horizon with a confused and weary look in his eyes.

He stepped back to his friends then and grabbed ahold of Giselle. "Guys... somethings coming this way." He warned while never taking his eyes off the direction the sound was coming from.

Misty looked at him and then where he was staring at. "What are you talking about Ash?"

He pointed. "I hear something weird coming from that direction. I don't know what it is but its making Pikachu nervous," He answered while looking up onto his shoulder at his Pokémon, who was twitching his ears in agitation.

Brock went over to the edge of the balloon and strained his ears to listen for the sound while Giselle walked away from Ash and over to the other edge as well as she stared off into the distance. "I don't hear or see any-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence as everyone in the balloon started hearing the very sound that Ash was talking about. The noise was faint but they could all hear it. None of them could tell what it was but it sounded loud and it only got louder the closer whatever it was came to them.

Everyone adopted tense expressions then as Brock spoke up, "I don't know what it is but its getting closer and it sounds big..." He stated somewhat nervously.

Ash went and looked over the side of the balloon at all of the other balloons and the mass of Butterfree down below, who were still watching Ash's Butterfree and the pink one go at it, and could tell that none of them could hear what was coming. He grew slightly uneasy and quickly pulled his Pokédex out.

The boy input a few commands into the device and requested to have Pidgeot sent over to him from the Lab in return for sending Gastly back. He really hoped Professor Oak was home because whatever was coming their way, Ash had a bad feeling and if it really did turn out to be trouble, he wanted a Pokémon with him that could fight in the air effectively. Even more so than Gastly himself could.

Arceus was on his side fortunately because just seconds later, Pidgeot's Pokéball appeared on the teleporter pad of the Pokédex.

Ash quickly stowed the Pokéball away on his belt and put his Pokédex away as the sound started getting louder and louder as the clouds far in front of them began to shift and spin around erratically.

"Here it comes guys!" Brock yelled out.

No sooner did those words leave his lips and the clouds fully parted as a large black machine quickly made its way through the wispy covering. Ash and the others looked at the new arrival and took in it's appearance. The buzzing, whirling sound now at an almost deafening roar because of it's close proximity.

"Its a helicopter!" Donny exclaimed with a shout, putting an arm over his face to fend off the violent winds that were being blown their way by the machine.

As the flying vehicle came fully into view, flying closer and closer due to the fast speeds it was traveling at, they could all see that it was painted an almost solid black color. As the helicopter came closer and made a slight rocking motion to the side, Ash was able to see a bright red 'R' on its side. Anyone who had had a run in with the organization that used that particular letter as their symbol would have known who it was with no questions now. Ash was no exception.

"Team Rocket!" He yelled out in anger, startling the other occupants of the balloon.

"What?!" Giselle yelled back, looking at the helicopter along with Brock, Misty and Donny.

They all then saw the symbol of the dreaded organization and Misty shouted loudly so her voice would carry over the loud noise, "What are they doing here?!"

"I don't know but it can't be good!" Brock yelled back. Yelling really wasn't an option right now, more like a must. With the roaring of the helicopters engine and the sound of its rotator blades cutting through the air, the entire area was quickly becoming consumed in its almost deafening roar.

The machine came closer and closer to their balloon but instead of instead of continuing its current direction, it made a quick turn to the side and started descending downwards... straight towards the mass of Butterfree.

Giselle gasped. "They're going for the Butterfree!"

At that moment, all of the Butterfree and the trainers in the other balloons (who had been watching the machine since it arrived and started making the loud noise, effectively ending the fight between Ash's Butterfree and the pink one) began panicking upon seeing it coming for them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

(Inside of The Helicopter)

Jessie and James were cackling like mad as they watched the Butterfree start flying around in a panic, only succeeding in coming together in an even tighter formation and thus an easier target, while Meowth watched on with a stony face.

"Quit laughin' yous two and help me catch dim Butterfree!" He shouted. "Dat first balloon we saw had da twerps in it! We need ta get what we came for and get outta here before they ruin da plan!"

The two humans quit laughing almost instantly. "You're right Meowth!" James said as he and Jessie took their seats and prepared for the next phase.

"We can't let those brats stop us this time!" Jessie growled.

Meowth pressed a few buttons and looked back out the tinted window of the chopper. "We gotta get all da Butterfree in one spot, tight together, so we can catch em' all in da net in one go!" He instructed. "Get ready ta release da net James!"

"Got it!" The blue haired man replied back.

Meowth drove the chopper until it was directly behind the mass of Butterfree, who were already in a somewhat loose formation, and started flying forwards... chasing them all across the sky as he yelled back to Jessie, "Get dim arms out Jessie! We gotta get em' tighter!"

Jessie nodded and pressed a button on the control panel in front of her. "Arms engaged!" She confirmed.

Two gigantic arms sprouted from the chopper and fanned out across the sky. They started swatting at all of the wayward Butterfree, slowly forcing them into a tighter formation as they tried to escape. Some of the braver ones tried to escape and fly over top of the arms but they would just be pushed back quickly by the mechanical attachments, effectively trapping them inside the panicking mass of Butterfree. The arms continued to draw closer until they were literally a corral, keeping almost all of the Pokémon in one big mass.

James suddenly saw a flash of pink within the restless sea of Butterfree and squinted his eyes to get a better view. He finally managed to get a full image of the pink object and noticed, to his shock, that it was a pink Butterfree. Another Butterfree with a yellow scarf tied around it's neck was also flying right beside of it, pushing back the other Butterfree that were trying to smother them with their bodies and defending the pink one protectively. Leading him to believe that the one wearing the scarf was male and the pink one was female.

"Hey guys there's a pink colored Butterfree flying around in there!" He told Jessie and Meowth excitedly.

Jessie pushed James out of the way to see for herself. "What?! A pink Butterfree? Impossible!" She scanned the throng of Butterfree for herself and eventually caught a glimpse of the pink female as her eyes widened in shock. "How is that even possible?! I thought Butterfree were supposed to look completely different than that if they were off color!" She protested.

Before James could think of a response Meowth spoke up, "They usually are! Strange colored Butterfree usually ain't colored dat much differently then a regular one is. Just a few changes, mostly to their wings, feet and eyes. Dat pink one just must be special!" He explained with a grin.

"How do you know?!" Jessie demanded.

Meowth looked back at her. "I'm a talking Pokémon Jess! It ain't dat hard ta believe I know what different colored Butterfree look like!"

James formed a greedy look in his eye then. "If we give it to the boss then he'll be even more pleased with us!" He said excitedly.

Jessie smiled widely. "You're right James!" She looked at Meowth. "What are you waiting for furball?! Catch those Pokémon already!"

Meowth looked out and saw that the Butterfree were all finally in a position where they could be grabbed in one swoop with the net and then called out to James, "Drop da net Jamesy boy!"

James nodded and ran over to his chair, sitting down and pressing a button on the side panel of it.

The bottom of the helicopter opened up then and a massive, thick looking net attached to a steel poll dropped down from the inside. As the net met the open air it started to expand and unfurl out until it was eventually large enough to completely cover the entire width of the mass of Butterfree.

Meowth picked up the speed of the chopper and started closing in on the Butterfree, the large net swaying behind them, ready to scoop up each and every last one.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash and his friends watched as the helicopter dropped a massive net out of it's bottom half and started to grow to a size large enough to hold all of the Butterfree without leaving a single one behind and the sheer sight alone was enough to make all of their blood run cold.

"They're trying to catch the Butterfree!" Misty shouted.

"We gotta stop them!" Giselle said frantically, looking around the balloon as if the answer to the problem could be found there.

Ash whipped around and faced Donny, a completely serious look on his face. "Can you get us down close to that chopper as fast as you can?!" He asked urgently.

Donny seemed seemed confused for a minute and then just nodded his head. "Yes I can get us down but it'll take some time and this thing doesn't move nearly as fast as that helicopter is. Why?" He asked.

Ash stepped closer to him. "We can stop Team Rocket and help those Butterfree but we're too far away! I need you to get us closer!"

Donny went wide eyed. "No I'm sorry." He said shaking his head. "If that's really Team Rocket then I can't let a bunch of kids get involved! All the rest of the trainers are staying back as well," The man pointed out while gesturing to the other balloons full of trainers that could only watch in horror as the Butterfree that were once theirs were about to be stolen by some criminal organization. "We'll go back to ground level and call the police. They'll be able to-"

Anything else the balloon merchant was going to say was abruptly cut off by Ash, who growled from in his throat and stepped closer until he was right in Donny's face. The boy's unnatural height he possessed for his age bringing him right up to chest level with the man as he reached out and grabbed ahold of his shirt, squeezing it in a tight grip and yanking him forward with surprising strength.

"Listen!" He shouted. "I've dealt with Team Rocket before and stopped them! I have to help those Pokémon and you standing in my way isn't going to help me! If we wait and call the police after we get back to the ground it'll be too late and they would have stolen all the Butterfree! They'll be long gone and no one will have any chance of ever finding them! I asked you to help us out so we can save those Pokémon before Team Rocket gets their filthy hands on them! If you won't get us down there to that chopper then get the hell outta my way and I'll fly this thing down there myself! I've watched how you've done it this whole time and I'm a quick study!"

The young trainer tightened his grip. "Now either help us out and do as I asked or move... BECAUSE I'M HELPING THOSE BUTTERFREE!" Ash growled the last few words out in a deep rumble as his voice momentarily changed and his eyes flickered to an electric dark blue, a similar faint blue aura starting to rise from him as well.

Ash's friends pressed themselves back against the sides of the balloon in slight fear since they knew Ash was starting to get mad. And when Ash started to get really mad... the last thing anyone wanted to do was stand in his way. The air became slightly thick in the balloon and Pikachu looked as though he was struggling slightly. Not from the lack of air but more like from some kind of... feeling he was trying to overcome from the emergence of Ash's strange aura. His eyes were shut tightly and he was shaking his head from side to side, like he was fighting some sort of battle in his mind.

Ash's now electric blue eyes bore into Donny's and the man could feel himself starting to sweat as his heart rate picked up and a horrible sensation of fear gripped him. "MY OWN BUTTERFREE IS DOWN THERE RIGHT NOW IN THAT MASS AND IF TEAM ROCKET CAPTURES THEM THEN I LOSE MY POKÉMON AND I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!" He shouted in that same deep rumble voice again.

Donny, the man had courage at least, just gulped and timidly shook his head. "I... I can't! Its not safe! I'm s-"

Something seemed to have snapped inside of Pikachu at that very moment when Donny once again denied to assist he and Ash in helping to save one of his teammates and fellow Pokèmon from Team Rocket.

His eyes suddenly snapped open as he leaned forward from his perch on Ash's shoulder and towards the balloon merchant. "PIKA!" He shouted in a much deeper sounding voice than anyone had ever heard out of the small Pokémon before. His claws were digging deeper into Ash's shoulder (not that the angry trainer noticed at the moment) and his fur seemed to have turned a slightly darker shade of yellow. A faint static seemed to be sparking around him like Ash also was at the moment and his eyes were quickly changing back and forth from brown to the same electric, angry blue as Ash's currently were.

Donny quickly backed up until he was against the railing of the balloon and just stared in terror at the sight of the possessed looking young trainer and his Pokémon glaring angrily at him, his knees shaking uncontrollably. Ash's eyes were still glowing blue, a faint aura shroud coming off of him while Pikachu appeared very similar. Their eyes never left his. Almost daring Donny to refuse them again.

The scared man then glanced from the furious duo to Ash's friends with an anxious look, almost pleading for assistance of some kind since he was now officially far out of his element and comfort zone the minute Ash and Pikachu started glowing blue.

Brock just nodded his head at the man and answered his unspoken plea for help, "Please do as Ash says sir... trust me, he's done this before. He can handle it and we'll be there to help him," He promised firmly. Giselle and Misty nodding in agreement along with him.

Donny could not argue any longer and on top of that, he was starting to feel somewhat lightheaded from the thin air now permeating the balloon. Because of this, the fire that helped keep the balloon aloft was starting to flicker and that was a very bad thing.

He took one last look at Ash, which was a feat in itself since the current state of the boy's eyes terrified him beyond words, and could see the determination there being mirrored in Pikachu's own eyes. The man then started to believe in that moment that maybe just maybe, this boy and his friends could really help the Butterfree. He just had to take a leap of faith.

Donny let out a sigh and nodded his relentingly. "Okay young man... I'll get us to that chopper. Just promise me you'll all do your best to stay safe and you have my support."

Giselle stepped up to Ash's side and gently grasped his arm, kissing his cheek tenderly as she spoke to him in a comforting way, "Its okay now Ash, he's going to help us. It'll all be alright. We'll help Butterfree I promise, just calm down now okay... just calm down..."

Everyone watched as Giselle's gentle touch and soothing words fully calmed Ash (who was already starting to calm down after Donny consented to help) but the soft influence of his girlfriend merely helped to bring him fully back to reality.

Giselle walked to his other side then and stroked Pikachu's cheeks softly while murmuring calming words to him as well. The Electric-Type was already pretty calm after Ash's energy started to fade but yet again... Giselle's gentle touch did just the trick.

Ash finally seemed to return to himself after a few moments and then slumped slightly against the basket of the balloon, somewhat out of breath from the toll that the energy leaking from his body had drained from him. He looked up at Donny then, who still seemed rather nervous, and sighed. "I'm really sorry for that Donny... I won't explain what just happened because you wouldn't understand."

He looked down for a moment as he murmured to himself, "I don't even fully understand it..."

Straitening back up fully, Giselle standing by him for support, he looked Donny in the eyes. "Look... I love my Pokémon and I can't, I won't, see them suffer or be hurt in any way. I promise I can save them and I'm sorry I freaked out it's just... I take things really seriously when it comes to them. Again, I apologize for getting out of hand." He bowed his head slightly in a sign of apology.

Donny finally relaxed and smiled himself. "I understand Ash, you love and care for your Pokémon and I respect that. I'm going to trust in you and your friends to help just be careful alright?"

Ash smiled in return and gave a thumbs up. "You got it Donny." Pikachu gave his own thumbs up as well. "Pikachu Pi!"

Donny reached up and pulled down on the chain that controlled the fire source for the balloon then. "Hold on everybody! This may get rough!"

Ash and the others braced themselves just as Donny pulled down on the chain and the fire flared up in the stack even hotter. The balloon lurched and then, by the expert balloon handling of Donny, started going higher and higher, the air currents moving the balloon around until it was right on course with the Team Rocket helicopter.

Donny continued to work the balloon until it started getting closer and closer to the chopper. Once it was near enough, Donny stopped feeding the balloon as much fuel and then let it start descending down towards the fast moving object.

Ash and his friends saw the helicopter getting closer to the mass of Butterfree that were still trying to escap while the large net swayed ominously behind them like an aerial monster ready to strike at any moment. "Come on Donny, faster!" Ash urged the man.

Donny gritted his teeth.'"It won't descend any faster than this Ash, we're just gonna have to wait!"

Ash growled in frustration just as the chopper finally lunged forward and the net started scooping up the Butterfree, who of which were now all beyond terrified.

"NO!" Ash yelled as he leaned forward in the balloon.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

(Inside the massive flock of Butterfree)

Ash's Butterfree looked behind him as the large net of Team Rocket's closed in on the straggling Pokémon in the back of the flock, scooping them all far back into the net where they fluttered vainly in an attempt to escape.

Butterfree flapped his wings to fly even faster, trying desperately to stay ahead of the net while looking at his side to make sure the pink Butterfree was still keeping up with him. Which she was. He nudged her in the side to go faster and she just nodded before pumping her wings harder and picking up speed. The two of them started pulling farther ahead of the other Butterfree but it was proven quickly to be in vain as the chopper only went faster, scooping up even more Butterfree into it's net.

Eventually, more than half of the Butterfree had been captured inside the net and the rest of them were soon joining the same fate. One particular panic induced movement of the remaining Butterfree caused Ash's Butterfree and the pink one to become separated by a surge of their terrified kin trying as hard as they could to get away. The sudden separation knocked Ash's Butterfree spinning further up ahead, while the pink one lost just enough speed to start getting pushed back more and more towards the net... a fearful and panicked look coming across her face.

Ash's Butterfree quickly righted himself and then hovered in one spot, beating back the other Butterfree that kept jostling him around. He finally caught a glimpse of the female's pink skin and narrowed his eyes in determination before flying back for her as fast as he could, weaving in and out through the flow of madly surging Butterfree with precise movements and impressive agility.

Many times while he flew he would nearly become blocked off by a rather thick cluster of his fellow Butterfree and would have to use either Gust or Silverwind to push them apart so he could keep going. Faster and faster he flew against the flow, never taking his eyes off of the pink Butterfree's body as he dodged, weaved and attacked any other Pokémon in his way.

Eventually he managed to reach the pink one, who seemed shocked by his return for her, and got behind her... stopping the female's backward momentum so she didn't keep falling behind. He urged her forward, all while looking behind himself at the quickly approaching net and she quickly responded to the effort. Pumping her wings as hard she could to get moving forward again.

Once the two of them were finally back in full flight they started going as fast as their wings could possibly take them. Passing most of the other Butterfree, dodging, swerving and even attacking any in their way in almost perfect synch. At one point their eyes even met while launching a simultaneous SilverWind at each other's opposite sides, trying to get more space to fly, and when they did... one could swear something sparked in their gazes for just a fraction of a second.

After several moments of fighting their way through the mass of their panicking brethren, both Butterfree finally started to see the very front of the pack. They knew that if they could just break free of the rest of them then they would be able to bank to the sides and get free of the nets range entirely. This thought spurred them both on and caused them to fly even faster, determined to break free.

Inside of the chopper Meowth saw this and chuckled loudly. "I don't think so little Butterfree, yous two ain't gettin' away dat easily!"

Jessie and James laughed as Meowth pressed a button on the control panel.

Just as both Butterfree were almost at the very front of the Butterfree flock, the front underside portion of the chopper opened up, dropping down another net that swooped down from the front and went right towards them.

Ash's Butterfree and the pink one went wide eyed as they saw this and attempted to stop moving forward. Unfortunately, the surge of Butterfree behind them made it impossible and caused them both to continue pressing towards the second net, which was now closing the gap between them and the first one.

The remaining Butterfree finally saw the danger and tried to change direction but it was already too late. Ash's Butterfree and the pink one could only watch as the front and back nets quickly closed the last remaining distance between each other. Finally scooping up every last Butterfree and connecting both ends together in the middle with an audible 'clack', sealing the double net and cutting off any chances the Butterfree had to escape. Not a single free one left.

Ash's Butterfree and the pink quickly made their way towards one side of the net and started banging their bodies against it as hard as they could. Trying everything they knew of to break free. The rest of the Butterfree were too scared to do anything besides flutter around hopelessly in a panic, rapidly pushing Ash's Butterfree and the female back into the thick of the mass.

Just before he was sucked into the crowd again, Butterfree spotted his trainer's balloon coming down towards the chopper and saw Ash perched at the very front, looking desperately down at them all. He cried out loudly to Ash just before he and the pink female were finally overtaken by the other Butterfree.

Jessie, James and Meowth laughed inside of the chopper madly at seeing their successful attempt at finally catching all of the Butterfree.

"Great driving Meowth!" Jessie praised from the right side of Meowth's chair.

"Yes Meowth, first class scooping that was!" James added in.

Meowth grinned widely. "Hehe, them Butterfree didn't know what hit em'! Now we just gotta get em' all back to da warehouse for transport!" He said gleefully.

Jessie threw her fist in the air. "Then don't keep us waiting Meowth, back to base!" She cheered.

James joined her in the excitement as Meowth nodded. "Get back in your seats then and hold on! We're gettin' outta here!" He quickly changed the direction of the helicopter and then started driving it quickly away from the area, all of the trainers watching helplessly from their balloons as their current and former Butterfree were whisked away right in front of them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash watched in fury and fear as both ends of the net sealed together, trapping every last Butterfree away within it's confines. He then grabbed onto the basket and leaned forward desperately as he saw a flash of his own Butterfree's yellow scarf amongst the mass of other Butterfree and felt his stomach sink at the revelation that his Pokémon been taken as well.

He also noticed that his Butterfree was right next to the pink one and that the two of them were apparently, from he was seeing, the only ones trying to escape. The boy just watched as both of them were quickly sucked back into the crowd but not before hearing his Butterfree cry out while looking in his direction.

"BUTTERFREE!" He shouted as grabbed onto both support poles of the balloon nearest to him.

Giselle, Misty and Brock rushed over and looked out towards the chopper as it started to change direction and fly away. "No damn way in hell!" Ash defiantly stated in anger as he reached for his belt.

His girlfriend grabbed his wrist though. "Ash what are you doing?!" Giselle demanded.

Ash looked at her. "I'm going to follow them and get my Pokémon back! That's what!"

"But how?!" Misty yelled.

"This balloon isn't going to be able to go fast enough to keep up with that chopper," Brock said while looking at Donny for confirmation of his assessment, whom simply nodded in reply

"Our best bet will be to head down to my shop and then call the police," Donny stated evenly. "Even with giving this baby all she's got we still won't be able to catch up with that helicopter."

Ash shook his head. "This balloon can't... but a Pokèmon can. More specifically," He drew a Pokéball from his belt. "MY Pokémon can!"

Brock seemed to understand. "You mean you're going to try and catch up with them on-" Ash cut him off. "Yes I'm going to succeed in catching up with them on Pidgeot. She's faster than Butterfree, Gastly and Fearow. I know she can get me and Pikachu to wherever they're taking the Butterfree!" He said with certainty.

"But you've never ridden on Pidgeot before Ash!" Giselle protested.

Ash shook his head. "I know I haven't Giselle but I've trained Pidgeot extremely hard for just these types of occasions. Her and Fearow both has drilled on making themselves more than strong enough for me to ride on and I know she's ready! They can both only ever carry two people but right now I just feel comfortable with one. That's me, plus Pikachu." He grabbed Giselle by her shoulders. "That's why I need you to stay here with the others and get help alright? Once we find them I'll send Pidgeot back to find you guys and lead you to us. Will you please do that for me?" He pleaded.

Giselle looked as though she wanted to protest and make Ash take her with him but she thought about it. She knew that Pidgeot was still too young and inexperienced with passenger flying to handle both her and Ash's weight. She wanted to see the Butterfree rescued just as much as Ash and knew that this was the only way.

Reluctantly she nodded her head. "Okay Ash... please just be careful. You don't know which Team Rocket members took the Butterfree and we already know they don't like you. If they find out you're alive then..." She trailed off.

Ash pulled her into a hug. "They're gonna find out eventually Giselle..." He pulled away and smiled at her then. "I've got way too many big plans to keep me from staying out of the public eye!" He joked and then became serious seeing the worry on his girlfriend's face. "I promise you I'll be okay. Just get help along with Brock, Misty and Donny and wait for Pidgeot to come back okay?"

Giselle nodded and put on a smile on her face. "You've got it!"

Ash smiled at her again and then pulled her close, bringing his lips down to her eagerly awaiting ones and pressing them softly together. Their lips danced together and then separated over and over again as they put as much of their feelings as two kids their age could put into a kiss. With one last last lingering kiss to her soft lips, Ash pulled away and winked at her before hugging Misty and patting Brock's shoulder.

"Go get those Butterfree Ash!" Misty encouraged him.

"And don't underestimate Team Rocket whatever you do Ash," Brock warned.

Ash nodded to his other two friends before looking at Donny. "Take care of them all and please don't forget to call the police for me okay Donny?"

The man smiled and nodded. "You got it Ash. Just be careful yourself and we'll see you soon. I must be outta my mind for letting a kid do this but... I have faith in you."

Ash gave a thumbs up and then looked at Pikachu. "Ready pal?"

Pikachu smiled and raised his fist confidently. "Pikachu! Pika Pi Kachu Pi!"

The raven haired trainer then reared back and threw the Pokéball he had in his hand out into the air, "Pidgeot we need you!" He yelled.

The ball burst open and Pidgeot came soaring out of her Pokéball in a flash of bright light, twirling gracefully in the air before making a looping motion and coming to hover in front of the balloon. The increased size, mass and elegance that came with her evolution from a Pidgeotto being put on display for them all to see. "Pidge Pidgeooo!" She said in a happy coo upon seeing Ash.

Said trainer just smiled at her in greeting and then adopted a serious expression on his face. "Pidgeot, Team Rocket has taken a bunch of Butterfree, including mine, and I need you to help us find them! Can you carry me to where they went and try to find the helicopter they used with your avian vision?"

Pidgeot instantly snapped to attention when she heard that one of her fellow teammates had been taken and nodded quickly. "Pidgeooo Pidgeoo!" She screeched, turning around and motioning for Ash to climb on.

Ash did just that and climbed up on the balloon before jumping onto Pidgeot's back. He could feel his Pokémon taking a second to adjust to his weight for the first time ever but she quickly acclimatized and then prepared for takeoff. He looked back at his friends and waved to them. "I'll see you guys soon!"

His friends and Donny waved him off as Pikachu adjusted himself on Ash's shoulder. "Alright Pidgeot... lets go!" Ash yelled.

The female bird Pokémon reared her head back and cawed loudly as she flapped her wings a few times, sending strong air currents back at the balloon, before shooting off in the direction Ash pointed Team Rocket retreated to in a fast burst of speed.

Donny quickly started lowering the balloon to the ground while Giselle watched after the retreating form of Pidgeot. "Please be careful Ash..."

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

The Team Rocket chopper made its way through a large, rocky valley with all haste about it. Staying just high enough above most of the rocks to not worry about colliding with them and crashing. The net that was now full of Butterfree was hanging below the helicopter strongly. All of the captured Pokémon having absolutely no way out.

Inside of the machine, Meowth was carefully steering the chopper through the many rocky peaks while Jessie and James sat in their own chairs, handling other functions of the high tech vehicle.

"We're coming up on base Meowth," Jessie informed her teammate from what she was seeing on her guidance computer.

James pressed a few buttons on the console in front of him before speaking as well. "Once you get to the warehouse Meowth, just hover over it and I'll retract the roof from here, allowing us to land inside."

Meowth nodded. "Got it!"

The chopper flew on for another mile or so before finally coming into view of a generous sized gorge-like crater that was wide open in space just enough for a standard warehouse to be nestled in the middle of it's hold.

Meowth carefully flew the helicopter through the final narrow gap that was separating them from the gorge and after finally making it through, he flew the chopper over to the warehouse until it was hovering directly over top of the building. James quickly pressed a button on his control panel and the roof of the warehouse started retracting back into the opposite sides of the building.

Once the way was clear, Meowth started lowering the helicopter into the warehouse slowly until it had fully entered the building. Which was actually much bigger on the inside than the outside would appear.

He carefully moved the chopper around until the net full of Butterfree was a safe distance away from where the landing area was located and then released it, allowing the large net to fall to the floor. Causing a loud thudding noise to be heard as the Butterfree inside began panicking and flying around again.

The three Rockets exited the helicopter after Meowth powered it down and then James shut the roof of the warehouse back before walking over to the net full of stolen Pokémon. "Hehe!" He chuckled gleefully. "Look at all those Butterfree!"

Jessie walked up to the net and peered inside, scaring some of the Butterfree. "With so many primo looking Butterfree to give to the Boss, we'll be rich without a doubt!" She said merrily.

Suddenly, two forms blurred into sight from the depths of the net and smashed into it hard, making Jessie jump in fright. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

The two Butterfree that had attacked the net, Ash's Butterfree and the pink one, both glared at Jessie with fury in their eyes and then started attacking the net again. Biting it, throwing their bodies into it and using whatever attacks they could to get free. All while the other Butterfree were looking at them like it was hopeless.

James looked in closer. "Hey, isn't that the twerps Butterfree?"

Meowth got a closer look and nodded. "Sure is Jamesy-boy. Looks like he got caught along wit dis pink one when he tried savin' it earlier," He explained while looking at the pink Butterfree.

Jessie grinned. "Well they're certainly spirited..." She looked at Ash's Pokémon. "Especially this one." She then looked to the pink Butterfree. "And a uniquely colored one too!" The magenta haired woman laughed. "This will certainly be a wonderful little present for the Boss! You two can just keep on struggling all you want but you won't get free."

The pink Butterfree watched as Jessie's face grew closer to her own. "Who knows? Maybe the Boss will have some kind of special use for a pink Butterfree? I'll guess you'll just find out!"

Jessie laughed again and the pink female had enough. She opened her mouth quickly and shot a glob of String Shot at the red head, hitting her square in the face and knocking her onto her backside.

Jessie shrieked as she was hit with the sticky substance and while she rolled around the floor tearing at what was now stuck to her face and squealing like a little girl, James and Meowth busted out laughing.

"Geez Jess!" Meowth teased in-between laughing. "We've been in sticky situations before but dat's just ridiculous!"

James laughed even harder at Meowth's joke and when Jessie finally freed her face of the gunk she towered over the both of them in a flaming rage. "IT ISN'T FUNNY!"

She whipped around and glared at the pink Butterfree then with rage in her eyes before stomping over to the chopper. Grabbing something of out it, she stormed back over to the net. "Lets see how you like this!" Jessie fumed as she stuck what she grabbed from the chopper, a shock stick, into the net at the pink Butterfree.

Ash's Butterfree saw this coming in almost slow motion and, quick as a flash, moved in front of the pink female just as Jessie turned on the device.

The male Butterfree cried out in pain as the intense volts of electrical energy passed through his body like a raging fire, lighting up the net and scaring the other Butterfree into a panic again.

Jessie withdrew the tool in shock as Ash's Pokémon doubled over in pain. He quickly shook his body off as much as he could and glared up at Jessie with pure anger as his body continued to convulse slightly from the intense pain of being shocked in such a way. It wasn't anything compared to Pikachu's electric attacks but it still hurt like hell.

The pink Butterfree, who had been watching wide eyed as Ash's Butterfree took the shock that was meant for her, quickly flew up and braced him on one side gently while he recovered.

"Free Free... Butterfree Free?" She spoke in Pokéspeech, obviously wanting to know why he did what he did.

Jessie rejoined James and Meowth. "Translation Meowth?" Jessie asked her teammate.

Meowth walked up closer to the net so he could hear what was being said. "Da pink one just asked why da twerp's Butterfree took dat shock for her."

"Free... Free Free... Butterfree," Ash's Pokémon replied.

Meowth continued. "He said dat he did it because, even though he and her has had problems, he wadn't just gonna sit back and watch a lady get hurt like dat. He says da twerp taught him better dan ta do somethin' so low."

Jessie scoffed. "Yes and that's all very fine and sweet but we need to focus on calling HQ and getting more of the team out here to help us take all of these Butterfree back to the Boss." She looked at the two captured Butterfree one last time and smirked. "Don't worry. You two will have more than enough time to play kissy face with each other once we get you back to the Boss!"

The three Rockets laughed among themselves and then walked away towards the other end of the warehouse to prepare the for next stage of their operation and left both angry Butterfree glaring after them.

The pink Butterfree looked at the male and used her wing to gently rub the spot where Jessie had shocked him.

Ash's Butterfree looked at her with a blush on his face and noticed that the female also had a small blush upon her own visage. She spit another glob of string onto the burnt part of Butterfree's skin and covered the wound with it before looking back at him and giving a slight eye smile, the faint blush still on her cheeks.

Ash's Butterfree rubbed the now covered wound gently and then looked back the pink female while nodding gratefully.

The female blushed a little more and then looked around at the net. After a few moments of looking around she then looked down towards the ground with a somewhat depressed aura coming off of her. She looked up Ash's Butterfree and murmured something dejectedly to him. One didn't to speak Pokémon to know that she was asking if he thought they would ever get free or not.

Ash's Butterfree, upon seeing the female look so upset, was instantly filled with a new conviction and placed his right wing tip under her chin, making her look at him. "Free Free!" He said firmly. "Free Free Butterfree! Free Free Free!"

The pink female looked slightly surprised at the determination to get free that was behind the male's voice but then smiled herself and let a feeling of determination come over her as well.

They would find a way to get out of that net and free the other Butterfree and when they did, Team Rocket was going to pay...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash flew on Pidgeot's back, Pikachu still firmly attached to his shoulder, as she soared through the skies at high speeds. Currently they were going through the same canyon Team Rocket had flown through previously and were keeping their eyes peeled for any trace of the chopper.

Finding the vehicle's trail actually turned out to be easier than Ash thought it would. Pidgeot had very keen eyes and could see for quite some distance. However... what really helped them find Team Rocket's trail was Pikachu.

Apparently, in their agitated states, the captured Butterfree had been subconsciously releasing trace amounts of different powder from their wings that had lingered behind in the air for quite some time. Pikachu had managed to pick up on this scent and now they were merely following the trail of 'powder scent' through the large canyon, praying to Arceus that they would find Team Rocket.

Eventually, they came to a section of the canyon that started to open up somewhat and in the distance, Ash could see what he thought was a large building of some kind. He patted Pidgeot on the side of her body and made a motion with his hands to fly up on one of the large rock spires.

Pidgeot did as requested and flew up onto a rock peak that was just big enough for her to land on top of. Once she landed safely, Ash hopped off and walked over to the edge of the peak and gazed into the bowl shaped raveen down below.

He scoped out the building he had seen from Pidgeot's back and noticed that it was actually a warehouse. One more than big enough to hold a helicopter and a shitload of Butterfree if his estimation was correct. Walking back to Pidgeot again he asked her to take him down to ground level and once he was securely on her back again, the female bird Pokémon slowly glided down to the ground and landed quietly, still a safe distance away from the warehouse.

Ash dismounted her and patted her side. "Great job Pidgeot, take a rest for now." Getting a simple nod from his avian Pokémon, he returned her and then looked at Pikachu. "Ready buddy?"

Pikachu gave his trainer a nod and then Ash set off towards the building, very slowly and low to the ground so hopefully no one would see him. He would also stop every few feet and check the ground for any traps that may have been placed. When he would find none then he would continue on. It was a slow process but Ash would rather get there unnoticed than trigger an alarm like some fool and get captured.

Finally, the young Ketchum made it to the side of the large warehouse and looked around. He didn't even give the front double doors a thought because really... how stupid would it have been to just barge in? Instead, Ash scanned the wall he was now leaning against and saw several large windows scattered in a line down the length of the building. Each one was a good distance above the ground but Ash knew that with a little teamwork, he and Pikachu would be able to make it up to one with no problems.

He walked up to one of the windows then, which was shadowed from the sun by the overhang of the warehouse roof, and looked up. He couldn't tell how wide the ledge of the window was so he looked at Pikachu. "Hey pal, if I throw you up do you think you can grab ahold of that ledge and tell me if its wide enough for me to stand on?"

Pikachu gave his trainer a thumbs up and Ash smiled. He reached up and grabbed a hold of Pikachu, lifting him off of his shoulder and then tossed him up towards the ledge. Pikachu went straight up with his arms extended and grabbed onto the window ledge with his claws. Keeping himself up by sticking his hind claws into the wall, Pikachu quickly peaked his head up and saw that the ledge was more than wide enough for Ash to crouch atop of.

The Electric-Type quickly bounded down off the wall and landed in Ash's arms.

"Well Pikachu?" Ash asked.

The Pokémon nodded his head in affirmative and Ash smiled. "Awesome Pi, thanks!"

The raven-haired Trainer then took a few steps back and observed the window ledge for a few moments. It was quite some ways off the ground and he knew that he would need some kind of leverage to help get up to it. He considered a quick wall kick-off with his feet; which was essentially just running at a wall and then jumping up onto it with two feet and attempting to springboard yourself to higher places that way, but he knew such a thing wouldn't work. It was simply too high up.

At that moment though... he had an idea. Ash looked at Pikachu then, who was standing beside of him, and knelt down to his level.

"Hey Pikachu, do you think you can help me get up to that window?" He asked.

Pikachu looked at the window and then Ash with a confused look on his face but nodded regardless.

Ash smiled and explained the plan. "Okay then, here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go stand below the window ledge, facing the building. I'll stay back here and take off running towards you. Once I get within reach of the warehouse's shadow I'm going to call out just loud enough for you to hear. What I want you to do is charge up an Iron Tail and then get on your back with your tail extended over top of your face like a springboard. I'll let you know again once I go to jump and when I do, I'm going to aim to land right on top your tail okay. Once you feel my feet on your tai, I want you to use all the power from Iron Tail to launch me up into the air. All that force should be more than enough to help me reach the ledge if it goes well."

Ash paused for a second to let Pikachu get all he just said before continuing. "Once I'm up and settled, I wanted you to come back to where we are now and use Quick Attack to run towards the wall. Just before you reach it, jump and do a flip in the air while using Iron Tail. The impact of Iron Tail when you land on the ground and the added speed of Quick Attack should be more than enough to launch you close up enough to the window so I can grab you. Got all that?"

Pikachu took a few moments to visualize everything in his mind and once he had it all down, he nodded.

Ash smiled and then the two went to take their places. Pikachu in the position Ash told him to be in near the wall, while he himself went and stood back far enough to get a good running start. Once in position he called out to Pikachu, "Ready?"

"Pika!" Was his Pokémon's reply.

Ash stretched his legs out really quick and then got into a runner's stance before taking off towards the wall. Once he was in range he called out to Pikachu who quickly went onto his back and charged up an Iron Tail. The boy jumped when he felt close enough and just as he landed and felt his foot hit Pikachu's now steel hard tail he called out, "Now!"

Pikachu then let his tail spring open and all of the force from the released Iron Tail catapulted Ash up into air. When he was level with the edge, he grasped onto it firmly with both hands and used his feet to help pull himself up. Once he was on top of the ledge, Ash sunk himself to the edge of the wall while staying clear of the window's view and looked down at Pikachu.

"Your turn Pi!"

Pikachu nodded and then ran back to where Ash had been standing moments ago. He charged up a Quick Attack into his legs and then pushed off the ground hard, running towards the wall at fast speeds. Once he was close enough, Pikachu did a jump in the air and as he flipped around he used Iron Tail to impact the ground hard. The force of Iron Tail and the speed of Quick Attack was more than enough to send him soaring into the air and just as he came within reach of the ledge, Ash reached out and took hold of his Pokémon, hauling Pikachu up until he was safe beside him on the ledge.

Pikachu gave his trainer a grateful glance and Ash merely smiled at him. "Great job Pikachu." He then turned his attention towards the window again and slowly shuffled his way forwards on the ledge, keeping his back glued to the side of the wall so anyone inside the building hopefully wouldn't look up and see him or Pikachu.

Once he made it to the window, Ash looked inside of the warehouse and first noticed just how big it was. There were several crates and boxes of all sizes stacked up everywhere in no particular order and in the center of the area he spotted the helicopter that had taken all of the Butterfree. Switching his gaze to the left, Ash also saw the large net that currently held the captured Butterfree and right at the very front of the net, he could see his Butterfree and the pink one. Both of them still trying their best to, as far as Ash could tell, break free from their prison.

This had the effect of making Ash smile at his Butterfree's resilience and determination not to give in when the rest had seemingly already done so, be impressed at the pink Butterfree for fighting along side his own so intently and also feel rage at Team Rocket for stealing his Pokémon and all the other Buttefree. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists at the sight but turned his gaze towards the back of the warehouse and finally saw the Team Rocket members who were responsible for it all.

Standing around what appeared to be a vid-phone, though it didn't appear active yet, were Jessie, James and Meowth.

Seeing that it was them who stole the Butterfree really didn't come as much of a surprise to Ash as one would think since he had had a hunch it was them all along. In fact, the only thing that never confirmed his suspicions was the fact that he hadn't been able to see inside of the helicopter when they stole the Butterfree and so he never was ableto identify them.

Now, seeing the proof right in front of his eyes, Ash could truly say he wasn't shocked. He could say however that he felt for certain they weren't doing all of this just for themselves. They were after all part of a huge crime syndicate that specialized in trafficking Pokémon so he knew that they had to have stolen the Butterfree for their organization. And if he could place a bet then he figured that was probably who they were getting ready to call on the video phone at this very moment.

To traffic them or be made to do their bidding, Ash didn't know what Team Rocket's plans were for the Butterfree and he didn't care. All he did care about was stopping them and rescuing the Pokémon.

The first thing Ash knew he needed to do was somehow listen in on what the three Rockets were doing before he went barging in. After all, he had enough sense to know that rushing headfirst into something without a plan was always a terrible idea. Because of this, he wanted to formulate a strategy first and the only way to do that was to scope out the situation and find out what the three grunts were planning.

He then turned to look at Pikachu, who had been staring through the window at the captured Butterfree, and spoke to him. "Hey Pikachu, can you do something for me?"

Pikachu looked at his trainer and just nodded. Ash searched around the edged of the window before settling his gaze on the right side's bottom corner. He quickly formed an idea and then asked Pikachu, "Hey buddy, do you think you can use Iron Tail, stick it right at the corner of that window seal and then pry up gently on it until the window pops free? Just enough so that I can hear what's going on inside?"

Pikachu nodded and then ran over to the window's edge, turning around and sticking his tail just below the bottom edge of the window seal. After he had turned his tail to the shining steel like color of Iron Tail, Pikachu gently pried upwards on it until Ash heard and saw the window start to crack apart from the wall and lift up. He quickly motioned for Pikachu to stop and once he did, the boy made his way over to the small gap that had been made in-between the window and wall and put his ear down to it, listening in to what was being said inside of the warehouse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

James was just about to turn on the vid-phone so they could call into HQ and speak to the Boss or one of the commanders about their capture of all the Butterfree and then request an extraction of some kind kind, when Meowth suddenly stopped him.

"Wait yous guys!" He shouted.

James stopped what he was doing as he and Jessie both turned to the talking Pokémon with raised eyebrows.

"What is it Meowth? Can't you see this is important?!" Jessie said irritably.

Meowth nodded and then hopped on top of the video phone. "Look guys, we may have caught all them Butterfree but I think we need to show da Boss somtin' a little more special during da call," He ventured with a grin.

The two humans appeared to be confused. "What are you talking about Meowth?" James inquired.

Mewoth crossed his arms and smiled. "I'm talkin' about showin' da Boss a Pokémon dat'll really peak his interest!"

Jessie seemed skeptical. "Like...?"

Meowth grinned and pointed towards the net that held all of the Butterfree. "Simple. We'll get dat pink Butterfree outta da net and then put her in dis cage," He pointed to a small cage on a crate near them. "Then we'll show her to da Boss durin' da call and he'll be so impressed dat he'll probably promote us on the spot!"

Jessie and James still seemed confused as Jessie scoffed. "And just HOW are we going to get her out of that net Meowth? We open it from the top and all of the Butterfree will escape!"

James nodded. "And that Butterfree of the twerp's will attack us if we try to touch it's girlfriend!" He whined.

Meowth just smirked and shook his head. "No it won't..."

Jessie and James raised their eyebrows. "Explain." Jessie demanded.

Meowth nodded and then pointed towards the net. "Remember when we found dat net in here with da chopper?"

They both nodded and Meowth continued. "Dat net is one of Team Rocket's best inventions for capturin' Pokémon. Its made of a special techna-weave fiber dat's resilient to almost all attacks physical and elemental. Luckily though... da rope can be stretched apart wit just da right amounta force and a small electrical charge."

"And how does that help us get that pink Butterfree out of the net Meowth?" Jessie asked impatiently.

Meowth walked over to a small crate and flipped the lid off. He then reached down and dug around inside of it until he withdrew two rubber/metallic looking gloves with blue electric lines going down the length of the palms.

He brought them over and handed them to James, who took them with a perplexed look on his face. Meowth explained. "These gloves'll transmit a charge to da ropes dat'll loosen em' up for Jess so she can reach in and grab dat pink Butterfree. Once ya grab her and James lets go of da net, it'll snap right back. I'll keep dat bruisa of a Butterfree of da twerps back with the shock stick," He explained.

Jessie and James looked at each other and grinned before looking back at Meowth.

"Great idea Meowth!" Jessie commended.

"Yeah lets do it!" James said while slipping on the gloves.

Meowth grabbed the shock stick and then they all made their way over to the net and stood in front of it, grinning deviously at the many Butterfree who were now starting to panic at the three Rocket's presence.

They walked around the side of the net until they were now facing Ash's Butterfree and the pink one, who glared at them fiercely, and then James looked at the other two for the signal. Once he received the confirming nod from Jessie and Meowth, James quickly lunged forward and grabbed ahold of the ropes of the net. As soon as he made contact, an electrical charge passed through them and into the net. The blue haired man flexed his arms and, to his surprise, the ropes began to separate and move apart.

As the hole slowly began to widen, the many Butterfree started to see a chance to escape and went flying towards the hole James was making. All except for Ash's Butterfree and the pink female who just looked on warily at what was happening.

Just before the first wave of Butterfree could escape the net, Meowth stepped up and activated the shock stick, cranking up to high voltage and spearing it into the net. Luckily, the Butterfree that were about to be shocked were lucky enough to swerve out of the way in time but quickly retreated back into depths of the net in fear afterwards.

At the same time, Jessie quickly reached in grabbed hold of the pink Butterfree, who was just within reach. No sooner did she grab the female and it then started twisting wildly in her grasp while trying to attack her fiercely.

Ash's Butterfree practically went red with anger at the sight and quickly lunged forward, intent on stopping Jessie from taking the pink one. Meowth saw this however and quickly thrust the shock stick into the net, zapping the male as he flew forward.

Ash's Pokemon writhed in pain as he was shocked but kept his eyes open and alight with rage as he continued struggling towards Jessie. Meowth panicked and turned the voltage up by the dial located on the shock stick's side, trying to stop the angry male who just convulsed again at the increase in power but kept lunging forward in strange, jerking motions. Obviously in a great deal of pain but refusing to give up trying to reach the distressed female.

All of the other Butterfree and especially the pink one looked at the male with wide, disbelieving eyes as he kept fighting through the pain and flying ahead, slowly but surely.

Meowth quickly looked over at Jessie as he saw this. "Hurry up Jess! This Butterfree's nuts!"

Jessie tightened her hold on her target and with one last pulling jerk, she wrenched the uniquely colored female Pokémon from the net and into the open cage that was at her feet.

Ash's Butterfree went insane at seeing this happen and with one last painful push of his wings, he rocketed forward at the gap in the net with a battle cry of, "FREE!"

James quickly let go of the net and the ropes snapped back together just in the nick of time before Ash's Pokémon slammed into it and then started banging his head on the net over and over again while raving furiously at the three Rockets, "FREE FREE! BUTTER FREE FREE!"

The three grunts stepped away from the net and the enraged Butterfree, whom the other Butterfree were now giving as much of a wide berth as possible, and then looked at each other.

"Glad that's over!" James said in relief while removing the gloves and looking at Jessie, who was now holding the small cage containing an equally as irate female Butterfree.

"Told ya it'd work!" Meowth boasted.

Jessie lifted the cage up to eye level and stuck her tongue out at the pink Butterfree. "Not so tough now are you?!" She taunted.

The Butterfree slammed against the cage again in anger and Jessie moved her face away, laughing in the process. The three Rockets then walked back over to the vid-phone located near the back of the warehouse and set the cage down near it on one of the crates.

"Now lets call the Boss!" Jessie cheered excitedly.

The other two also cheered in response as they prepared to make the call.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash and Pikachu watched everything happen with barely controlled fury. Especially when Butterfree was electrocuted the way he was by Meowth. Ash grit his teeth again and turned to look at Pikachu.

"Alright Pikachu, we have to save those Butterfree now," Ash told his first Pokemon with a dead serious face.

Pikachu just nodded and looked at the Rockets again while sparking his cheeks angrily. "Pika..." He growled.

Ash looked back through the window with a contemplative expression on his face. "You heard Team Rocket Pikachu. They're gonna call their boss and have all the Butterfree brought to their headquarters." He balled his hands into fists and banged them on the ledge. "As much as I want to take Team Rocket down... I can't sacrifice the Butterfree's safety just to find out where their base is."

He looked closely at the net from where was. "We have to get them out of there. We already know from what Meowth said that the net can't be destroyed by most attacks, including elemental ones. That means using your, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Pidgeot's attacks are out of the question and would only waste time. Its possible Meowth is wrong but I don't want to take chances during something so crucial and I definitely don't want to bring Gastly out in front of the likes of Team Rocket unless I absolutely have to."

Ash looked down at the ledge for a few moments then before his eyes slowly gained a thoughtful gleam in them and he mumbled to himself, "Maybe... just maybe..."

Pikachu tilted his head at Ash. "Pika Pi?"

Ash looked down at Pikachu and started explaining his plan. "Okay Pi... here's what I'm thinking. You're going to take this window out with Iron Tail and then we're going to jump inside on those crates right there," He pointed to a few crates just below the window on the inside. "After that I'll have Charmander use Smokescreen and cover the inside of the building. From there I'll leave you and him, Squirtle and Bulbasaur to cover me while I try to do something with that net."

"Pika Pikachu Pika Pi?" Pikachu inquired with a tilt of his head.

Ash seemed unsure. "Well... that energy... thing... that overtakes me whenever I get really mad. Its powerful, really powerful. More than powerful enough to break that net apart I bet. I don't know but... if I focus really hard then maybe... maybe I can channel it and break the net apart," He wondered aloud with slight worry in his voice.

Pikachu himself also seemed unsure and more than a little nervous about the idea but ultimately decided to trust Ash's judgement.

The raven haired trainer then released the other Pokémon he would be using for the plan and after explaining it to them all, he got into position at the window. Ash looked over at Pikachu after assuring that the others were ready and gave him the signal to start the plan.

Pikachu nodded and then faced the window. He turned his tail to shining iron and then focused on the objective, putting as much power into his tail as he would need before running at the window and swinging his tail around, impacting the barrier with a loud "PIKA!"

The window had no chance of withstanding the force of the impact and instantly busted in, echoing the sound throughout the warehouse. Ash and the others didn't wait a single second and jumped through the opening onto the crates below while Pidgeot simply flew in. Team Rocket was just about to make their call to headquarters when they heard the loud crash and whipped around.

Ash quickly called out to Charmander, "Use Smokescreen now!"

The Fire-Type didn't hesitate and opened his mouth, releasing a black screen of smoke that quickly began covering the entire warehouse. Ash jumped down off the crate and issued his other Pokémon to follow him as he ran towards the net of now agitated Butterfree.

The Rockets were looking around wildly at what was happening and started coughing when the smoke began covering everything. "What's *cough* going on?!" Jessie choked out while trying to cover her nose and mouth.

James was doing the same but Meowth managed to get a glimpse in the direction of the net before the smoke completely shrouded that part of the warehouse and barely managed to see Ash and his Pokémon jump down from the crates near the broken window, running towards the net full of Butterfree. "Its da twerp and his Pokémon!" Meowth told the other two before covering his own face.

"What?!" Jessie shouted and then coughed again. She looked at James. "Do something before that pest somehow manages to free the Butterfree James!" She commanded.

James nodded and took off running towards the front end of the warehouse where the main doors were.

Meanwhile, Ash had finally reached the net and started speaking to all of the Butterfree while covering his face with the upper part of his tracksuit. "Its okay everybody, I'm gonna get you out alright?" He then started trying to see through the net and smoke in an attempt to spot his own Butterfree.

"Butterfree! Butterfree can you hear me?! Its me *cough* Ash!"

A blurry shape suddenly appeared at the net in front of Ash and called out to him, "Free Free!"

Ash didn't have to see in order to know it was his Pokémon that was calling out to him and smiled. "Just hang on Butterfree, you'll be out before you know it!"

He grabbed onto the ropes and looked at his other Pokémon, who were protectively encircling the net. "Watch my back guys!"

Getting resounding calls of affirmative from his Pokémon, Ash closed his eyes and tried to drown out everything else. He focused on forgetting about the warehouse, his Pokémon, the Butterfree... nothing mattered right now besides finding that strange energy within him and beckoning for it to rise to the surface and help him.

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash slowly felt himself fall deeper and deeper into his mind as he continued to drown everything around him out. Eventually he found himself standing in a dark place within his, what he guessed, was his mind. There were no shapes, colors and no sounds to be heard except for his own breathing.

The boy opened his mouth to speak and found his breath to be completely chilled. He then realized that he was cold and tried to warm himself up but nothing worked. He continued rubbing his arms while shivering and began walking around while calling out to the darkness, "Hello? Uh... energy, aura... thing... whatever you want to be called... are you here?!"

He waited but received no answer. Just as he began to think it was pointless, Ash saw a faint blue glow, like an orb, in the distance and his eyes widened. "Hello?! What are you? Please... can you help me?!" He shouted.

The blue orb of energy merely hovered in the air a few more times before retreating back into the darkness again, leading Ash to reach out to it and start sprinting full speed through the dark expanse of his mind towards whatever it was. "NO! Please come back! I need your help... your energy to help free the Pokémon! COME BACK!"

Ash kept running until eventually he was stopped dead in his tracks by an almost dead weight feeling in his legs. The boy tried breaking free from the floor that seemed to have just jumped up and grasped onto him but he couldn't. As he continued to struggle, Ash could see a strange light, this time red, forming just ahead of him. However... this newly colored phenomena didn't intrigue or excite him like the briefly appearing blue one did.

No... this other odd, red blazing energy actually scared him. The waves of malevolent power it was expelling became even more fierce as it grew larger and brighter, taking the shape of a wall of swirling red flames and as it did... Ash felt two things.

One was the almost overwhelming negative energy the light was giving off and the other was the thirst for it's terrible power that Ash started feeling come over himself. Those same feelings he felt at the times he lost control like during the confrontation with Damion, Team Rocket at Bill's lighthouse, the boys that messed with Giselle back in Porte Vista and even earlier that same day in the balloon when Team Rocket was stealing the Butterfree.

All of those same emotions started rushing into Ash as he began feeling the strange, harsh energy enter his body like an eager virus. Slowly his mind begun to cloud, replaced by ones of anger and rage as he fell deeper and deeper into its hold.

Just before Ash could fully succumb, he saw the very faint pulsating presence of the blue light far in the corners of the dark space once more. Ash vainly grasped for the blue energy, beckoning it with his thoughts to come back before he fell totally under the control of the evil red energy.

As the boy's vision started to go and his mind commenced to fading, he saw the blue light temporarily take the form of... something, and during this time he heard something loud coming from outside of his mind.

Faintly... very faintly Ash could hear the voice becoming clearer and clearer and as it continued, he could just make out the words, "Pika..." He didn't understand what that meant in his currently addled and confused mindset though.

Then again, "Pika..."

Gradually, Ash's focus started coming more and more into stability as he heard it again, "Kachu..."

He tried to mimic the words with his mouth as he felt his conscious mind returning to him gradually and with it... the wall of red energy slowly receded. The voice called again, only this time loud enough to reverberate throughout the entire dark space. "CHU..."

Ash hesitantly started to stand back up, the red energy seemingly disappearing back into the depths of the darkness and with it, the twisted and vengeful emotions.

The young Ketchum heard the, now ear splitting, shout of "PIKA!" one last time as a bright portal of light suddenly blazed to life in the darkness. With no warning, Ash was sucked towards the portal at blinding speed.

Just before he went through the shining gateway, Ash managed to turn his head to the side and saw, through the blurring speeds he was being pushed at, the blue light from earlier expand and take the very hazy form of, yet again... something.

His vision was fixed on the mysterious being and as he went through the portal and exited the darkness of his mind, he heard a faint voice, if it could even be called a voice and not just a whisper, echo through his mind.

'You are not yet ready...' Was the last thing the young trainer heard before everything faded.

XXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash's eyes shot open and he found himself leaning against the net holding the Butterfree, his hands gripping onto the ropes tightly and his legs feeling a little wobbly. He could see that there was still smoke in the air and by looking at the state of his body and the still intact net, he knew that he had failed to channel the energy. He hadn't thought that he had but he had still been hopeful.

The boy pushed himself off the net after a few moments of regaining his strength and looked down through the haze of smoke to see Pikachu standing there, looking up at Ash in concern.

"So... was that you I was hearing then Pi? Were you calling for me?" Ash asked.

Pikachu nodded his head. "Pi, Pikachu Pi!"

Ash shook his head. "I'm sorry I zoned out there Pikachu... I couldn't call on the energy like I wanted to. It just remained out of my reach while some other kind of energy tried to overtake me again. I'm sorry buddy..." Ash sighed with an apologetic look at first Pikachu and then the Butterfree.

His eyes quickly shifted from ones of sorrow though to ones of determination again the very next second as he gripped tightly onto the net and pulled his face in closer. "I may have failed to get you out of here that way but I promise, I'll get you all out of there somehow!" He vowed with firm resolve.

Just as Ash started rack his brain for some type of plan again, he and the Pokémon suddenly heard the doors behind them someways away start to slide apart, letting the rays of sunlight slowly shine through the haze of the smokescreen as some of it began escaping. The next second, they heard the loud roaring of something being turned on and they quickly shifted their gaze deeper into the warehouse where the smoke was still quite a bit thicker.

The fast rotation of propellers and the thundering of the helicopter's engine quickly led Ash to knowing what was happening because the very next moment, almost all of the smoke in the warehouse started to get pushed towards the now open hangar doors where Ash and the others were currently at.

The boy covered his mouth and his Pokémon did the same as best they could while Charmander's black cloud of smoke was quickly pushed out through the doors of the warehouse, leaving the inside of the building now haze free.

Ash looked towards the chopper again and saw Jessie and James standing near the vehicle looking at them while the chopper's engine was suddenly cut and the propellers slowly stopped rotating. Once it did, Ash saw Meowth hop out of the helicopter and walk over to join his teammates, who looked as though they were about to blow a gasket.

Jessie stomped her foot on the ground and threw her hands up. "You meddlesome little twerp! Why are you always getting in our way!" She fumed.

James pointed at Ash. "Yeah what did we ever do to you!"

Ash narrowed his eyes and glared at Team Rocket with unrestrained fury, his Pokémon modeling the same look. "You mean besides trying to steal my Pikachu?! Well then let's try all of the crap you low lives have put not just me and my friends through but everyone else you've ever come into contact with as well! You do nothing but hurt innocent people and Pokémon and have no respect or regard for anyone but yourselves! You lie, cheat, bully, hurt others and even worse..."

Ash's hands clenched into fists and his eyes flashed blue for a split second before going back to amber again. "The worst part is the people you work for. Team Rocket is nothing but a band of criminals, thieves and scum that are a scourge to this world. Your organization steals Pokémon, who've never done anything wrong, from trainers who love them and then sell those same Pokémon like objects to the highest bidder or force them to do whatever horrible things come to your twisted minds!"

Ash pointed his right fist at Team Rocket. "All of you are nothing but a disease that needs to be eradicated and if its the last thing I ever do... I WILL put an end to you all!" He then looked at the Butterfree in the net, who were all staring right back at him intently while his own Butterfree seemed to have pride shining in his eyes for his trainer. An expression that was mimicked by Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Pidgeot. Even the pink Butterfree was looking at Ash with surprise and perhaps even slight admiration herself.

"For what you've done to these Butterfree today..." Ash looked back at Team Rocket. "I SWEAR you're going to pay!" He shouted.

Jessie merely laughed at Ash. "Oh I don't think so little boy! There is no way we're letting you take our hard stolen Butterfree!"

"We worked hard for em'!" Meowth shouted.

"We'll stop you!" James said drawing his Pokeball. An action mimicked by Jessie.

The red haired woman raised her Pokéball. "Alright twerp, time to learn a lesson! Arbok go!" She yelled as she threw her Pokéball and released the purple snake Pokémon, which hissed at Ash and the other Pokémon upon appearing.

"Weezing... you're up!" James followed as he released his own Pokémon, which floated in the air and released a bit of smoke from it's holes.

Ash looked at Pikachu and Bulbasaur. "You two wanna handle this?"

He just received two affirmative nods as they bounded out to face their opponents. "PIKA/BULBA!" Both Pokémon called out as they took their battle positions.

Jessie and James addressed their own Pokémon quickly.

"Arbok use Poison Sting!"

"Weezing use Sludge!"

Ash took no time in reacting, "Pikachu dodge that Poison Sting and use Thunderbolt on the crate near Arbok and Bulbasaur! Bulbasaur, wait until the last minute and then roll out of the way of that Sludge attack and use Razor Leaf on Weezing!"

Pikachu and Bulbasaur performed their moves at the exact same time. Pikachu jumped out of the way of Poison Sting and used Thunderbolt quickly as Bulbasaur rolled out of the way of Sludge just before it could hit him and then sent a barrage of razor sharp leaves at Weezing.

The bolt of electricity Pikachu sent at Arbok struck the crate behind the large snake Pokémon and shattered it instantly, sending jagged pieces of the boxes at the legless Pokémon who had to put it's tail up to block them. The leaves that were sent at Weezing were stopped when James called out for his Pokémon to use Sludge to stop them.

After the attacks had stopped, Arbok and Weezing looked back towards Pikachu and Bulbasaur, only to see that they weren't there.

"Where did they go?!" Jessie questioned while looking around wildly.

"Hey disappearing Pokémon isn't fair!" James whined.

Ash smirked because at that same moment, Pikachu came hurdling down from a crate above Arbok and smashed into the unsuspecting Pokémon's head with a fierce downwards headbutt, making Arbok reel back in pain and fall to the ground with a loud, "Chaaa!"

Weezing went to attack Pikachu but was stopped short when it heard something lifting off the ground behind it. The Poison-Type whipped around and saw Bulbasaur behind it, a large crate being held suspended above his head with his vines.

The Grass-Type tossed the crate at Weezing then without a second thought and a loud grunt of, "BULBA!"

As the projectile flew through the air towards Weezing, Jessie and James started panicking.

"Weezing use Sludge attack to stop it quick!" James yelled.

"Arbok use Poison Sting and help Weezing!" Jessie screeched.

Both of the Rocket Pokémon went to launch their attacks when Pikachu suddenly jumped on top of the still downed Arbok and sparked his cheeks quickly before releasing a powerful bolt of electricity that passed through he and Arbok, the latter getting fried by the bolt, and then struck Weezing directly. Effectively stopping the counter attacks as the heavy crate smashed into Weezing, who was still being electrocuted by the bolt of thunder, and sent the floating Pokémon flying back towards Arbok.

Pikachu hopped off the snake with practiced grace and landed a few feet away from them as Bulbasaur quickly joined him, both Pokémon giving a quick nod of praise to each other for their individual efforts.

Weezing collided with Arbok soon after, both Pokémon crying out as a dust cloud was then kicked up from their impacts. When it settled, both of the Rocket's Pokémom were struggling on the ground with bruises and scorch marks (from the electricity) covering their bodies. Jessie and James appeared totally shocked that their Pokémon had been so easily reduced to near unconsciousness in so little a time and didn't even realize that Ash hadn't commanded his Pokémon to do a thing since after the battle first started.

The first attacks he called out were just a decoy, a ruse, and then left it to his Pokémon to figure out what to do from there. Trusting them to battle on their own. Which was both risky and very effective if done right, which it had been.

Ash didn't waste any time and was just about to command Pikachu and Bulbasaur to end it when Meowth suddenly stepped up holding the cage with the pink Butterfree inside of it in one hand and the shock stick in the other.

"Stop right there twerp!" Meowth said as he raised the shock stick up to the bars of the cage, much to the pink female's fear and anger. "Give out one more command to ya Pokémon and dis little beauty of a Butterfree gets da shock treatment of her life!" He threatened.

Ash stopped what he was about to do and just glared at Meowth, fully believing that someone from Team Rocket would do something so vile and cruel. "Pikachu, Bulbasaur... stand down," He commanded grudgingly.

Jessie and James both laughed together at the sudden change of events while Ash's Pokémon, especially Pikachu and Bulbasaur, glared viciously at them but listened their trainer and made no further attempts to attack.

"What's wrong twerp?" Jessie began. "Too soft to sacrifice one measly little Butterfree for the whole flock hmm? Even though I do admit she is rather stunning with that beautiful pink coloring of hers, you shouldn't be so quick to let us 'bad guys' get the upper hand!" She mocked.

"Sucks being the hero now doesn't it twerp?!" James taunted and then broke out laughing again, joined by Jessie.

Arbok and Weezing had managed to get back up by this point but made no move to attack Pikachu or Bulbasaur. Neither was eager to be thrashed around again and even though they weren't supposed to, Pikachu and Bulbasaur could snap at any moment and take it out on them. And neither Arbok, nor Weezing, were anxious to feel such pain again so soon. So instead they merely stayed by their trainer's sides and watched the current situation unfold passively.

Meowth cackled aloud wheh he saw Ash and his Pokémon stop attacking and took that moment to turn on the shock stick. "Y'know... I think dat pinky here still needs a little attitude adjustment so..." Leaving the next part unsaid, Meowth rammed the shock stick inside of the cage and jabbed into the pink Butterfree's side.

The female Butterfree cried out in agonizing pain when she felt the sparks of the shock stick touch her skin and immediately started thrashing around in agony while batting her wings around furiously and crying out, "F-FREEEEE! FREE F-FREE!" wail wailed.

The female was tough and to this, there was no doubt. However, unlike Ash's Butterfree who had already sustained two rounds of fierce torture from the evil device, both times to protect her, he had something that she didn't have.

Ash's Butterfree had been electrocuted by Pikachu on multiple occasions during training and when comparing the shock stick to Pikachu's power, there was just no comparison. Pikachu's electricity could reach volts that a shock stick never could, a testament to the power that the young Electric-Type truly held. Because of this, Butterfree could handle the fierce voltage of the shock stick much longer and with much more resilience than the pink female could since obviously... her own trainer never made her stay in one spot and get blasted by a Pikachu's electric power until near blackout.

Either way, the pink Butterfree just didn't have that same experience with self inflicted mutilation so right now, she was really suffering. Ash and his Pokémon could only watch in horror and fury as Meowth continued to zap the female over and over again relentlessly.

Just as Ash was getting ready to make a move to help her in some way, he heard a commotion coming from the net behind him. The boy and his Pokémon all turned around and when they did, they saw Ash's Butterfree going absolutely insane inside of the net. Butterfree had been watching with fear in his eyes when Meowth picked up the pink female's cage and the shock stick and had pressed himself so tightly to the net that it appeared as though he would go right through it.

When he saw Meowth start torturing the female however... Butterfree lost it.

His eyes went wide with pure rage as he started thrashing around within the net in a frenzy, calling out wildly and bucking against the net like he was infected with the Pokérus virus. He would even slam into the other Butterfree in the net while he was thrashing around and this led to all of the Butterfree sinking as far back to the sides and bottom of the net as possible to give their crazed kin a wide berth.

"FREE! FREEE! BUTTERFREEEE!" Ash's Butterfree shouted out loudly with his voice full of unrestrained fury as he continued to thrash around, all the while keeping his eyes glued to Meowth and the female he was torturing.

Jessie and James both laughed. "Looks like he's not enjoying the show!" Jessie chided.

"What a wimp!" James jeered.

Meowth laughed as he shocked the female again. "What's a matter Butterfree? Upset you can't come free ya girl?!" He busted out laughing again while he continued shocking the pink female, who was tossing around in the small cage like mad in agony.

This only drove Butterfree crazier as he started flying around even wilder while his shouts became frantic. Ash ran up to the net with Pikachu and the his other Pokémon then. "Butterfree calm down!" He yelled.

"Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu shouted at his teammate.

The other Pokémon did the same but Butterfree didn't hear a word. All he could think about was how the pink female was being hurt by Meowth and that he was too powerless to get out of the net and help her. It drove him crazy. He couldn't... he wouldn't just stay locked up in a stupid net while the pink Butterfree was getting shocked into insanity. No matter what, Butterfree knew that he had to get out... he had to help her... and he had to make Team Rocket pay for what they did.

Butterfree then began throwing his body into the cage repeatedly. Every single thrust of his body into the net was with enough force to shake the whole thing and rattle his bones. He would fly all the way to the opposite end of the net and then throw himself right back into the same side he had been attacking over and over again.

This went on with absolutely no pause. Harder and harder and harder Butterfree would tackle the net. Boring his gaze into the ropes so hard that if a simple glare could break them apart, the net would have torn to pieces long ago.

Meowth laughed again. "Ya wastin' ya time Butterfree! Dat net won't break no matter what it is ya do to it!"

Butterfree didn't even hear Meowth. He could hear the cries of pain from the pink Butterfree and that just kept making the rage inside of him boil hotter and hotter like a furnace being fueled by ten Fire-Types. Butterfree continued to feel the anger and rage boil inside of him until his stomach literally started to feel hot. As in he felt as though his insides were catching fire, like magma was boiling within him.

Butterfree felt a great pressure come over him as the heat became almost too much bear. He flew back to the other side of the net and then doubled over in mid-air as he began convulsing in pain that started to grow until he felt like he had been thrust into a volcano but wasn't allowed to burn up. Only able to feel the intense heat as it penetrated his skin.

At the same time, he was feeling like the entire force of gravity was coming down onto him. His wings were like led, leaving him unable to understand how he was staying aloft. He also felt his eyes begin to burn... badly, and this made him convulse in even worse pain.

Ash gripped the net tightly, fear for the pink Butterfree and now his own beginning to smother him. "Butterfree!" He shouted and just as he made to bang his fists against the net, Ash was suddenly hit with an absolutely excruciating pain that was a combination between being on fire and like gravity itself was coming down. It was similar to how he felt whenever the dark energy would overtake him but it also felt... different at the same time. Almost like a different variation of the same event and was similar to the other but yet... not really the same at all.

Ash suddenly dropped to his knees and put his hands to his head while screaming loudly in pain, "AHHHHH!"

At the same time, Butterfree dropped to the bottom of the net (luckily the other Butterfree had moved away in time) and began convulsing around as well while crying out loudly, "FREEEEEEE!"

Both trainer and Pokémon struggled in agonizing pain together while Ash's other Pokémon watched on in worry and fear. The three Rockets were at a complete loss as to what was happening but started getting strange feelings in the pit of their stomachs.

Suddenly... Ash and Butterfree went still. They stopped moving, stopped screaming and stopped convulsing. They just lay there, one in the net and one out, in complete silence. Almost as though they were sleeping. Then... everything changed.

Ash suddenly began to stir. His fingers moved, followed by his legs, and then slowly... very slowly, he came up until he was on one knee. His face was down and a shadow covered his face. Butterfree had also begun to move at the exact same time as Ash did. Both of them slowly got up, Ash standing while still remaining slightly hunched and Butterfree rising back up into the air slowly.

Everyone else watched completely silent and with baited breath as Ash and his Pokémon started twitching strangely. Almost in a convulsing motion. Then, to Pikachu's dread, the other Pokémon's confusion and Team Rocket's bewilderment... a blue cloak of energy started forming around Ash. At the same time, the atmosphere in the warehouse grew darker and the air became thinner. Ash snapped his head up then and revealed to everyone that his eyes were now glowing a fierce electric blue.

The strangest thing however, wasn't the way Ash looked. It was the appearance of Butterfree that was the most surprising. The flying Bug-Type Pokémon started forming the exact same blue energy shroud around his body that Ash now had around his. His wings took on a sort of purplish/blue color while his body took on the same shade, only a tad bit darker.

You could still see Butterfree's actual color but now... it was like a transparent cloak covering his small frame. What was most terrifying though were his eyes. When Butterfree looked up at the same time Ash did, it was revealed that his own eyes were now also glowing an electric bluish/white.

Ash's other Pokémon felt themselves grow both scared and cold as the temperature in the warehouse seemed to have dropped several degrees. Pikachu knew this wasn't good and quickly rounded up his teammates, leading them well away from the net for whatever was about to happen. Team Rocket were now feeling absolutely terrified themselves.

"W-What's going on?!" Jessie said shivering.

"It g-g-got s-s-so c-cold!" James chattered while rubbing his arms.

Meowth had stopped shocking the pink Butterfree and was now watching the strange event unfold with fear in his eyes. "D-Dis is like dat time at dat lighthouse place..." He stuttered with a trembling voice.

Ash looked at Team Rocket with a dark, angry scowl on his shadowed face, mirrored by Butterfree, and then slowly lifted his arms up to the sides. An action also mimicked by Butterfree only he spread his wings out widely and leaned back into the net like an arrow about to be shot forward. The other Butterfree were looking at Ash's Butterfree with complete fear on their face and the very next second... that fear was proven to be well instilled.

Ash, in one quick movement, suddenly pushed his arms back and forward in a hard pushing motion that caused the air around him to stir. At the same time he did that, Butterfree flew straight forward like a ballistic rocket and impacted the net with a loud 'FREE!" Which was yelled in the same moment as when Ash shouted with a voice full of primal fury, "GRAAAAHHHHH!'

When Butterfree collided with the net, the blue energy around his body leeched itself onto the net as the energy around Ash did the exact same thing. Ash kept his arms pushed forward in a tense position with his arms flexed tightly and as he did this, Butterfree pressed himself so firmly against the net it looked as though he would go straight through the holes.

What happened next, shocked everyone. Especially Team Rocket.

The blue, fire like energy that had attached itself to the ropes began eating away at it until the fiber started to become much more fragile and brittle. The entire net made a loud creaking sound and the very concrete floor below it actually rumbled slightly. Ash made one last pushing motion with his hands and with it, Butterfree pressed himself even tighter against the net.

And that was the breaking point.

With one last loud snapping sound, the side of the net Butterfree was pressing on completely broke apart. Snapping into pieces like ripped paper. The incredible amount of force applied at that last moment that broke the net apart actually cracked the concrete floor in the same spot and Butterfree came shooting out of it like a rocket.

Ash quickly turned his gazed towards Meowth, who was frozen in place like he had been hit with an Ice Beam. The same dark scowl still on his face, Ash snapped his right arm in the direction of Meowth. As he did this, Butterfree, who was finally free from the confines of the net, utilized his bullet like momentum from breaking through the net to change direction rapidly with Ash's arm movement, in perfect sync, and shoot towards Meowth.

Said Pokémon yelled out in terror at seeing the demonic looking Butterfree flying towards him and dropped the cage he had in his hands like a hot potato. The cage hit the floor and rattled around a bit, jostling the dazed pink Butterfree around inside of it, as Ash's Butterfree flew down at it.

Now... if everyone watching was surprised to see Butterfree break apart the seemingly 'unbreakable net' then it came as one helluva of nasty shock to see him collide with the metal of the cage, the energy blazing fiercely around him, and then literally shatter it completely apart like glass. The sound of metal pieces hitting the floor was all that remained of the cage came as it came crashing back to the ground again.

Ash seemed to go still for a moment as Butterfree looked down at the pink Butterfree, who was lying on the ground with slightly closed eyes, his now piercing electric blue ones turning soft as he gently reached down and rubbed his wing tip across her face. She opened her eyes a little more upon feeling his touch and looked up at Butterfree with surprise visible in her blurry eyes.

Butterfree continued stroking her face gently with his wing tip as Ash came walking over to them in an almost complete trance. Slow and graceful being the only way to describe his movements. The young Ketchum reached the two Butterfree and bent down slowly until he was looking at the pink female. He had a soft look on his otherwise aggressive face and even though you couldn't see his irises, you could tell he was looking at her with tenderness. Ash then opened his mouth and spoke for the first time. His voice sounding both powerful, as well as gentle at the moment. It wasn't echoing with the voice of someone else either this time like all of the ones previous.

"I am not going to harm you Butterfree... please just trust me." Ash then slowly reached out and touched the pink Butterfree, who flinched at first but then quickly calmed upon feeling the warmth that was somehow radiating from the energy coming off of Ash. Comforting her instead of hurting her as she originally expected.

Ash then gently scooped her up into his arms and walked slowly over to his other Pokémon, who were now watching Ash and Butterfree with more curiosity than fear. Obviously no longer scared of the two since Ash and Butterfree were not acting hostile towards them.

With Butterfree flying right beside of Ash, watching over the pink Butterfree closely, Ash sat her down in front of Pikachu gently and then stood back up.

"Please watch over her all of you," He requested patiently.

His Pokémon just gave him a nod, Pikachu and Squirtle already looking over her, as Ash turned around and walked back over to the net. Butterfree right by his side. He walked past the net and looked to the side at all of the Butterfree, were still too shocked to realize that they now had an escape route out of their prison. "You are free now Butterfree... please leave," He spoke with an authority in his voice that did not leave any room for argument.

His Butterfree looked at all of his shell shocked kin and then spoke in an equally deep and commanding tone, "Free! Free Free!"

This seemed to finally snap them all from their stupor because at that second, all of the Butterfree seemed to notice the now gaping hole in the net and quickly started flying towards it. Almost all at one time.

Team Rocket watched as all of their 'hard stolen' Butterfree began escaping through the net and fleeing the warehouse through the open doors by the dozens until eventually, they were almost all gone into the open air of the outside world.

"NO!" Jessie screamed as the last of the Butterfree escaped.

"Our Butterfree!" James yelled.

"Our promotion!" Meowth all but sobbed.

It was at that same moment that the three of them felt a terrible force come crashing down on top of them, nearly forcing them to the ground. They looked up at Ash and Butterfree then and saw that the blue aura surrounding them both had now been rekindled to full intensity and was blazing around them like a small sun. The air around them had also picked up and the same angry, dark scowl they originally possessed had come back full force.

Ash narrowed his glowing blue/white eyes and then shouted in a booming loud voice,"YOUR BUTTERFREE!? ALL OF THOSE POKÉMON YOU STOLE WERE ONLY TRYING TO FIND MATES AND THEN YOU HAD THE DESPICABLE NERVE TO TORTURE TWO OF THEM!"

"FREE!" Butterfree spat at them with disdain. Clearly remembering both shock 'treatments' he received at their hands and even more vividly... how Meowth had tortured the pink female.

Ash pointed his finger at the three Rockets as a strong gust of wind blew at them along with it. "YOU THEN HAVE THE AUDACITY TO CALL THEM 'YOUR' BUTTERFREE!? TRAINERS DO NOT TORTURE THEIR POKÉMON! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT VILE CRIMINALS THAT DESERVE NOTHING LESS THAN TO BE DESTROYED!"

Ash drew his arm back and Butterfree landed on the ground, planting his feet and spreading his wings out rigidly."I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Ash then thrust his arm forward and with a loud shout, mimicked by Butterfree, he punched the air hard.

"RAAAHHH/FREEE!" Both trainer and Pokémon shouted together as Butterfree shot forward off the ground in time with Ash's punch in perfect harmony, the concrete around where he took off actually cracking under the force of the intense pressure.

As Butterfree went shooting towards Team Rocket, Jessie and James tried the one thing they thought would save them.

"Arbok use Poison Sting to stop that Butterfree!" Jessie shouted in a shrill and terrified voice.

"Weezing use Sludge!" James commanded his own Pokémon, just as scared as Jessie was.

Even though they were both now terrified beyond belief, Arbok and Weezing couldn't let their trainers down and quickly hopped in front of them, releasing their attacks with loud cries of, "Charrbok/Weezing!"

The two attacks went soaring at the fast approaching Butterfree but neither he nor Ash even blinked.

The boy lifted his arms up and then brought them in together like he was crushing something, Butterfree doing the exact same thing with his wings. With this, an extremely powerful gust of wind blew forward from the Pokémon's wings and went slicing through the air, cutting through Arbok and Weezing's attacks like they were nothing.

The blast of wind was so powerful that it tore right through the attacks and continued on a war path towards the two petrified Rocket Pokémon. Crates, boxes and all other manner of equipment in the area getting torn asunder by the aura enhanced wind.

Jessie, James and their Pokémon could do nothing but scream in pure terror as the attacks finally collided with them and sent the villainous trio, plus Arbok and Weezing, hurdling into the back wall where a bunch of crates were stacked up. The aforementioned crates falling on top of them in a large heap after the impact.

Ash was apparently not done though as he thrust another fist at the air and Butterfree took off towards the downed criminals at blurring speeds. The sheer wind speed behind the Pokémon was causing crates on both sides of the building to either break into pieces or fall into unorganized heaps and the concrete floor was even cracking from the power of the intense aura.

The blue colored energy that was radiating off of Ash was mirrored on Butterfree as he flew toward his enemies, the streaks of light that the aura gave off making him look like a small comet due to the speed he was flying at.

Just as Butterfree was atop Team Rocket, Arbok and Weezing managed to shakily get themselves into an upright position. Butterfree took advantage of this situation and appeared in front of the both of them in an instant. Being directed it seemed by Ash's own movements, Butterfree spun around and tackled Arbok in the body, hard enough to knock the breath from the poor Pokémon. He then spun upwards and slammed his left wing into the snake's chin, making it reel backwards.

Butterfree saw Weezing prepare to launch a Sludge attack at him and just before he could it, Ash's Pokémon quickly flew up and around Arbok's head, shielding himself behind the larger Pokémon and smirking in satisfaction when he heard Weezing's sludgy attack hit it instead.

Arbok cried out in pain as the foul substance made contact with it's skin and Butterfree used that moment to launch another powerful gust, which was more than enough to send the writhing Arbok crashing into the still unsteady Weezing. Both Pokémon crashed back into their trainers again, who were still trying to get out from under all the crates.

Ash took that particular moment and looked around the warehouse until his gaze fell on Team Rocket's helicopter. For some reason, just seeing the vehicle that had been used to capture the Butterfree enraged him and caused Ash's eyes to blaze an even fiercer blue. The raven haired trainer brought his arms up to his right side and then brought them down together in a fast sweeping motion.

This was naturally mimicked by Butterfree and as Ash's arms came up, Butterfree reared back. When Ash brought his arms down in the sweeping gesture, Butterfree shot off towards the helicopter and smashed into the machine's side with a vengeance, the resounding noise of metal being crushed echoed throughout the building as the aura engulfed Butterfree impacted with his target and caused a large dent to be made in the vehicles surface.

The chopper lifted off of the ground slightly as Butterfree hit it and then continued to fall backwards as the Pokémon pushed itself even deeper into the metal. Ash brought his arms back, which made Butterfree fly away from the chopper slightly, and brought them back down again. Butterfree flew forward once more like a puppet on strings and smashed into the helicopter's side again, the blazing blue energy around Butterfree was wrapped so tightly around him it looked like an ethereal shield of power.

The force of the last strike was enough to crack the chopper's side windows with another loud shattering noise. Ash then began punching both arms forward continuously like a boxer and Butterfree simulated the moves. Flying back and then smashing himself into the helicopter over and over again relentlessly. On the side, the back end, the front end... no single area on the vehicle was safe as the windows smashed apart, the top and back propellers snapped and broke off and the metal surface itself was crunched up and torn in tatters by Butterfree's vicious, aura enhanced blows. The sound of destruction completely deafening the inside of the warehouse as the carnage continued.

Ash's other Pokémon just watched on in astonishment as they observed Butterfree do things to a massive air vehicle that no Pokémon in his species or his size should have been able to do. The pink Butterfree had managed to regain enough consciousness that she was also watching the destruction happen with wide eyes. Not being able to believe that a simple Butterfree, like her, could be performing such impossible feats of destruction.

Team Rocket had managed to pull themselves free from under the crates and were now watching the demolishment of their team vehicle with wide, horrified eyes.

"D-Dis ain't normal y-yous guys!" Meowth stammered.

James tucked his head down behind a crate, followed by Jessie and both their Pokémon as they shouted at the same time, "TELL US WHEN ITS OVER!"

Not one to be left out, Meowth followed suit without hesitation and took shelter behind the crate along with his teammates. Saying a silent prayer to Arceus in the process that she would stop the madness being wrought down upon them.

Ash finally stopped his barrage of fist strikes and with it, Butterfree backed away from the helicopter that was now thoroughly thrashed in every way imaginable. The side and front windows were totally destroyed, the front and back propellers were crumpled and bent beyond repair. Several large holes were bored into the metal of the chopper's sides and the inside of the vehicle was sparking wildly from the extreme damage the electrical circuits had sustained during the assault. And all of it having been caused by the one lone Butterfree that was now hovering just a few feet away.

Butterfree himself was still shrouded in the blue energy cloak and his eyes were blazing with the same intensity that his trainer's were also showing. He didn't look to be out of breath at all after wrecking the large vehicle and this would have lead anyone with common sense to the conclusion that the powerful energy now present within himself and Ash, gifted them terrifying power to do things that would have been impossible otherwise. After all... no matter how strong it may be, no Butterfree should be able to do what Ash's had just demonstrated. No matter how well trained and powerful it was.

It seemed as though the mysterious, unnamed and frighteningly powerful energy that had a hold over Ash during times of great emotional stress was just continuing to become more and more complex with each passing time it happened.

The current situation was no different... and it was only about to get stranger. Even stranger than Butterfree also becoming effected by the blue aura and forming a kind of 'puppet to master' link with Ash while under it's influence.

The young Ketchum, who's energy cloak was blazing around him like a fire, tore his gaze away from the destroyed helicopter and locked his piercing electric eyes on the crate Team Rocket was hiding behind. Butterfree was also looking in the same direction, almost as if thinking his intense glare could burn right through the obstacle separating him from the criminals who had tortured the pink Butterfree.

He may have taken some aggression out on the helicopter but he was still far from done. The anger he felt at the three idiotic Rockets was only growing with each passing second like a volcano about to erupt.

Ash opened his mouth then and shouted words dripping with fury as his eyes burned even brighter, "DON'T YOU DARE HIDE FROM ME! STOP HIDING LIKE THE COWARDS YOU ARE AND FACE ME BEFORE I RAZE THIS ENTIRE BUILDING TO THE GROUND!" Ash practically roared the last part and Butterfree punctuated it with a loud war cry of his own.

Jessie, James and Meowth just continued to shake in fear even after Ash's command and this served to only infuriate the boy further.

"GRAAHHH!" Ash shouted as he felt a sharp stinging pain enter into his eyes and burn through his retina like liquid fire was filling them. Butterfree also felt the same intense pain his trainer did in his own eyes and writhed around in mid-air furiously, rubbing his burning eyes with one wing at a time so he could stay up. An action that was also being performed by Ash, who was rubbing at his eyes madly with the backs of his hands while screaming in pain.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu cried out for Ash as the other Pokémon looked on in distress at their trainer's apparent suffering.

Ash threw his arms back and gazed up at the roof of the warehouse with eyes that were burning a brighter shade of electric blue than they ever had before. Butterfree had fallen to the ground by this point and was looking up in the same direction. His own eyes blazing a painful looking shade of electric blue.

Ash finally threw his head forward and looked at the crate Team Rocket was hiding behind while screaming loudly, Butterfree doing the same. "AHHH/FREEE!"

As both trainer and Pokémon screamed loudly, something astounding and extremely painful looking started to happen to Butterfree's eyes.

The electric blue energy that was swirling around madly within the depths of Butterfree's eyes, blazing on the surface like an uncontrolled fire, began getting brighter and brighter as the energy seemed to radiate out from the Bug-Type's eyes. The aura then started forming what almost looked like a secondary layer over Butterfree's eyes as it turned a lighter shade of blue until it appeared to be totally white in color. The burning continued behind his eyes... bubbling up to the surface until the very next moment... it happened.

With one final call of "FREEEE!" Butterfree's eyes flickered once before two beams of white hot energy shot from his eyes and zoomed across the warehouse, right for the crates that Team Rocket was hiding behind.

The twin beams of energy struck the crate and instantly the vessel of wood exploded into hundreds of pieces, revealing a very shocked and even more terrified Team Rocket sitting there in a crouch behind it with eyes so wide they looked as though they would pop right out.

James sputtered. "W-w-what w-w-was t-that?!"

Jessie grabbed Meowth and threw him up in front of them. "Protect us Meowth!" She demanded while trying to hide herself behind the small Pokémon.

The talking cat Pokémon just squirmed in her grip and protested loudly, "NO! Lemme go ya coward! I don't wanna die!"

Butterfree thrashed his head around madly as his eyes continued flickering like a faulty light bulb. Ash was doing the same thing as he himself thrashed around, bumping into crates and smashing them into pieces with super powered, aura enhanced punches... desperately holding his head in his hands while screaming in pain.

Butterfree finally lost the battle of control and started shooting the beams of white energy from his eyes all over the warehouse. Crates exploded on contact, windows shattered, perfectly carved out holes were shot all the way through the walls into the outside beyond and pieces of the ceiling came raining down with every blast of the strange new power that Ash, and by extension Butterfree, had just been burdened with.

Ash's other Pokémon took refuge behind a couple of crates that had not been destroyed yet near the main doors and after Pikachu and Bulbasaur managed to get the pink Butterfree situated as safely as possible in-between the others, the Electric-Type turned to his teammate.

"Pika Pika! Pikachu Pi!" He pointed to himself and then at Ash and Butterfree before looking back at Bulbasaur again. "Pikachu, Pika Pika Pikachu Pi!" He said urgently again while this time pointing to Bulbasaur, Ash's other Pokémon and the pink Butterfree before then gesturing towards the doors that lead outside.

Bulbasaur seemed to understand exactly what Pikachu was wanting them to do, which was leave and get to safety so he could go to Ash and Butterfree, but just shook his head stubbornly. "Bulba! Bulba Bulba, Bulbasaur Bulba!" He fought back.

Pikachu shook his head at Bulbasaur's plea to stay and help and pointed to himself again and then Ash. "Pikachu! Pikachu Pi, Pika Pika Pi Pikachu!" He then smiled at Bulbasaur and patted him on the bulb. "Pikachu. Pika Pikachu Pi."

Bulbasaur looked at Pikachu for a few more moments before finally nodding his head and extending one of his vines at the small mouse. Pikachu smiled and grasped it, returning his friend and teammate's version of a handshake and accepting the bid of good luck Bulbasaur was offering him.

The Grass-Type nodded one last time at his friend before running off to Ash's other Pokémon and explaining what was happening to them. They all seemed reluctant at first but after being explained the situation, and getting one fierce look from Bulbasaur, they all listened and took off running towards the doors that lead outside. Which had luckily already been opened by James earlier during the whole smoke fiasco.

Pikachu watched Charmander and Squirtle retreat out the door lastly, both of them supporting the pink Butterfree between them, before his attention turned back towards Ash as he took off running towards his trainer.

Ash and Butterfree continued to thrash around madly, the latter still firing off beams of energy from his eyes, before Ash turned his head in a fit of pain towards the demolished helicopter in the center of the room. Butterfree naturally turned the exact same direction since he and Ash were still somehow connected through the aura shrouding them both, and fired off two more shots from his eyes that went right towards the chopper.

The energy beams connected with their target and the effect was almost instantaneous.

A small vacuum of air seemed to suck Ash, Pikachu, Butterfree and Team Rocket forward towards the helicopter ever so slightly before the entire aerial vehicle completely exploded in a brilliant flash of light and fire that rocked the entire ground inside and outside of the warehouse. The sound ringing off the canyon walls in the process.

Butterfree went flying back into Ash, who in turn flew back into a support beam and gasped out in pain before falling to the ground with Butterfree on top of him. Pikachu went soaring back into a crate, breaking the wooden box like it was glass and becoming covered in the debree. Team Rocket were not so fortunate and, since they were so close to the blast radius, ended up getting sent straight the wall right behind them and outside, skidding through the dirt in the canyon with Arbok and Weezing before crashing into one of the canyon walls in the distance.

Luckily for them, the wall had been weakened by several of the energy beams Butterfree had shot through it earlier and this kept them from breaking their bones to powder when they went through it. No doubt they still felt intense pain but it wasn't life threatening like it could have been.

As the fires and smoke of the exploded helicopter began spreading throughout what remained of the extremely damaged warehouse, Pikachu regained consciousness and looked around. All he could see was the black smoke of fire around him and his ears were still ringing from the explosion. He slowly started to stand up and it took all of his willpower not to fall back onto his stomach because of how wobbly his legs were feeling.

With every bit of strength he could muster, Pikachu started making his way through the thick black curtain of smoke surrounding him, trying with all of his might to get some sense of smell on where Ash and Butterfree could be. Sadly, the smell of smoke was too prevalent in the air and Pikachu could smell nothing but it no matter how hard he tried.

So instead, the Electric-Type made his way towards where he saw Ash and Butterfree get blown away to right before he temporarily blacked out. As he continued to walk, Pikachu's legs started to feel gradually stronger and his bearings began returning to him. Eventually, after searching for what seemed like forever, he was finally able to spot two shapes lying on the ground near the window that they had all come in from when they first entered the warehouse.

Pikachu's ears perked up and he ran over to the two shapes on the ground until he saw the unmoving forms of Ash and Butterfree come into full view. Butterfree was being cradled protectively by Ash at his side and the energy shroud that had been covering them both was now finally gone. They were covered in soot and clearly unconscious.

The yellow mouse ran over to them both and went up to Ash's face. "Pika Pika! Pikachu Pi, Pika Pi!" He called out loudly, trying to wake his trainer and fellow teammate up.

It didn't work and this caused Pikachu to call even louder while taking turns shaking both Butterfree and Ash. He even tried slapping them with his tail but nothing worked. "Pikachu Pi!" He called out again with worry staining his voice.

Finally, Pikachu had an idea and charged up a small amount of electricity before launching at the two of them. "CHU!" Pikachu yelled as he zapped Ash and Butterfree.

Both of them were instantly jolted awake as Ash cried out in pain, "YEEEOOOWWWW!" He then fell back against the wall with Butterfree in his lap and panted slightly while holding his side and looking up at Pikachu. "Ugh... Pikachu?" He asked groggily.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu called out in response to Ash, very relieved and happy that he and Butterfree were awake.

Ash looked around at the smoke filling the air and took notice of how everything he could see through the smoke was practically destroyed, as well as how warm he felt for some reason. He looked at Pikachu in confusion then. "What happened here Pi?"

Pikachu's ears went down slightly and he looked around a little bit before finally pointing at Ash and Butterfree. "Pikachu... Pika Pi, Pika Pika Pikachu..." He said while sweeping his arm across the warehouse and doing an exaggerated pointing motion from his eyes, trying to relay what happened with the energy beams Butterfree had been shooting from his own eyes.

Ash understood what Pikachu was trying to tell him after a few moments of processing it all and then looked at his hands before shifting his gaze down to Butterfree, who was sitting in Ash's lap upright as he tried to regain all of his senses. "I... I did this?" Ash looked around the smoke filled warehouse again with wide eyes and then back down at Butterfree. "Me and Butterfree did all of this?"

Pikachu just nodded his head, looking remorseful. "Pika..."

Ash slumped against the wall and coughed a few times from the smoke, only now starting to feel the extreme drain that using the mysterious aura came with. His whole body felt like it weighed a couple hundred pounds and that he had been stampeded by a herd of Tauros. "This is getting out of hand..." Ash murmured more to himself than anyone else. "I have got to find out what causes this and get control of it somehow. If I made Butterfree do all of this just by getting controlled by that energy again then it has to stop... this is the worse its ever been."

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before snapping them open again and shooting upright, ignoring the cries of protest from his body. "Pikachu, what happened to the others and where is Team Rocket?! What about the pink Butterfree? Is she okay?!" This caught Butterfree's attention as well because he looked at Pikachu expectantly.

Pikachu first pointed to the other end of the warehouse where Team Rocket had been blown through the wall and then turned his gaze towards the entrance of the warehouse. He made motions the whole time with his hands to express just what had happened.

Ash seemed to understand what Pikachu was telling them and nodded, looking relieved. "Good, I'm glad the others got out alright. Great thinking Pikachu, you did great," He praised.

Pikachu smiled happily at Ash and chirped in gratitude as his trainer slowly started to stand up, using the wall he was leaning against for support. Pikachu and Butterfree, who of which was now standing beside his teammate, watched their trainer with concern as he struggled to stand up.

Ash grunted and breathed through the screaming pain his body was feeling and finally managed to stand all the way up in a leaning position against the wall, still cradling his side in pain.

He looked down at his Pokémon and smiled. "Don't worry about me guys... I'm gonna be just fine!" He assured with a thumbs up as he made to step forward off the wall.

This action caused a fresh wave of pain to shoot down into his legs and made Ash grit his teeth as he fell forward and grabbed a hold of a nearby crate that was still standing. "Pika Pi/Free!" Both Pikachu and Butterfree cried out in fear for their trainer as they ran/flew to his side. Ash looked at them again and nodded before using the crate as support to walk further. "I'm alright guys... just getting used to these jelly legs is all." He smiled at his attempt of a joke.

Pikachu and Butterfree followed Ash as he let go of the crate and continued walking slowly through the warehouse towards the outside, watching carefully for him in case he went to fall. Butterfree's eyes burned from shooting the beams of energy earlier but other than that his body felt fine. Ash had apparently taken the physical toll of it all.

The boy stopped and looked around before he started shuffling faster towards the exit. "We've gotta get out of here guys... fast," He grunted out. "If there are any fuel tanks in here for that helicopter of Team Rocket's then we probably don't have long before the fire eventually reaches them and causes this whole place to explode."

Ash was right to want to hurry so fast because at that same moment, a lone fuel tank that was near enough to the fire of the chopper but far enough away from the rest of the tanks, finally reached it's critical peak and exploded like a hundred fireworks going off.

The blast was enough to shake the heavily demolished building and caused Ash and his Pokémon to go flying forward. "Wahh!" Ash yelled out as he flew through the air and then hit the ground with a heavy groan. Pikachu managed to get his feet first and looked up at the ceiling above Ash just in time to see a few pieces fall from it and plummet down towards his trainer, who was now struggling to get back up.

Pikachu cried out in fear for his trainer and took off running for him. Unfortunately... he was too late.

The chunks of ceiling fell on top of Ash in a heap and caused the boy to yell out in pain as he was forced back down by the weight of the heavy pieces of steel. Pikachu and Butterfree, who were thrown near Ash's position, made their way to their trainer's side and looked at the heavy pieces of debree that was keeping him down. Ash struggled against the heavy weight in an attempt to get free but in his weakened state, it was hopeless.

Pikachu and Butterfree started trying to help him get out from under the fallen ceiling chunks but it was just too heavy for them to move on their own. Ash looked at them then and yelled out, "Forget about me you two and just get yourselves to safety! This place could explode at any minute!"

The plea fell on deaf ears though as Pikachu and Butterfree were completely dead set against the idea of leaving their trainer for dead. Instead, they continued doing everything they could to help get him free.

Outside of the building, Ash's other Pokémon were watching and listening for everything that was going on inside of the building. After they had all heard the first explosion they wanted to run in and help Ash but were stopped by Bulbasaur, who reminded them that Pikachu gave them specific orders to stay outside no matter what happened. Being that he was Ash's first Pokémn, they were all obligated to listen.

However, when the second explosion came, it took Bulbasaur actually using his vines to keep them all from charging inside. After fighting against them for several moments, Bulbasaur finally managed to reign them in. All except for one.

The pink Butterfree was frightened for not only Ash's Butterfree's sake, but also for the boy himself and Pikachu. They had risked so much to save her and the other Butterfree and she wasn't going to just do nothing while they were in such terrible trouble. She made to spread her wings and fly towards the building, of which they were quite a few yards away from, but one of Bulbasaur's vines stopped her.

"Bulba!" He said shaking his head.

The pink female flew into Bulbasaur's face and started yelled at him in Pokéspeech while making gestures towards the ruined warehouse. "Free Free! Butter Free Free! Butterfree, Free Free Butterfree!" She became progressively more aggressive with each word spoken and actually slapped Bulbasaur's vine away with her wing. She pointed towards the warehouse again with her other wing and then at Ash's other Pokémon before finally setting her stern gaze on Bulbasaur once more. With whom she was now having a staring match with.

"BUTTEFREE!" She yelled at Bulbasaur again.

The Grass-Type Pokémon looked at the pink Butterfree for a few more moments and then at Ash's other Pokémon. He glanced towards the warehouse with a look of deep contemplation before finally sighing and nodding his head in consent. "Bulbasaur..." He said while looking at the female again.

Butterfree smiled the best a Pokémon like her could and nodded in gratitude to the Grass Pokémon before hugging him tightly with her wings and then shooting of towards the warehouse like a rocket, followed closely by Pidgeot.

Bulbasaur's face was blushing a bright red after the hug and this was like an open invitation for Squirtle and Charmander to start teasing him while laughing like clowns. One unamused look from the embarrassed Grass-Type however was all that was needed for them to shut their mouths right away. Though they were still snickering under their breath.

Bulbasaur just shook his head and then took off after Butterfree and Pidgeot. Saying a silent thank you to Arceus that Ash didn't have Gastly right now as he did so. He just knew that if the comedic Ghost-Type saw what happened then there would be no peace and endless teasing would most definitely be his.

Squirtle and Charmander shared another laugh with each other before following after their teammates.

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash continued struggling vainly against the chunks of ceiling holding him down and then fell back to the ground panting. He looked over at Pikachu and Butterfree, who were also breathing heavily from struggling so hard to free Ash.

Pikachu's tail was turned to iron from how he was using it to try and break some of the metal away but nothing had been working thus far. The metal was all in too great of a heap and Pikachu just didn't have enough body weight to break through it all. Butterfree had been trying everything from Gust to Tackle on the debree but just like Pikachu, he was having no luck.

Just as Ash was about to tell them again to leave the doomed building and safe themselves, two speeding shapes came blurring out of the smoke and smashed into the metal holding Ash down with great force. The metal actually moved for the first time and Ash felt slightly less pressure on his body because of it.

He looked up and was absolutely shocked, just like Pikachu and Butterfree, to see the pink Butterfree and Pidgeot hovering above them with intent expressions on their faces.

Ash was about to say something before he spottee three other shapes come running at them through the smoke. Ash felt his jaw literally drop when the equally serious faces of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle came into view. "Wha-?" He looked at them all. "What are you guys doing here?!" He shouted in shock.

"Bulba!"

"Squirt!"

"Char!"

"Pidgeoo!"

"Free!"

Was the response he received from the five Pokémon and before he could say anything more, they all started to take action. On Bulbasaur's fast directions, Squirtle and Charmander stood side by side while Pidgeot and the pink Butterfree hovered above them in a ready position. Bulbasaur ran over to Pikachu and the male Butterfree and explained what they were going to try in order to free Ash.

Pikachu and Butterfree nodded in consent before following Bulbasaur back over to the others. Butterfree flew up beside the pink one, who nudged him in greeting with one of her wings, which he returned, while Bulbasaur joined Charmander and Squirtle. Pikachu took his position at the front of the line-up and then it began.

Pidgeot and both Butterfree sent powerful gusts of wind at the debree while Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle used Razor Leaf, Flamethrower and Water Pulse respectively at the same time. All of the attacks sped towards the chunks of ceiling holding Ash down and seemed to combine together before making contact with it. Pikachu looked up with fire in his eyes and then took off towards the pile at fast speeds, his tail turning to iron at the same time.

"Pika..." He ran even faster, his body following in a perfect streamline with the attacks flying just over head. "PIKA..." He jumped in the air and flipped down towards the pile of metal that was now below him. "PIKACHU!" His tail then impacted with it's target and that was all that was needed.

The power of the combined attacks, the heavy wind force of Gust and the raw power of Pikachu's Iron Tail blasted the metal pile on top of Ash apart and allowed him to feel relief for the first time in what felt like ever.

After the attacks had settled down, all of the boy's Pokémon ran/flew towards him as he slowly got to his knees. He then looked at his Pokémon that were gathered around in a circle, who were looking at him with concern and smiles on their faces, and felt tears prickle in the corners of his eyes. "You guys all came in here... knowing it was dangerous... just to save me?"

Getting affirmative nods from his Pokémon, Ash smiled at them all warmly and nodded his head. "I couldn't have ever wished for any better Pokémon... thank you all so much. I owe you everything guys... you're not just my teammates and Pokémon... you're my family."

Before anything else could be said or done, they suddenly heard another small explosion come from the direction of the fuel tanks. Ash gathered strength from places he didn't even know he had and stood up quickly, shaking on his feet as he did but steadying himself with nothing more than willpower. "We need to get out of here now you guys! Before this whole place explodes!"

His Pokémon gathered around Ash protectively and provided a stable support base for him just in case he went to fall. Ash started making his way towards the exit as fast as possible, gathering up speed slowly until he was practically running. He covered his eyes with his forearm to shield them from the smoke while he placed the top part of his tracksuit over his mouth and nose.

Another series of small explosions rattled the warehouse and nearly knocked them all off balance but they kept going. "Don't stop everyone, keep running!" He urged loudly.

They started to see the faint light of daylight coming in through the smoke and Ash knew they were nearly out. "Almost there guys! COME ON LETS GO!" He started running faster towards the doors, his Pokémon keeping step with him the whole time. Just as they were mere feet away from the exit, another explosion rocked the building and caused several large crates that were still standing high over them all to start falling.

Ash called out while he continued running, "Take out those crates!"

Pidgeot and the two Butterfree blasted some of the higher crates away with blasts of wind from their wings while Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle used Thunderbolt, Vine Whip, Dragon Rage and Water Pulse to take care of the ones falling closer towards them.

On they ran, the Pokémon fighting back the falling crates unfailingly as they finally made it to the exit, daylight now shining brightly before them. Pikachu and the three Kanto starters made it out first, much to Ash's relief, and was followed next by Pidgeot. The only ones still left inside was himself and the two Butterfree and just before they made it out... another disaster struck.

A large crate that had gone unnoticed by the three of them started falling down towards Ash's Butterfree at a frontward angle. The pink female saw this and flew in front of the crates path, pushing the male out of the way and taking the full force impact of the heavy projectile. She screeched in pain and was sent hurdling several yards back into the warehouse.

Ash's Butterfree stopped and started to fly back for her but Ash managed to jump up and grab him in time before he could do it. Without waiting, Ash ran the rest of the way out of the building while holding a madly struggling and furious Butterfree in his arms. "FREE! FREE FREE!" Butterfree protested viciously.

Ash didn't say a word and as soon as he made it outside and located his Pokémon recovering a safe distance away from the warehouse, he ran over to them and put Butterfree on the ground next to Pikachu. Without so much as a word or glance at any of them, Ash took off charging back towards the warehouse again. Not even taking so much as a single second to enjoy the safety he had just been gifted with before plunging back into the doomed building.

Ash took the top portion of his track suit and tucked it back over his nose and mouth before squinting his eyes and looking around in front of him as far as he could see. The smoke had become much thicker by this point and he could see the orange hue of flames dancing ever so closer to where he saw the main supply of fuel tanks earlier.

Without any further hesitation, Ash took off as fast as his sore body could take him in the direction he saw the pink Butterfree get knocked to by the falling crate. As he continued to run, the boy would stop momentarily and strain his ears to hear as far into the distance as he could for any hint as to where she may be.

Finally, after looking around in the thick smoke for any trace of who he was looking for, Ash just managed to catch a glimpse of a small pink body through a break in the smoke. He then took off running towards the small form and once he was upon it, he looked down and saw the pink female lying on top of the remains of a shattered crate. Soot and scratches covered her body and she appeared to be unconscious.

Ash quickly knelt down and gently picked up the oddly colored Butterfree, tucking her in close to his chest before standing back up and making his way back towards the exit again. "Don't worry Butterfree, you're gonna be fine! I promise!" Ash shouted down to her over the roar of the flames that were getting closer and closer to them. "You just hold on alright?! Hold on!" He urged her.

The female Butterfree stirred at the sound of Ash's voice and opened her eyes to see the male Butterfree's trainer running as fast he could with a look of pure determination etched onto his face. She looked at the young trainer with something akin to amazement in her eyes at the way some simple human, who owed her nothing, would come running back into a place that could have exploded at any minute just to save her. She knew her old trainer was kind but this was just something else entirely.

It was only in that moment that she could finally understand why Butterfree had been so adamant the whole time they had been trapped in the net that his trainer was going to come and save them.

Ash looked down at her and smiled reassuringly. "Can you hang on?" He asked softly.

The pink female just continued to look at Ash with wide eyes and nodded her head in a yes, not saying anything. Ash smiled again as he continued to run. "Good! Then lets get out of here!"

Just as the both of them were close to making it to the exit, one of the gas barrels finally exploded. Ash was thrown off of his feet by the force of the explosion and the entire warehouse temporarily lit up as a result. Not knowing how or why, Ash was on his feet again in an instant with Butterfree still locked firmly in his grasp as he ran even faster. He felt disoriented and the world was slightly spinning within his vision but the only thing he cared about was getting them both to safety.

The fires of the explosion roared through the building, consuming everything in a blazing fury and leaving nothing behind. Ash felt the flames lick at his back but that only spurred him on to run even faster. Butterfree was curling herself tighter into his chest as he ran, thinking of how at any moment she expected the fire to completely engulf them before they could escape.

Ash saw the bright light of day just ahead of him grow closer and closer and he put on one final burst of speed in a last ditch effort for freedom and safety. Arceus was on his side too because just as human and Pokémon made it out of the burning building and onto the rocky ground of the canyon outside... the big explosion finally came as the fire inside swallowed up the bulk of the fuel containers in one fell swoop. Setting off a massive explosion that completely obliterated the entire warehouse and lit up the canyon it was nestled within like Arceus herself had appeared from the heavens in a bright flash of light.

Ash had just managed to get out of range of the warehouse before it exploded and everything seemed to slow down as it finally did. The force of the explosion being enough to topple several massive rock structures around the small valley like they were nothing more than brittle mounds of mud.

Ash's feet were literally sent flying out from underneath of him as the shock wave of the blast picked him up and threw him forward across the valley like a pebble. His world continued to go by in slow motion as he hugged the female Butterfree even closer to his chest and opened his eyes.

When he did, it shocked him to see that not only was he speeding across the landscape like a super fast Dragonite, watching everything pass below him in a blur, but also just how high up in the air he was as well. Which was at least well over thirty feet high if anyone watching from a distance could have guessed or placed a measurement.

Ash knew there was nothing he could at this point so he merely shut his eyes, held the Pokémon in his grasp tighter and said a silent prayer to Arceus to keep them both safe.

Ash's Pokémon had all been knocked to the ground by the violent explosion that had rocked the surrounding area and rung out across the canyon walls with an earsplitting echo. Pikachu, from his position next to Butterfree on the ground, shielded his eyes with his tail as he looked up at the giant plume of smoke and fire that had been shot up into the air from the explosion of the warehouse. His ears, along with his teammate's own, were ringing like mad but the only thing he could search for in the aftermath the destruction was any sign of Ash.

Pidgeot, since he eyes were the keenest of all of them, was the first to spot Ash as he came flying out of the smoke like a rocket. Being propelled so high into the air that she knew if he hit the ground from such an elevation he would definitely be either severely injured killed.

Not about to let anything like that happen to her trainer while she could do anything to prevent it, Pidgeot stood back to her feet and spread her wings out before shooting off into the air as fast as she could.

Just as Ash began making his quick descent back towards the earth, he braced himself for the intense pain he knew was sure to come. However, he instead found himself in a state of surprise when he felt his body land on the back of something soft and warm. The boy opened his eyes and looked down to see, instead of the hard and cold ground like he was expecting, Pidgeot's soft and elegant feathers.

Pidgeot struggled to right herself on the violent wind currents that the explosion had kicked up but with all of her intense strength training, she managed to steady herself and started riding the choppy currents back towards the ground where the other Pokémon were waiting.

Ash shifted himself until he was sitting in a straddle position on Pidgeot's back and then set the pink Butterfree in his lap before leaning down and patting Pidgeot's head gently. "Girl... I can't even begin to tell you how magnificent you are or how grateful I am right now," He said with a smile.

Pidgeot turned her head to the side and nodded at Ash's words of gratitude. "Pidgeooo!" She responded in kind.

Ash smiled again and patted her head once more as the fully evolved form of Pidgey finally descended all the way to the ground and landed gracefully in front of the others. Ash's Pokémon crowded around Pidgeot while calling up to Ash in relief and Pidgeot in praise. Of which she just accepted gladly and tilted her head upwards in a show of pride.

Ash dismounted Pidgeot, carefully since Butterfree was still in his arms, and was instantly rushed by his Pokémon. The boy smiled happily and gave attention to each of them before finally making some space for himself and kneeling down, placing the pink Butterfree on the ground gently. His Pokémon formed a circle around the both of them as his own Butterfree flew up and landed next to the female, looking down at her in worry and back up at Ash with gratitude for saving her and also a pleading expression to help her.

Ash smiled at his Pokémon's concern for the pink female and reached out, rubbing Butterfree gently on the head. "Don't worry Butterfree, I'm going to do all I can to help her okay?"

Butterfree just looked at her one last time and then back at Ash before nodding his head and giving them some space. Ash took the opportunity to slide his pack off his tired shoulders, wincing from the minor burns he knew was covering his skin from the intense heat exposure he had endured.

Shaking it off, he opened the large pack and went to the medicinal section of it. Reaching in, Ash pulled out a rag, some salve used to sooth burn wounds that was made from Oran berries, a Hyper Potion (of which he had several of in the large bag, thank Arceus for his mother teaching him the art of being prepared) and finally, he took out a regular sized stethoscope that Daisy Oak had given him for his ninth birthday. An item of which he took great value in since it was a gift from one of his most precious people.

He first took the rag and looked at Squirtle. "Can use please give me some water on this rag Squirtle?" He asked politely.

Squirtle just nodded and opened his mouth. "Squirt!" He announced as a steady stream of water came pouring from his mouth and moistened the rag. Once it was wet enough, Ash motioned for him to stop and then rung it out before picking the pink Butterfree back up gently again. He then began running the rag slowly over her body, carefully cleaning the unconscious Pokémon of any soot and dirt that was on her.

After that was done, Ash looked over at Pikachu. "Hey buddy, can you please reach into the main part of my bag and pull out the blanket you see in there and then lay it down on the ground for me? I don't want to set Butterfree back down in the dirt after just cleaning her."

Pikachu nodded and scurried over to Ash's bag, going through the main section of it before withdrawing a white blanket from inside. With the help of Charmander and Squirtle, the three of them put the blanket down and then Ash carefully put Butterfree down on the blanket. From there, he grabbed the Hyper Potion and brought it to her injuries. He looked up his Butterfree before spraying it. "She's gonna feel a sting in this okay? But it will help, I promise."

Butterfree nodded reluctantly but urged Ash on. The boy turned his attention back to the female again and started spraying the healing remedy onto any injury he could see. She tossed and turned in pain as the potion started to take effect but only for a few moments until her wounds slowly begun to heal before their very eyes. After the healing process finally ended, the pink female had a look of comfort and ease come over her face at last.

Ash smiled to himself and then picked up the salve made to sooth burns. He dipped a little bit onto his fingers after opening the lid and then gently rubbed the mint smelling gel onto every burn patch that had been missed by the potion. After he finished with that, Ash reached back into the medicinal section of his pack and went for a large bag stuffed in the corner.

Ash opened the bag and revealed several different berries of all kinds inside of it. The bag itself was made special with Leavanny's thread so things like berries being kept inside of it would stay fresh. He pulled out a Citrus berry, which helped to restore a Pokémon's energy, and then sliced it in half with a small cutting knife he kept in the kitchen utensils section of his bag.

Once that was finished, Ash pulled out a small mixing bowl from the same place and smashed the berry up into paste. After getting Squirtle to give it a little more liquid texture with some water, Ash stirred it once more before elevating Butterfree's head slightly and gently tipped the contents down her mouth. The female drank it all down and as she did, more and more of her health and energy seemed to become restored.

The very last thing Ash did was wait a few moments and then picked up his stethoscope, gently placing it over first Butterfree's heart to check her pulse and then her lungs to check her breathing. After he did this, Ash put the handy tool down and wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow before looking back up at his own Butterfree and smiling. "I think she'll be just fine and hopefully awake really soon Butterfree," He informed in a reassuring tone.

The Pokémon quickly rushed Ash in a hug, which he returned gladly, before fluttering over to stand by the female's side as he waited for her to wake up again. Ash and the others did the same thing and it became a tense silence as they all waited anxiously.

Finally, after a few minutes... she opened her eyes.

Ash and his Pokémon felt the breath hitch in their throats as the pink Butterfree started regaining more of her senses and began looking around. Ash's Butterfree had wide eyes and looked anxious when he saw her wake up, hovering closely by her side as she slowly started to get to her feet. She looked at Butterfree with a confused expression. "Free... Free Free?" She asked, obviously wanting to know what had just happened.

Ash's Butterfree put his wing out and caught her in a gentle hold as she started to fall back down and then answered her, all while making gestures so Ash was able to get a gist of what was being said. "Free Free, Butterfree, Free Free Butterfree," He said as he started to explain everything that had happened to the now wide eyed female.

Once he got to the part about Ash going back into the now destroyed warehouse to save her, she looked at the young trainer with something akin to amazement and awe. Ash knew Butterfree must have gotten to the part about him because the male was making hand gestures his way, trying to play out the situation that had happened.

Once he was done explaining what had happened, Butterfree suddenly looked very shy as he started thanking her for saving him by taking the falling crate that had nearly crushed him. The female herself also blushed and then started thanking the male in return for everything he did not just to save her but also all of the other Butterfree. Ash's Butterfree blushed as well at the praise he received from the usually proud female but just started pointing to his trainer whenever she thanked him for rescuing her and all of the other Butterfree.

Ash watched the somewhat awkward conversation going on between the two Butterfree with both amusement and also happiness. Something that was being shared in by his other Pokémon. All except for Charmander and Squirtle. Who were laughing and teasing Butterfree for all of the blushing he was doing and how 'in love he was'.

This was instantly stopped though by fierce glares from Ash, Butterfree, Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Pidgeot. Butterfree looked like he wanted to jump his two teammates and beat them to a pulp right then and there but one amused giggle from the pink female was more than enough to get his attention diverted back solely to her.

Ash looked at Squirtle and Charmander with a stern gaze before he grinned mischievously at them. "Yeah that's right you two, poke all the fun you want at Butterfree right now but when you both fall in love with some female that makes you go all goo goo eyed and mushy, Butterfree and I will be right here to pay you back for all the teasing you've put us through!" He warned them while wagging his finger.

It would probably make sense to explain that Squirtle and Charmander absolutely loved making fun of anyone, be it human or Pokémon, when said individual fell in love. Neither one of them could understand such 'pointless feelings' when you could just spend all of your time training and getting stronger to be better than everyone else. Usually it would be either Charmander or Squirtle to start poking fun and since they were both such good friends, whenever one started... the other wasn't too far behind.

Even though all of their teammates trained to excessively intense levels and pushed themselves just as far as the Fire and Water-Type Pokémon did, Squirtle and Charmander were both easily the farthest behind when it came to emotional maturity where love was concerned. All of Ash's other Pokémon, save the Butterfree from Melanie's cottage, expressed interest in eventually finding a mate even though they were all still young.

Pokémon did take after their trainers and vice versa so when you had a trainer that was as big of a romantic and ladies man as Ash was shaping up to be. Someone who was the the farthest thing from 'romantically dense' as you could possibly get (especially at his age) then the Pokémon of said trainer just wouldn't able to help picking up those same... 'urges' if that was the right word to use for such a thing.

Hell, the boy had a girlfriend three years his senior and another girl two years older than him interested in him as well. Because of all this, Pikachu being revealed as a closet pervert should have come as no surprise. Nor that the rest of his Pokémon all found great interest in the opposite sex of their species.

Well... all except for Squirtle and Charmander of course, who the entire current subject was about anyway. They even took sport in making fun of their own trainer's relationship with Giselle. Now, after doing the same to Butterfree, Ash felt as though it was only fair that they know what awaited them when, not if, they found their own special someones.

When Ash said what he did and grinned like a devil, Butterfree temporarily diverted his attention away from the pink female and looked at his teammates with an equally devilish grin that clearly said, 'Oh just you two wait for that day, I am NEVER going to let you live it down!'

Squirtle and Charmander started sweating slightly and became somewhat nervous from the threat of humiliation that Ash and Butterfree had just promised them. However they tried to play it cool and just shook their hands in dismissive gestures.

"Squirt Squirt Squirtel!"

"Char Char Charmander!"

Both Pokemon denied in a cool way. Obviously vehemtely denying that anything like that would ever happen to them.

Ash just winked and turned away. "We'll see..." He said ominously and for some reason... Squirtle and Charmander felt a chill run down their backs.

When the boy turned back to both Butterfree, still chuckling to himself, he was surprised to see the pink one standing in front of him with a kind look in her eyes and the closest thing to a smile that a Pokémon of her species could have. Ash looked from her to his own Butterfree and saw the latter eyesmiling at what was apparently about to happen.

Ash looked back down at her and tilted his head slightly. "What's up Butterfree?"

She just looked down with a slight blush on her cheeks and pointed her small hands together. "Free Free... Butterfree Free, Free Butterfree..." She said somewhat hesitantly.

Now, don't ask him why but Ash seemed to somehow always understand what a Pokémon was trying to tell him even if he was only around them for a very short period of time. He knew how he was able to understand his own Pokémon, due to the bond he had developed with them, but when it came to ones that weren't his... he had no idea how he could understand them the way he did.

Right now, he was understanding that the female was thanking him for coming to save her and the rest of the Butterfree and then going back into the burning warehouse to save her yet again. Ash just smiled when he heard this and placed his hand on her head gently. She looked up at him and saw him smiling gently at her. "There is no need to ever thank me for any of that Butterfree. I was more than happy to help out a bunch of Pokèmon in trouble and I always will be. Plus, my Butterfree obviously really likes you and if that's the case... then I like you too!"

Ash's Butterfree blushed when he felt the pink one's gaze fall back on him and Ash grinned to himself before continuing. "Not to mention, from I've seen you're a strong Pokémon with a lot of potential Butterfree." The pink female snapped her gaze back up at Ash with slightly wide eyes. "I don't know if that talent comes from your old trainer's teachings or just yourself but whatever it is, I'm really impressed," He complemented. "So don't ever think anything of it okay? I would gladly risk my life to save you again!"

The pink Butterfree suddenly felt tears prickle in her eyes and then launched herself at Ash, catching the boy off guard as she wrapped him up in a tight hug with her wings. Ash was momentarily surprised but quickly composed himself and chuckled slightly as he returned the hug. The male Butterfree and Ash's other Pokémon just watched on with smiles as the tender moment between human and Pokèmon played out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Quite some distance away, near one of the canyon walls that they had been thrown into by the blast of the explosion, Team Rocket had finally regained consciousness and were now attempting to collect their bearings. Meowth's fur looked ruffled and disheveled while Jessie and James' outfits were torn and scuffed up badly.

James' face had a couple of welts and bruises on it, his hair had dirt and rocks in it and he now sported a blackened eye on his right side that looked puffy and painful. The white over vest with the Team Rocket symbol he wore was completely gone and his black undershirt had several gashes and rips in it, as well as an entire chunk missing from the left side. His pants were also ripped and scuffed up. The entire right side pant leg from the knee down being gone and exposing his burned and torn up leg from the blast and rough tumble on the unforgiving canyon ground he and the other two had suffered through. There was also a slight chunk missing from the left hip of his pants which showed what seemed to be, to the disgusting sight of anyone looking, the waist band of a blue speedo looking underwear. Truly a horrifyingly nasty sight of the highest caliber.

Jessie's face was not as scuffed up as Jame's was, only showing a bleeding lip. Thankfully for her since a lady's face was a very valued quality of their person. Her hair on the hand, was not so fortunate. The long, luxurious maroon hair she took such pride and care in was in a complete disarray with damage that looked irreversible. During the blast and since they were so close to the fire that came with it, Jessie's hair had apparently caught flame and burned all the way up to just below her shoulders, leaving the remaining few feet utterly ruined. Luckily enough for her, the tumble through the canyon put the fire out or otherwise, she might have lost much more.

The poor woman's clothes on the hand... were much worse off than James' own.

Like her teammate, the entire white top with the Rocket symbol had been completely ripped off. The skin of her toned and smooth stomach was now showing many scrapes and bruises along with a couple of burn marks. Her short black cut off undershirt had been reduced even shorter after the blast. The entire left side of the shoulder piece was missing, allowing the fabric to hang looser now and expose just the very top of her well endowed left breast. Which looked sightly burned as well as somewhat dirty from ash and dirt that also came down to collect in her cleavage.

Her left forearm length glove was gone and the right one was also gone save for a strip of fabric that still hung on her elbow like a sweatband. Her white skirt had been torn and gashed up badly. A large piece of the front right left side was ripped away, exposing some of the black lace panties she wore below and her left boot was totally gone while the right one had been cut down to shin length. Her right leg seemed painfully burned and scratched while her usually well pedicured, polished, red toe nail painted right foot was in a current state that suggested better days had been seen.

Meowth just looked as though someone had taken a brush and rubbed his fur the entirely wrong way and then dumped a mix of dirt and ash on him. Surprisingly enough, the charm on his forehead remained intact and unbroken.

James groaned as he held his head. "I don't want to repeat that ever again..." He whined. "I thought we were going to die!"

Jessie completely ignored her revealed state, what had just happened and the pain she felt racking her body as she grabbed ahold of her hair with look of complete shock. After seeing how destroyed it was, she dropped her crimson shaded locks as genuine tears came to her eyes and fell slowly down her cheeks. She let her head fall and hands drop to her sides as her body gently racked with sobs. "I..." She began through her choked sobs. "Have been growing... my hair... since I was... a little girl..." She dropped to her knees as tear drops fell to the ground. "I'm going to have... no choice... but to cut it..."

James and Meowth just looked at each other and then back down at the beautiful woman who was now crying on her knees for something that she had held dear for far more years than she had known either of them. "Jessie..." James began stepping forward but then stopped and moved back again. He had no idea how to comfort a distraught woman.

He was never good at dealing with the fairer sex and if the pitifully failed attempts he experienced during the times he was forced to spend with his arranged fiance was anything to go by... he knew just how right he was to just step back and remain silent. He hated seeing his teammate in such a state but what could he do? That was why he decided to just stay quite and provide emotional support if needed.

Meowth slowly stepped up to Jessie and knelt by her face, gently placing his paw on her shoulder. "I know you're really upset right now Jess and I'm sorry. I wish me and James could say sometin ta help but I know dat it won't do no good." Jessie just remained silent, save for the occasional sobs racking her body. "You're still beautiful widout dat long hair! Who knows, maybe you'll be able ta do sometin with dis and turn it from a bad situation inta sometin good? I don't know anyone else who can do such amazin' things wit their looks and clothes, right James?"

Meowth looked at James for support and the blue haired man quickly nodded his head. "He's right Jessie! Why, you could be a professional designer or hair dresser with your skills! I bet you can make your hair look even better now somehow!" He agreed enthusiastically.

The talking Pokémon smiled at James gratefully and then looked back at Jessie, who's sobs had now stopped, and put his fist in the air. "Yeah dat's right Jess! Yous is super talented when it comes ta dat stuff! Now get up off your knees and act like da Jessie we all know and..." Meowth scratched his cheek for a moment in thought.

Jessie was now looking at Meowth hopefully, un-shed tears still glistening in her eyes. The cat-like Pokémon saw this and chuckled nervously, not wanting to slump her back into a depression or get hurt by saying anything about how aggressive she could be. Neither he nor James needed that pain right now in their current condition.

"Dat we both... fear and respect so much!" He said as a quick recovery.

James nodded again quickly and smiled. "That's right Jessie! This isn't you! We need your scary brutal self to help us catch that twerp's Pikachu and rise up in the Team Rocket ranks!"

Meowth face palmed himself at James slip of stupidity. The man DEFINITELY didn't know how to speak to a woman...

Jessie's eye twitched at hearing the word 'brutal' slip from James' mouth about her and then, at an almost light speed, she was standing over a whimpering James with her fist lowered. The woman was huffing angrily and the bump rising on James' head was a clear indication of what just happened. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING BRUTAL JAMES?!"

The man, if that's what you could call him, merely curled up where he was with his hands over his head as he started pleading. "Nonono please Jessie I didn't mean it! No please don't!" He screamed girlishly and Meowth just sighed before crossing his arms.

"Well... she's feelin' better alright." The smallest member of the team observed while watching Jessie pummel the wimp of a man.

After Jessie had finished beating James to a pulp and calmed herself down, she stood proudly again and started patting as much dirt from her body as she could. The temperamental woman then pulled her hair back around and looked at it closely for a few moments before she looked first at Meowth and then the cowering James who was still on the ground with his hands over his head.

"Hmm... I suppose I could do something astounding with this unfortunate little incident. And you're right Meowth! No one knows style and beauty care like me!" She turned and kicked James in the side. "Stop whining and get up James! Be a man!"

James crawled over to Meowth and then got up onto his knees before whispering in his ear, "Maybe it would have been better to just let Jessie wallow in her depression!"

Meowth sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah but watchin' her stay in a funk ain't gonna help us catch Pikachu or get in good wit da Boss."

Jessie suddenly appeared behind the two of them with an ominous aura around her. "What are you two talking about?" She asked with a dangerous edge to her voice.

Both males jumped and whipped around to face her. "N-Nothing Jessie!" James said quickly, waving his hands in front of him with a nervous smile on his face.

"Yeah Jess we was just talking about... uhh..." Meowth looked around for something to divert attention away from the current time bomb of a situation and fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how one were to look at it, he found it in the now demolished Team Rocket warehouse that was sending smoke hundreds of feet up into the air as the orange/red flames of the fire continued to burn in the wreckage below. Meowth went silent and wide eyed as his mouth suddenly felt dry.

Jessie had lost her patience by this point. "Well?! What are you looking at Meowth?!"

The talking Pokémon stayed totally silent in his shocked state and just pointed towards the scene of destruction. James and Jessie looked where he was directing them and upon locking their gazes upon the sight... their reactions were identical to Meowth's own. Which was pure shock and total fear.

"T-That was one of the team's main storage warehouses!" James stuttered with a trembling voice.

Jessie just acted as she usually did in situations that proved too much for her to handle though... with anger. "THAT MEDDLESOME, ANNOYING, INFURIATING TWERP!" She fumed with a vain popping out on the side of her forehead as she shook her fist and ranted. "WE STEAL THOSE BUTTERFREE FAIR AND SQUARE AND NOT ONLY DOES HE HAVE TO CHASE US DOWN, HUMILATE US AND FREE THEM ALL, BUT THEN HE GOES AND DESTROYS THE WHOLE DAMN BUILDING! She brought both fists into her sizable chest and growled. "Not only that but its his fault that my hair-" She held up her burnt and charred locks of maroon then. "-IS RUINED! FUCK!"

Meowth walked up and stood between her and James, never breaking his gaze from the burning remains of the warehouse. "I think ya should be more worried about da Boss then your hair Jessie. He's gonna be real mad when he finds out about dis..."

James sat cross legged on the ground with a thoughtful expression on his face and then snapped his fingers. "Unless we don't tell him..." He started as Meowth and Jessie looked at him.

"What do you mean James?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Yeah if we don't tell da Boss and din he finds out about it he'll have us killed, forget fired!" Meowth shouted frantically while waving his arms around.

James stood up and crossed his arms. "He won't know it was us that was responsible! No one was here except for us and the twerp! We did the Butterfree mission on our own without commands from HQ. For all any of them will know, one of the fuel tanks inside just had a leak and exploded for some reason," He reasoned.

Jessie and Meowth looked at each other and then smiled. "I like that plan!" Jessie exclaimed happily.

Meowth grinned. "Me too!"

James smirked triumphantly. "I knew you'd both see it my way!" He raised his right fist in the air then and laughed aloud at how intelligent he was feeling at the moment.

Jessie looked at James expectantly. "So now we just have to get out of here! How are we going to do it James?!"

At that question, the blue/violet haired man stopped laughing and left his fist in the air, sweat dropping down his forehead at the same time. "Well..." He then brought both hands in and rubbed them together nervously with a sheepish appearance adorning his face. "I didn't plan that far ahead. I didn't think either one of you would actually go with my idea so I didn't think about a potential escape plan..."

Jessie grew a tick mark on the side of her head as her eye twitched. "So... we're STUCK here James?!" She questioned through gritted teeth.

The man shrunk down and started twiddling both pointer fingers together while feeling ten inches tall. "I guess so..." He conceded shamefully.

Just as Jessie was about to clobber the poor man again, Meowth smirked and coughed into his paw. The angry woman looked down at him then. "What is it furball?!"

Meowth put his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels while looking smug. "I had a feeling dat sometin like dis would happen and yous twos wouldn't have any kind of plan ready in case da operation went wrong so I took care of it."

Jessie and James looked at Meowth in surprise. "Really?" James asked hopefully.

The Pokémon walked over to the canyon wall behind them and stood in front of it while still looking smug. "Check dis out!" He then reached up behind him, like he was grasping at the rocky wall and then gripped the air with both paws before pulling back. To Jessie and Jame's amazement, part of the canyon wall looked as though it was starting to fall away but as they watched closer, it was revealed that what they were seeing was actually a giant cloth of some kind being pulled away... revealing the Meowth balloon resting just behind it.

Both humans watched with mouths agape as Meowth pulled the large covering away and revealed their balloon, just sitting there waiting for them. Once Meowth was finished pulling the cloak like object away, he took in his team's shocked expressions and decided to explain. "I covered da balloon up wit dis special camouflage cloak dat da Team Rocket field engineers came up wit. I found it in one of those crates inside da warehouse and covered dis baby here up so we'd have an escape route if sometin happened." He patted the basket of the balloon. "Yous both didn't even tink about da balloon... did ya?"

James ran up and started shaking Meowth's paw. "You're a genius Meowth! An absolute genius!"

Jessie just huffed and walked towards the balloon. "Yes yes yes Meowth very clever and good." She then climbed into the basket and made a gesturing motion at herself. "I'm dirty, tired, half-naked- not that a woman of my beauty is ashamed of my body mind you- and need new clothes. Can we please just get going now?" Jessie asked tiredly while massaging her temples.

James giddily hopped into the basket. "Yes lets go now before the twerp catches us!" Obviously the revelation that they now had a chance to escape and not get captured by a more than likely still very irate Ash or an angry Giovanni once he found out about the destroyed warehouse put a new burst of wind in the man's sails.

Meowth jumped in as well and shouted, "Take it away Jamesy boy!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash was suddenly alerted from his touching hug with Butterfree by Pikachu running away from them all a few yards away and then calling out, "Pika Pika! Pikachu Pi!" He shouted urgently.

The boy looked up and called out to his Pokémon, "What is it Pi?"

The yellow mouse looked back at Ash and then pointed his paw at the other side of the canyon. Ash followed his gaze and saw the Team Rocket balloon starting to lift off into the air. He quickly set Butterfree down and then jumped up with clenched fists. "Team Rocket!" Faster than his exhausted body should have been able to go, Ash started running towards the distant balloon as fast as he could. "Come on you guys, we can't let them escape!" He shouted back to his Pokémon.

The small bunch of Pokémon started chasing after their trainer with no hesitation, followed even by the pink Butterfree.

Ash and Pikachu were ahead of the pack as they charged forward as fast as they could, sweat pouring from the young Ketchum. He was determined to not let Team Rocket escape but as they drew closer and closer, the balloon began getting higher and higher. "You're not getting away Team Rocket! You'll pay for what you've done!" He shouted up to them.

He looked back at Pidgeot. "Fly up there and stop that balloon Pidgeot!" He yelled.

The female bird Pokémon quickly flew up high into the air and started speeding towards the balloon.

Inside of the balloon, Jessie and James were panicking. "Do something James!" Jessie screeched in fear.

"Like what?!" He fired back.

Meowth reached down into the basket and opened up a tied sack that had medium sized black balls inside of them. He picked two of them up and then looked at James. "Grab two of em' James! There smoke bombs I got from da warehouse dat'll help us escape!"

James nodded and reached down, grabbing two of the get-away weapons. On Meowth's signal, the both of them threw the four smoke balls down towards the ground. Pulling the tabs on top of the bombs away beforehand so they would go off at the right time.

Pidgeot saw the strange objects come falling down towards her and on instinct and intensive training, instinctively pulled away and started swerving around to avoid them. She wasn't counting on them to explode and release a thick black smog that surrounded the entire airspace around her however, completely covering her in it's haze and obscuring her vision.

Ash stopped running and looked up at the sky full of smoke, glad Pidgeot was fast enough to dodge the smoke bombs even though he knew they wouldn't hurt her.

All he could do was look up at the sky with a hardened gaze, knowing that with Pidgeot's sight being obscured and the rest of them being on the ground there was no way to catch Team Rocket now. After several long moments he saw the smoke cloud start getting blown away by a powerful gale of wind, courtesy of Pidgeot's strong wings.

He then saw her fly around after the sky was cleared of the smog, looking for any signs of Team Rocket... but they were gone.

Ash sighed after averting his gaze. "Oh well... we'll get them next time," He told himself before looking up at the sky again and calling Pidgeot back down, which she did reluctantly. Obviously not happy that she failed to catch her targets.

Once down with the rest of them, Ash thanked his Pokémon for trying and praised her for her determination. Assuring her that there was nothing she could have done differently and that they would get Team Rocket at another time. Pidgeot nodded to her trainer's words of comfort and then the boy made his way over to where the balloon had been sitting before it took off.

Upon reaching the small area, Ash scanned around looking for something he didn't even know about himself. Some feeling in his gut was just telling him to look around and he felt compelled to do so. His searching was broken though by Pikachu suddenly calling out to him. He looked back at his Pokémon then and saw Pikachu standing at an open space a few yards away, inspecting the ground carefully with his nose down.

"What is it buddy?" He asked as he walked over.

Pikachu didn't answer and instead just angling upwards with his nose. Ash's face scrunched up in confusion at his Pokémon's strange behavior but that quickly turned to shock when he saw the ground around where Pikachu was inspecting start to move.

Suddenly, to Ash's amazement, Pikachu got up underneath whatever he was rooting around with using his nose and disappeared inside of the ground. To Ash's even further amazement, instead of the Electric-Type vanishing under the ground like he feared had happened, there was a Pikachu sized lump jutting from the earth.

"What the hell?!" Ash exclaimed as he and his other Pokémon got closer to see what was going on.

Pikachu then popped his head out from underneath whatever it was he was hiding under a few feet away and called over to them excitedly, "Pikachu Pi! Pi Pikachu!" He then ducked his head back down and started running around underneath of the ground, covering, thing... whatever it was he was under, much to the surprise of everyone watching.

Ash took notice of how everywhere Pikachu would run, it seemed as though the ground was rising with him but he knew better than that. The earth didn't just rise up and then lie back down perfectly again. This lead to only one conclusion for Ash; what Pikachu was under wasn't the ground at all. To prove his theory, Ash walked over to where he thought the end resided of whatever it was and reached down, probing his fingers along for some type of edge.

After a few moments of searching, he finally found what he was looking for as his fingers brushed up against a soft, yet coarse feeling cloth like material. Ash lifted up with his arms and when he did, he was stunned to see a large portion of the ground in front of him lift up as Pikachu was revealed underneath the large object that was now blowing slightly in the wind. A shadow was cast on Ash's Pokémon underneath the tarp like object, who was looking up at him with a confused expression on his face as he stood on the real rocky ground below him.

Ash, with a curious expression on his own face, pulled back on the very long fabric and drug it across the ground until it was out of the shadow of the cliff wall and into the light of the sun. He then laid the end he was holding back down and circled the strange material with a contemplative gaze.

Shaking his head, he reached down and felt the fabric again, amazed at the feel and texture of it, which felt like a mix between cloth and tough silk. It was very thick, at least two inches, and what astounded him even more was how the cloth tarp completely camouflaged itself into the rocky ground under it. So much so that Ash almost lost sight of it.

On a hunch, the picked up the end of it again and looked over at Pidgeot. "Hey girl, can you grasp the other end of this with your talons and then fly up into the air until we both have it stretched out and facing towards the sky?"

Pidgeot cooed in response and did just what Ash asked her, picking up the furthest end of the fabric in her claws and then flying up into the air so she and Ash had the big tarp stretched long ways up in the sky

Ash then called for Pikachu, Squirtle and Charmander to hold his end for him and once they did so, he walked some distance back and looked up at the tarp. What he saw was nothing short of amazing.

The entire incredibly long fabric that was now stretched out amongst the sky had completely changed its appearance. Now the thick fabric material was a perfect mirror of the sky it was held up to. From the clouds floating around lazily, to the blue sky and the sun up above, there were literally differences between the tarp and the real sky beyond it.

After admiring the astounding object before him in awe for a few moments, he told his Pokémon to gently set it back down and as they did, he watched the fabric change several different times to match the scenery in-front and behind of it. From the canyon walls to the backside of it and the burning remains of the warehouse to the front, the cloth changed it's appearance with every foot it was lowered until eventually, it was lying back down on the ground while mirroring the rocky terrain below it once again.

Ash walked up to the tarp and knelt down, examining it closer as a grin slowly spread across his face. "I think this is some type of cloaking device Pikachu..." He commented absently while running his hands across the material.

Pikachu inspected the fabric closer himself. "Pikachu?" He asked while looking up at Ash.

The boy shook his head. "I don't exactly know what it is but judging by how it changes it's appearance to match it's surroundings, I believe it definitely is some kind of cloaking technology." He lifted up an end of it again. "Its big enough so Team Rocket probably used it to cover their balloon up when they first arrived here and that's why we didn't see it when we came into this canyon. If that's true then it means this thing was made by Team Rocket and it makes me wonder how they made it..."

He put his hand to his chin in thought. "I know that Kecleon, a Pokémon from the Hoenn region, can change the cellular composition of it's skin cells and thus render it capable of blending into it's environment to a near perfect replica so maybe that's the sort of 'blueprint' they went by. Hmmm... fascinating..." He mused aloud.

Ash eventually shook his head free of his thoughts and crossed his arms. "This thing could actually be useful sometime down the road. Especially during run-ins with Team Rocket." He looked over at Charmander. "Hey Charmander, can you please you use your claws to cut a strip of this thing away if I tell you how much I want?"

"Char Char!" Charmander responded with a nod as he walked over to his trainer.

Ash figured how much he thought he would need and then directed his Pokémon. "Okay Charmander, just cut this much out..." He said while showing the Fire-Type what he needed him to do.

Charmander then set to work and carefully cut out a large strip of the material with his sharp front claws. Once he was done, Ash thanked him and then inspected the material in his hands. It was long, quite long, able to fit at least two people underneath of it like a cloak and when Ash threw it around himself to test it out, he was happy to see that his body on all sides had completely blended into the surrounding area.

Taking it off and folding it up with a satisfied nod, Ash looked back at what still remained of the material, which was a lot, and glanced at Charmander again. "Use Flamethrower on what's left of this thing Charmander. I don't want anyone else getting their hands on it."

The fire lizard obeyed and then launched an inferno of hot flames at the fabric, catching it aflame and burning it to nothing in no time at all. Ash praised Charmander on a job well done and then motioned for his Pokémon to follow him back where they left his pack. He was feeling incredibly exhausted and needed to sit down.

On the way, the pink Butterfree flew down and perched gently atop Ash's head, making said trainer flinch at first but then smile when he saw who it was.

After arriving back at his supplies, Ash cleaned up what he had used to treat Butterfree with and then tucked his newly acquired 'camo cloak' safely inside of the biggest section of his large pack. Once that was done, Ash sat down on the rugged ground with a heavy thud and leaned back on his hands, sighing in relief at being able to finally rest his exhausted muscles. The pink female flew down and perched herself in Ash's lap then, seemingly having taken quite a shine to the raven haired trainer.

Pikachu perched on his shoulder currently, the male Butterfree sat on Ash's knee and conversed with the pink one while his other Pokémon just gathered around him and laid down.

Ash smiled at them all and took turns gently rubbing each one, even the pink Butterfree, as he spoke to them. "I just wanted to say thank you so much to all of you. What you've done for me and the Butterfree today was just... beyond words and I'm extremely grateful and proud to call you all my Pokémon." He looked at his Butterfree then. "You fought especially hard Butterfree, even when we both... changed and I'm very proud of you," He praised.

The male just blushed and eyesmiled as Ash looked to the female. "And you yourself seem very well trained Butterfree. You should be proud of yourself."

The pink female also blushed at Ash's praise but was more shy than her male counterpart. His other Pokémon just nodded their heads appreciatively at their trainer's words of gratitude and praise but said nothing.

Just as Ash was about to lay back and rest for a few minutes- possibly hours- he suddenly heard the dull drone of what sounded like a helicopter making it's way towards their position. Ash quickly shot up to his feet and took a ready position, mimicked by his Pokémon who also heard the same thing as he was.

The boy looked in the direction he heard the sound coming from and cursed silently to himself. 'Dammit! I hope that's not other members of Team Rocket coming to check out the destruction of the warehouse because it had some kind of satellite tracker or something in it that helps them keep track of their bases.' He grit his teeth. 'I'll fight them if I have to but right now... Arceus my body feels like it weighs a couple hundred pounds!'

Ash rooted his feet and clenched his fists together, preparing to face whatever was about to appear. His Pokémon did the same thing and prepared themselves for a potential fight.

Eventually, the source of the rumbling noise grew closer and closer until it finally came into sight within the basin. What Ash saw definitely shocked him. Instead of it being a black Team Rocket helicopter or some other aerial Rocket vehicle like he was expecting, he was greeted by the sight of a blue and red chopper with an insignia of a golden star emblazoned on the side and front of it. The symbol of the Kanto Regional Police Force.

Ash's jaw dropped open upon seeing the most welcome sight and as he watched on, the helicopter circled around a portion of the basin not thirty yards away before setting itself gently down for a landing. A huge clowd of dust and rocks being thrown into the air as the dull roar of the helicopter's engine began to slow down and the quickly rotating propellers that was churning up said debree started to gradually shut off after the vehicle finally made it's touchdown.

He lowered his guard slightly, not completely dropping it since he didn't know if it was definitely the police or possibly someone else in disguise using a police helicopter. His Pokémon mirrored his actions and watched on warily as the chopper doors slid open on all sides and out jumped several policemen, followed by Officer Jenny who jumped from the driver's seat.

Seeing this, Ash totally relaxed and watched as the men all surveyed the area before gathering around Officer Jenny who began giving out commands. "Alright men! Fan out and search the area! I want every inch of this basin turned upside down for any sign or hint of Team Rocket's presence! If you come across anything or anyone then DO NOT take chances! I am giving you the permission to use whatever means is necessary to apprehend any suspects you come across and to use excessive force if need be. Everybody understand?!"

The men all nodded and saluted. "YES MA'AM!" They shouted together in synch.

After the men had set off into the basin to begin their search and possible gathering of evidence, Officer Jenny started walking towards Ash. Seeing her coming for him, Ash went to meet her half way. His body feeling such strain from all that had happened that it took all of his willpower not to limp as he walked.

Once they were both standing in front of each other, Ash nodded his head politely to the officer. "Officer Jenny," He greeted.

The woman nodded her head in return to Ash. "Are you Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes I am," He replied.

She smiled at hearing his identity confirmed. "Good. We were called by a man named Donny about an hour ago and he informed us of the situation. He said that yourself and three of your other friends had went to the Butterfree mating grounds for their annual courtship rituals and that Team Rocket had then showed up and captured all of the Butterfree, including your own. He further explained that you had given chase after Team Rocket and instructed he and your friends to call us. When we arrived, he pointed us in the direction you followed the criminals and after that, we searched the area for your whereabouts. Only once we heard the explosion and saw the smoke in the air were we able to find you."

Ash nodded in understanding and placed his hands on his hips, more for support so he didn't fall down than anything else. "Yeah... long story about that," He said while sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Gotta notepad?"

"Yes I do," She replied as she reached into a pouch on her utility belt and pulled out a small blue notepad and pen.

"Might wanna get as comfortable as you can," Ash advised as he started telling Jenny everything that had happened, her taking notes all the while. He told of how Team Rocket had appeared during the mating rituals and kidnapped the Butterfree. How he gave chase after their helicopter on the back of his Pidgeot, found the warehouse they used as a base and then broke in. He told her how he fought against them and managed to release the Butterfree and ended on how Team Rocket had escaped in their getaway balloon. He omitted the parts about he and Butterfree's little 'episode' but everything else he was honest about.

Once he was done, Jenny finished jotting down a few more notes and then looked at him. "Your friends said that you and they had been caught up in other plots concerning Team Rocket as well, care to elaborate?" She asked.

Ash thought about it for a moment. He didn't want to reveal to Jenny about all of the times so far that he and his friends had had run-ins with the actual dangerous members of Team Rocket, not just the three idiots that were always wanting to steal his Pikachu. If he told her then word would most likely leak out and he didn't want anyone finding out about his vendetta against the criminal organization or how he planned on taking them down eventually if he could.

He had to be very careful and that meant not breathing a word of his plans to anyone until he had enough evidence to topple Team Rocket. They were a massive organization and he knew he had to be extremely careful when messing around with them or it would be not only his neck but the necks of everyone he cared about and loved.

Life wasn't like some of the anime shows that the other kids in Pallet were always watching and talking about. In those shows, evil 'bad guys' like Team Rocket were played out to be big chumps that weren't really all that dangerous and kids like Ash, who wanted to stop said evil groups, would do so without hardly any trouble or real threat to their life.

Ash himself found such a thing positively ridiculous and nothing more than damaging to children's minds. Which is exactly why he never watched them. In real life, if you messed with an organization as massive and deeply rooted into everything as Team Rocket was then you had better be prepared for the consequences. If you wanted to avoid said consequences at all costs then you had to be smart and very secretive, trusting next to no one.

So with all that in mind, Ash really didn't want to tell Jenny about his involvement with so many incidents involving Team Rocket. However... that didn't mean he couldn't have a scapegoat and with that thought, arose a devious plan. He grinned to himself then before telling the female officer, "Yes miss Jenny its true. Three members of Team Rocket are always following my friends and I around, trying to steal my Pikachu. They are personally responsible for many crimes, including what happened here today. It was their doing. I can give you an exact description of all three if you would like officer?" He offered with a smile.

Jenny nodded instantly. "Yes please, absolutely!" She agreed enthusiastically.

Ash grinned and then gave a complete description of Jessie, James and Meowth. When he got to the part about Meowth being a talking Pokémon, Jenny looked at him with wide eyes and he merely shrugged his shoulders, stating that he didn't know how it was possible either. After he was done, Jenny finished her notes with a triumphant tap of her pen to the paper.

"Thank you very much Mr. Ketchum! This is the first time we've ever had an accurate description of any member from Team Rocket and because of that, we've never been able to put out a search and arrest for any individual members. They're a very secretive and well organized crime syndicate I hate to admit but now, we can use this information to put out a massive arrest warrant and attempt to catch these three you've told me about. If we can get them then we might be able to pump them for information on the rest of their organization."

Ash mentally snorted at that. Those three idiots would never be trusted with anything important concerning Team Rocket's internal affairs so even if they did get captured, all it would do is put three members of Team Rocket behind bars, which was always good, and get rid of annoyance for him.

Still, if Jenny wanted to have high hopes then he would let her. Besides... he wouldn't dare tell Giselle this but he honestly thought that Jenny looked pretty cute while she was getting all excited over the possibility of busting a Team Rocket member. Like a kid in a candy store really and Ash found it attractive.

He decided then to bring a point up to Jenny at that moment. "Oh and... I'm not sure about this but knowing those three and how stupid they are, it could be possible. Watch out for them trying to get away and evade arrest by wearing some phony disguises. They probably wouldn't even be that good and you could most likely still tell it was them if they didn't cover up their hair, faces or change their voices but yeah... I could see them trying something like that. Only an idiot would fall for such a crappy disguise if they ever tried it, which I know you're not miss, but you can never be too careful."

Jenny nodded and smiled. "You think like a cop Ash, good point. I'll put that in the description of their arrest warrants before I send the information to the other Kanto police units throughout the region." She put her notepad away. "After I put out this massive search and arrest warrant, those three no good for nothing Rockets won't be able to sneeze without us catching on!" She stated with obvious excitement in her voice.

Ash smiled and laughed a little. "I can honestly say I'm glad and I hope this makes it a lot tougher on them. Even though they really don't pose a big issue to me or my Pokémon, they're still an annoyance."

Jenny laughed a little herself and then shifted her gaze over towards the burning remains of the warehouse. "Well Ash I can definitely say one thing... even though what you did may have been reckless and dangerous, you saved a whole lot of Pokémon today and proved just how much you love your own Pokémon by risking your life not just to save your Butterfree but also all of the others that were stolen. You definitely have a lot of courage and I really admire that. Great job," She praised as she lifted her right hand up and saluted him just as though he was one of her fellow officers.

Ash smiled and nodded his head to her in acceptance of her praise before something suddenly came to mind. "Oh hey, Officer Jenny! Are my friends okay? And what about all of the Butterfree I helped to free? Any news on them yet?"

Jenny smiled and waved her hand at him. "Don't worry Ash, your friends are just fine. Though, the one young lady... what was her name? Miss Yūtō I think it was...?" She looked at Ash for confirmation to which he just nodded and smiled. "Yes that's her, Giselle. She's my girlfriend, is she okay?" He asked concerned.

Jenny seemed to understand finally. "Oh okay! Now I understand. Yes she's completely fine Ash. Though... she did become rather... upset, when we told her that we couldn't let her or your other friends come along with us. Arceus knows they tried, especially her, but we just couldn't risk it. She was rather on edge about the whole thing and was worrying herself quite a bit over you but other than that yes, she's fine."

Ash felt a cold chill run down his back as he gulped, 'Man oh man! If Giselle is that worried then I bet she's gonna clobber me when I get back for making her worry over me like this.. Crap!' He inner monologued in a panic.

Jenny broke him from his thoughts when she started speaking again. "And as for the Butterfree, they're all completely fine as well. After you rescued them and they escaped, I'm guessing they flew back to the cliffs. We received a call through the chopper's on-board radio from one of the officers that stayed behind and he said that the Butterfree had just started returning n'mass to the area. Slightly shaken up looking and a bit stressed from what they went through but other than that, all was well. All of the trainers that had been waiting behind since their Butterfree had been taken were supposedly very happy to see them and had quite the emotional reunion."

Ash smiled softly at hearing that. "Wow, I'm really glad to hear everything worked out alright."

Jenny nodded with a smile as the other police officers came back from their search of the area and reported no sign or evidence of Team Rocket anywhere. Jenny took all of it in stride though and once the final officer had given their debriefing, she smiled widely and placed her hands on her hips. "Great work men. Don't worry about anything, thanks to Mr. Ketchum here..." She pointed to Ash. "We finally have a full suspect's description on three Team Rocket members and as soon as we get back to headquarters I'm going to call in a search and arrest warrant for them. I'll share the information with all divisions of the Kanto police force and then no there won't be any officer in the region who won't be keeping an eye out for them. Like I told Ash here, those three scum's lives are about to get a lot harder!"

The officers all nodded and smiled, exchanging some excited conversation between themselves after hearing Jenny's announcement. The female commanding officer let them all have their moment of excitement and then got their attention again. "Alright everyone, we've done all we can do here. Its time we head back to headquarters and get Mr. Ketchum here back to his friends and by the looks of it..." She glanced at the tattered and exhausted state Ash was in. "Get him some well deserved rest!"

To Ash's surprise, each of the other officers walked up and thanked him for his bravery and courage before making their way back to the helicopter. Jenny started walking away towards the vehicle as well and just before he himself did the same, Ash turned to his Pokémon. "Great job again on everything you guys did today. I really appreciate your help, you all deserve a good rest," He told them with a bright smile on his face.

The Pokémon all expressed versions of thanks in their own way for his complements and praise before Ash returned them to their Pokéballs, save for both Butterfree and Pikachu (obviously). With his first Pokémon back on his sore shoulder, Ash looked at the Butterfree. "You two ready to get back and start things up again?"

For an answer, the male Butterfree just perched himself on Ash's other shoulder while the female got closer and landed in the boy's arms, settling herself down comfortably much to his surprise. He just blinked and then grinned. "I'll take that as a yes then," He chuckled as he started following after Jenny.

Once he reached the chopper, Jenny had Ash take the passenger's seat while she settled herself in the driver's seat once again and settled the radio link headset back over her head. The other officers in the back buckled themselves in as Jenny started the chopper, the engine roaring to life as the propellers started spinning around at speeds too fast to observe with the naked eye.

Jenny performed a few final tests and flipped a few more switches before buckling herself in and looking over at Ash. "You ready?"

He nodded and she smiled before slowly raising the vehicle off the ground. Ash looked out the side window as the helicopter began climbing higher and higher into the air until eventually, they were hovering high above the tallest rock spires in the rocky valley.

As Officer Jenny turned the vehicle around and started flying out of the basin they had been in, Ash looked down one last time at the still burning remains of the Team Rocket warehouse far down below. Pikachu and the Butterfree were doing the same, only with a look of both disgust at the mere sight of a building that had been owned by Team Rocket, and also satisfaction that said structure was now destroyed.

Jenny looked over and noticed where Ash was looking before turning her face forwards again and speaking to him, "Don't worry about that mess Ash. We'll send out another squad of officers and a firefighting team to put the flames out and search for any potential surviving evidence among the wreckage. Afterwards a clean-up crew will come in and haul everything away. Since nothing green grows around here, we don't have to worry about a wildfire starting up," She explained.

Ash just nodded but remained silent. Content to finally be able to sit back and rest his exhausted body.

After some time of flying through the expansive valley of rocks and cliffs, Ash looked at the three Pokémon around him. Pikachu was looking out the side window from his shoulder while his Butterfree was perched on the dashboard looking through the windshield. The pink female was just sitting in his lap, looking rather comfortable and almost drowsy eyed as she also stared out through the front window. He smiled. "I bet it feels different being inside of something that flies instead of flying yourself huh Butterfree?" He asked the two of them.

Both Butterfree just nodded and kept their gazes fixed onto the sights that were passing before them at speeds they themselves had never flown. He then looked at Pikachu and grinned at his first Pokémon's equally as fascinated expression. "A lot different than a hot air balloon eh Pikachu?"

The little powerhouse Pokémon looked back at his trainer and smiled. "Pikachu!"

Ash let a small smile come across his lips again before leaning his head back. With the gentle rocking motions of the helicopter and the somewhat rhythmic beats of the constantly rotating blades keeping the machine aloft and speeding ahead, the boy let himself fall into a slumber with no form of resistance making itself known as he did so.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

What seemed like merely minutes but was actually more than an hour later, the helicopter finally broke free of the rocky valley and started climbing its way to higher ground. Eventually, the flying machine broke free from the cloud cover obscuring it and everyone inside of it was able to see a little ways off in the distance, the sprawling landscape and cliffside of the Butterfree mating grounds just ahead.

Jenny looked over at the still sleeping Ash and gently tapped his shoulder. "Ash? Hey Ash?"

The boy groggily opened his eyes and wiped them a few times to clear the sleep from them before looking at Officer Jenny. "What's going on?" He asked as he yawned.

The female police officer smiled at his sleepy actions and nodded ahead. "We're almost back at the mating grounds, thought you would want to be awake for it," She said somewhat teasingly.

Ash smiled himself, becoming awake, as he looked out the front window and saw that she was indeed correct, they were almost there. He felt excited at the prospect of seeing his friends again and also seeing if all of the Butterfree had really come back or not.

He wasn't disappointed either because after just a few short moments of flying, they finally came into full sight of the mating grounds. Ash looked anxiously ahead and there saw a sight that nearly brought tears of joy to his eyes.

All of the Butterfree were indeed back and they were spread out all over the expansive fields of lush green grass that danced in the breeze of the wind that blew in from the sea, which stretched out far into the distance and gave the mating grounds a truly beautiful background.

What truly touched Ash though was the sight of all of the Butterfree's former trainers, who had landed their balloons and were now embracing the Pokémon that they thought had been lost forever to Team Rocket. It was simply the sight of a happy reunion in which left the warmest feeling coursing through Ash's heart.

Even though they had released their Butterfree so they could pair off and find mates, the trainers still obviously cared a great deal for them and that thought alone was enough to make the boy feel more than a little accomplished at what he did by saving all of them.

As if she could read his mind, Jenny smiled. "And its all because of you Ash," She said gently.

He shook his with a slight smile still evident on his face. "Not just me Officer Jenny but my Pokémon as well."

She smiled a little more at hearing him say that and then laughed a bit. "Well, as admirable as that is Ash, I think all of your fans down there are still going to mob you once they see you," She told him with a wink. "You saved the day and because you risked your life for all of those Butterfree, them and their former trainers are undoubtedly going to be enamored with you."

Ash just sank down into his seat. "Great..." He sighed with fake enthusiasm.

Jenny laughed again. "Oh come on Ash, it won't be so bad!" She joked teasingly.

He just shot her a look. "Trust me officer... it'll be that bad and more. The last thing I want is some fan club and people throwing themselves at me. That's not why I wanted to become a trainer. I've never wanted fame or recognition of any kind. I just want to train my Pokémon, grow stronger bonds with them, meet new people, become the best I can be and enjoy my travels. That's it." He huffed with arms crossed.

Jenny seemed impressed with what he said and replied, "That's a great way to look at things Ash and I understand. Though, you're going to have to accept pretty quickly that to these trainers and Butterfree, you're a hero. They know that you were the one to chase after Team Rocket and get the Butterfree back since the officers I left here gave an explanation of what happened after you told me the details of the event and I radioed it in while you were asleep. Just take it all with a smile and enjoy seeing the happiness that you made possible. Okay?" She said reassuringly.

Ash thought about it for a few moments and realized that she was right. "Yeah... I suppose you're right. Thanks Officer Jenny," He conceited with a smile.

The woman just smiled back. "No problem Ash." She then winked again. "And call me Jenny."

Ash nodded and then turned his attention to the sprawling fields that was quickly getting closer and closer while whispering under his breath, "I'm back guys..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Giselle paced around the floor of Donny's cabin restlessly. She was fidgeting with her hands and occasionally grumbling to herself while Brock, Misty and Donny watched her from the table they were all sitting at in the corner of the room.

She finally stopped pacing and then threw her arms into the air exasperatedly. "Argh! What is taking them so long?! They should be back by now!" She yelled.

Misty rubbed her temples, having heard more than enough of Giselle's frantic worrying and finally snapped, "Will you calm down already?! I'm sure they're fine! Remember what that police officer outside said? Ash rescued the Butterfree, Team Rocket ran off and the police got there to confirm that everything was fine! Officer Jenny herself gave the report. She said they were coming back soon and I'm sure they will! Now. Just. Calm. Down." She punctuated the last few words irritably.

Giselle whipped around and glared at Misty fiercely with her hands on her hips. "I bet you wouldn't be so calm if it was YOUR boyfriend out there fighting a horrible, evil criminal organization and hadn't returned yet! Wait until that happens and then you can tell me to calm down!" She shouted.

Misty shot up from the table and slammed her hand down onto it. "Now you wait right there Miss Priss! Just because Ash isn't my boyfriend doesn't mean that I don't worry about him when he's doing something as stupid, brave and reckless as this! I'm his friend just like us all of are and we care about Ash and his well being very much! Just because we aren't sucking face with him-" Brock made a gagging sound from his seat at that. "Doesn't mean we don't feel afraid for him! We all wanted to go with Ash but Pidgeot couldn't carry us all!" She stomped up into Giselle's face. "SO BACK OFF!"

Giselle returned fire and got into Misty's own face, causing her to lean back. "I didn't say that you weren't worried for him! You just have no business telling me to calm down when you don't know how hard knowing that he's in danger or even potential danger is for me! I understand and support why he does it but it doesn't make it any easier on me!"

Brock and Donny could only watch from their seats as both females fought back and forth like a bitter exchange of attacks on a battlefield. Donny looked at Brock. "Shouldn't we try and do something?" He asked while looking worriedly at the scene in front of him.

The other male just shook his head and sighed. "They do this all the time Donny, trust me. Nothing we do would help them. Best to just stay out of it," He advised.

Before the man could reply, everyone suddenly heard a loud sound coming from outside followed by one of the police men who had been stationed at the mating grounds to come running into the shop. Everyone stopped what they were doing, Giselle and Misty going totally silent as the officer spoke hurriedly, "They're back!" He announced breathlessly.

Brock and Donny bolted up from the table as Giselle and Misty went wide eyed.

Before anything else could be said, Giselle took off running past the officer and out the door. Misty, Brock and Donny following close behind.

The girl ran out into the wide open field in front of the shop and looked up just as the large police helicopter came into clear view and made it's way towards their position. Giselle stood there with an excited look on her face as the chopper descended towards the ground. The large gale of wind created by the vehicle was blowing her hair all over the place as everyone else who had come up behind her to greet the new arrivals had to cover their eyes from the fierce winds.

The trainers and all of their Butterfree also saw the arrival of the helicopter and started making their way towards it quickly as well.

Once the chopper finally landed, the engine was cut off and the blades slowly stopped spinning. The doors of the aerial vehicle opened and out came all of the police officers who had went after Ash and Team Rocket. Officer Jenny herself hopped from the driver's side then, which led to Misty holding Brock back by the collar so he didn't charge the poor woman, but Giselle was focused on only looking for one person.

Finally, she spotted him getting slowly but gracefully out of the passenger's side. The boy in question slowly stretched himself out as Pikachu hopped down onto his shoulder, making him wince in pain a little from the sudden weight on his shoulder. The two Butterfree, being the male and pink female, joined him from the inside of the vehicle as he started walking towards the rapidly growing crowd of people and Pokémon.

Giselle took in the sight of his slightly limping gait, somewhat torn and scratched up tracksuit and what appeared to be soot and dirt collected on his clothes. She couldn't hold herself back when his eyes looked up and found hers staring at him intently, a grin that only he could give coming to life on his face as he spotted her.

Giselle took off running towards him and Pikachu quickly hopped down from his trainer's shoulder, knowing what was coming. With a loud cry of, "ASH!" Giselle launched herself into Ash's outstretched arms and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he spun her around, laughing all the while.

He stopped spinning her and set her down, just holding her tightly as he buried his face into her neck, taking in her sweet scent as she squeezed him tighter. "Ash I'm so glad you're alright!" Giselle cried ecstatically. "I was so worried the entire time you were gone and..." She then detached herself from him and gave the boy a fierce glare as she poked his chest. "Don't you ever... EVER ask for us to stay behind again! Got it?! We were all worried sick! I don't care if Pidgeot- whom you never sent back by the way!- has to carry two of us in her talons and Brock has to hold onto her tail feathers, we are going with you wherever you go from now on!" She reprimanded with a serious and no room to argue tone as said squinty eyed teen held his hands up behind them in a 'What the heck?!' gesture.

Ash just nodded quickly, not wanting to tempt the angry female, and raised his hands up in a sign of surrender. "You got it Giselle! I promise, from now on you guys are coming with me as long as you want to. I'm really sorry I made you worry and didn't send Pidgeot like I said I would, things just got out of hand..." He picked up her hand and kissed it. "Please forgive me?" He asked with a hopeful smile.

Giselle smiled herself after hearing him relent to her request, as well as his apology, and placed both her hands on either side of his cheeks. "We'll see after this..." Before Ash could voice his confusion, Giselle crashed her lips onto his with enough force to make him stumble backwards a little bit and locked her arms back around his neck.

Ash was momentarily taken aback but upon feeling his girlfriend's lips working fiercely against his own, Ash's mind shut down as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. He worked his own mouth ferociously against hers. Biting, sucking and even licking her lips as they fully expressed just how much they missed one another.

Not wanting to appear indecent in front of the crowd that was growing ever larger around them, Ash broke free from his girlfriend's succulent lips with one last soft peck and smiled at her. "So? Am I forgiven?"

Giselle was still a little flushed from the intense kiss and merely nodded her head with a dazed look on her face. "Oh yeah..." She said with a faint giggle.

Ash just smiled and pecked her lips again before turning to the rest of his greeting crowd, Pikachu finally deeming it safe to return to his perch upon his shoulder again.

Brock and Misty ran up to him next, the former giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder while the latter gave him a lingering hug. After Ash greeted each of them and detached himself from Misty's tight grip, he stepped back a little bit and smiled at them.

"You guys okay?" He asked.

Brock just crossed his arms. "Us okay? We should be asking you that question Ash. How are YOU doing? Is everything alright, you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah," Misty began as she looked at his current state with slight worry. "You look exhausted and your clothes are a mess."

"And what about Pikachu?" Giselle asked as she took the electric mouse from Ash's shoulder and started looking over the Pokémon for any injuries while gently scratching him behind the ears. Much to Pikachu's delight. "And the two Butterfree and your other Pokémon?" She finished while casting a look in the male and pink female Butterfree's direction, who were hovering close to Ash.

The boy just smiled before scratching Pikachu under the chin and then walked over to both Butterfree, who decided to land on either side of his shoulder. "We're all just fine," He assured. "A little tired and scuffed up but okay nonetheless."

Brock walked up to him and clapped him on the back. "I'm glad to hear it Ash. Just make sure you let us go with you next time okay? We worry about you man," He told his younger friend.

Misty came up and stood beside him. "We don't like being left behind while you're out doing something dangerous Ash." She affirmed to Brock and even Giselle's earlier statements.

Ash nodded and then looked at them all seriously. "I know guys and I promise I won't ask you to stay behind again, I'm sorry. Okay?" He apologized with a searching gaze to each of his friends.

They all seemed satisfied with his answer and nodded while smiling. Ash turned his attention to the rest of the crowd then and was for the first time able to see everyone who had shown up for his arrival. To his surprise, all of the trainers and Butterfree were all gathered in the crowd. Looking at him expectantly with something akin to great respect. Or at least, that seemed to be the vibe he felt coming from them.

Eventually, almost all of the trainere started running up to Ash at one time, shouting out their praise and words of thanks for what he had done for the Butterfree. He was hearing things coming from all directions like;

"Wow you were so awesome for going after Team Rocket like that!"

"Man thank you so much for saving the Butterfree, I was so worried about them!

"I can't believe you were able to stop Team Rocket like that, totally awesome!"

"You're great dude I'll never forget you!"

"Oh my Arceus you're such a hero and sooo cute too!"

Those were just some of the many forms of praise Ash was getting from all of the people gathered around him. The last comment was made by some girl in the crowd and, surprisingly enough, caused Misty to whip her head around and glare at the source of the fan girlish words which obviously came from some older girl by the sound of her voice.

Giselle merely smiled proudly though and latched onto Ash's arm, not caring what the other girl had said. Apparently, the only time she became jealous was when Ash was showing interest in someone else. Not the other way around. Very strange some- well most- would say but then again, Giselle was proud of and confidant in herself so it made sense if one really thought about it. She knew she wouldn't have to worry about some hussy taking Ash from her so she had no reason to get all defensive when some girl swooned all over her handsome boyfriend.

Ash then looked over and saw Officer Jenny giving him a look that screamed 'I told you so' from where she was standing with the other officers while watching him get practically mobbed by the large crowd of people. She and the other officers were prepared to step in and calm things down if the situation became too aggressive but for right now, the female officer simply stood back and watched on with humor at the show of fan worship the young Ketchum was receiving.

The boy in question just shot her a mock angry look, which made her giggle, and then turned his attention back to the crowd of trainers still around him. Before he could open his mouth to say anything though, he was suddenly mobbed by a large mass of Butterfree who rushed him to the ground.

Ash's friends and everyone else seemed worried at first until they saw what the Butterfree were really doing.

The flying Bug-Types could be seen doing what, seemed to be, the best form of an embrace that a Butterfree could possibly do on the young trainer. Obviously they were all trying to thank him for what he did for them and he was only too happy to accept the form of gratitude. Poor Pikachu was trapped within all the writhing bodies but he didn't seem to mind either. Even Ash's Butterfree had his own large crowd of Butterfree fluttering around him, very taken and impressed with how he had helped Ash save them all.

Surpsingly enough, the group of Butterfree that Ash's own had gotten into a fight with earlier in the day when he was defending the pink female came up to him and seemed to offer their gratitude for what he did for them. Like Ash, Butterfree was hard pressed to hold a grudge unless absolutely necessary and forgave them. After getting the 'okay' nod from the pink Butterfree who was hovering next to him of course. She was the one they had disrespected after all, not him. If she could forgive them then so could he.

Just as the Butterfree finally parted from Ash and he stood up, ready to address the crowd, he was interrupted yet again. Only this time by someone that Brock had practically fallen out of the balloon for earlier and was only stopped from lunging at her this time by Misty, who took possession of his ear almost immediately

The person whom called out and interrupted Ash from what he was about to say was none other than the pink Butterfree's former trainer. She was a rather beautiful young woman Ash noticed, probably around Brock's age or maybe a little older, with long brown hair, chocolate eyes and rather nice body. She was wearing a long black skirt, long black boots and a silver V-cut lady's t-shirt.

The young woman came running up to them and stopped in front of her former Pokémon. "Butterfree!" She yelled excitedly as she threw her arms around her former Pokémon and hugged her tightly. "Oh Butterfree I was so worried about you when Team Rocket showed up and took you away! I've never been more scared than I was then..." Tears began falling from her eyes as she hugged Butterfree closer to her. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

The pink skinned Butterfree happily accepted the hug from her former trainer after recovering from the shock of seeing her again and then the two just enjoyed the heart warming reunion between them both. Ash and his friends simply looked on with smiles on their faces as they watched the tender moment play out.

Once the woman had finished hugging her Butterfree, she wiped her eyes and then walked over to Ash with an expression of pure happiness etched onto her face. "I honestly don't know how I could ever thank you enough for saving my Butterfree. The way you went after Team Rocket like that and how brave you were in rescuing them all was just..." She clasped her hands together. "The most amazing thing I've ever seen!" The brunette gushed.

Brock suddenly appeared in-between the two of them then and clasped her hands in his. With a wannabe charming smile on his face, the lovesick teen spoke in the goofy romantic way that only he could, "Well you know my lovely lady, I wasn't neutral either during this time of peril and danger! While Ash was out chasing after Team Rocket, I stayed behind in order to protect the rest of you and offer moral support!"

The woman seemed to be getting quite uncomfortable as Brock leaned in closer. "I know this whole thing had to be so very stressful on you! A lady with beauty such as yours should never have to feel feelings of despair or worry in which could crease that pretty forehead of yours! Let me chase away the bad memories my dear as we embark together on a journey of love to forget this terrible nightmare!" He finally finished his spiel dramatically on one knee with his right hand extended to her.

The woman of Brock's current affections could only sweatdrop as she smiled as best as she could and laughed nervously. "Well... uhh... I umm... actually..." She was luckily saved in that moment however by an irritated Misty grabbing Brock's ear hard as she then proceeded to dragging him away.

"Brock you need to learn the time and place and this neither of those!" She scolded.

The teenager squirmed wildly in Misty's hold as he whined, "No Misty please! Just this once! Noooo!"

Ash, Giselle, the woman and everyone else present just stared after them both with a mixture of amused and confused expressions on their faces before Ash laughed and then turned to the pink Butterfree's former trainer again. "Hey sorry about him miss. Brock gets around an attractive woman and he sort of loses his mind."

He laughed a little more and then looked at her with the humor still dancing in his eyes. "But seriously though, there is seriously no need to thank me for any of the things I did today. If you really want to thank anyone then thank my Pokémon and especially-" He pointed at his Butterfree. "Him. My Butterfree went to great lengths to save all of the Butterfree and especially yours. He's a great Pokémon and I'm very proud of him."

Butterfree looked happy beyond measure at his trainers words of praise and puffed his chest out proudly. The woman smiled at them both and then looked at Ash again. "Well either way, you are a hero for what you did and I wanted to express my gratitude." Without any further warning, she leaned into Ash and gently kissed his cheek, lingering just a moment before pulling away and smiling at him.

Ash felt himself blush at the intimate gesture but quickly composed himself as he felt Giselle squeeze his arm ever so slightly. He looked at his girlfriend and smiled reassuringly at her, only to find her smiling back at him in amusement. He took the smile as her saying that she was okay with what happened since the woman was just trying to thank him and simply nodded to Giselle gratefully for not getting upset.

Turning back to the woman then, he bowed his head slightly. "Thank you very much miss, it was my pleasure. Truly."

She nodded to him with a smile still gracing her features as Donny suddenly spoke up, "Well everyone, as great as this reunion is and as grateful as I'm sure we all are to Ash, what do you all say we pick up where we left off before Team Rocket showed up?"

The crowd of trainers erupted into a chorus of excited agreement and cheers while the Butterfree all started taking to the air once more anxiously. Eagerly awaiting the continuation of their mating rituals.

Donny looked at Officer Jenny then. "Would you mind at all staying here as an extra sort of protection in case Team Rocket were to come back miss?" He asked her politely.

Jenny nodded and placed her hands on her hips. "We were already planning on it. No way we're letting Ash and his brave Pokémon's heroic actions be undone by Team Rocket showing up a second time to ruin everything. We'll be here the whole time, you just get those Butterfree and the balloons back into the air!" She informed reassuringly.

The crowd of trainers cheered once more before quickly heading to their individual balloons while all of the Butterfree were already ascending high up into the air. Ash looked at Pikachu and then his friends, lacing his one hand with Giselle's left as the other one came up into a fist by his chest. He smiled widely with excitement rolling in waves off of him as he took a step forward. "You guys ready to rock and roll again?!"

Brock, Misty, Giselle and Pikachu all called out readily in return. "YEAH/PIKA!"

He then turned to his Butterfree and the pink one. "How about you guys? You ready?!"

Getting excited nods from the two Butterfree in return, not to mention the discreet glance between them both that only Ash caught, he smirked and turned towards their balloon that was parked out front of Donny's shop. "Alright! Let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Soon afterwards, all of the hot air balloons were back up in the air and the Butterfree were gathering together en-mass yet again, high up in the sky. The police and Officer Jenny stood down on the ground far below, spread out over the plains in careful watch for any troublemakers like Team Rocket to show up and cause more issues. Their helicopter was also ready and waiting in the wings in case the need for a quick chase was needed.

Ash and his friends stood in the basket of their Pikachu balloon with Ash in control this time over the slow moving aerial vehicle. Being the curious and ever studious young man he was, Ash had been very anxious to polite the balloon and after Donny had seen the way Ash had soaked up the instructions he gave him the first time up, he allowed him to control it. Albeit, Donny stood right beside of Ash the entire time, watching carefully and being ready to intervene at any second should the balloon start to go out of control.

However, at the moment it seemed not necessary. The raven haired trainer was definitely a quick study and had perfect control over the balloon. Brock, Misty, Giselle and Pikachu were not concerned one bit at the fact that Ash was flying them around. A testament, a true testament, to how much they trusted him and the friendship they shared.

The pink Butterfree's trainer, who they had learned her name to be Salia, was in her own pink balloon flying as close as was safe near to them. She had apparently taken a liking to the four of them after her short meeting with Ash and wanted to see out the rest of the mating season with them. Of course, there was another potential reason for her wanting to tag along with them and that same reason was shared by Ash and his friends.

The reason, or reasons, could be found perched atop the lip of the Pikachu balloon. Standing rather close to one another.

Both Butterfree, Ash's own and the pink female, were resting upon the precipice of the balloon. Prepared to take off into the sky in a matter of moments. Salia was slightly surprised, as was everyone else, that her former Butterfree chose to ride with Ash and his friends but she quickly deduced that her recently released Butterfree just wanted to be closer to the male. A sentiment shared by the group of friends.

Ash looked at each Pokémon in turn. "You guys ready to take flight?" He asked.

They merely looked at each other for a brief second before looking back at the clear sky ahead and nodding. Ash grinned and then raised his hand as he pointed forward. "Then get out there!" He shouted boisterously.

Like two speeding rockets, both Butterfree launched themselves from the balloon and into the sky. Flying higher and higher until they were a good bit away from all of the other Butterfree who had long since resumed their courtship rituals.

Giselle looked up and between both Butterfree, who were still flying close together, with an excited expression on her face. "Ooooh I just can't stand the wait! Those two are the perfect match for each other out of all of the other Butterfree here!"

"I just know they're gonna get together!" Misty gushed.

Brock was about to say something before, without warning, both of the Butterfree suddenly stopped flying and then turned to face one other. An anxious look crossed his face. "Here we go guys! If they really are about to court each other then we'll see one or both of them start initiating a very precise and carefully performed dance of sorts that conveys their desires to make mates with one another."

Ash crossed his arms and continued. "Yep. The Butterfree courtship 'dance' if that's what you want to call it, has been carefully honed and bred down through the ages of Butterfree so they can translate their exact feelings towards one another by performing certain dances and movements at each other. Each one is just a little bit different. There's one for courting and there's even one that's performed right before mating. The first has been recorded by researchers far more than the second has. For obvious reasons," He explained.

This just further increased everyone's interest as they carefully watched both Butterfree stare at each other with impassive looks on their faces for several moments. The pink Butterfree closed her eyes and performed the equivalent of a smile at the male and he did the same right back, seemingly completely at ease as he returned the warm gesture back to the female.

The very next second, the pink Butterfree's eye shot open with a ferocious glare directed straight at him and then charged at the male with very impressive speed. Ash's Butterfree was completely unsuspecting of what was happening, his eyes still being closed, and was thus thrown for a literal loop as she smashed into his mid-section with heavy force and sent him hurdling back through the air in a spin.

She didn't take a pause and then shot after him, meeting the dazed male half-way through his travel before slamming her left wing into his body, which sent him flying straight down. She kept her momentum going and flew down after him in a blur of speed, by-passing his descent quickly as she sent a large gust of wind shooting up at him with a fast beat of her wings. This sent the still dazed male tumbling back up into the air like a circus wheel spinning with no stop in sight.

Back in the two balloons, Ash, his friends, Donny and even Salia were watching in complete bafflement at what had suddenly transpired.

"What the hell happened?!" Misty shouted. "One moment it looks like they're getting ready to take each other as mates and then the next she's attacking him? What's wrong with her?!"

Brock looked back at Donny, who seemed equally as surprised. "You ever seen this happen before Donny?" He asked confused.

The man just shook his head in wonder. "No, I've never seen something like this happen before. Butterfree who are interested in one another never fight that I've seen.

"Then what's going on?" Giselle wondered aloud.

Ash watched silently, contemplatively, as his Butterfree finally broke free from his daze and thrusted his wings out to stop his spinning. Just in time too as the female was already coming back up for another tackle.

Even though there was confusion written plainly across his face, Butterfree let his training and instincts take over as he quickly rolled to the side to escape the attack.

The pink Butterfree missed her mark and seeing her momentary lapse in motion when she failed to hit him, Butterfree sent a burst of wind at her that sent the female flying back a few yards before finally coming to a stop. They were now a mere twenty yards or so away from each other and the pink Butterfree was staring the male down with a fierce, intense gaze.

Ash's Butterfree was obviously still very confused as to why he was attacked and started talking to her quickly in their own tongue. She responded back to him with the same equal force and intensity in her voice that matched her expression and movements. Going onto a rather long trail of speech.

As Ash watched, his Butterfree's face went from one of confusion, to surprise, utter shock and then finally... to one of what appeared to be excitement, determination and even admiration for the female in front of him. Not only that but a glint came into Butterfree's eyes that-even though he couldn't see it- Ash could just tell from the nod of the head his Pokémon offered the pink Butterfree that he was about to give her something that brought all of his Pokémon pure and utter joy.

An intense battle.

It was difficult to figure out but after observing the pink Butterfree's body position, her tense and ready demeanor, the steel like and intense tone of her voice and the way his Butterfree seemed to become excited at whatever she had told him- not to mention the way she attacked him earlier- Ash was able to come up to the potential conclusion that she wanted to battle his Butterfree for the right to make mates with her.

All in all, it made sense. She was obviously a well trained, strong Butterfree that was very proud of herself and her abilities. His Butterfree was a very impressive male for his species and was quite strong from all of the intense training he underwent regularly. That was undoubtedly a turn on for her, meaning his power, and combining that with his good personality? Any female would be hard pressed not to find Ash's Butterfree worthy mate material. Especially after how he saved her and the other Butterfree earlier that day.

However, even as taken as she would have been with him, the pink Butterfree was still proud and wanted to most likely test her own strength and ability against the male before she decided to take him as her mate. She also most likely wanted to redeem her capture and inability to free herself when Team Rocket took them all and the only way she could probably find to do that, was by fighting the Pokémon who beat them.

Ash hummed to himself on his analysis and it drew the attention of his friends.

"What is it Ash?" Misty asked.

He looked at her and then back up at the two Butterfree who were now in a tense combat position. Sizing each other up and preparing for battle at any moment. The both of them had a mixture of seriousness, determination and also excitement visible on their faces.

Without looking away, Ash began speaking. "I'm pretty sure that she wants to battle my Butterfree for the right to take her as his mate. I think she wants to test her strength against him and possibly redeem herself for not being able to do much to save her or any of them when Team Rocket kidnapped the Butterfree.

Giselle had a look of realization dawn upon her. "That makes sense! She does seem to be a very proud Pokémon who likes to feel confident in her abilities. I can understand that."

Misty nodded. "Makes sense to me as well."

Brock crossed his arms. "I have a feeling this will be a good battle then."

Donny smiled. "Well this is definitely something you don't see during mating season very often!"

Ash remained silent after that and turned his attention up to the two Butterfree just as the female made the first move.

She suddenly sent a strong gust of wind at the male with a quick flap of her wings, which he folded his own wings in to defend himself against. She followed up instantly by shooting off at him like a bullet with her head lowered down low.

With his wings still wrapped around him, she plowed straight into the normal colored male Butterfree and sent him skidding back several feet through the air.

Deciding to capitalize on her fast starting momentum, she charged straight at him again while his wings were still folded in. Intent on smashing into him once more.

Ash's Butterfree unfurled his wings powerfully just as she came upon him and sent her skidding backwards with the wind he turned up from the outward thrust. He followed this up by charging at her in a burst of speed.

The female prepared herself to defend against his attack but just as he was upon her, he suddenly veered to the left and sent a burst of wind at her instead, which she defended with her wings folded into her body.

When she unfurled them she found the male at her other side some distance away firing off another gust of wind at her. She defended this time with her own gust of wind and the two gales met together, cancelling the other out.

The male started flying around her at all different angles, firing off round after round of wind at her that she would defend against by either folding her wings in or using her own air based attacks.

This went on for quite some time, him flying around her while she stayed in one place and defended herself or moved around slightly, trying to find an angle in which she could escape from the barrage of gusty attacks being throw her way.

After what seemed like several minutes of that same type of battle, the male Butterfree suddenly stopped what he was doing and shot up into the air like a speeding rocket. The pink Butterfree looked up at him with weariness and took a defensive position. Ready for the attack she felt was coming. However, what surprised her the most was when he stopped mid-ascent and looked down at her expectantly, almost willing her to follow after him.

Not one to turn down a challenge, the pink female gave chase and went after him.

Up, up and up they went through the sky, surpassing all of the Butterfree and even the balloons down below as they entered the cover of the clouds. Ash's Butterfree turned around and sent a gust of wind at the female which she was forced to veer to the right in order to dodge, temporarily taking her eyes off of him.

This proved to be a bad decision though because the very next moment, the same time in which she looked forward again, the male was gone. Disappeared into the cloud cover that was as thick as a blanket of fog at such an elevation. She started looking around wildly, trying to find where he had gone, afraid of some sneak attack.

Suddenly, a blast of wind came rushing at her from behind and she turned around just in time to get out of the way of the torrent of air that had been launched her way from the now open maw of a nearby cloud bank.

No sooner did she escape the attack and a blur of white and blue came rushing in from the clouds on her right. Passing from one direction to the other while sending powerful gusts of wind her way.

She used her own gusts to defend herself and then began guarding from every angle as the male Butterfree went from cloud to cloud, launching his attacks at her, which she would become quite hard pressed to evade or block in some way.

This only lasted a short time however because the very next minute, the male came hurdling out from a cloud behind her with his right wing raised back in a striking position. She raised her own wing just in time and met his with a resounding slap that could only be heard by them.

He quickly lifted his other wing up and then brought it down. The female was forced to disengage her hold with his other wing so she could stay hovering and met his other wing just in time. Soon, a battle of close combat ensued with both Butterfree fighting through the small arena they had made for themselves up in the cover of the clouds. Wings, feet and even heads smashed against one another as they continued their strange and violent dance of courtship.

The pink Butterfree managed to slip underneath of the male's wing strikes and came up under his chin with her foot. Knocking him back a little. She quickly followed up with a fierce strike to the face with both wings at different times and then headbutted him hard, sending the other Butterfree hurdling back into the cover of the clouds.

She hovered in place while slightly out of breath until, at the very next moment, she saw the clouds in front of her appear as though they were coming to life as a large mass of them began moving her way.

The female backed up slowly, as far as she could until her back was to the cloud bank behind her and then, not wanting to be stuck in a cloud haze, started beating her wings fiercely in an attempt to push back the clouds. This strategy worked well and the mass of white fluff began quickly getting blown away.

After several moments of tirelessly beating her wings, the wall of moving clouds finally stopped and so did she. Her head lowered forward slightly as she tried to get her breath back from the frenzied flapping she had been forced to do, panting as she did so.

Suddenly, she saw a blue streak flash in front of her and when she looked up, she saw the male Butterfree hovering over her with his wings being rapidly lowered towards her.

Too late to respond after what she just did, the pink female could only watch as the wing descended upon her. Waiting to feel the collision she knew was coming for her body. To her surprise though, it didn't happen.

Instead of being hit with a wing, she was blasted back by another gust of wind that sent her flying downwards. She managed to right herself and looked to see Ash's Butterfree speeding down past her towards the open sky below the clouds.

She gave chase instantly, not understanding why he wouldn't just fight her outright and followed him down through the clouds until they were out into the open airspace again. The male Butterfree hurdled himself down towards the large mass of other Butterfree that were all congregated together. The pink female giving chase as fast she could but not being able to process why he was doing what he was doing.

He ended up flying straight down into the mass of Butterfree and she went in after him. Almost instantly, she lost sight of him amongst all the many bodies of Butterfree that all were the same color as he was. It was times like this that her strange coloring became a real nuisance and she hated it. He could blend in with the others but she stuck out like a sore thumb. Her pink body and lightly pink tinted wings contrasted poorly with the rest of them.

She eventually spotted him some yards away in a small break between the others, almost like he was waiting for her, and she shot off towards him. Not giving any thought or care as to what he was up to or why he was doing what he was. Her only thought was catching him and winning their battle. She knew how strong he was so she didn't get why he wouldn't just fight and it maddened her.

So, on she chased him. Through the maze of bodies that her kin made up for them. He led her up, down, around and through some of the tightest spots possible and if she wasn't such a good flyer, she knew she would have crashed into the others many times already. Even still, almost all eyes were on them from the other Butterfree as she followed him through the large crowd like she was his shadow.

Pretty soon the male broke free from the Butterfree and started heading toward the balloons full of trainers. She huffed to herself and gave chase still, cursing her wings as they started to feel the fatigue of flying so far, so much and so fast. Not to mention, with the little bit of fighting they had already done and the stress from the day as a whole, everything was really starting to take its toll on her stamina. It didn't help either that the after effects of the 'shock treatment' Jessie put her through was slowing her down slightly. Which was why she wondering how Ash's Butterfree could still go.

He had fought the group of other male Butterfree earlier on that day, had went through the entire situation with Team Rocket and suffered through... whatever it was that he and his trainer had underwent back at the warehouse but he was still flying much faster than she was. The female didn't understand it but she knew that she did want to stop whatever game of chase they were playing.

Ash's Butterfree flew in-between the many balloons floating in the air, swerving, ducking and dodging around all of them and doing some pretty amazing stunts as he did so. She followed right behind him the whole time and the trainers watched in awe at the two Butterfree flying around their balloons like small dots of light as one attempted to catch the other. Neither one slowed down at all and everyone watching was left with the impression that they were truly being treated to something special.

Both Butterfree even flew near their respective trainer's balloons, the male obviously showing off for them all, before he abruptly started speeding towards the center of the airspace in the sky. Going so fast that one could nearly see the wind trail behind him.

The female gave chase as fast she could but she wasn't fast enough to fully keep up with him. Especially not in her tiring state.

With no warning, he suddenly began dive bombing down towards the ground at break-neck speed while she much less gracefully followed. The male nearly collided with the green plains below but pulled himself up and started flying level with the ground just before he did.

The pink female nearly collided with the ground but managed to right herself as well and followed him as he flew along open plains, speeding through the open area and around the cops that were stationed around the cliffside to keep an eye out for trouble. The police watched on in amazement, Jenny included, as the two Butterfree flew around them and even right over their heads at some points.

Ash's Butterfree then started flying right at the police helicopter that was parked some distance away and picked up speed as he drew closer. The female was feeling nervous as they neared the vehicle and the male showed no signs of slowing down either.

Right before they could hit the vehicle, Butterfree dropped down low and passed right through the legs of the chopper, not even grazing an antenna. She managed to follow him through with much nervous trepidation but her success, unfortunately, was short lived.

He then began flying towards the forest that bordered the grassy plains of the mating grounds and she followed still, not really being given any other choice.

Butterfree led the pink female into the thick forest at the edge of the plains and immediately started flying through the roughest patches he could find. Weaving and dodging in and around trees and other such foliage with no break in pace. She followed him as closely as she could and as they flew, like phantoms passing through the trees, several wild Pokémon like Pidgey, Rattata, Nidoran and even some Spearow watched the two Butterfree speed by them with slight interest. Stopping the routines of whatever they were doing to make sure they weren't just seeing things.

With no warning, the male launched himself upwards and busted through the treetops of the forest, finding open sky yet again. As usual, she followed him with no pause or hesitation. Even though her wings were starting to burn badly from fatigue and exhaustion.

He then flew them both directly towards the cliffs and, to her dismay, starting flying in the direction of the expansive sea that stretched out far out into the distance in front of them. Ash's Butterfree went down as close to the water as possible after making his descent from the height of the cliffs and stayed level with the water as waves rose and fell below him. The pink Butterfree trailed behind while nervously looking everywhere around her. Obviously not comfortable with flying so low to the water for fear of a predatory Water-Type reaching up and grabbing them.

She looked down and saw small schools of Magikarp, Tentacool and even Goldeen swim just below the surface of the waves. She then looked up just in time to see a large wave about to crash down on her and managed to pull up just before it could take her down into the salty sea water.

After escaping the near fatal upset, she continued following her target as he began pulling himself up into the air and started taking to the sky again. She went after him naturally but this time, the sun was right in her face and he seemed to be heading straight for it.

Eventually, they went so high up into the sky that the pink female had to squint her eyes against the sun's powerful rays. Barely able to make out Ash's Butterfree as he had now stopped and was silhouetted against the light of the sun.

The female took a quick moment to admire how regal he looked against the backdrop of the sun before he suddenly did a flipping turn in mid-air and started flying back towards the plains yet again where everyone else was gathered.

He took her to the very middle of the airspace, in-between the mass of Butterfree and the trainers in their balloons, and just stopped dead. Making an almost perfect center in the middle of everything in the spot that he paused at.

The female stopped as well, merely twenty or so yards away from him, and started hovering in place. Breathing very heavily from the extremely long session of intense flying she had just done while her wings felt about ready to fall off.

Ash's Butterfree looked at her with an unreadable expression and then took a battle position. Finally ready to face her.

She couldn't believe it was only now, after all of that, that he was finally ready to fight her but she took a shaky combat position anyway. Before she could even move, he was soaring towards her like a flash and was upon her in seconds. She jumped, startled at his speed, but hastily prepared herself for whatever he was about to do.

Butterfree just spread his wings out and hovered in front of her imposingly, still not making any move to strike her. He didn't even lift a wing.

This confused the female but she wasn't going to just stay there and do nothing, waiting for him to finally do whatever it was he was planning. Even though she was exhausted and felt like she could drop at any second, she raised her left wing anyway and made to hit him.

The male just stayed where he was and didn't make a move to stop her. Even as her wing made contact to the side of his face with surprising force and caused his head to whip to the right slightly... he still didn't move.

The pink female started smacking him over and over again on each side of his face with her wings and each time, he did nothing and merely turned his head back to face her again. This continued on and on with each of her strikes slowly losing more and more power.

Back in the balloon, Misty was gripping the side of the railing so hard that her knuckles had turned white. ''What's going on out there?! Why is Butterfree just hovering there and letting her attack him like that?! He could easily fight her off with how tired she is right now!"

Brock seemed contemplative. "I don't think that's what Butterfree is going for Misty. I don't know exactly what's going on right now but I believe he has something planned and that's why he's not moving," He trailed off then and continued to look thoughtful at the reasons for why Butterfree was doing what he was.

Giselle looked over at Ash, who seemed to be completely enthralled and focused on the action in front of them, before she too returned her attention back to the two Butterfree. Resolving to remain silent and see how things played out.

The pink Butterfree was breathing hard and sweating from her brow as she gave one final smack to Ash's Butterfree, who still remained motionless, and finally stopped. She glared at him and moved closer. "Free Free?! Butter Free Free Butterfree?!" She shouted at him angrily, obviously demanding to know why he wasn't fighting her.

Butterfree just stared at her with an unreadable expression and then finally spoke. "Free. Butterfree... Free Butterfree Free," He said with resolution in his voice.

She froze and just looked at him with wide eyes. Whatever he said seeming to have shaken her. He moved a little closer to her and spoke again, "Free Free... Butterfree Free. Free Butterfree."

The female continued to look at him shakily and then, to everyone's surprise, her eyes began to water. Her whole body started to shake as she looked at the male with her watery eyes and then raised her right wing. She shouted fiercely at him and then brought down her wing right at his head. "FREE!" The female yelled, loudly enough to be heard by the winds that carried and amplified her voice through the now dead silent airspace.

The male Butterfree finally moved and right before he could be hit with the female's wing, he brought his own up and blocked hers with no effort. She glared down at him with burning tear filled eyes and then, slowly... inch by inch... he pushed his wing against hers and started moving it backwards.

She struggled against him vainly as he continued to push back against her until eventually, he pushed through her defenses. The male quickly flew in until he was merely a breath away from the female and brought his face in closer to hers.

The pink Butterfree made a half-hearted attempt to back away but the male's strong gaze held her locked in place. He looked at her with several emotions now swirling within the depths of his eyes as he came a little closer and spoke in a voice that was only for her to hear him. "Free... Butterfree Free. Butter Butterfree Free... Butter," He gently brought his left wing up and wrapped it around her own left one, slowly pulling her in closer to him. "Free..." He finished in a breathy whisper as he gazed at her warmly.

The female didn't even try to resist as she seemed to be completely enraptured by the words the male had spoken to her. Any form of anger or irritation she had felt towards him earlier just completely vanished when he said those words that only she could hear.

"Free... Butterfree Free?" She asked him as she looked at Ash's Butterfree.

He merely smiled at her in the best way a Butterfree could and then pointed at his own body with one of his wings. Showing the bruises he still held from the fight with Team Rocket. He looked back at her and pointed from himself to her, making gesturing motions from the marks on his body to her. Like he was trying to get something across to her.

Whatever it was finally got through to her apparently because the next thing he knew, the pink female started getting even more teary eyed as she now indeed understood what he was trying to tell her. Before he could even hope to brace himself, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly with her wings. Practically hanging from him while a few tears fell from her eyes.

Butterfree just hugged her close and gently caressed her back with one wing while he kept them aloft with the other one.

She eventually separated herself from him and when she did, Butterfree reached up with one wing and gently wiped the tears from her eyes while giving her a warm look and an eyesmile.

The two of them just looked at each other then for a time, neither one making any kind of move. Everyone... Ash and his friends, the rest of the trainers, the other Butterfree and even the police down below watched with wrapped attention for what would happen next.

To everyone's surprise, excitement and utter joy, the next action taken by the pink Butterfree was one of long awaited celebration.

She backed away from the male Butterfree a short distance and once she was far enough away, she began to slowly fly herself around in slow circles. The movement and speed of it was very precisely timed out and seemed to have been perfected and honed through many, many years of deeply ingrained instincts and natural behavior. Passed down from one generation to the next.

The female then started moving from just circular rotations to more complexly intricate and beautiful patterns. Such as front and back movements, elegant dips and graceful spins. Perfectly executed twirls and beautiful pirouettes, well honed flips and other movements that showcased her power but also her feminine grace and beauty as a female Butterfree.

She made her way towards Ash's Butterfree and started doing her elegant dance around him. Moving in closely and then moving back away quickly but gracefully. Obviously making it her sole priority to keep his eyes trained on her. Which she was doing a damn good job at too if the way his eyes were locked onto her unblinkingly was any indication.

Eventually she moved back and slowed down to doing just slow circles and slight movements while she looked at Ash's Butterfree expectantly. Rather it was that he understood what she wanted or he just felt compelled by his instincts, Butterfree started doing his own pattern of movements in the air.

His were both similar to hers and yet also different. Meant to showcase his own grace and elegance, yet also demonstrate the skill, power and strength that a well trained male of his species would be expected to possess. And he didn't disappoint. All of his movements showed his ability to be fast and elegant, but also display just how strong and powerful he could be.

He did his dance around the female, just like she did for him, and then once he was done, they both started dancing around each other, Staying in perfect tandem with one another as they synched their moves in the unique dance they were disputing with their eyes firmly locked onto the other.

Everyone else watched in awe as this went on, even the other Butterfree, while Giselle seemed as though she was watching a five-star performance. "Wow! Its sooo beautiful... what do you think they're doing?" She asked the others in the balloon.

Ash finally broke his silence. "I feel very confidant right now in stating that both of them have finally accepted each other as mates and are currently performing a very complex and intricate version of the Butterfree courtship dance." He looked over at Donny. "Am I right?"

The man nodded as his eyes stayed locked on both Butterfree. "You've got that right Ash, what we're seeing is most definitely the Butterfree courtship ritual but this one is much more complex, as you said, than what is normally performed. They must truly care for each other if they are so willing to put this much into the dance," He observed wisely and knowingly.

"That's for sure," Brock stated. "Even though I've never actually seen the Butterfree courtship before, this does seem like a very advanced form of what they normally do. At least from what I've heard that is."

Misty turned back to look at them. "But I'm confused... why did they fight first before doing the ritual when they obviously liked each other? Why didn't Butterfree fight back when the pink one was attacking him and most importantly, why was she so upset earlier?"

Ash stepped forward and placed one hand one the basket rail while putting the other one up on one of the beams. "Well... I'm not an expert Misty and I may be wrong about all of this but, taking everything Professor Oak taught me about Pokémon's emotions and characteristics, I might know why."

He looked at both Butterfree that were still dancing around each other then as he continued. "To answer your first question, I think the pink one wanted to prove that she was strong enough for not only my Butterfree, but to prove her strength to herself and everyone else as well. Undoubtedly, she probably felt bad when Team Rocket took them all and she was so helpless the whole time. She seems to be a proud and strong Pokémon that likes to stand up for herself. Being bailed out probably made her feel weak and fighting my Butterfree was the one way of making her feel better about herself. A way to self redemption if you will I guess."

He took a breath. "As for why my Butterfree didn't fight her? I think that was more because of the values he has and the values I try to instill into all of my Pokémon. Which is respect. Mom and Professor Oak taught me that respect is key in life in all that you do and mom also told me that when it came to women, you respected and valued them no matter what the cost or cause. I taught my Butterfree, just like all of my other Pokémon, to respect the opposite sex and treat them with tenderness and kindness at all times. Even though he understood why the pink Butterfree wanted to fight, mine didn't want to fight her or engage in physical combat because that's not what he wanted to show her. He knew that she saw he was strong and impressive in a fight. I think he wanted to show her now just how noble and respectable of a Pokémon he is instead of just a mindless brute.

Ash smiled proudly. "However, I also think that he didn't want to make her feel like he thought he was superior over her just because he was a male by not fighting her so he accepted the challenge. Fully aware of how tough she was and how much of a beating she could put on him. He decided that instead of just brawling with her and causing her physical pain, which she could most definitely take, Butterfree wanted to prove how gentle, soft and kind he could be- not to mention patient- by taking her on a grueling aerial chase where they could still test each other's skill and strength but in a different way. She also proved, unknowingly to her, that she was willing to follow him without question or hesitation as he took her on that crazy flight."

He shrugged. "So I guess basically, he wanted to show that he didn't need to fight her in order to make her see how strong she could be or to prove how worthy he was of being her mate by just fighting her. She was able to keep up with him the whole time, fight him very well the few times they did so and also showed just how good she was at making up battle strategies and tactics on the spot without fail. Which I believe all served to bolster her confidence."

Ash shifted his weight on the support beam he was leaning against then. "I think she was upset at him for a time because she thought he wasn't taking her seriously and was just running away so he didn't have to fight with her out of a fear of injuring her. This obviously hurt her pride and made her feel angry at the very thought. Which is why she was so aggressive whenever she was attacking him at the very end. Butterfree responded passively and that's when he explained to her the reasons, the ones I just explained, for why he did what he did. Why he didn't fight her. He wanted her to know just how much he respected her and get her to understand that he was indeed fighting her. Just not in the way she thought he would."

The boy ran his hand through his hair as he continued trying to piece the unusual puzzle of this particular Butterfree courtship together. "I believe that alone made the pink Butterfree become really emotional and is what brought her to tears. Then, whenever my Butterfree pointed to the bruises and marks he got from the battle against Team Rocket, he was showing her that he took those scars for not just himself and to rescue the other Butterfree, but also for her. He would do anything to protect her and that's what I think he was trying to get across to her when he was doing that.

Naturally, such an act of care and love is very deep and thus, brought her to tears when she realized the truth. Leading her to finally deciding that he was the one for her and starting off the courtship ritual between them. Since they are both very strong and respect each other so much, they played out their dances to portray those same feelings to one another in their own way. Hence, why their dance seems so much more... intricate, deep and involved than other Butterfree mating rituals. It's just a way to show a higher degree of respect really I guess," He finally finished.

Donny nodded and smiled. "Way to go Ash. That was very perceptive of you and I think you're exactly right in what you surmised. I've been watching the Butterfree mating rituals for years and I've never seen two Butterfree like yours and that pink one go to such far reaching lengths to make mates with one another. For a kid especially, that was a very good observation you made. I think Professor Oak has been teaching you well," He commended.

Brock chimed in, "I was thinking along the same lines as you were Ash and I'm impressed you put it together so quickly. I think you're exactly right."

Misty just looked at both Butterfree in awe. "That's just... amazing," She said breathlessly.

Giselle's eyes were almost shining as she looked at the Butterfree as well. Both of them being illuminated by the slowly setting sun that was falling over the sea and making their courtship dance seem that much more beautiful and spectacular. "Pokémon are just... I can't even put it into words," She started with a pause. "The different personalities character traits of all Pokémon and just how unique each one is from the last. You can't get this in a classroom," She finished with pure happiness and appreciation in her voice as she continued to admire the Butterfree.

Ash smiled at the way the setting sun also seemed to bring out the utter beauty in his girlfriend and walked up behind her, holding the brunette from behind closely as he kissed her cheek and shared the view of the two amazing Butterfree. "You're right Giselle and I'm glad you could be here with us to witness this," He said with a smile.

She returned the smile with a radiant one of her own and then leaned in to gently kiss him, which he happily returned, before returning her focus back to the two Butterfree as she leaned into her boyfriend's arms.

Brock and Misty walked up to stand on either side of them and then just watched the special and unique scene continue to unfold. Donny did the same from his position now controlling the balloon in Ash's place while Salia looked on from her own balloon as well.

Eventually, the dance between both Butterfree ended on a beautiful note with the both of them in a perfectly executed pose. The pink Butterfree was leaned back slightly while the male had her supported with one of his wings. His other wing was in contact with hers while she kept them both aloft with her other wing.

All of the other trainers, the police down below, the many other Butterfree and Ash's group all burst into cheers and applause upon seeing both Butterfree finally finish their courtship, officially taking themselves as each other's mate.

The newly mated pair returned to Ash's balloon after a few more moments and perched themselves on the edge, side by side. Pikachu was the first to talk to the two, congratulating them on their relationship and winking at his team member with a knowing look. Something that made Butterfree shoot the Electric-Type a harsh glare with a faint blush on his face.

However, Pikachu merely turned away and giggled perversely to himself with a paw over his mouth.

Ash was the next one to congratulate them. "Well you two, congratulations on your courtship. I'm very proud of both you for everything you did today and you showed just how amazing you are as Pokémon. I'm very happy for you and I'm sure you're going to be really happy together."

He looked at his Butterfree and stroked one of his wings affectionately. "You've made me really proud Butterfree," He said with a smile, to which his Pokémon puffed up with pride at. The pink one flew up to Ash quickly and nuzzled his face before returning to her mate's side, her way of showing appreciation for the trainer that she had come to respect and like quite a lot by the looks of it.

Misty, Brock, Giselle and Donny all congratulated them as well after that and then Salia flew her balloon in closer so she could do the same. Misty needing to, once again, hold Brock back from lunging at the poor woman.

"Butterfree..." She started softly to her former Pokémon. "I am so very proud of you. You've grown into a wonderful Butterfree that I truly can't take all the credit for how you are. Much of who you have become was just picked up naturally I believe and I couldn't be more proud of you." She then looked at Ash's Butterfree who was standing beside of the pink one. "And you've chosen a very fine mate that I don't think any other Butterfree here could ever hope to match. I just know you are going to be very happy together and give birth to beautiful babies!" She gushed.

Both Butterfree just bushed at hearing that and then looked down in embarrassment while fidgeting slightly.

Ash smiled at the sight and then captured the attention of everyone. "Hey everybody, now that mine and Salia's Butterfree are mated together and good to go, why don't we just stay up here, relax and watch the rest of the courtship between the other Butterfree? Just enjoy the rest of the mating season until it ends. The sun is starting to set and right now, the view is just beautiful..." He observed as he looked out across the lush, expansive plains.

Everyone else did the same and indeed it was a sight to behold.

The way the sun had started to set was bathing the entirety of the mating grounds and the cliffside in a beautiful spectrum of colors as the light bounced off of the sea- which was as calm right now as the gentle breeze that blew through the area- and caused a beautiful sparkling of the waves to shimmer in the distance.

The sky had collected a few fluffy clouds together and was now displaying colors of a reddish/orange which stretched across the vast great beyond as though Arceus herself had painted it. The forests behind them danced along to the mild breeze of the wind's gentle song as the leaves on the trees swayed to and fro in a beautiful harmony and the grass far below shared in a similar dance of nature's own orchestrating. The grass that covered the plains of the mating grounds was still surprisingly green even, only showing a few signs of wilt despite the fact that it was fall and in late October.

All in all, it was a truly beautiful time and the perfect occasion to just sit back with precious ones and watch the natural splendor of the fading day. Such as the ceremony of the Butterfree mating ritual still taking place before their very eyes within the gentle cradle of the sky's tender embrace.

Apparently, everyone else agreed with Ash's statement after taking in the natural beauty before them.

"Yeah Ash I'm game!" Misty said enthusiastically.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed happily.

"I would love to!" Giselle joined in as she hugged Ash's arm.

"Me too," Brock nodded with a smile.

"Sounds good to me," Salia agreed readily.

Both of the newly mated Butterfree nodded as well, showing they were in agreement with the suggestion:

Donny smiled and clapped his hands together. "Well then if we're gonna do this, I think its time we bring out the luxury treatment!" He announced jovially.

The others looked confused. "What do you mean Donny?" Ash asked curiously.

The man just laughed and looked over at Salia as he reached down into their basket and pulled up a role of rope. "Bring that balloon in closer miss and I'll use this rope to tie our balloons together!" He instructed.

She obliged and brought her balloon in closer until it was flush with the Pikachu balloon. Donny expertly tied both balloons together by tying an intricate knot around both front beams on each balloon. Once he tied the knots on the beams of their balloon and brought the two completely together, he hopped over into Salia's balloon. Ash and Brock held the tension on the rope to keep the two balloons together while Donny tied the same knot off on the other balloon.

Once he finished tying the first knot on the support beam of Salia's balloon, effectively linking together two ends of the balloons by the first rope, he called over to Ash. "Hey there Ash! Wanna come over here and help me tie this fourth and final knot? I'll teach you how!"

The boy smiled and nodded eagerly. "Sounds good Donny, thanks!"

Donny smiled and waved Ash over. He carefully climbed into the other balloon, which was now connected to their own by the first rope link between the opposing support beams, and joined the older man.

Donny then went on to explain to Ash exactly how to go about tying the knot that would connect the support beams of both balloons together so they could connect and become safe for travel between them. Ash was able to pick up the rather complex knot after a few tries and some trial and error.

After he was done and tied off the knot, Donny inspected his work to make sure that the knot Ash made would hold up well with the one he himself made on the other balloon and after he was assured it was secure, he clapped Ash on the back and praised him for his work.

"Great job Ash! Now that that's done, we can move onto stage two!" He said enthusiastically.

Ash smiled as well at the almost fatherly praise from the man and then watched as Donny hopped back over into their own balloon.

Now that the knots were finished and tied off, there were two on each front side of both balloons. The right and left front support beams were tied off strongly to their twins on either balloon and this allowed the two of them to press flush together.

Though, travel between the two could only be done whenever at least two people pulled hard on both ropes on either balloon to draw the baskets together completely. Otherwise, there would still remain a gap between them that was very dangerous to try and jump across.

Ash and the others wondered what Donny was doing but were quickly saved from their curiosity when he walked over to where Brock was standing. "Excuse me Brock!" He said boisterously as the older boy moved out of the way and gave the man access to whatever he was looking for.

Donny looked to a portion of the green basket, just below the railing, that was somewhat more extended out than the rest of the smooth sides and then looked over at Ash who was in Salia's balloon. "Okay Ash, I want you to locate the bulge-like protrusion over in that balloon. Should be on the left side!" He instructed.

Ash looked around and found what he was looking for right where Donny said it would be. "Alright, I found it!" He called back.

The man grinned and then addressed them all. "Any of you wonder yet why the baskets in these balloons seem bigger and thicker than normal?" He asked with a tinge of something odd in his voice.

Everyone looked around and noticed for the first time that the baskets of both balloons were actually bigger and yes, much thicker than what normal hot air balloons usually were made to be. Even though this was their first time in a balloon, the baskets still did seem different from what they had seen in shows, movies and magazines respectively.

"Now that you mention it..." Brock began. "They do seem a little unusual..."

Donny grinned wider. "And do you know why that is?"

Upon not receiving an answer from anyone, he laughed and then started to explain. "You see everyone, my balloons are different from most others. Mine have quite a few... luxuries that other balloons don't have!" He boasted with a smile.

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Like?"

Donny patted the railing of the balloon. "The floor and walls of the baskets in these balloons have another set of movable walls and floors hidden within them. Thus, the increased size in baskets. Let me show you..."

He motioned for Brock, Misty and Giselle to stand behind him on the far side of the basket and then put his finger under a crease in the twine of the side of the basket he was standing in front of. More specifically, the slightly bulging lump that blended into the rest of the basket.

He flipped up the bulge then and revealed a small control panel hidden underneath that had two buttons on it. A red and green one. He looked over at Ash and instructed him to lift up the flap covering the control panel on the other balloon.

Ash did and then once the two buttons were revealed on his end, Donny called over again. "Now Ash, I want you and Salia to stay as far back on the furthest end of the balloon as you can after you press that green button okay? I'll tell you when to do it and once I do, we'll both press our respective green buttons together."

The boy nodded. "Got it!" He replied.

Donny smiled and then put his thumb over the button. "Ready?" He called over.

Ash got into position. "Ready!"

Donny counted down. "Three...two... now Ash!"

Both of them pressed down on the green buttons at the exact same time and then stepped back as both baskets literally started to move and shift internally. They could feel something happening around them and then the next thing they knew, both front sides of each balloon began to actually retract down into the basket floors. Once the front ends of both baskets were open, exposing the open sky down below, the bottom edges of both balloons started to open up.

Out of the ends came two planks that were medium sized in width and slid out until they met each other and then locked into place with a resounding 'click'. Then, the size of the baskets started to expand themselves as the now connected walking plank grew wider along with the baskets.

After the baskets had extended enough that the walking plank between both balloons now resembled a large square floor that was stretched out and connected to every end of both baskets- being firmly suspended above the open sky and no longer leaving any room to fall out through a gap in-between the balloons- the next change took place.

The outside walls of the baskets slid open and allowed a wall on each basket to open on both ends. The walls that were coming out of all four corners of the front most side of both balloons slid out until they met together and then latched onto each other like a vine to a tree.

The finished product, once all of the shifting and moving around was done, revealed a large square area now open in-between both balloons. The two walls that came out of the very ends of the baskets and connected with each other now formed a perfect four sided square on each end of the newly open space that would keep them all safely inside.

The walls and floor of the 'suspended patio' were very strong and well supported. There were even four small but strong boards that ran long ways under the makeshift floor that connected to both ends of the baskets and offered extra support so people could walk and stand around on it without falling through.

The two ropes that connected the front support beams on each balloon added extra connection support but the new 'patio' did just fine at that particular job all by itself. The extendable walls which completed the four corner structure were just as high as the walls in the basket themselves and assured even more so that no one would fall out.

Once it was all done, Donny took a minute to take in the shell-shocked expressions of his clients before laughing out loud and then turning around behind him to where Giselle, Misty and Brock were still standing in front of the back most wall of the basket. "Excuse me kids," He said politely as he moved in and bent down to the floor.

He reached underneath to the seam of the basket wall and lifted up on it, revealing a square compartment where three thin, foldable chairs were being kept. He reached in and grabbed them before walking out into the large area now created in-between both balloons and set up the three loung chairs at respectable spaces apart from one another.

Once he was done, he looked at Ash again. "Can you do the same thing on your end Ash?" He asked.

Ash just nodded dumbly and then walked over to the back wall of the basket behind Salia. After she had moved away, Ash repeated what Donny did and reached down to the floor, lifting up on the wall to reveal another square storage space where three more chairs were being held.

He took them out and then walked over into the enclosed area between the balloons, stepping carefully out onto it at first to assure it didn't break open but then became more comfortable once he was assured of it's strength and sturdiness. He placed the chairs out in an evenly spaced line with the ones Donny set up and then moved back a little.

Satisfied, Donny looked at everyone. "Well? What are you all waiting for?!" He asked in his usual excitable attitude while grinning again.

Slowly and carefully, Ash's friends and Salia stepped out into the open, walled in space and after seeing that the floor really wasn't going to give in, they started to relax. "Wow Donny!" Brock spoke as he started moving around in the new area. "This is incredible!"

"How is this possible?" Giselle asked as she also wandered around and admired the patio-like sitting area suspended between both balloons.

Donny laughed again and then answered. "I helped design these balloons some time back. Being that I've always been a bit of an inventor I guess you could say, at least when it comes to things that fly like these hot air balloons here. They've been a passion of mine ever since I was little and started coming up here during the Butterfree mating seasons with my father, like his father before him.

You see, my family has been involved with renting out hot air balloons to trainers and observers for the mating season here for as many as years as I can count. Dating back to when people first learned that this was where Butterfree met to find mates before traveling across the sea to their mating grounds somewhere in the Orange Islands. Coincidentally, this was also right around the time that hot air balloons were first invented. So I suppose you could say that these balloons here are in my blood!" He leaned back against the railing of the suspended patio and chuckled to himself after saying that.

"Each of my family all came up with something new on how to improve these balloons in order to make the experience more enjoyable for visitors when they came here for the big event every year. I got the idea for this little lounging area connected in-between the balloons when I first started bringing my wife and two sons up with me in the balloons during the off-season and we were crowded for space.

I wanted to have some way for large groups of people in balloons to be able to meet and congregate up in the air but also be able to do it safely. That's when this idea popped into my mind. In theory, multiple balloons could probably link up together like this, sort of like a puzzle or a chain link, but only two has ever been done before and this is only the second time I've tried it," He explained. "My kids love it!"

"Wow Mr. Donny thank you so much for sharing this with us," Salia said with a bow.

"Yes thank you so much Donny, this is great!" Misty thanked him sincerely.

Donny just waved them off. "Think nothing of it! After what you kids did today to save the Butterfree, which allowed all of this to still happen so a years long tradition wasn't broken by some low down criminals, this was the least I could do."

Ash smiled and nodded his head respectfully. "Still Donny, thanks a lot. For everything. And not just this either but for being so kind with us today, teaching me how to fly these balloons and understanding whenever I went after Team Rocket... we can't thank you enough. I'm truly sorry that I snapped at you earlier on when you were at first reluctant to let me leave."

Donny patted Ash on the shoulder. "You're welcome for it all young man and I was happy to do it. You learn quick so I was happy to teach you and as for the Team Rocket thing? You're a trainer that obviously cares deeply for his Pokémon and were willing to do whatever was needed to save them and I respect that. You beat Team Rocket and made it back safe and you rescued all of the Butterfree. You did us all a great service and I should be thanking you Ash."

The man smiled genuinely at him. "You saved a tradition today. You, your friends and your Pokémon and I'm glad to have met you all. I've also got some good stories now to tell my kids before bed and I'm sure the tales of the brave young Pokémon Trainer with a Pikachu who defeated a bunch of criminals with his friends and saved the Butterfree mating season will go down in my family's heritage for many years to come."

Ash bowed his head to Donny. "Thank you Donny. That's all I can say," He said humbly.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu added in as well.

Brock suddenly intervened. "I am curious about one thing though Donny... who helped you design these balloons and then get them made anyway? Does your family own a company or something?"

The older man shook his head. "Nah, my family's business is way too small for such a thing. Being that we make the most of the money for our small business during this particular event only and then just give out regular balloon rides around the area to random people for the rest of the year, we could never make enough income to finance such expensive advances in hot air travel. This is all I do too so I couldn't afford to make all of these balloons by myself."

He smiled fondly then. "Ya see, my great-grandfather made close friends with an airman of great skill several years ago. The man's family was steeped in aviator history far exceeding my own and several of them were actually key figures in some of the biggest achievements in avionic history, even himself being counted among them. Such achievements including flying some of the first ever airplanes!" He revealed with a wink.

"Wow..." The others said collectively.

Donny nodded and continued on. "My great-grandad met his friend while vacationing way out in the Unova region on a search for a way to improve the design of our balloons for that following year's Butterfree mating season. The two met at a place called Mistralton City when my grandad passed through there for an expo on avionics and they became fast friends afterwards. My grandaddy's friend helped him design the balloons for the following year and ever since, our families have remained close. Only..."

Donny laughed. "While my family has remained pretty small time with what we do, my grandad's friend went on to found a big aviation company out in Unova that handles most of that region's flight business, air-trade and other aviary means of business. They became pretty darn wealthy and are always willing to help my family out both creatively and financially whenever it comes to our small time balloon business here. I'm real good friends with the current head of their family business. Met him during me and my family's own vacation out to Unova one year and he helped me design and make the balloons we're in right now. Specifically the little extension we're all standing on."

Ash nodded. "They sound like a really cool family."

Donny just smiled again and replied back, "Sure are Ash, sure are. Some of the best people you'll ever meet and a big part of the city they live in and hail from. Mistralton just wouldn't be the same without them. Actually, their family even runs the Pokémon Gym of Mistralton and has for years. My friend's father passed the business down to him years ago so he could focus on his passions, which were flying and running the gym, and from what I heard he's pretty good."

Ash smiled at the thought of a gym in another region. "Strong is he?" He inquired curiously.

"Hmmm," Donny responded. "In fact, he's got a granddaughter, my friend's little girl, who's just like her grandaddy from what I'm told. Headstrong and confident like him, loves to fly and loves Pokémon. Especially Flying-Types if memory serves. No real surprise there since I think that's what their gym specializes in, but I wouldn't really know since I don't keep up with Pokémoj League stuff that's not right here in good ol' Kanto!"

He grinned somewhat goofily. "My friend tells me that his little girl wants to fly planes for the family business and even take over as gym leader for her grandad when she's old enough. And from what I hear, she's got the spunk for it. I think her name was... Skyla maybe? Yeah I think that's right. A little older than you maybe Ash. I know she's not had her Pokémon too awful long yet at least," He rambled on.

Ash smiled to himself and made a mental note right then and there for some reason to file what Donny just said away for later. 'Skyla huh? She sounds pretty interesting. Wouldn't mind meeting her someday...'

He was interrupted from his thoughts by Giselle calling out suddenly, "Hey guys look!" She pointed out of the balloon. "All of the Butterfree are starting to go back to their courting rituals again!"

The others ran over and looked out of the balloon as well, seeing that all of the other Butterfree indeed were getting ready to finish up their mating rituals. Donny looked at the kids then. "Why don't we take a seat and watch while we relax a little?" He suggested.

The small group sat back in the chairs that had been set up in the gathering space between both balloons and got themselves comfortable to watch the last bit of the Butterfree mating season. Donny sat in the farthest chair to the right while Brock sat beside him and Misty took the place next to Brock. Ash sat in the second chair to the left of Misty, while Giselle sat on the chair right beside of him and Salia took the one on his other side.

Giselle pulled her chair closer to Ash so their chairs could touch and then layed her chairs back like Ash did his, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him as he gently kissed the top of her head.

Pikachu took a position curled up in Ash's lap while he watched the Butterfree and the young Ketchum just sighed in comfort as he held his girlfriend and rested back for the first real time all day. His body was still tired from the events that occured earlier in the day and getting to rest like he was felt heavenly to him.

Salia's chair was a little closer to Ash's as well than the other's chairs were and he noticed this, though he chose not to say anything and instead just smiled to himself. Both Butterfree were perched on top of the railing in-front of them, their bodies touching as they too gazed out across the sky at their kin.

Ash and the others watched in peace as the many Butterfree some distance away flew through the air with their chosen mates, performing their courtship dances in perfect tandem together. Each one was a little different than the other but none of them were done to the same level as Ash's Butterfree and the pink female's was. Still, they were all well done and definitely had heart in them. Showing the deep feelings they held for their new mates.

Some of the Butterfree even used different spore based attacks for their dances and this caused the sky to shimmer with the shining particles of the attacks. Making the scene even more beautiful and breathtaking than usual. Ash silently thanked Arceus for the marvel of nature being shown to them all and then reached down into his pack, right next to his chair with the hand not holding Giselle. He fished around in the main pocket until he found what he was looking for and pulled it out.

He opened his Pokémon Researcher In-Training journal and flipped it to the blank page. He then produced a pen from the pack and started writing down all of his thoughts on the Butterfree ritual he had been blessed enough to witness.

Once he was done he put the journal away, along with the pen, and then turned his attention back to the Butterfree just as their rituals were coming to a close. They all started descending to the ground then with their new mates, followed by the many trainers also lowering their balloons to the ground.

Donny stood up from his chair and stretched out before looking at the others. "Well everyone, its about time to time to head on down now," He announced while cracking his back.

Ash and the others stood from their chairs and helped Donny put the chairs back away in their storage compartments before Ash then started helping Donny return the balloons to normal. Which turned out to be as easy as it was to set it all up. All that was needed was for Ash and Donny to both press the red button on the control panels located in the baskets of each balloon at the same time.

Once this happened, the floor and walls of the open gathering space started to disengage from their attachment points and then retracted back into their original positions. Which were safely stored inside of the large baskets of the balloons.

After this was done, Ash and Donny untied both balloons from each other and prepared to descend. Ash, on careful observation and instruction from Donny, started lowering their balloon to the ground. Followed closely behind by Salia in her balloon.

Sometime later, they were all back on the ground safely again. Having landed the balloons behind Donny's shack where all of the other balloons would also go at the end of the day. Which was drawing to a close very fast.

After exiting the balloons, Ash and the others went through the back door of the small building and then out to the front of the shop outside to meet up with the other trainers and Butterfree for the closing of the mating season.

They walked out into the open fields which were being bathed in the light of dusk and met up with Officer Jenny and her men. Ash greeted her with a smile and then faulted a little when he felt a weight land on his head and other shoulder not occupied by Pikachu.

He looked up and saw the pink Butterfree resting on his head while his own Butterfree had taken perch on his other shoulder. Making Ash resemble some time of Pokémon coat rack.

He just sighed and shook his head good naturally while his friends and Jenny laughed. He then looked at the female officer after she had finished laughing and addressed her, "How did everything go down here officer?" The boy asked in good humor.

Jenny shared his grin with her own as she answered him, "Everything went just fine Ash. No more criminals showed up and from the looks of things, the courting rituals went off without a hitch." She made a gesturing motion to the many Butterfree who were now on the ground with their former trainers gathered around them. All of said trainers were displaying looks of happiness for their Butterfree but also ones of sadness. "I don't think the trainers here are looking forward to what's about to happen next though..." She observed sadly.

Ash knew why this was and nodded. Brock as well and he spoke on it, "Now comes the part of the Butterfree mating ritual where the Butterfree and their mates take to the sky and start their journey across the sea. Making their way towards the mating grounds somewhere in the Orange Islands so they can have their babies. No trainer looks forward to this," He stated with sympathy towards the many trainers and Butterfree who were being forced to part for the sake of nature's cycle to continue on.

Salia seemed to appear saddened for a moment but then replaced her morose look with one of acceptance and understanding a second later. She had obviously been preparing for this moment for a long time now and knew what was supposed to happen. She didn't like it naturally but she understood why it had to be done.

Ash on the other hand seemed totally neutral towards the upcoming situation- though also very sympathetic for the other Butterfree trainers- which confused Jenny and Salia but made perfect sense to Ash's friends. They knew all about the ingenious plan he had come up with to avoid the very situation about to take place and he had even talked to Professor Oak earlier in the week to make sure his plan was okay with the famous Pokémon Researcher.

Quite unsurprisingly, Professor Oak was more than fine with Ash's idea and even commended him on it for thinking of such a well planned out idea. Stating himself that few things were worse than separating a good trainer from their Pokemon if they truly cared for one another. No matter what the circumstance happened to be.

He had even told his young pupil during their long distance conversation that if he wouldn't have thought up the idea of sending his Butterfree and it's mate to the lab when they were ready to have babies, he would made that very same offer to Ash himself just so he wouldn't have to part from his Pokémon.

Even though the Professor obviously understood why parting of ways had to happen sometimes, just like with the Butterfree mating season, he still didn't like it and knew how potentially unhealthy it was for a trainer and Pokémon.

Some would argue and say that it did a trainer and their Pokémon good to know what the pain of separation and going their opposite ways felt like, stating that it helped both of them grow, but Oak disagreed and passed down this belief to Ash.

No form of growth or strength was ever worth breaking the bond between trainer and Pokémon. Regardless of whatever lesson some of the more 'hard ass individuals' thought it taught. The love and bond between human and Pokémon was something that transcended any level of power, strength or 'maturity lesson' that could be gained from a trainer releasing their Pokémon. Even if it was something such as training reasons, like letting someone else train your Pokémon for you. Which Ash and Oak both thought were completely idiotic to do.

Why let someone else train your Pokémon? It is your duty as a trainer to teach your Pokémj all they can possibly know to grow and if you don't know something then you learn it. Simple as that. It doesn't matter how long it takes or how much of an 'annoyance' it is. You made the decision to capture that Pokémon and you are responsible for their growth. All of them. Not just some.

There was also letting Pokémon go for the reason that angered Ash and the Professor the most... which was just being unable to 'deal' with them. A Pokémon learns to depend on their trainer and becomes attached to them. Letting one go just because you don't know how to take care of them properly was a disgrace in the eyes of good trainers everywhere. Professor Oak was of the firm belief that it would be best if those same trainers had their Pokémon Training license revoked for such actions and Ash totally agreed.

So needless to say, the Professor was very proud of his for pupil thinking of such an idea for his Butterfree because, as he told Ash, if he wouldn't have thought of it then Oak himself was going to tell Ash about it. He knew how close Ash was to his Pokémon and separating him from any of them would be more of a hindering blow than a helping hand in his growth as a Pokémon Trainer.

With his thoughts being pushed to the back of his mind for the moment, Ash, his friends, Donny and Salia started making their way towards the cliffside where all of the Butterfree would take off from. Jenny and the other officers followed after them. Wanting to stay until the very end just in case anything were to happen last minute.

They reached the cliffs after a few minutes of walking and then stopped, now standing at a safe distance away from the edge so no one would fall off. The male and pink Butterfree stood in-front of Ash, looking out over the cliffs side by side with their wings touching.

The raven haired trainer looked out over the sea into the horizon far beyond which was being set ablaze by the setting sun, the likes of which seemed to be hanging just above the water. It truly was a beautiful and tranquil sight that he had a hard time believing was also signalling a time of heartbreak for so many trainers and their Butterfree.

He felt a hand on his chest and looked at his side to see Giselle smiling at him. She pulled at his tracksuit and laughed a little. "You might have to put some of those sowing skills you said your mom taught you to good use. You're looking a little ragged sweetie," She told him with a playful wink.

Ash just laughed and gave her a mock glare. "Yeah? Well lets see you survive an exploding building and then see if your clothes don't get a little torn up huh?" He said with a smile.

She laughed as well and held her hands up. "Okay okay! I surrender, you've made your point. Still..." She examined his clothes. "I could help you stitch these up you know."

Ash looked down at the top and bottom portion of his tracksuit and then nodded after seeing how torn up they were. "Yeah I would appreciate that," He conceded while rubbing the back of his head. "You want the pants or top?"

Giselle giggled. "I'll take the top please," She requested politely.

He laughed again and pulled her close before looking behind them. The boy could see that the other trainers and Butterfree had finally caught up to them and were now saying their last goodbyes. There were many tearful farewells from both trainer and Butterfree as they all gave their parting words and embraces to their Pokémon.

Giselle, Officer Jenny, Misty, Salia and even Ash felt their eyes grow slightly wet at the sight of such bittersweet sorrow. Brock and Donny had solemn looks on their faces while Pikachu and the two Butterfree also had wet eyes. Well actually, Pikachu's eyes were only wet, he had yet to allow any tears to fall.

However, both Butterfree were starting to outright cry because they knew they would be leaving their trainers soon as well. Ash hadn't told Butterfree about his plan since he wanted it to be a surprise and because of that, Butterfree was looking up at his trainer with tears flowing freely down his face as his body rocked with the occasional sob.

The pink Butterfree also seemed very sad and not just for her own trainer but Ash as well. She had grown quit attached to him due to everything that had happened and after being around such a caring, kind and good hearted person that loved his Pokémon so much, she hated the fact that they had to leave him now.

Even though she was very sad, it was still nothing compared to her mate. Who seemed like he was about to break from the thought alone of leaving Ash. She fully started to believe that she would actually have to drag him away from Ash forcefully so they could leave with the others and not get left behind.

Pikachu looked down at his devastated teammate, who's eyes were now blurry and even puffier than usual with tears, and desperately wanted to comfort him by saying that this wasn't the end and that they were going to remain being a team and family, but it wasn't his place. Ash knew what he was doing and he would trust his trainer.

Eventually, all the goodbyes had been said and at that point, everyone was just lingering. The Butterfree finally started taking to the air with their mates and commenced to flying out over the ocean. Some looked back with tears still in their eyes while others just faced forward. Not having the courage to look back without losing their resolve to leave.

The trainers were all in various states. Some were waving their Butterfree off, bravely holding back tears, while others just dropped to their knees and released their sorrow in cascades of tears which fell to the ground and dampened the rocks of the cliffside in their salty essence. Others... others simply walked away. Too depressed and upset to linger in such a place of sadness and heartache anymore. Vowing silently to themselves that they would never return to the place that separated them from their beloved Butterfree.

Salia took a deep breath as the Butterfree finally started to fly away and made to say her own goodbyes to her former Butterfree. However, just before she knelt down, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. She noticed Ash looking down at her with something in his eyes that she couldn't place. The brunette then stood up and looked at him questioningly. "What's wrong Ash?"

He simply smiled at her and then looked at his friends, who gave him a nod to continue, which he did. He looked back at her afterwards and spoke, "Salia... I have a plan in the works that will allow me to avoid releasing my Butterfree and letting him go," He said with complete and utter seriousness. His Butterfree's shot his head up immediately upon hearing those words.

Salia seemed confused. "I'm sorry Ash but I... I don't understand..." She responded cluelessly.

Ash placed his hands on hips and looked out at the many Butterfree who were starting to make their way across the ocean before continuing. "I believe in responsibility when you become a Pokémon Trainer Salia," He began. She looked at him with interest, obviously curious as to what he was getting at. The two two Butterfree, Donny and even Officer Jenny seemed curious as well.

He stared at the horizon with a focused expression as he went on. "I believe that when you become a trainer it is your sole duty to ensure not just your Pokémon's growth, health and well-being, but also their happiness and what is the best for them. I learned under Professor Oak for many years and he taught me in that time many important lessons. One such lesson being that even when something comes along that can make your Pokémon happy but cause them heartache in the process, it is your job as a trainer to find some way to take the heartache out of the happy situation. No matter how much stress it causes you."

He looked down at his Butterfree, who was looking up at him with tears still in his eyes. "I thought about this very situation for a long time and even though I knew Butterfree finding a mate would bring him much happiness, I realized that him leaving me and all of my other Pokémon who are also his teammates and family, would cause him sadness that I couldn't bear. Also, the thought of releasing any of my Pokémon makes me feel sick but Butterfree's happiness came first and that's why I came up with this idea."

He looked back at Salia, who was now enraptured with what he was saying, as was everyone else. "Why do trainers release their Butterfree at the end of the mating season Salia? And not just because its natural and so the Butterfree can go to their mating grounds. What is the REAL reason that would make it impossible for a trainer to allow their Butterfree and it's mate to remain with them?" He asked.

Salia was obviously very smart and well versed in the ways of Butterfree because she didn't have to even think about it before replying, "Because Butterfree have many, many babies and it would be impossible for a trainer to take care of so many while on the road. Even if they weren't under the Pokémon League sanctioned rule of only six Pokémon being allowed on a trainer's team at any given time. A rule which can only be temporarily lifted by that region's official Professor and head of Pokémon Research."

Ash smiled at her answer and nodded. "Correct. Now, here's where I am fortunately an exception to the rule of owning a breeding pair of Butterfree. While I can't take care of a bunch of baby Butterfree and have them with me on the road, I come from a place that can. You see, I'm from Pallet Town. Home of the world famous Pokémon Researcher, Professor Oak. He has a massive Pokémon reserve people call the Oak Ranch, which can house thousands of Pokémon at one time.

Its a totally safe, protected and peaceful place where Pokémon belonging to trainers that Professor Oak sponsors can live and, in my Pokémon's case, train with no fear of anything like they would in the wild. Professor Oak takes care of them all like they were his own while they wait to be swapped out by their traveling trainers and as of right now, his ranch is not even close to reaching it's limit on Pokémon."

He gestured to both Butterfree down on the ground who were looking up at him with wrapped attention. "There's more than enough food at the ranch, tons of shelter, really expansive and is even way safer than the Butterfree mating grounds would be since its still located out in the wild. Professor Oak's lab would be an amazing place, better than any I can think of, for these two Butterfree to go and have their babies.

They could live around the same area my other Pokémon do since they all stick really close together and I'm sure they'll even help watch over the babies when they're not training. Besides, Butterfree at the mating grounds only stay with their offspring for a short time before leaving once they grow up. At the lab, these two can see their babies all the time unless they decide to leave the ranch once they've grown up."

He looked back at Salia, who seemed dumbfounded, and smiled. "Professor Oak is in total agreement with my plan and this way, I can keep my dear friend Butterfree as my Pokémon and he and his mate can have babies in an environment safer than any other. Also, any time I need him for a battle or something, I can still just call Professor Oak up to get him sent over to me, have the battle and then send him right back. He'll be able to be with his mate, babies and teammates all at the same time and everyone is happy. There's just one thing to this..." He looked at Salia seriously.

"If she would be okay with it then I'll have to capture your former Butterfree Salia. Would you be alright with that? Would you trust me with your old Pokémon? If not... I won't do this and I'll let them go to the mating grounds with the rest of the Butterfree. If you are okay with it though then I can promise you on my life that she'll be safe, strong and happy as she can possibly be," He vowed.

Everyone was totally silent as Ash said this, no one breathing a word as they watched Salia intently for her reaction. The young woman seemed to be surprised for a few moments and then looked down at her former Pokémon, who looked equally as stunned by what Ash had just offered. She walked over to her Butterfree and knelt down, looking at her Pokémon intently.

Finally, she spoke. "Well Butterfree... what do you think? This is your decision, not mine. I've already released you. Ash just asked me out of respect of being your former trainer, which I really appreciate, but this is your choice," She said with a kind smile. Butterfree looked at her in surprise and Salia continued to smile. "I can tell you, personally in my opinion, what I think about it and what I believe you'll get as Ash's Pokémon."

She looked up at Ash from where she was kneeling then. "Ash... even though we only just met, you've proven to me through your actions today just how much you truly love Pokémon. And not just your own either." She pointed to her Butterfree and then glided that same hand through the air as she motioned to the many other Butterfree that were flying away. "You didn't know or owe anything to any of the other Pokémon here today and when you faced Team Rocket, you could have just rescued your Butterfree and left ours to their own fate. You didn't and instead, you risked your life for them all."

She looked back at him again. "From what I've seen from you I know that you are a great trainer who takes wonderful care of his Pokémon. If I were to put the fate and well being of my darling Butterfree here in the hands of anyone else, it would without a doubt... be you." She smiled warmly at him. "I am totally okay you capturing and training my Butterfree Ash."

Salia looked down at her former Pokémon again. "As Ash's Pokémon I think you will know a life of not just love, safety and happiness with your mate and babies but also, a real chance to grow strong. Stronger than you can imagine," She stated honestly.

The pink Butterfree looked up at her former trainer and then at Ash. She was still feeling complete and utter shock if she were to be totally honest. Not at the thought of becoming Ash's Pokémon because it seemed terrible, no that wasn't it at all. Far from it in fact. What she couldn't believe was how he so freely offered something like that up. To just welcome her into his team of Pokémon, whom he saw as family, with no thought or care? As though he was just willing to accept her with open arms. She also looked at his Pikachu and saw the same inviting expression on his face as well.

When Ash had mentioned how she and her new mate could go live where all of his other Pokémon did when they weren't with him, a safe place to have their babies and live in peace... it sounded wonderful to her and she just couldn't believe that he was offering such a thing. After everything he already did for her that day, coming to save her and the other Butterfree from Team Rocket and then going back inside of the burning warehouse to save her... she couldn't believe it. And now, her former trainer was even telling her how great of life she could have being Ash's Pokémon and plus, that ranch place did sound very nice indeed.

On top of it all, she respected Ash greatly. After all, he managed to raise up and train her handsome mate to be how he was today and that definitely said a lot for him. Becoming stronger also sounded very appealing to her.

Ash walked over and knelt down in front of her. Smiling, he asked. "Well Butterfree... what do you say? Wanna join the family?"

She looked at her former trainer, back at Ash, up to Pikachu and then at her other side to her mate, who was smiling in a very encouraging manner at her, and then decided. She first flew up and hugged her former trainer tightly, who seemed to understand the meaning behind it and hugged her former Pokémon to her tightly as well. A few tears escaping her eyes she did so. "You're going to be so happy..." She whispered to the pink Butterfree.

The Pokémon disengaged herself from Salia and nodded at her with happy tears in her eyes before she then lunged at Ash and hugged him. Surprising the boy but making him smile all the same.

After she had finished hugging him, Ash set her down and then asked kindly, "So Butterfree? Is that a yes? Do you want to become my Pokémon?"

She nodded eagerly at his question and called out a few times in confirmation, "Free Free! Free!"

Ash smiled broadly and nodded. "Alright then..." He reached back into a side pocket on his pack where he kept his empty Pokéballs now and pulled one out. "Welcome to the family Butterfree!" He then gently tapped her head with the ball and it opened instantly, sucking the pink Butterfree inside of it's confines and shutting with a resounding 'click'.

Since she was already used to Pokéballs and knew what to expect, there was no struggle whatsoever as the ball 'dinged' and stars of light burst from it, confirming a successful capture. He took out his Pokédex quickly since he knew what was about to happen and prepared the switch. Being that he already had six Pokémon on him, if he didn't send one away then Butterfree would be sent to Professor Oak's. He definitely didn't want that right now and quickly sent back Pidgeot's Pokéball so he could retain his newest Pokémon.

Ash smiled at the Pokéball in his hand after the transfer was finished, put the Pokédex away and then called his newest Pokémon back out from the ball. Once she had appeared, her mate jumped at her and hugged her tightly as he officially welcomed her to the family.

Ash looked down at his first Butterfree and grinned. "Well Butterfree, it seems like you're stuck with me and the rest of the crew. For life. You and your mate could have escaped with the rest of the Butterfree and that would have been it but now..." He reached a hand out and gently placed it upon his Pokémon's head. "She's part of the family and I'm not giving either of you a chance to get away ever again. Think you can stand me?" He asked with a wink.

Butterfree let a few more tears slip from his eyes before wiping them away with his wing and then hugging his trainer. "Free Free!" He responded with a nod while Ash hugged him back.

The boy just smiled and then held his other arm out for the pink one. "Well get in here! You're family now," He invited warmly.

She eyesmiled and joyfully jumped into her new trainer's arms as he hugged them both. He then stood up after a few moments and released them from the hug, letting the male take a position on the shoulder opposite from Pikachu while the pink female took her perch atop his head.

"Thank you Ash..." Salia said softly as she kissed his cheek.

Giselle, not one to be outdone, kissed her boyfriend's lips quickly and smiled at him. "Congratulations Ash," She reached up and gently rubbed the pink Butterfree's wing. "And welcome to the family Butterfree!"

"I'm happy for you Ash," Brock nodded to him.

"Me too!" Misty said with an even bigger smile.

"Pika Pika Chu Pi!" Pikachu said enthusiastically as he welcomed the pink Butterfree into the family.

Donny, Officer Jenny and the other officers just remained silent and looked at the scene with their own smiles of varying degrees on their faces.

Ash looked out over the cliffs at the several Butterfree who were just now beginning to fade into the horizon and thought about just how ironic the whole thing was. This was supposed to be a time where trainers released their Butterfree and watched on with a mixture of happiness, pride and sadness as their Pokémon flew away over the sea to start a new life.

However, here he was with his Butterfree still perched atop his shoulder. Not going anywhere as he watched the rest of his kin disappear into the distance towards their ancestral mating grounds. Not feeling a shred of regret that he wasn't with them, only happy to be with his trainer still.

Then, to top it all off and slap tradition in the face, Ash had just added another member into his ever growing family with yet another Butterfree. A uniquely colored one and his first Butterfree's own mate to make it all the better than it already was.

It was safe to say that in that moment, Ash was thanking Arceus in his mind profusely. He felt horrible for the other trainers who did have to release their Butterfree though and said a silent prayer that Arceus would be there for them. All of them as they went through them difficult time of separation and sadness.

Even still though, the thought of him standing atop that very same cliff face while his Butterfree flew tearfully away with the pink one was almost unimaginable. Him keeping his head down as tears fell while Pikachu waved goodbye to his friend and teammate while crying himself. Brock, Misty and Giselle feeling nothing but pity and sympathy for him as his Pokémon flew away forever...

Ash couldn't even begin to imagine such a horrible scenario and he didn't want to.

Maybe in a different dimension from his own it really did happen though. A world where Arceus wasn't constantly watching over him and he was totally different as a person and trainer... maybe just maybe something like Butterfree being forced to leave him because a less intelligent and prepared version of himself didn't think about the possibilities of Professor Oak's ranch serving as a private breeding ground of sorts for his Butterfree and it's mate so they didn't have to leave forever, actually did come to pass.

Either way, it made Ash shudder completely and remind himself to pray that much harder to Arceus before bed that night in thanks for everything she was always doing for him and all of the blessings she constantly sent his way. Blessings he knew he wasn't deserving of but for some reason still was bestowed with all the same.

Once all of the Butterfree had vanished into the horizon and evening had come with darkness finally beginning to fall, all of the trainers began making their way out of the wide open fields sprawling across the high elevation of the cliffside they were on. Leaving the Butterfree Cliffs behind them forever as they each went their own separate ways.

Donny clapped his hands, which resounded off of the now silent cliffside, save the waves of the ocean down below, and addressed the small group that was still gathered. "Well everyone! Whadya say we all head back to the shop have some hot tea and soup? Celebrate the passing of yet another Butterfree mating season- made possible this year by Ash and his brave Pokémon stopping Team Rocket- and wish all of those Butterfree and trainers good thoughts as they go their separate ways."

He walked up and clapped Ash on the back then as he admired the only two remaining Butterfree in the area, who were still perched upon the boy's shoulder and head respectively. "I suppose we can also celebrate Ash here getting to keep his Butterfree and adding a new one to his team as well ehh?" He said with a wink and another pat on Ash's back. "Then you can all stay upstairs in the guest rooms for the night! How's that sound?" He finished jovially.

Ash and his friends looked at each other and smiled, agreeing without speaking that it was a good idea. It was getting dark after all and if they didn't stay with him then it would end up being camping alongside of the road for them. Which Ash didn't mind but he was exhausted bodily and needed a good rest. "Sure Donny, thank you," He accepted with a slight bow.

Donny waved him off. "Think nothing of it!"

Just as they all started to walk away, Officer Jenny came up to Ash and stopped in front of him. "As much as we would really like to celebrate with you all, the others officers and I need to get back to headquarters. Have to be ready for the next call and I need to get cracking on that description and information you gave me on those three crooks from Team Rocket if I'm going to get a massive search and arrest warrant sent out for them."

She smiled at Ash brightly. "You performed a great service today Ash and I thank you again. You and your Pokémon." She then smiled coyly and said quietly, "This is off the record just to let you know. My way of saying thank you..." The female officer then kissed him on the right cheek and winked at him. "You take care Ash and remember, if law enforcement ever appeals to you later in life, my branch will be there to take you in once you complete the academy!"

Ash blushed slightly at Jenny's show of affection in thanks to him but quickly composed himself. "You've got it Jenny, thanks again for coming when you did," He said gratefully.

Brock was meanwhile just standing there with his mouth hanging agape as his arms hung loosely to the sides like a Vigaroth. "WHAAAAT?!" He yelled loudly. "Why does Ash get kissed by Officer Jenny but I get nothing?! Its not fair!" He whined loudly and pitifully.

Misty smacked him upside the head. "Because you're a dirty pervert who creeps women out, that's why Brock!" She growled.

Giselle just shook her head and figured that she should get used to other females thanking Ash in that way whenever he did something heroic. He was handsome for a kid his age, what could she say? She sure as hell didn't blame them.

Donny bowed to Officer Jenny. "Thank you as well for all you and your men did officer. Are you sure I can't interest you in any tea or a room for the night? Space is limited but its the least I can do for everything you have all done here today."

Jenny just shook her head and politely declined. "As much as I do appreciate the offer, we don't have any problems flying through the night and besides, its our sworn duty to protect and serve so there is no need to thank me."

Once that was settled, Officer Jenny and her men bid Ash and the others farewell one last time before making their way towards their helicopter some distance away from the cliffs. Ash's friends, plus Donny and Salia, then started heading back to Donny's shop for the night. Ash taking a second more to look out at the ocean before he left to follow his friends, wanting to enjoy the peaceful serenity of the moment for just a bit longer.

However, just as he began making his way from the cliffside, something- or more someone- caught his eye and caused him to stop. What he saw that made him go still was a person standing a moderate distance away from his current position while overlooking the ocean with what also appeared to be a, to his surprise, Butterfree standing by their side.

He took a minute to get as clear of a view of the person as he could, which wasn't easy since it was getting dark, and managed to tell that it was a woman. From what he could see, she looked to be around eighteen or possibly nineteen, had long pink hair that almost appeared to be a shade of red or beige and hung down past her shoulders quite some ways.

She wore what he thought was a blue top with lace around the chest, a pair of white jean shorts that had a black belt around the waist, a lone blue glove on her left hand and knee high black, low heeled boots. From what he could see of her, she had a great figure with good curves and very nice legs. The Butterfree beside her looked to be around the same size as the pink Butterfree but smaller than his male one.

He looked at the person for a time, who just continued to stare out across the sea, and then heard his friends calling for him. Not wanting to keep them waiting, he tore his gaze away from the mystery woman and followed after the others.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Sometime later, Ash and his friends could be found sitting around a table in Donny's shop. Piping hot cups of Grasswhistle tea sitting in front of them with a few bowls of warm rice stew that had a soy/ginger base for the soup itself occupying a space next to each cup of tea.

The tea was a special blend that was good for relaxation and the stew was meant to bring clarity and peace at the end of a long day. Both were specialties of Donny's family and had been passed down through the generations for many years. Surprisingly enough, the tea and soup were quite good. Something that surprised them all since the thought of rice mixed with soy and ginger seemed nasty but really wasn't. Ash apparently loved the tea as he had already had two cups and was on his third.

They all sat with Ash and his friends near each other while Salia and Donny sat on the other end together. Though far enough apart so that it wouldn't be awkward. They had been sitting in relative silence for some time while they ate and drank their tea. A companionable quiet that would only broken by the occasional short burst of conversation. Pikachu was sitting on the window seal behind Ash's chair since he was sitting at the very back of the table, and the two Butterfree were off somewhere else inside the shop.

Ash eventually broke the silence by downing his third cup of tea and started pouring himself another as he looked at Salia. "So Salia... what are you going to do now?' He asked.

The young woman thought about it for a little while as she swirled the contents in her tea cup around before setting it down and placing her hands in her lap. She then shrugged, "I'm not really sure honestly. I was journeying around for a while after I captured Butterfree as a pink Caterpie and back then I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer and see the world. After a while though... I just kinda saw that it wasn't for me. I'm not really all that thrilled by battling Pokémon and after I captured Butterfree, I didn't really care if I ever caught another Pokémon again. To be honest..."

She smiled to herself. "I really love just taking care of Pokémon and making sure they're happy and healthy. That's what I focused on all the time with Butterfree. She got as strong as she did by pretty much training herself. I tried on many occasions but I was just no good at it," She finished with a sigh as she drank some more tea. "I just don't know what I want to do..."

Ash listened intently to her story and swirled his own tea around before an idea suddenly popped into his head. "Hey Salia, you said you love taking care of Pokémon and being there for them right?"

Getting a nod from the woman, he smiled and continued. "Well how about this little idea. Professor Oak doesn't have any assistants or aids helping him out at the lab besides his granddaughter sometimes and that's not very often since she's always so busy with her training to be become a Pokémon Nurse. I helped him out while I was training under him for five years but I'm gone on my journey now so I can't do that anymore. You love taking care of Pokémon and I can tell you do a great job at it with how healthy Butterfree looks so why don't you go and see about becoming the Professor's assistant? He's a great man who can teach you a lot and I'm sure he would enjoy having the help just as much as you would enjoy helping out. What do you think?"

Salia sat there stunned. Her... an assistant to THE Professor Samuel Oak... one of the most revered Pokémon Researchers in the entire world... all she could do was just stutter a little in response, "M-Me?! P-Professor Oak's assitant?!"

Ash smiled and nodded his head fiercely. "Yes! Come on Salia, you said yourself that you don't know what you want to do now and you're obviously great at caring for Pokémon! I think it could be your calling!" He urged.

Salia to seemed to think about it for a few moments before she spoke again. "But what about the Professor? What if he doesn't like me? What if I mess up or don't take care of the Pokémon right?! This is the Oak Pokémon Laboratory we're talking about here! He may not even like me!" She fretted almost frantically.

Ash just gave her a look and tilted his head to the side. "Really? That's the best you've got Salia? Come on! You seem like a great person from what I know of you and also seem to have a very kind heart. You love Pokémon and you did an amazing job raising Butterfree, forget the whole battling and training thing! I think Professor Oak would be lucky to have you and would accept you with open arms. Give yourself some more credit, I think you're pretty alright," He complemented with a warm smile.

Salia blushed under Ash's praise as Giselle spoke up, "Yeah Salia I would try it! Never know unless you go for it."

Misty nodded her agreement. "That's true Salia, you should at least try it to see if it works out or not."

"Professor Oak is a great guy that I'm sure you would really benefit from learning under Salia," Brock pressed on.

Donny decided to add his two cents worth. "I agree with them Ms. Salia, you shouldn't be afraid to take risks and try new thing," He said wisely while sipping his own tea.

Salia seemed to still be undecided and Ash chose that moment to bring out the big guns. "You know, if you worked at the lab then you could see Butterfree anytime you wanted and even watch their family grow... play with the babies..."

That was all he managed to get out of his mouth as Salia slammed her hand on the table. "I'll do it!" She yelled excitedly.

Ash smiled widely at her and nodded his head. "Good, I'm glad! It'll be nice seeing another friendly face when I go home too," He told her with that same charming smile of his. Which made her blush yet again.

Ten year olds making a woman blush? Arceus what nonsense had the world come to...

Salia regained her composure and then asked another question while looking slightly shy. "Would you please call Professor Oak and let him know that I'm coming Ash?" She asked hopefully.

The boy smiled charmingly again (yet another blush being recieved in return) and nodded. "Sure thing, I'll call him tomorrow when I report in to tell him about everything that happened today. Don't worry Salia, Professor Oak will adore you. I know it!" He assured her with a thumbs up.

Salia nodded her thanks, looking slightly more confident about the whole thing now, and right before anyone could say anything more, a knock sounded at the door. Donny merely raised an eyebrow curiously as he got up and went to answer it while wondering who could be coming around at such a late hour as it was almost ten o'clock at night. Ash and his friends looked at each other, silently readying themselves in case of trouble as Donny opened the door.

They heard him greet the newcomer and apparently receive a polite response in return as the man visibly relaxed a bit. Ash remained fully ready himself just in case but as Donny shared a short conversation with the stranger, the older man suddenly let out a laugh and welcomed the person inside.

Everyone watched anxiously as the person stepped inside and as soon as they came into view, Ash was instantly shocked. It was the same girl from the cliff that he saw earlier that evening.

Apparently he wasn't the only who recognized her either because Brock suddenly stood up from the table with a look of surprise on his face as he actually called the strange woman by name, "Solidad?!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

The woman turned upon hearing her name being called and as soon as she did, Ash felt like he had been slammed into by a speeding Arcanine. The woman was- for lack of a better word- absolutely gorgeous! His earlier assessment of her beauty when he saw her on the cliffs was almost an insult to this angel of beauty who came walking in out of nowhere.

She had a flawless face with breathtaking blue eyes, a drop dead gorgeous body, hair that looked like fine reddish pink silk and an incredibly cute nose. Still though, at a mere glance, she seemed to hold herself with the aura of a woman who was both kind, strong, smart and confidant all in one. That was just the first impression he got from her when she turned around and he was able to see into her eyes. Just one glance and her beautiful blue pools for eyes revealed all of that to him but left so much more a total mystery.

The strangest thing for Ash though was the sudden strange burning feeling he got in the pit of his gut when he looked into her eyes. Almost like a fire had been started that was making his entire stomach burn like the core of a Fire-Type Pokémon. A similar feeling he would get whenever he was around Daisy Oak only he didn't quite feel like something was trying to burst through his very soul and attach to her own as with Daisy.

That would make no sense though even if he did though because he didn't even know this woman! The fact that he was feeling so strange deep down all of a sudden had him slightly detach himself from the rest of the table so he could compose himself. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Giselle because she thought he was checking out another woman.

Solidad's eyes slightly widened as she saw who called her name but then shifted to one of happiness and recognition as she saw who it was. "Brock!" She yelled out excitedly as she ran over to the table and hugged the squinty-eyed teenager, who returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

Ash and his friends looked on in confusion at the scene before them as the two finally separated from their hug and faced each other. "Wow Brock its been so long!" The woman now known as Solidad said with a bright smile. Her voice was simply beautiful and only caused the strange feeling in Ash's gut to intensify, leading him to practically shutting himself out for the moment so he could get a grip on himself.

Brock nodded and smiled back at her. "Sure has been, a real long time! How are things?" He asked.

Before she could answer, Misty suddenly spoke up. "Uhh... not to be rude or anything but... who is this Brock?"

The two of them turned to look at Misty, finally registering that they were there, as Brock pointed to the woman next him. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to be rude. This is Solidad. We've known each other since we were little and she actually lived really close to my house back in Pewter. She left a few years ago when she decided she wanted to travel and train to become a Pokémon Coordinator," He explained.

"Wow really?" Giselle asked looking at Solidad.

"Pokemon Coordinator? Awesome!" Misty said excitedly.

Solidad smiled at them all and waved. "Yeah, sorry for not introducing myself to you all first but I was so excited at seeing Brock again that I just didn't see you. Please forgive me," She requested with a slight bow of her head.

Giselle just smiled and waved her off. "No problem! My names Giselle, its great to see you!"

"And I'm Misty, good to meet you Solidad," Misty greeted her.

"Salia, a pleasure to meet you," Salia introduced herself with a smile and small wave.

"Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu chirped at her.

Ash was still locked away in his own little world as he tried to get himself together so he didn't hear what was going on.

Solidad eyesmiled and nodded to them one by one. "Its very great to meet you all. I heard when I passed through Pewter City a few weeks ago that Brock had resigned from being Gym Leader so he could go traveling with some friends and I wondered who it was. Now I know!" She said while still smiling.

Brock took his seat and invited Solidad to join them, which she did after getting the okay from everyone else, as Misty spoke again. "So you knew Brock when you guys were younger huh?" She asked curiously.

Solidad nodded and then looked over at Brock. "We sure did. I was a few years older than him but we were the only kids on our whole street who were close to the same age so we started playing together and our friendship just lasted into our later years. We really became close after Brock's father left and his mom died, leaving him in charge of his brothers and sisters. I helped him out however and whenever I could until I eventually left to start my journey to become a Top Pokémon Coordinator, which was right around the time he took up the role of the Pewter City Gym Leader." She smiled at her friend then. "I really missed him over the years and I'm really glad we got to meet up here of all places."

Giselle smiled coyly. "So... were you two ever a couple or have any romantic interest in each other at some point then?" She asked with a wink.

Solidad and Brock looked at each other for a few moments before they both burst out into laughter. Giselle seemed confused as to what was so funny as the two continued to laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked in bewilderment, totally lost.

The pink haired woman managed to compose herself enough to talk before Brock was able to. "Oh no! No no no no, you see..." She threw her arm around Brock's shoulder and pulled him into a lopsided hug. "Brock is like my little brother. We became so close over the years that we actually started seeing each other as a brother and sister would." She playfully messed Brock's spiky hair up and laughed as he pulled away to fix it.

"Yeah," Brock said with a smile as he fixed his hair. "Solidad was sort of like a big sister to me over the years just as much as she was a close friend and confidant. I've always been the oldest sibling in my family so having someone like her around who could play that card to me instead really meant a lot to me," He admitted.

Solidad playfully punched his arm and winked at him. "Plus, you're such a pervert you'd probably scare a woman away on the first date wouldn't you?" She said jokingly.

Misty and Giselle looked about ready to fall into racious laughter as Brock sighed and dropped his head, whining like a toddler. "Solidaaaad!"

The woman laughed out loud again as she ruffled Brock's hair once more. "Don't worry little brother, I'm just kidding around!" While Brock just groaned something about 'mean older sisters' Solidad finally saw Ash, who had been sitting in his seat quietly the whole time, and smiled at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name earlier," She said nicely towards him.

Ash finally snapped out of his daze after getting ahold of himself again and answered her question. "Oh... I'm sorry, I must have been thinking about something and got distracted, I wasn't trying to be rude. My names Ash, Ash Ketchum."

Solidad's eyes widened upon hearing his name. "Wait! So you're Ash? Ash Ketchum?!"

He nodded and seemed somewhat confused. "Err... yes?" He answered her a little off would she seem so excited at hearing his name? He hadn't done anything important or incredible to his knowledge.

She smiled widely at him and put her gloved hand on the table. "Then you were the one that chased down Team Rocket today and saved all of the Butterfree, right?" She asked hopefully.

Brock, Salia, Misty and Giselle all looked at Ash as he just smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Umm... yeah that was me. Though it was more my Pokémon than myself. I was just there to do whatever I could," He answered nonchalantly. His friends merely rolled their eyes at his modesty.

Solidad seemed taken aback. "Didn't do anything? Are you serious?! You saved dozens of Butterfree from the clutches of an evil organization, risked your life in the process for no thought of safety except for theirs and to top it all off, because of what you did the Butterfree mating season managed to continue on! A whole lot of Butterfree found happiness with their mates today and a lot of trainers got a sense of fulfillment by seeing their Butterfree find their mates and leave to start a new life across the sea. You did a great deal Ash!" She told him upliftingly.

The boy just lightly shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of tea. "Well at any rate... I just wanted to help the Pokémon and I was willing to do anything to do it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat," He said with a smile.

Solidad reached across the table and grasped Ash's hands in hers and looked at him with that same smile. "Ash, I didn't get a chance to earlier today because I was so happy at being reunited with my Pokémon and then whenever I finally tried to thank you for what you did, a whole crowd of trainers and Butterfree had already surrounded you and I couldn't even see you, let alone talk to you. I resolved that I would find out who you were afterwards but then the mating rituals got underway again and everything just continued on afterwards from there. By the end of the day I thought you had already gone and I had missed my chance to thank you," She confessed with remorse.

She took a breath and then continued. "I brought my own Butterfree here today so she could find a mate and after Team Rocket showed up and took them all... I was afraid I would never see her again. She was the first Pokémon I ever captured and we've been through so much together. Traveled to all kinds of places, competed in really tough contests... we are very close and thinking that I had lost her like that..." Solidad felt tears start to prickle in her eyes and blinked them away. "But then you came along and saved them all, including my Butterfree and I had never been happier or felt more relieved. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Ash," She confessed as she gripped his hands tighter.

Ash just shook his head and returned the grip. "No way Solidad, don't feel like you have to thank me at all. I was only too glad I was able to save all the Butterfree and would do it again at the drop of a hat. I appreciate your gratitude but there is really no need for it. You're totally welcome," He told her while smiling.

Solidad nodded and then released his hands, wiping her eyes quickly of any tears that had collected there as Ash decided to ask a question that was on his mind. "Solidad... I hope you don't mind me asking but... I saw you standing on the cliff earlier with your Butterfree beside you and I was just wondering... did something happen? Why didn't she leave with the others?'

Solidad sighed and leaned back in her chair. Giselle poured her a cup of tea and she took it gratefully from the younger girl, sipping it slowly before she started her explanation. "Well you see Ash... my Butterfree didn't... well she didn't find any other Butterfree that she deemed to be 'worthy' enough to become her mate."

Ash seemed surprised. "Really? There were tons of Butterfree here today though."

She nodded and sighed again. "Yes but... my Butterfree has always been rather... proud of herself. As in, she likes to think she's better than other Pokémon because she's helped me win so many contests and knows that she's strong. I was hoping that there would be a Butterfree here today that could get through to her and impress her but unfortunately, things didn't the happen the way I planned. Or hoped I guess is a better word."

"What do you mean?" Giselle asked.

Solidad looked down at the table. "Well, on one hand what I hoped for did happen. She actually found a Butterfree she was interested in. What was so unfortunate was the fact that he had already found another Butterfree he was interested in and that female was obviously very interested in him as well."

Ash appeared sorry for her. "Wow, that really is unfortunate."

"Who was the Butterfree?" Misty asked curiously.

Solidad was silent for a few moments but then shifted her gaze to Ash with a sympathetic expression. She pointed at him and said simply, "His."

Ash's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. He closed it after a few moments and tried to fit together what she just said. "Mine?" He repeated as he pointed to himself.

The woman nodded her head regretfully. "Yes Ash, she saw your Butterfree fighting off those other males earlier today and she went starry eyed. I'd never seen her like that before towards any other Pokémon so I knew he must have made a great impression on her, despite the rather great age difference between them. She would only be attracted to someone strong and after seeing him fight those Butterfree and then the unique courting ritual he and that pink Butterfree performed, I was pretty much assured that he was definitely strong. Very strong and well trained too," She said with a smile at Ash and he just nodded in return but was still frowning slightly.

"I am so sorry Solidad..." He apologized. "I know how hard it must have been on your Butterfree to like mine but then see him courting with another female. Not to mention how let down you must have felt after hoping so much that your Butterfree would find a mate she was interested in, only to get it but then be let down... I'm truly sorry." He looked down towards the table, feeling incredibly guilty for Solidad and her Butterfree.

Solidad quickly waved her hands and got Ash's attention again. "No Ash please, don't feel bad in even the slightest bit. That's just the way of things and you couldn't have known about it. My Butterfree just didn't get to him first, that's all. That pink Butterfree was a very impressive Pokémon as well after seeing the way those two flew around the cliffs fighting each other as part of their courtship. I don't want you to feel bad in any way, please. After she realized that your Butterfree was spoken for, she knew she wasn't going to find anyone else so she joined me in my balloon and we just watched the rest of the mating rituals take place."

She laid one of hands over Ash's and smiled at him. "I think your Butterfree really made a good impression on her and earned her respect. Especially after everything he did to help you save them all after Team Rocket showed up and captured them. When you saw Butterfree and I standing on the cliffs, we were actually seeing off your Butterfree and his mate. We had hoped to catch a glimpse of them but I guess they were too far ahead in the flock and we missed them."

Seeing she had Ash's total attention she went on. "Even though she was still upset that she lost her chance with him, my Butterfree had a great deal of respect for what he did to save them all and that's why she wanted to see them off. My Butterfree can be very stubborn and proud but when she meets a person or Pokémon she respects, she becomes very dedicated to them. So don't feel bad Ash, you couldn't have helped it. Your Butterfree found happiness with that pink one, which still amazes me because I've never seen a Butterfree that color... but anyway. If anything Ash... I feel sorry for you. I could tell Butterfree must have had a strong bond with his trainer to become so strong and parting from each other when the rest of the Butterfree left... I can't imagine how terrible you must have felt and probably still feel."

She looked slightly ashamed. "I feel terrible thinking this way but I kind of feel like its better you than me since I dreaded the thought of my Butterfree finding a mate and then leaving. Which was why I felt slightly relieved when she lost her chance with your Butterfree. So you see? If anyone should feel bad, its me..." She admitted.

Ash couldn't stand seeing a woman upset and shook his head. "No Solidad, don't think that way. It doesn't make you a terrible person to dread being parted from your Pokémon. It just goes to show how kind hearted and loving of a trainer you really are with your Pokémon. While I still feel bad that my Butterfree finding another mate meant it caused yours so much heartache... you shouldn't feel bad for me since..." He grinned a little sheepishly. "I never released my Butterfree."

Solidad looked up at him with confusion etched onto her beautiful features. "What?"

Ash nodded his head. "Yeah, I never let him go. He and the pink Butterfree never left with the others to go to the mating grounds." Seeing Solidad's still confused face, he called out, "Hey Butterfree! Can you two come out here?"

A few moments later, they all heard the sound of flapping wings and Solidad turned her head just as both of Ash's Butterfree came flying into the room side by side from somewhere else in the shop and landed on either of Ash's shoulders. He smiled at them and rubbed their wings before he looked back at Solidad, who now appeared as though she had a thousand questions she wanted to ask.

The boy just smiled and then went into the long explanation of his plan to keep both Butterfree at Professor Oak's lab so they could have their babies there instead, that way they could still remain with him and not have to go to the Butterfree mating grounds so far away.

Solidad meanwhile just sat there in wrapped attention as she listened to Ash's ingenious loophole around the usual custom of releasing ones Butterfree during the mating season. The more she listened, the more fascinated she became and the more she realized just how inventive and intelligent of a person Ash really was. Which really impressed her and caused her respect for him to grow.

After he was done, Solidad merely shook her head and smiled. "Wow Ash... that's nothing short of amazing. I'm very impressed with how you found a way to still allow your Butterfree to be together and mate, as they're supposed to, but made it in such a way that can still be your Pokémon. Only a phone call away and they can be sent to you by Professor Oak if you need one of them... it's just... amazing. I'm very impressed once again," She praised him.

Ash smiled at her words. "Thanks Solidad. I'm just grateful that I don't have to say goodbye to these two," He said while still stroking their wings.

Solidad suddenly looked a little anxious and fidgeted in her seat as she shyly looked at the pink Butterfree on Ash's left shoulder. "Umm... Ash? I've never seen a pink Butterfree before so would you mind if I..." She trailed off, her face slightly red, but Ash understood and made a motion at the pink Butterfree to fly over to the woman.

The pink female had heard what Solidad said and after getting a nod from her new trainer, she flew from his shoulder and landed in front of Solidad. "Free!" She greeted the woman with an eyesmile.

Solidad seemed like a little girl playing with her new favorite doll as she crooned and fawned all over the pink Butterfree while admiring her unusual coloring. Ash, Brock and the others merely looked on with amusement at the seemingly calm and collected woman practically going goo goo over the pink Butterfree.

"She's so healthy and her coloring is so virbrant!" Solidad admired in awe as she gently stroked Butterfree's left wing, "Someone must have really raised her well," She stated with keen observation to Ash.

He just shook his head and pointed at Salia, "Actually, Butterfree used to be Salia's Pokémon."

Solidad looked at the other woman. "Really?"

Salia nodded bashfully and answered her, "Yes I was. I captured her when she was just a Caterpie and raised her up in the best ways I knew how. I released her today for the mating season but after she made mates with Ash's Butterfree and he told me about Professor Oak's ranch and how they could have their babies there but still remain under Ash's training, I thought it was a wonderful idea and told him it was okay to capture her. Though he didn't need to ask since I had already released her but he was just being kind and respectful by doing so, which I really appreciate about it him," She said with a shy glance at Ash, who just smiled at her.

Giselle tightened her hold on Ash's arm under the table, feeling proud of the fact that she had claim to who was obviously the most popular guy at the table. Poor Brock...

Solidad continued to stroke Butterfree's wing. "That's really great Salia, very selfless and thoughtful of you as well. I'm just sorry you had to be separated from her," She apologized with a regretful look at the other woman.

Salia just smiled though and waved her off before once more shyly looking at Ash. "Well actually Solidad... since I really love caring for Pokémon and that's all I want to do, Ash recommended that I go to Pallet Town and see about becoming Professor Oak's research assistant and help care for the Pokémon there. I thought it was a good idea and after Ash told me how great he thinks I would be at it, I decided that I'll try it. He's going to call Professor Oak about it tomorrow and then I'm going to make my way to Pallet so I can meet him. If all goes well then I'll be working for him and will be able to see my old Butterfree almost every day," She explained with a small smile and quick, admiring glance at Ash.

Solidad seemed impressed with the idea and nodded. "Sounds good Salia, I hope it works out for you." The pink Butterfree took to the air at that moment and flew up on Solidad's left shoulder. Gently settling herself down and getting comfortable, much to the woman's surprise.

Ash smiled and laughed. "Looks like you've got a fan Solidad!"

She giggled and gently reached up to continue rubbing Butterfree's wing. "I guess I do.'I'm honored," She said warmly.

They all then descended into small conversation after that with Donny still not having come back yet. He apparently had something he needed to find for Solidad that she requested of him when she first arrived.

They all talked and got to know each other for quite some time during that period. Brock and Solidad catching up, Ash and Salia talking some more about how great he just knew she was gonna be at becoming an assistant for the Professor (the slight blush never leaving her cheeks as she talked to him). The conversation would then shift to Misty and Giselle talking to Salia about different feminine topics while Ash and Solidad talked about everything imaginable.

The two of them found they had quite a lot in common and became immersed in their own conversation with each other. Drowning everyone else out as they did so. The more they both talked to each other, the more respect they would gain for the other when different things and stories were told.

Eventually, Ash decided to broach a topic he had been extremely interested in ever since he heard her mention it when she first arrived. "So Solidad... You said you were training to be a Top Pokémon Coordinator earlier and I was wondering if you could share some stuff about it with me? I know exactly what Pokémon Coordinating and Contests are but I don't really know anything about the complexities of it or what goes into being successful at it."

Solidad smiled widely at Ash, like he had just asked the best question he ever could, and nodded with her eyes practically shining. "I'd be happy too Ash!" She then looked thoughtful and laced her fingers together. "Well lets see here... what's the best place to begin?"

After sorting her thoughts out she turned her attention back to Ash- who had instantly slipped into 'learning mode'- and started explaining. "Well Ash, since you know about Pokémon Contests then I guess you know all about how different they are from regular Pokémon battling correct?"

Ash nodded and she continued. "Pokémon Contests are more about showing off the beauty, skill and moves of your Pokémon and the close synchronicity between you and your partners during the performance than what Pokémon battling is all about. In a Pokémon battle; strength, power, speed, raw force, tactics and strategy is utilized to become victorious. Also, the bond between a trainer and their Pokémon has to run deeply in order to pull out the win more often that not. This being for the simple fact that when a Pokémon is beaten down in battle, the will to push through the pain and win for their trainer is more important than anything else at that moment in time if the bond is strong."

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms while her piercing blue eyes gazed into Ash's own strong amber ones. "Pokémon Contests are generally much more tame and controlled in the battle portion of the contests than say... a Pokémon gym battle is. The trick to a contest battle is about utilizing good, strong, tactical moves against your opponents Pokémon, all while maintaining a level of grace and elegance in each move your Pokémon performs. If they falter in a move, get hit, mess up a single or combination attack and/or lose their composure, you'll lose points up on the scoreboard.

Also, and this where the close connection between Coordinator and Pokémon comes into play, during a contest battle you can't lose your cool, get psyched out, lose focus or stumble in the commands you give your Pokémon. Each one has to flow into the other perfectly or else your Pokémon will suffer for it. I've seen more contests be lost because a Coordinator lost their cool than anything else and their Pokémon are always the ones who pay the price for it in some way.

After all, they hate to lose just as much as you do because they know how much winning means to you and even to them as well sometimes. So a close bond and staying calm at all times is a must. I should know, I messed up and lost contests by losing my cool more than once. Of course, I think this is the same thing with both contest and regular battles though right?" She asked Ash.

The boy nodded. "Yeah it is. I've seen battles on TV that I would watch to help me learn and the battle always goes south for the trainer that starts to freak out. You and your Pokémon are connected so when you go through an emotion, they do too. That's why Elite Four and Champions are so great. They've learned total control over their emotions and can battle in even the most hopeless of situations without losing their calm."

Solidad smiled at his observation. "That's right. Most all trainers you will ever encounter are like this, Coordinator or not, and its what separates them from the truly elite. I personally believe that along with training, learning to hone the emotions of you and your Pokémon should be of top concern.

Now, what I just described was the battle round of a Pokémon Contest and is the second and final stage. The first stage is the performance round and this is where you really have to shine to impress the judges. It also tests you and your Pokémon's bond to a deep level and of you mess up in that round or are not good enough, you won't move on to the second round since the number who goes on is always slim.

In the first stage, a Coordinator will attempt to impress the judges through style, grace, power, elegance, creativity and intellect. They do this by having their Pokémon perform dazzling and spectacular stunts and feats by using either their moves, their bodies, natural abilities or even special traits unique only to that Pokémon. Sometimes a Coordinator will train their Pokémon to do routines with objects, their attacks or even with them to really impress the judges.

Taking extra special care of your Pokémon and making them look as healthy, strong, regal and beautiful as possible is also very important because it adds to the viewing appeal. Also, the way in which your Pokémon is released from the Pokéball and how you and they interact with the crowd and judges is very important as well for getting a good score. Sometimes, more often than not, more or fewer points is awarded based on crowd appeal."

Solidad reached into the bag below her chair and pulled out a Pokéblock dispenser and Poffin case. "Pokéblocks and Poffins are an amazing way to enhance your Pokémon's physical and outward appeal and also helps to increase even their performance depending on which berry combination you use. Berries are in abundance and each berry combination will work in different ways for each Pokémon. Rather its a Pokéblock or Poffin. Experimenting around and making recipes unique to each Pokémon you have competing in the contest circuit is the best way to find your winning recipes. Different regions support different sources of Pokémon Enhancers too.

Like for instance, the Hoenn region circuit prefers Pokéblocks while the Sinnoh region one prefers Poffins. Other regions support both types though so you can really just use whatever you want anywhere. Some Coordinators even have their Pokémom utilize Pokéblocks and Poffins in the performance rounds."

She showed Ash and everyone else the Pokéblocks and Poffins she made and Ash closely examined each one, making a mental note of every single one as she talked about them. He didn't tell her that his mother taught him how to make Pokéblock and Poffins though. He wanted to hear every single scrap of information Solidad was running through in her long explanation about Pokémon Contests and didn't want to interrupt her.

She put the two items back in her bag after she was showing them and then went on to the next subject. "Now that you know about the appeal round and battle round of contests, I suppose I'll tell you about the double Pokémon entries that some contests do. In those situations you have to use two Pokémon instead of just one for both the appeal round and battle round. Sometimes its just the appeal round and other times its just the battle round but usually you're going to use two Pokémon for the whole contest if you have to use two for the first event."

She took a sip of her tea. "Now as for the rules of a contest, you can lose one of three ways. The first is if you lose all of your points in a battle. The second is if your Pokémon is knocked out in battle, naturally, and the third is if the match goes all the way down to the end of the time limit. Which, in a contest you only have five minutes to battle and the strategy everyone uses in different ways for this is to whittle down your opponents points as fast as possible while using as much grace as you can, without losing any of your own.

That isn't really possible but it's the general idea, everyone loses points in a contest. Sometimes by something as simple as your Pokémon missing an attack or tripping up. If the battle goes all the way to the end of the time limit then the judges decide who wins by factoring in the ones who have the most points remaining. Most of the time contest battles end by knock out, followed by looking at the final point score for a verdict and the least number of ways contests are lost are by a total loss in points. Usually a Pokémon will faint before they lose all of their points."

She took a slight pause to reorganize her thoughts and then continued. "Pokémon Coordinators usually don't train their Pokémon as grueling and brutally as Pokémon Trainers who battle their Pokémon do. Trainers seek to make their Pokémon's moves stronger, more powerful, increase their bodily resistance against continued abuse and improve their stamina and athletic abilities. Coordinators usually train their Pokémon's attack based moves and physical movements to be more centered for speed, grace, elegance and stage performance.

In short, while Pokémon Contests are more technical than say, gym battles and especially League Conference tournaments, the latter are much more brutal and violent. Pokémon who battle are usually much more hardened and powerful than a Pokémon who competes in contests but not nearly as graceful or elegant."

She sighed. "There's always been a big debate among Pokémon Trainers and Coordinators about who's better and the arguments and rivalries between the two can get really fierce. I prefer Pokémon Contests but I respect Pokémon Trainers who can train their Pokémon to compete in such intense and fierce competitions as they do. I've never been into the whole rivalry thing and I never will be. Both have their values and strong points. Simple as that."

"Do you know anyone who really can't stand Pokémon Trainers?" Giselle asked.

Solidad nodded. "Yes I do. His name is Harley and he's... well he's a very interesting individual, I'll say that about him. He thinks all Pokémon Trainers are mindless brutes and only Coordinators have the right to call what we do an art. He says Pokémon battling is just a meaningless sport that hurts Pokémon and nothing more."

She shook her head. "He's really close minded about things like that and has a very bad tendency to hold grudges against people for a loooong time. He'll act like your friend one minute and then stab you in the back the next. I should know, I fell victim to his ploys more than once."

Ash frowned. He couldn't stand people like that who thought that what they did was all that mattered and anyone outside of the circle who didn't do it, or did something different, was just scum. He also couldn't stand people that held grudges against others and then pretended to like you only to stab you in the back whenever they had the chance. To him, people like that were cowards and he had no respect for cowards. This Harley guy sounded like someone he would never trust and most likely avoid and ignore like a plague.

Solidad spoke again. "I met him shortly after I started competing in contests and he acted all friendly and nice at first so, being as new to the contest world as I was, I trusted him blindly. He also seemed to be very umm..."She paused and appeared as though she was trying to find the right words before continuing. "Harley acts very... feminine most of the time, so because of that and because of the fact that he dressed and..." She made gesturing motions with her hands while looking slightly uncomfortable.

Brock raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"What is it?" Misty asked concerned.

Solidad laughed a little awkwardly before finally speaking again, "Lets just say that I had my suspicions about Harley's... 'orientations' and then when I happened upon him..." She made another gesturing motion that everyone else at the table followed with great interest. "Getting 'involved' with another Coordinator who was not of the-" Solidad pointed to herself, Salia and then Misty and Giselle. "-Us variety and more of the-" She looked at Ash and Brock then. "-Them variety... I was assured of my suspicions."

Solidad was blushing embarrassingly by this point and it finally donned on Ash and Brock what she was saying as they looked at each other at the same time with wide eyes.

"No way..." Ash said lowly as he looked slightly unsettled.

Brock shivered. "I... I didn't need that thought in my head..." He said as he shuddered again.

Misty, Giselle and Salia also seemed to have gotten the gist of what Solidad had been getting at as they also looked both shocked and a little weirded out.

"Okay..." Misty whispered as she drank some of her tea.

"Don't say anymore Solidad..." Giselle pleaded with a raised hand.

"Yeah we get it," Salia finished as she took a few composing breaths.

Solidad nodded quickly and continued on as she tried to leave behind the very... 'uncomfortable' topic surrounding Harley. "Yes well, anyway. I thought I could trust Harley and believed we were friends. That was until I defeated him a contest and he formed a deep grudge and dislike for me because of it. I didn't know it though until the next contest when he sold me some Tauros shit about how Flying-Type Pokémon weren't allowed in that particular contest.

It of course wasn't true and I ended up nearly losing the battle round because the only other ground based Pokémon I had at the time wasn't very experienced yet and Harley's Pokémon, who was my opponent, was well trained and experienced. It wasn't until I learned right before the battle was supposed to start that Harley was lying. I overheard the contest announcer Vivian saying to Nurse Joy how she was surprised at the lack of Flying-Type Pokémon they had seen in the contest so far and it clued me off."

A hard glint formed in her eyes. "I put two and two together after that and realized how Harley had lied to me once I heard what those two said. I was furious but I hid my anger well and used my Butterfree and Pidgeot to clean his clock in the battle round. After that, I never trusted him again. Even after he tried time and time again to 'make things right'," She exaggerated the words with her fingers in air quotations as she said it. "I never fell for it again though and a good thing too because I caught him trying to cheat many times after that."

Everyone at the table instantly felt a great dislike for this Harley character settle over them and vowed to themselves that if they ever met him, they would be sure to watch out for him.

Solidad shook her head and smiled after that. "Anyway, Harley may be a Seviper in the grass but he's about the only one I know of. He hates Pokémon Trainers but that's it among who I know."

Giselle had a thought. "Solidad, you mentioned the contest announcer... Vivian was it? And how she was talking to Nurse Joy about the lack of Flying-Type Pokémon they had seen in that contest. Why would Nurse Joy be involved in the contest for any reason besides healing the injured Pokémon afterwards?" She asked curiously.

Solidad smacked her forehead and laughed to herself. "Oh Arceus! How could I have forgotten that? Yes, Nurse Joy are always one of the three judges in a contest. Each town the contest is held in has it's own Nurse Joy as a contest judge along with two others; Mr. Raoul Contesta, who is the founder of Pokèmon Contests themselves and Chief of the Pokémon Activities Committee, and Mr. Sukizo who is the head of the worldwide Pokémon Fan Club.

Those three are always the judges except during the Grand Festival, which is sort of like the Pokémon Coordinator's version of the Pokémon League Conference tournaments for Pokémon Trainers. During the Grand Festival, three Nurse Joys judge alongside Mr. Contesta and Mr. Sukizo."

Ash decided to ask a question to follow up what she had just finished explaining. "And to enter the Grand Festival don't you have to win a certain number of ribbons from smaller contests held throughout the region's contest circuit that you're competing in?" He asked.

Solidad nodded at his question and smiled. "That's right Ash. Pokémon Coordinators have to win at least five ribbons from contests held throughout the region you're competing in before you can enter into the Grand Festival. The festival itself follows pretty much the same rules and format as any normal Pokémon Contest except on a much grander scale that's held in several different arenas with the main and final match being held in the biggest stadium of them all.

Hundreds of Coordinators compete in the Grand Festival but only one will ultimately win the coveted Ribbon Cup and attain the title of Top Coordinator. Which are the prizes you win as champion of the Grand Festival." She smiled to herself. "That's what I dream of achieving someday and I won't stop until I do," The redhead said with a determined and confidant expression on her face.

Ash returned the determined expression Solidad had to achieve her goals with one of his own but before he could say anything else, Giselle spoke up first. "Hey Solidad, is the Grand Festival the only big event for Pokémon Coordinators to compete in?"

Solidad shook her head. "No actually, there's another one. Its called the Wallace Cup and while its not as prestigious as the Grand Festival, its still a big deal. The current Hoenn League Champion and former Sootopolis Gym Leader Wallace, who is a master of Water-Type Pokémon, founded it. He was also a Pokémon Coordinator at one time and a damn good one too.

After he retired to focus on his duties as Pokémon League Champion of the Hoenn region, he founded the Wallace Cup as a true test of skill, ability, knowledge, grace, elegance and the level of bond between Pokémon Coordinators and their Pokémon. Something that really separates the Wallace Cup from other contest circuits, specifically the Hoenn region contest circuit, is that contestants have to wear specialized outfits while competing. Coordinators in Sinnoh do this as well but its a must for the Wallace Cup." She laughed. "Probably because Wallace is so into fashion himself!"

Misty looked starry eyed. "I love Wallace! He and Lorelei of the Elite Four here in Kanto are my Water Pokémon idols!" She gushed.

Solidad smiled. "He is pretty cool."

"What do you win in the Wallace Cup Solidad?" Giselle asked.

The woman smiled and looked up at the ceiling. "Winners of the Wallace Cup take home the coveted, though not as coveted as the Ribbon Cup for the Grand Festival, Aqua Ribbon. Its a special ribbon that counts as one of the five needed for entrance into the Grand Festival held in any region that hosts contests. Not just the region that the ribbon is won in. Because of that reason, Coordinators from all over come to compete in the Wallace Cup, which is held in many different locations each year all across the contest friendly regions.

The Wallace Cup has all of the same judges that normal Pokémon Contests do except for the exception of one, which is Wallace himself. He's a judge in the contest since he's not just a Top Coordinator but also a Master Coordinator. Which is the highest known level a Pokémon Coordinator can attain and can only be achieved when an individual wins more than one Grand Festival. I think its three but I'm not totally sure," She admitted.

Ash nodded. His head was currently swimming with all of the information Solidad had just told him about contests and Pokémon Coordinating. He knew what they were sure, he wasn't oblivious, but he definitely didn't know all of that about it. Not even close. Solidad had just shared her mass amounts of knowledge about the subject with them and he made sure to file all of it away deeply into his mind.

He had pretty much just gotten a crash course in everything to do with Pokémon Coordinating and he couldn't have been happier for it. She was extremely knowledgeable in what she did and proved it just now. If there was thing Ash loved, it was learning new things he didn't know about and this was definitely one of them.

Solidad swirled her tea around and laughed a little. "I've always wanted to be a Top Coordinator ever since I was little and its a goal I've been working towards for years. Funny enough though, I'm not the only one in my family who has the same goal," She said with slight amusement in her voice.

Brock looked at her. "Who else is there in your family? I thought you were an only child?" He asked in confusion.

Solidad shook her head. "No actually I'm not. Remember how when we were little my parents separated and my dad moved out to Sinnoh?"

Brock nodded. "I remember," He confirmed.

The woman sighed. "Well... I never told you about it, partially because I was embarrassed and so upset for a few years after it all happened but... my dad met another woman after he moved out to Sinnoh and eventually married her. They had a kid soon after, a girl, who became my half-sister."

"And your sister wants to be a Pokémon Coordinator too Solidad?" Ash asked.

She nodded. "Yep, she sure does. I never really saw my sister that much over the years except for a few times here and there but we usually got along well when we were younger. Even though I was angry at my parents for divorcing since I was young and didn't understand why at the time, I really grew to love my younger sister and looked forward to spending time with her. One of our common interests were watching Pokémon Contests while I was out visiting her and my father in Sinnoh. We would watch them on TV sometimes and even go to local ones with my dad and his new wife."

She smiled to herself. "I've always tried to be there for her whenever she needed me but after I got into Pokémon Coordinating and she found out about it, she really wanted to get into it as well. She's still too young to get her first Pokémon though and the fact that I've been doing it for a few years now has made her jealous of me I think. I don't really know how I came to think that but the way she acts around me now and talks to me shows the signs. It breaks my heart to see it happen but all I can do is just be there for her and hope that she eventually grows out of the harsh and immature feelings she currently has towards me." She looked down at her clasped hands in thought then and the table descended into silence.

After a few moments, Ash decided to hopefully break the silence that had settled upon them all and hopefully make Solidad feel better in the process. "Can you tell us what your sister's name is Solidad?" He asked with a smile.

The woman looked back up at them and smiled in return at Ash, grateful for the change in subject. "Her name is Ursula. She has red hair, sort of similar to mine, only hers is fully red instead of the pinkish red I have mixed in with my own. She's a very pretty young lady that's about your age Ash, give or take a few months. Sinnoh has a later age restriction for when they allow a child to receive his or her first Pokémon and that's why she doesn't have a Pokémon yet. Her mother, my step-mom, is also a very attractive woman with red hair like my mother." She laughed a little then. "I guess my father just has something for redheads..."

Solidad smiled in memory and spoke again. "Ursula is... very strong minded. That's the best way to describe her I think. She knows what she wants, even for a girl her age, is incredibly fierce when it comes to her beliefs and has a hot temper that you don't want to set off. She can act a little self absorbed every now and again but that's mostly her own way of acting sure and confident around others when she's otherwise feeling a little nervous and insecure."

Misty sent a sly look at Giselle. "Sounds like how a certain prissy Pokémon Tech student we all know can act..."

Giselle shot her a glare. "Excuse me orange-head?"

Just before the two girls could get into yet another fight, Brock quickly stepped in-between their chairs to stop them and took two large lumps to the head for interfering. Though it did work in the end fortunately so his sacrifice wasn't in vain. Misty and Giselle having released their aggression on someone other than each other, which stopped the fighting before it could really start.

Solidad and Ash sweatdropped slightly at the scene but laughed nonetheless as the woman turned her attention back to him again. "So if you don't mind me asking Ash... why are you so interested in Pokémon Contests? You're a Pokémon Trainer so why the need to know so much about them?"

Ash settled further into his chair and took a sip of tea before replying. "Honestly, Pokémon Contests have always really appealed to me ever since I first heard about them. Studying under Professor Oak for so many years really makes you eager to learn about all kinds of things and contests were one of them. I've always had a great deal of respect for Pokémon Coordinators but I've never been able to actually go see a match before, even though I know they're held right here in Kanto yearly.

To tell the truth, even though I've always wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, coordinating has held almost the exact same flare and interest to me. Also, a Pokémon Trainer who can become a Coordinator as well means that you have to become proficient at two completely different types of Pokémon training and care. Which in the can help further both goals in the long run. After all, one can never know too much or learn enough about Pokémon right?" He finished with a cheesy smile.

Solidad, for her part, was shocked by what she just heard. "So wait... you mean to tell me that you want to become a Pokémon Coordinator as well Ash? You want to do both?"

The boy nodded slightly. "Well, not right now but eventually... yes. Yes I would like to. I want to become more efficient at training for gym battles and the Pokémon League first before I tackle something else, which is why I didn't want to take on the contest circuit this year. I'm no fool Solidad. My Pokémon and I have basically just started out and are still considered greenhorns. I don't want to take on too much that we can't handle. After awhile though, yes I would like to try my hand at it."

Solidad continued to just stare at Ash and as she did, the enigma of a boy before her started gaining more and more of her respect. So many Pokémon Trainers and Coordinators would never even think about taking the time to recognize the positive sides of the two unique forms of Pokémon competition, let alone want to try their hand at both. It just wasn't heard of except for rare cases and the ones who did do both were always older Pokémon Trainers and Coordinators who weren't so young and blinded by favoritism as the younger crowd was. For Ash, someone so new to the world of Pokémon training, to have such a mature and sensible outlook on things was very impressive to her.

Ash looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "Uhh... Solidad? What's wrong?"

She snapped out of her stupor then and shook her head. "I'm sorry Ash, I didn't mean to zone out I just... I've heard of very few people who feel the way you do and can truly respect Pokémon League Challengers and Pokémon Coordinators both. Let alone actually want to practice each one. As it is right now, only a handful of people I know of actually do that very thing. One of them is Wallace obviously. The second is Juan, current gym leader of the Sootopolis Pokémon Gym in the Hoenn region and mentor to Wallace. The third is a woman named Fantina who runs the Hearthome City Pokémon Gym in Sinnoh and the only other person I know of who is currently doing both Pokémon Training and Coordinating is a man named Nando, who also comes from the Sinnoh region.

He's a very eccentric and laid back person who sees the beauty in both battling and coordinating. He's very good at both as well from what I've seen and is also quite kind. I've met him a few times at contests and he's a nice guy who never puts anyone down. Could be from the fact that he carries a Mew shaped harp around with him and plays soothing melodies with it, which probably helps keep him so calm and relaxed, but who's to say?"

Ash's ears perked up. "He's a harpist you say?" He asked interestingly.

Solidad nodded. "Yes he is and a good one too. He dresses a lot like someone from ancient times or who you would expect to see at that big celebration festival held in the kingdom of Rota every year. He's always strumming on his harp to sooth nearby Pokémon and it always works like a charm too. Even in battle he'll do it. Except if he really starts to get into it. Most ladies love him and I understand why, though I've never been attracted to him. He's just not... manly enough for my taste I guess," She said with a small laugh.

Brock grinned. "Well that's no surprise Sol, you never find any guy worth your time!" He joked.

Solidad sent him a mock angry look and fired back, "At least I'm not always getting shot down by every girl I get starry eyed over eh little brother?"

Brock lunged back in his chair like he had been struck. "Point well taken," He conceded in a pouting fashion.

Ash crossed his arms behind his head. "I would love to learn how to play an instrument..." He said smiling. "Like the guitar. Yeah... I think may just do that someday." The boy grinned with a far-away look on his face as he leaned back in his on his own chair.

Before Solidad could reply, Donny suddenly came back into the room with a map in his hands. He came over to the table and set it down in front of Solidad before rolling it out. "Here ya go miss! Took some time but I managed to find this one lying around back in the storage room." He pointed to a spot on the map. "I think this route here would probably take you to Saffron City the quickest. This is a newer map with updated routes, including new and shorter ones made to take you to cities like this one in much shorter time."

Solidad looked over the map and then smiled at Donny. "Thank you very much sir. This should definitely help me get to Saffron in more than enough time."

"Time for what?" Misty asked.

The woman looked over at Misty. "The Saffron City Pokémon Contest that's just a few weeks from now Misty. I'm going to compete in it and I want to get there with more than enough time so I can run my Pokémon through some last minute strategies and performance moves before it starts," She explained.

She then looked back at Donny. "Thank you again, I appreciate you letting me see this map. I lost mine on the way here a few days ago so this was a major life saver. Thanks again," She said gratefully.

The man just smiled kindly. "Think nothing of it missy and please take this map. I've got more than I know what to do with as it is!" He said with a chuckle.

Solidad bowed her head to him and smiled in return. "Thank you again sir, I greatly appreciate your kindness."

As she folded and put the map away, Ash yawned and then spoke to Donny. "Would you mind showing us to are rooms now Donny? We're all pretty tired I think and would like a good nights sleep before we have to leave early tomorrow morning if we want to make it to our destination before dark," He explained. His friends all nodded in agreement, feeling as equally tired as him from the long and stressful day.

Donny nodded with a smile still on his face. "Sure thing kids. Please follow me and I'll show you where your rooms and the bathroom is." He looked at Solidad. "You are welcome to stay here as well for the night miss," He offered.

Solidad shook her head. "Oh no thank you. I couldn't impose like that, especially not after all you've already done sir..."

She was stopped by Donny raising his hand. "Please young lady! Its no trouble whatsoever. I would be happy to help out another traveler in need of a place to stay. You're not imposing at all," He told her sternly.

The red-head nodded after a few moments of thought and bowed her head again. "I would very much like to stay here for the night, thank you."

Ash then intervened. "Oh by the way Donny, can you please give the best rooms to the four ladies here if you have them? Brock and I don't need anything fancy and I want the girls to sleep as restfully as they can tonight."

Solidad, Giselle, Salia and Misty looked at Ash with a mixture of surprise, gratitude, respect and praise for the gentlemanly request he made. All while while Brock kicked himself for not thinking the same thing. Donny smiled just smiled at Ash then and clapped his shoulder. "Very kind thing of you to do Ash and of course I can! Everyone follow me," He gestured as he started walking towards a door near the back of the shop.

Giselle, Misty and Brock started following after Donny while Ash looked over to the window at Pikachu. Both Butterfree were already asleep on the boy's shoulder and head respectively. "Coming pal?"

Pikachu got up and stretched before bounding over to Ash and hopping up onto his unoccupied shoulder. "Pikachu Pi..." He said with a yawn.

Ash just shook his head and scratched his Pokémon behind the ears before he started following after the others towards the door that lead to the upstairs portion of the shop. He smiled when he saw Solidad standing there near the door waiting for him and she joined him in step as they made their way after the everyone else. "Thank you for that Ash," She said him with a side glance.

He looked at her and tilted his head. "For?"

She smiled and replied. "For asking Donny to give myself, Giselle, Salia and Misty the nicer rooms. It was a very gentlemanly and kind thing to do. Thank you."

Ash merely shrugged. "Ladies are always first. You're very welcome."

After they walked through the door, they found themselves at the foot of some stairs. They made their way up the short flight and found themselves standing in a short, slightly wide hallway with three doors on each side and one at the very end. They saw Donny and the others waiting for them near the three doors and went to join them.

Once everyone was gathered, Donny started speaking. "Okay everyone, the three rooms on the left are the nicer ones so, in request of Ash here, you ladies are required to take them!" He gestured towards the right. "These are the smaller rooms. Mine is the third one so Ash, you and Brock can choose between the other two but just know that they're both the same size."

He then pointed to the end of the hallway. "That door down there is the bathroom so feel free to use it, freshen up, shower or whatever ya need. Linens and blankets are already set up in the rooms." He smiled to them all. "Well, that's it! I'll be letting you youngin's get some shut eye now, Arceus knows I need some, and if you need anything just come get me."

After they all thanked Donny again, they began filing away into the rooms that each of them had chosen for themselves and unpacked. Once they were done, each person took turns going to the bathroom and getting ready for bed with Ash being the last one out. As he was walking back to his room, dressed in a black T-shirt and shorts, he saw Solidad standing outside the room she was sharing with Salia while leaning against the door.

Ash almost instantly noticed, with great clarity, that her form looked even better in her night clothes. Which consisted of a pair of loose maroon sleeping shorts and a red spaghetti strap night top. Ash also noticed upon looking down, which he only did quickly so as not to offend her by making her think that a kid was checking her out, just how... for lack of a better word... sexy her feet were.

Now, most people would call others that had certain fetishes, especially foot fetishes, weird. As in, gross weird. Ash may have been young but he was a very early bloomer and could appreciate the female form and all of its finely crafted beauty. He had even- for what reason he had no idea- started to develop certain fetishes very young and one of them was, to his bafflement, a fetish for pretty feet.

If you talked to anyone who didn't have the fetish then they would ask you how in the world a foot of all things could be attractive. They spent all day confined in shoes and even if that wasn't the case, feet still spent every minute of every hour touching the dirty, nasty ground.

If Ash was asked this question of how he could possibly have such a fetish, he would simply stare at the person and state with complete honesty that he had no idea how he could find certain women's feet appealing and others so nasty that he wanted to vomit.

Solidad had, to his utter sincerity, the nicest feet he had ever seen on a woman, even Giselle whom had very appealing feet. The redhead's feet were perfectly sized for her frame with no blemishes on them of any kind whatsoever- leading him to believe that she took very good care of her feet- and also saw how her toes on each foot were perfectly sized, shaped and proportioned to match both feet.

She also wore red nail polish on her toenails, which did things to Ash that he knew shouldn't be happening yet, and he could see that there wasn't so much as a fleck of calloused skin on the heel of either foot. Which surprised him considering she traveled so much and in boots no less. This yet again led him to the conclusion that she must use some type of good foot cream.

All in all, Ash would say that her feet were a mixture of delicate, petite and sexy all in one. Especially with the way she was currently standing. One foot flat on the ground, showing off its beauty from all angles while her other foot was slightly propped up on the toes. Giving an almost sinfully seductive appeal to it. The red polish on the nails gleamed under the light in the hall and only made them that much more tantalizing to him.

Tearing his gaze away from her attire and now confirmed attractive feet, he looked her in the face as he approached his door. "Umm... can I help you Solidad?" He asked with a slight tremble in his voice that he prayed wasn't noticed by her.

She opened her eyes and smiled at Ash as she stepped away from her door and walked over to him. "Ash... I know I thanked you before for what you did for the Butterfree but after really thinking on it again... I just don't think I really let you know just how thankful I really am. You were also very kind and welcoming of me tonight and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed talking to you. You're a very interesting young man and we have a lot in common," She told him with a warm and friendly tone to her voice.

Ash smiled at her as he relaxed, realizing that she hadn't caught his slight tremble after all. "I guess we do don't we? And again, don't feel like you need to keep thanking me Solidad. I did what I did because I wanted to and because I love Pokémon. I hate Team Rocket and couldn't let them get away with it. Saving your Butterfree was just a very pleasant bonus because if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you. Which... is something that I felt very fortunate to have had happen. You seem to be a great woman and Coordinator who loves Pokémon and takes care of them as good as you can. I only hope that I can be as good of a Coordinator as you seem to be whenever I become one," He said honestly.

Solidad smiled warmly at Ash as he just kept saying more and more things to impress her. "Well... at any rate, maybe this will show you my thanks..." Without any warning, she leaned down and pressed her warm, pink lips to the side of Ash's cheek and kissed him tenderly.

Her lips lingered on his cheek for a few moments longer than normal before she pulled away and smiled at him again. "Goodnight Ash Ketchum, sleep well." With that said she stepped into her and Salia's room across the hall and shut the door.

Ash himself was rooted firmly to where he stood with his body in a state of shock. Feeling Solidad's lips upon his cheek and smelling her intoxicating rose like scent as she kissed him just sent his being into a paralysis. He felt that strange burning feeling in his gut come blazing back much stronger than earlier until it was like a fire alight in his body.

Then, very strangely and unnoticed to him, a light mist of blue static quickly released from Ash and floated unseen through the air towards Solidad's room as his eyes flashed an equal blue for a brief moment and the hall light overhead flickered. He reached up and touched his cheek as his breath came slowly... like he was barely even breathing. He felt like lightning was arcing within his skin as he then slowly turned around and started walking towards his door.

He opened it up and stepped inside, entering the small yet cozy room he would sleep in for the night. A dresser was in the far corner with a mirror on top, a closet in the other corner and a window was at the front of the room. Overlooking the forest behind the shop. His bed was at the other far corner of the room and already had three Pokémon fast asleep on top of it's cream colored sheets. Both Butterfree were sleeping entwined with each other while Pikachu slept beside them at the foot of the bed, curled up. A simple nightstand rested beside the bed with a small lamp resting on it's surface.

Ash trudged his way over to the bed and sat down on it, still feeling the electric-like shocks pass through his body that Solidad had caused him to feel through their brief contact. Something inside of his body felt off and he was even feeling slightly sick. His eyes hurt a little bit and he also felt strange heat waves rolling off of his skin like currents of heated air.

He focused on his breathing and tried to center his mind while he rode out the strange feelings that only two other people had ever made him feel. Which was Giselle and Daisy Oak. The latter being much worse than the former.

Eventually, Ash's body calmed down enough that he was able to lay back on the bed and get under the covers. He then reached out and turned the lamplight off. It was the time of the full moon and that meant there was light filtering in from the window that was bathing the patch of room it landed on with it's lunar light.

The last thought Ash had in his mind before sleep finally claimed his weary body was of Solidad's tender lips on his cheek, her warm smile and the pleasant scent of her skin as he faded into a deep sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

The sun's ray shone in the next morning bright and early. The time was just a little past five-thirty and the early light coming in through the window of the cottage room illuminated the entire area in it's bright yellow-ish glow. Ash felt the light hit his eyes and slowly opened them. The first thing he saw was Pikachu sleeping by his side and further down the bed, his Butterfree and it's mate, Ash's newly captured pink Butterfree, lay curled up together in a tightly wound mass of blue and pink.

The boy just lay there for awhile while still looking at his Butterfree and reflected on the day before. It was then that everything really hit him concerning the day before's events. He came so close to losing his Butterfree. along with so many others, to Team Rocket and if Arceus hadn't been on side... who knows what would have happened? Not only that, if it wasn't for Professor Oak having such a large preserve for Pokemon, being so kind and Arceus yet again allowing Ash to think about sending Butterfree and his mate to the lab whenever they were ready to mate... he would have lost his Pokémon. Something he couldn't even begin to fathom about unless there was absolutely no other choice.

As he looked at Butterfree he just couldn't stop thinking about how- if it would have been a parallel dimension or something- he could have very well not thought about the idea of using the Oak Ranch as a private mating ground for his Butterfree. Which, if that would have come to pass, he would have been among the many devastated Pokémon Trainers yesterday who were forced to say goodbye to their Butterfree after being through so much with them. He still could see himself standing on that same cliff, saying farewell to his Butterfree as it left to fly over the sea with his mate, and the thought alone caused him to shiver unpleasantly.

Instead, because he had thought of it and Professor Oak was okay with the idea of him letting both Butterfree have their babies back home at the lab, he had managed to hold onto one of his treasured Pokémon and friends. Not to mention, he was able to get a brand new Butterfree out of the deal and a very rare, unusually colored one at that. He was incredibly happy for his very fortunate luck and was indeed over the moon about getting around the usual 'release your Butterfree' rules of the mating season.

Ash threw the covers off of him then and sat up in bed, leaning over with his elbows on his knees as he stretched his still weary body out. Even though he was able to get a full nights sleep and rest, his whole body still felt somewhat sore and tired from the previous day's harsh activities.

As he sat there, a whole new issue came flying into his brain like a speeding Dragonite. He was hit with the guilt, the terrible guilt, of how flustered he had become around Solidad the night before. The reason he felt so bad was entirely because of Giselle. He was with her in a relationship, a happy one at that, and even though he knew that it wasn't anything serious or even close to serious since they were both so young, him especially, still... a relationship was a relationship and she was his girlfriend. They crossed the boundaries of friends long ago and tread into the territory of romance and deeper affection. A place of which they could never go back from.

Ash and Giselle may have both been young but still, they were much more mature than current their ages put them to be and they looked at almost everything years ahead of how they were supposed to. Their relationship was no different. Though they never became too physical with each other- since neither was at the age or position in life to really develop such strong and overwhelming feelings yet- and only ever kept it at kissing, cuddling and other harmless acts... they viewed their relationship status with each other seriously and handled the matter as such.

If there was one thing Ash absolutely hated it was a man or woman being unfaithful to each other. His mother had preached and preached and preached and then preached some more about how wrong infidelity was and looked down on it harshly. A view he inherited and shared in since again, even though he was so young he was still very intelligent for his age and understood many, many things that most would say is impossible for a 'kid' to understand. Since he looked at such a thing as vile and utterly wrong, he would be damned to do the same thing no matter how harmless it was and make himself a hypocrite in the process.

Even though he didn't do anything to Solidad, made no move on her, wasn't physical or even tried to be (not that he thought an almost twenty year old woman would be interested in a kid like him anyway, that was just a foolish thought in his mind) he still couldn't resist checking her body out, noticing how wonderful she smelt or how beautiful she looked. He didn't feel bad for the kiss on the cheek she gave him since that was her doing and not his.

No... it was the fact that he was weak to her that made him feel guilty. The matter of him getting a very strange, very odd feeling when he saw her... hell when he first met her, coming from deep within him, like something was trying to pull her into him... that was what ate at him and didn't make resisting said feelings any easier.

The fact of the matter was, he was very happy with Giselle as his girlfriend and wasn't going to do anything to ruin that. Even though she was absolutely none the wiser about all of it, still... it made him feel dirty and he wasn't about to go cheating or so much as THINK about messing around on her with another girl in either his bodily actions or thoughts. Even thinking about another girl in that way he felt was a betrayal to Giselle and would strive not to do it. If he could avoid such things then it would make him feel better and have less things to think and worry about.

When he saw Solidad later he would just be the same way he was with her the day before since nothing bad or even close to 'over the line' happened between them. Everything would remain the same, he would just strive to keep his emotions under better check. Especially the extremely strange feelings he felt around her. A feeling just like he felt towards Daisy Oak, only not as strong. Though he dreaded having such a powerful... pull, in him concerning those two, he would do his best to control it and anything else he felt he had to do for Giselle.

He got up out of bed at that time and started stretching his body out. Starting from the top of his head, down the trunk and then to the lower half of his body. Taking his time and passing through a full range of motion for each body segment he loosened up. Making sure to take the time to stretch his major muscle groups for longer periods of time than the smaller ones. He moved in almost a yoga-esque manner, going slowly through each sequence of stretches and taking care to not overextend anything.

Once he was done he went back over to the bed and shook Pikachu awake gently. The Electric-Type stirred with a yawn and looked at Ash with bleary eyes. He saw his trainer looking at him with that look that he had come to recognize every morning and quickly hopped up, shaking himself awake and nodding to show he was ready. Ash looked over at both Butterfree and did the same thing, shaking the male awake and getting the same response from him as he did Pikachu. Butterfree disentangled himself from his new mate gently and flew to the edge of the bed beside Pikachu, looking ready to go.

Ash went over to the desk at the other side of the room where he put the top half of his tracksuit and took out his other Pokeballs, releasing Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur from the confines of them.

After his Pokémon was assembled in-front of him, Ash walked back and forth like a drill sergeant and then stopped. "Okay everyone! Start stretching and then we head out for our morning workout!" He called out.

The Pokémon obeyed like trained soldiers and started their stretches. Each one deviating in style a little bit for their body types but all unique forms still having the same general purpose, which was to warm-up and prepare their bodies for training. The pink Butterfree awoke then and saw all of her new teammates warming themselves up.

She looked over at Ash and saw him down on the floor doing push-ups with Pikachu and Charmander right beside him doing the same. Squirtle was jumping towards the floor while retracted into his shell, bouncing back up while still in the shell and coming out just as he landed on the ground so he would be standing on his legs. He would repeat this over and over again like bucking bronco jumps.

Bulbasaur meanwhile was jumping ropes with his vines in rotations of slow and fast speeds. The male Butterfree was doing an 'air version' of push-ups. He would drop himself towards the ground and then flap his wings to elevate himself back up again. This process would then repeat over and over again.

When Ash was done with that he got up and saw Butterfree looking at them all interestedly. He smiled at her and walked over to the bed. Kneeling down, he spoke kindly to her, "We're getting ready to train Butterfree, would you like to join us? Being my Pokémon now means that I'm going to help you become stronger than you could ever imagine. That means we have to work together though and hard too. Are you ready?"

Butterfree took no hesitation and nodded her head readily. Looking both anxious and excited.

Ash smiled and started showing her different warm-up exercises to do that his other Butterfree knew. Moves to stretch out her wings and her body as a whole. After he was done working with her he went back to the floor and started doing sit-ups. Once he was finished with all of his warm-up moves, he changed into his track-pants but shifted them into their shorts version and left just his black tank top on. After that he called out for his Pokémon to follow him and then walked out the door of his room quietly.

The hallway was dead quite as he walked through it. He couldn't hear any noise coming from the others rooms so he figured that either no one was up yet (which was likely since it was still so early) or they were all downstairs. Once he made it down into the main entrance area of the shack, his suspicions were confirmed that he was the only one up.

He walked over to the door and unlocked it before stepping outside into the cool morning air. His Pokémon followed him out and then he shut the door, locking it behind him again since he knew everyone would be up to open the shop for him by the time he returned.

He then shifted his attention and looked out over the sprawling green plains that made up the cliffs around them before turning his gaze up to the sky. Dawn had come but the sun had not yet risen to it's full height yet so there was still a bit of darkish blue staining the sky. The smells of the early morning mixed with salt air coming from the sea left a pleasant scent lingering in his nose that brought a smile to his face.

He stretched out his legs a few more times before looking back at his Pokémon. "You all ready?!"

Each of them called out with equal determination and excitement and he nodded. "Alright... LETS GO!"

With those words, trainer and Pokémon took off from the shack and began their early morning run. They started by running along the forest line that was near the shack and followed that all the way around the massive open plains that surrounded the cliffs. As they went, each of them concentrated on their breathing, the contractions of their muscles every time their feet would hit the ground, the amount of intensity needed to be applied to their muscles for the maximum results of their workout and most importantly... the reason each of them had for pushing themselves as hard as they could.

Which was all pretty much for the exact same reason; to be become better than they currently were and surpass each new level of strength they attained.

This also gave them all time to think. Which, when one is engaging in something like a strenuous workout, letting your mind wonder off into certain thoughts of varying importance can be very beneficial for yourself in both the moment of your current workout and in the long run should you figure out something of great importance that had been alluding you for so long previously.

Eventually, they all ended up coming to the front most edge of the cliffs and stopped on command of Ash. He turned to face them all and called out, "Alright everybody! That was just our warm-up! Now we're going to get into our strength and conditioning workout, flexibility exercises, combat training; singular, tag and multiple opponent, and then we'll finish up with emphasis on move training and specialist specific training. This is the part of the training that you do not hold back on! You give me a full one hundred percent like I'll give you or you won't give me anything at all! You put it all out here or you keep it all to yourself! Everybody ready?!"

Once his Pokémon were prepared, Ash broke them all down into doing different segments of their training at different times. The first block would consist of exercises and drills to improve their levels of strength and conditioning. For this whole stretch of training he would have them all wear body weights that he carried along with him in his backpack that Professor Oak gave him when he left home the first day.

Some, like Pikachu, Squirtle and Charmander who could stand upright and use their arms in the upright way would even use dumbbells and barbells. A few of them were singular exercises and others were partnered. They would switch between using weights just the right size for them and do many repetitions of a given exercise for whatever muscle group (usually up to ten or fifteen) and then they would switch to using heavier weights for less repetitions.

The first was to increase muscular endurance and stamina (the ability to lift weight for a longer period of time with less fatigue) and the second was to increase the actual muscular strength itself (the ability to lift more/heavier weight) through both fast and slow ranges of motion. This basically meant being able to control heavier weight through both explosive, fast motions and also slow, controlled ones.

They would also do exercises specific to what Ash wanted to improve on them. For Pikachu. a combination of training with body weights and free weights would not only help him become stronger, more durable and more powerful (which was something that many of his species were very lacking in) but also much quicker on his feet. Which was something all Pikachu should strive to be the best at. Speed.

Squirtle would likewise work on similar areas of physical skill but his goal was to become much stronger both offensively and defensively. The reason Ash did this was because once Squirtle finally evolved into a Blastoise, extreme attack and defense power was going to be a major strong-point for them. However, he also worked Squirtle on speed just as much. Having a super fast Pokémon that was normally not supposed to be so can be real game changer in the heat of battle.

Charmander was the same way, only Ash worked him into the ground. Charizard, which was Charmander's final normal evolutionary form, could be a complete powerhouse in all areas. Offense, defense, speed, agility, endurance... you name it. Because of this reason, Ash worked Charmander in all different levels of strength training.

He especially put focus into the back muscles on Charmander so that once he evolved into Charizard and could then fly, he would already have very strong back muscles to make him an even stronger flyer right off the bat. Charmander's back was already getting stronger from all the back focused weighted drills he did and he still had two stages to go through, including his current one, before he became a Charizard.

The little fire lizard was definitely going to have some strong ass back muscles when that time finally came, this there was no denying. Especially with all the natural, none harmful supplements he and the others were taking daily to help boost the gains they attained from their training and also improve their overall physical performance by assuring that they operated and functioned at peak efficiency health wise.

As for his other Pokémon like Bulbasaur and both Butterfree, what they lacked in being able to do with free weights, they just made up for in body weights. He would have them wear much heavier body weight to make up for not being able to use free weight and then he would work their speed, power and endurance to brutal levels. Bulbasaur would run sequences, pull heavy weights behind him while running with his weight suit on, work his moves, practice agility sequences and all other forms of resistance training all while weighted down.

Bulbasaur would become a Venasaur eventually and with all of the preemptive strength and resistance training he was doing now, it would help assure that he would be able to push, pull and stop heavy moving objects and use mass amounts of power and strength to ensure victory in battle much more often than defeat.

Butterfree would work on his moves, speed, agility and aerial maneuvering drills until exhaustion with his weighted suit on. Even though his performance against Team Rocket the day prior was definitely impressive, Ash knew his Pokémon could improve so he worked him even harder.

The female Butterfree did very well with the strength and conditioning portion of the training just as she did during the warm-up and jog. Or, in her and her mate's case, fast fly since they couldn't run like the others.

Ash didn't have her wear nearly as heavy of body weight as his other Pokémon or male Butterfree and in fact, he wasn't going to make her wear any at all since it was her first time training with them but she had insisted. Which showed her determination.

She was also quite skilled and in rather good shape Ash was able to observe since he kept a close eye on her the whole time during training. He did this of course since she was new to the team and he wanted to monitor her for any and all improvements he needed to help her make in her training.

The young trainer was safely able to assume by the end of that particular segment of training that Salia must have truly done a very good job raising Butterfreee and training her no matter what she said because the female was defintely in very good shape indeed.

The conditioning portion of training pretty much consisted of all the Pokémon doing a mixture of cardio calisthenic/resistance drills that was both circuit in style and also mixed with rounds of interval training.

After that, they all (and by all that included Ash as well since he trained alongside his Pokémon at all times) went into flexibility training. This consisted of doing varying stretches that worked different muscle groups' range of motion in all of his Pokémon, though in different ways since they were all of separate species. The purpose of this training was to increase their overall flexibility. They did this for around fifteen minutes and then moved onto combat training.

For this type of training, each Pokémon would pair off with partners and work on different forms of battling before then gathering together in a circle and battling in a round robin free for all. In this type of training, one of his Pokémon would stand in a predesignated circle and then have to fend off, counter attack and fight back against all of the other Pokémon. So for instance, Pikachu would stand in the 'circle' and have to battle Squirtle, Charmander, Bulbasaur and both Butterfree all at once.

The purpose of this training was to work on fighting in multiple opponent situations, work on the ability to adjust battle styles and strategy in a heartbeat and also improve reaction time. There were many other benefits but those were the chief ones.

Yet again, the pink female did very well in both single sparring (where her mate was paired with her) and the multiple opponent fighting. A testament to her natural skill.

After that the training went into move training, strategy formulation, ability focus and specialization training. Here Ash would have his Pokémon work on everything else they needed to improve on in their own unique and specialized ways.

Specialization training was essentially any form of training that was unique to that particular Pokémon like Pikachu's Focused Lightning, Charmaner's Internal Flame and Bulbasaur's Water Armor training.

The pink Butterfree, when it came to the move training segment, showed to also have a very impressive move and ability set and could use them all quite well in battle.

Moves which consisted of Confusion, Poisonpowder, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Silverwind, Gust, Whirlwind, Headbutt, Agility and Supersonic. Her ability being Compoundeyes, of which he saw her use firsthand during the sparring portion of training and explained why she always seemed to be so accurate in her attacks.

Needless to say, Ash was very interested as to where she was eventually going to be in terms of strength and overall battle performance since she showed large amounts of skill in every routine he worked her through in every block of their morning workout and training session.

After training was finally done and exhaustion had claimed them, they all stopped for a break and Ash took that time to go over to the pink Butterfree who was resting beside her mate. "So Butterfree," he began while still slightly winded. "What do you think of the training so far?"

He merely received a positive nod and chirp in response which made him smile as he sat down beside them, letting his legs dangle over the cliff as he stared out into the distance. "You know its funny," he said with a smile. "Just yesterday all of those Butterfree left their trainers in order to fly across the sea to the mating grounds and who knows where they are now?" Ash looked at them then. "Do either of you wish you would have went now?"

Both Butterfree promptly shook their heads no and the boy nodded. "I'm glad to know that. Honestly... If you both would have wanted to go I would have let you." In response, the two Pokémon just flew onto either side of him and gave him reassuring looks. The Pallet trainer took that as their way of telling him to relax and that they didn't regret their choices to stay with him.

He smiled and nodded to them both again, knowing that no other words needed to be said, before standing back up and looking at his other Pokémon. "You all ready to head back?!"

Getting another round of affirmative calls, the small troop then made their way back through the wide open fields towards Donny's shack. Being that it was now later in the morning, the sun was shining quite a bit brighter in the sky and the entire expansive landscape around them was now being bathed in the crisp morning rays of the great eternal light in the sky.

After just a short time of walking, they finally arrived back at the balloon shop feeling rejuvenated from their morning workout but also as hungry as they could possibly be. Ash reached for the door handle and found that it was unlocked, just as he thought it would be when he had left earlier, and then stepped inside with his Pokémon behind him.

Once inside, he saw all of his friends, plus Donny, Salia and Solidad, sitting at the table they had the night before. They were eating breakfast that Brock (and even maybe Donny and the girls if they chipped in) had made to eat with cups of coffee sat at every place at the table except for Giselle's. Being that she didn't drink the stuff.

They were all still in their night wear, which led Ash to believe that none of them had been up long, and all of their Pokémon were eating breakfast in another corner of the room. Donny was reading the paper while drinking his coffee, Brock was looking over their map for the day's journey ahead and the girls were all talking amongst themselves.

When they heard the door open, everyone turned their heads and saw Ash bending down to take his shoes off.

Donny looked over his paper and smiled. "Hey there Ash, we were wondering where you got off to!"

The boy came walking over to the table and greeted them all. "Hey everybody, sorry if I worried you. My Pokémon and I just went out for our morning run and training session. I left as quietly as I could and locked the door behind me since I figured you guys would be up by the time I got back," He informed.

"We told them that you usually do that and are up before any of us training your Pokémon," Misty spoke up as she took a sip of her coffee.

Ash grinned. "What can I say? I love to train!" He looked down at his Pokémon then. "Breakfast everyone! You can go relax while I whip up your food okay? Oh and Butterfree," He looked at the female. "Can you please come with me? I need to find out how to make your food to suit my nutrition program for you that all my Pokémon follow. Its all individualized so I need you to help me find the best tasting and most effective one for your diet okay?"

The female nodded and followed after her new trainer while his others all went to join the rest of the Pokémon who had already ate and were now just resting. Brock, Misty and Giselle's Pokémon (especially Giselle's since they also trained with Ash) all knew that whenever Ash's Pokémon were finished with one of their many grueling training sessions, all they wanted to do was collapse, relax and wait to be fed.

Salia called after Ash then, "Hey if you want, I know what she likes to eat so I could probably help you find a way to combine the way she likes to have her food with the nutrition you have that your Pokémon follow. Would you like that Ash?" She asked with a faint blush.

The young Ketchum paused in thought for a moment and then smiled widely. "Really Salia? Wow that would be great, thank you so much! Buttefree is just as much your Pokémon as she is mine the way I see it so any help you can offer when it comes to her I'd really appreciate. I'm always open to someone's suggestion and advice so please," He made a gesture towards the kitchen. "After you."

Salia giggled and followed after him into the kitchen to help prepare the food.

Sometime later- and after much giggling and laughing coming from the kitchen courtesy of Salia- they both emerged with six bowels of vita-enhanced, super healthy Pokémon food for Ash's hungry partners. After they set the food down and Ash's Pokémon started to dig in, everyone watched anxiously as the female Butterfree took a bite of her food. A few seconds of letting it sit in her mouth later and she then looked up at Ash and Salia with a clearly pleased and happy expression on her face before she started eating more of the food.

"Hey success!" Ash announced happily as laughed.

Salia giggled as well and nodded. "Glad she likes it, she's usually a really picky eater."

"Thanks for the help Salia," Ash thanked her with a smile.

She merely blushed and waved it off. "It was nothing Ash don't worry about it."

They both walked back to the table as he looked at her and shook his head. "Don't sell yourself short. You came up with the idea of using that Pecha berry to sweeten Butterfree's food up so she would eat it and enjoy it. Like I said before, I really think Professor Oak is going to be very pleased to have you as an assistant and will be impressed at how good you are with Pokémon," He praised.

Salia just blushed at his kind words and took her seat again while he himself sat next to Giselle. His Pokémon were happily chowing down on their food and while he sat there he really took a minute to look at his girlfriend. Giselle was laughing at something Solidad had told her and as he looked at her, he was hit with the memories of what had happened the night before. How the kiss Solidad gave him made him feel so fuzzy, how he checked her out and how he had felt so terrible afterwards because he thought he was betraying Giselle.

Even though she was none the wiser about anything that happened and even though nothing actually did happen... him seeing her this morning... the way she seemed to glow in the light that the early morning sun was bathing her in as it streamed in through the window behind her. How beautiful she looked with her hair pulled up in a loose ponytail and the way she looked in her night clothes. The white tank top and pink night shorts she wore... he was just stunned by her yet again. He found himself vowing in that moment, silently of course, that he was going to make it a point to treat her even better and do more for her now than he already was. She just deserved it.

He suddenly reached out and took her hand in his. She turned her head to him from talking to Solidad and smiled at him. "Good morning Ash, sorry I didn't go training with you this morning. I was just really tired last night and needed some rest," She said apologetically. "If you want though, I could train with you for your evening training session to make up for-"

She didn't get to finish what she was saying though because in that moment, Ash leaned in and gently touched his lips to hers. Catching her in a soft, sweet kiss as a sign of pure affection and a way to express to her just what he was feeling in that moment. It was chaste and it was short, to be decent around the others, but it definitely conveyed what it needed to by the look in her eyes when Ash took his lips off hers.

He just smiled at her and shook his head while gently rubbing her hand with his thumb. "Don't even think on it Giselle. I totally understand that you needed rest. I would love to train with you tonight and then tomorrow, you can get up and go training with me if you want to like usual. Okay?"

The brunette beauty smiled at Ash and nodded. "Thank you Ash, I would love to!" She leaned in and kissed him again quickly before going back to her original position in her seat. Ash brought their now intertwined hands down under the table together and placed them in his lap so he could continue to hold her hand.

After their tender moment had passed, Solidad decided to get Ash's attention. "So then Ash, do you always get up and train like that every morning with your Pokémon?"

The Pallet native looked at the woman who made his stomach do somersaults the night before when she kissed his cheek and answered her question, "Yeah I do. Every morning and every evening my Pokémon and I train together, side by side. We work on several different angles of skill and do many different forms of training so that we can become really well rounded and better prepared against anything we may come up against." He then went into a short explanation of his and his Pokémon training routine to Solidad in return for everything she told him the night before about Pokémon Contests.

Solidad appeared to be very interested and impressed with everything he was telling her and by the end of it she shook her head. "Wow Ash I have to admit, I am very impressed with your training regimen. It sounds like you have a very well planned out, carefully constructed and detailed training curriculum. For a trainer who's only been at it for a short amount of time like you have and whom would be considered still a rookie trainer, you should definitely be proud of yourself," She complemented.

Ash just shrugged and smiled. "Well, I like to be prepared and train myself and my Pokémon so we can always get better and bond on a deeper level. Its just... what we do y'know?" He said modestly.

Solidad nodded in understanding and raised her coffee cup to him while taking another sip. Just as Ash was about to get up and go make himself breakfast, Brock suddenly walked up to his side and sat down a hot plate of breakfast and his own coffee cup, which he filled up with the hot beverage from a rather expensive looking silver tin coffee kettle.

Ash looked up at his older friend surprised. "Hey Brock thanks a lot but you didn't need to do that, I was just getting ready to get up and go get my own breakfast since my Pokémon are fed now." He never believed in eating before his Pokémon. To him, his needs in such matters always came second, they were first.

Brock just waved him off and went back over to his own seat, taking his place again. "Ah don't worry about it Ash, I was happy to do it. The way you're always helping me out with all the cooking and everything, its the least I could do. Besides, we're friends man. We do those kinds of things for each other," He said kindly.

The talented young trainer just nodded to Brock in gratitude and took a drink of his coffee before he started eating the delicious food Bock made. Instantly Ash was able to tell that the older boy had made his own food separately from the rest since it had a healthier and more nutritious feel and taste to it. Well actually, Brock probably made Giselle's food the same way since they both ate the same now days.

After a few minutes of eating, Ash looked down at his coffee and a funny memory suddenly came to his mind that had him start busting out into laughter. Even though he tried to control himself.

His unexpected burst of laughter had everyone looking at him strangely as no one knew what had amused him so much. "Ash what is it?" Giselle asked while trying to contain her own giggles at seeing her boyfriend laughing the way he was. The whole 'laughter is contagious' shtick and what not basically.

The boy shook his head and tried to calm himself as he looked at Misty and pointed to his coffee cup. "Hey Misty, do you remember the first time Brock ever brought coffee out around us and we asked for some?" He asked the redhead with mirth dancing alight in his eyes.

The girl looked at her secret crush for a few seconds before realization slammed into her like a drunk driver and the memory of that very occasion he was speaking of had her breaking out into laughter herself. This further confused the table as everyone looked from Ash to Misty, trying to discern what was going on.

Giselle huffed playfully and looked between them both as she herself tried not to laugh. "Will one of you please tell us what's going on here? I don't recall any incident with coffee!" She asked with a confused expression on her face.

Brock suddenly groaned and threw his head back as he suddenly remembered EXACTLY what Ash and Misty were laughing about. Misty managed to stop laughing long enough to turn to Giselle and explain. "I'm sorry Giselle, you've just been with us for so long now that I almost forgot that you weren't with us whenever the... 'incident' happened." She broke out into laughter again while Giselle raised an eyebrow and looked at Brock.

"Brock... what are these two talking about?" She waited for answer but saw instead, to her confusion, Brock sitting there looking up at the ceiling with his hands over his face. "Brock? Brock what ar-"

The older teen threw himself forward and slammed his hands on the table as his face turned beet red. "Don't you two dare tell that story!" He demanded looking between Ash and Misty.

The raven-haired trainer looked at Brock with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard and wagged his finger in the air with a devilish grin on his face. "Now now now... come on Brock! You know you had it coming!"

The teen just groaned and put his face into his arms on the table as he mumbled a few muffled curses. Solidad appeared very interested as she spoke up, "So its a dirty little secret involving Brock huh?" She looked down at the sulking form of her brother figure. "Well now I've got to hear it!"

Brock shot his head up and looked at her with a betrayed expression as Salia also made herself known. "You know, I would also like to hear this apparently funny story if no one minds telling it," She asked politely in her usual sweet way.

Seeing as how Ash was still incapacitated with uncontrolled fits of sporadic laughter, Misty calmed herself and took a deep breath. "Okay so-"

She was interrupted though by Brock suddenly lunging forward. "NOOO!" He yelled aloud as he tried to jump over the table... only to be grabbed by the ear by Solidad as she pulled him back into his seat with a smirk. "Ah-ah-ah little bro," She admonished with a teasing undertone. "I really want to hear this story. Now sit there and take your apparent humiliation like a man!" She gestured for Misty to continue.

Misty giggled. "Thanks Solidad." She regained her thoughts and then began again. "Well it was right after Brock and I started traveling with Ash. We were camping out in an open clearing in the woods one night and the next morning, when we are all getting things ready for breakfast, Brock pulled out that same fancy looking coffee kettle that he was using this morning. He made the coffee and while he was, Ash and I asked if we could have a cup. Ash had just finished training with his Pokémon and wanted a warm cup of something to relax with for awhile before we started out."

She looked over at Brock, who had his face buried in his hands, and continued. "He told us both no when we asked and at the time, I just thought he was being selfish. You see, the coffee blend he was using was a very popular, very special blend that is made by a coffee shop you can only find in Cerulean City. They're the only ones that make it and our city is really famous for this particular blend.

In fact, people from all over Kanto and even other regions come to Cerulean just to purchase a bag. While we were all in the city after Ash's gym battle against me and my sisters, Brock disappeared for a while to run a 'special errand' and buy some 'stuff' that he wouldn't tell us about."

She crossed her arms. "When Brock said we couldn't have any coffee, I figured that it was because he didn't want to share any of the Cerulean Special, which is what the blend is called. Until..." She narrowed her eyes at Brock, who was now practically sweating. "He told me and Ash that we were just too young to have any coffee. Which I found was ridiculous since there are kids at our age already out there getting shit faced drunk at parties and having unprotected sex. Too young for coffee?"

She snorted. "Yeah right. I had been drinking the stuff since I was eight and Ash had tried it several times before as well. It didn't sit well with me and Ash on Brock's view of 'immaturity' concerning our ages. Soooo..." She looked over at Ash, who was now grinning like the Meowth who got the Pidgey. "Care to take it from here Ash?"

He nodded and picked back up on the story. "Misty and I decided to play a little... humbling trick on old Brock-O." He smirked and shared a look with Misty while Brock groaned in embarrassment.

Giselle was now very curious. "What 'trick' exactly?" She asked suspiciously.

Ash chuckled to himself again before going on nonchalantly. "Ohhh you know... Misty and I came up with the idea to heat up a pan of water by the fire after Brock went to bed. We then put it in a bowl and snuck over to his sleeping bag before putting his fingers into the water." He and Misty both snickered at that while Brock turned an even brighter shade of red.

Everyone else at the table went wide eyed. "You... you didn't!" Solidad exclaimed with her hands over her mouth as she looked at Brock. "And don't tell me that you..."

Ash and Misty both busted out laughing again at the same time. "He totally did!" Ash gasped in-between fits of laughter.

"He realized it right away and hopped out of his sleeping bag like an Ekans was in there with him!" Misty managed to get out while laughing.

Brock just sighed and decided to take his humiliation like a man. "That was a dirty trick and you two know it! Man it took a week to get the smell out of my sleeping bag and I had to throw away those boxers!"

Misty put her elbow on the table and smirked at him. "Yeah but you didn't say anything else anymore about us being too young for anything did you Mr. Man? And furthermore, I believe the next day we were all having a nice, relaxing cup of coffee together. Am I right?"

Salia tilted her head to the side. "But wouldn't that trick be classified as 'childish' thus further proving Brock's point about you both being too young for coffee?" She asked.

Ash seemed to know that was coming and shook his finger. "Not exactly. You see, we didn't pull that little 'prank' just to be childish or because we were mad at Brock. Just the opposite in fact. You see... we did it as a form of proving a point. A lesson as it were."

"What do you mean?" Giselle asked.

"Simple," Ash began. "Misty and I have been forced to grow up and do a lot of things, take on a lot of responsibilities, that other kids growing up at our ages normally wouldn't have to do. My father was never around so I had to grow up a lot quicker because of that. I also took preparation for the time when I finally became a Pokémon Trainer very seriously and trained hard every single day for five years straight beforehand. I've always been mentally older than my actual age both by choice and also because I was forced to do so in other situations. There are certain things I am too young for and other things I am not. One thing I can't stand is someone telling me I can't do something just because they THINK I'm too young when in reality, I'm mature enough to handle many things years ahead of me. So why can't I?

In the case of coffee for instance, its not a law I have to abide by to be at a certain age to drink it. Like alcohol is for instance. So because of that, anyone who tells me I can't drink coffee is just trying to enforce their older age upon me, either on purpose or inadvertently. If its a law, I'll abide by it. If its just someone older than me saying I can't do it just because they feel like saying it however, I will do it. As long as its not stupid or idiotically unsafe of course. Not to be immature or to prove a point. Just because after some of the things I've been through, I think I deserve a little leeway with something as minor and nonsensical as drinking coffee."

Misty nodded and spoke up. "I'm the same way in a lot of ways. My parents both died in a car crash when I was little. My sisters took care of me but they never really knew how to nurture me and treat me like a young child should be treated. So, I was forced to grow up faster. My sisters got into performing their water shows to make us money along with running the Pokémon Gym our parents left behind for us, being that they were both dual gym leaders of the Cerulean Gym.

My sisters ran the gym and kept it open but their true passion was in the shows they performed. I was the one that was always fascinated by being a gym leader my whole childhood and after I became a trainer, I started working really hard to become the fourth gym leader. Eventually I became good enough to become one and they let me have primary care of the gym. So you see? Ash and I were both forced to grow up a lot quicker just like Brock was when he had to take care of his brothers and sisters when his mother died and father left."

Ash took it from Misty then. "Long story short, we played that prank as a reminder to Brock really and nothing more. We showed him that he was no 'wiser' than us in certain ways by proving that he could still fall victim to a childish little prank and handle it no better than an actual sulking child would.

After it happened, he moped around camp and threw an attitude for a while. The way he handled it just went on to prove that we're all still kids in some ways. Just because we have been forced to grow up in some ways, doesn't mean we're still not immature and have a lot to learn. Because we do, all of us. Pretending to be better than each other and playing the 'I'm older' card in our group just doesn't work. We watch out for each other, learn from one another and watch each others backs. If Misty and I were just immature kids that went around fighting all the time then he would have all the right in the world to act as the older voice in the group and deny us things that he felt we were too young for."

He shrugged. "That however, is not the case. So, the water/pee trick wasn't done out of meanness or a trick performed in juvenile humor. It was our combined way of showing him that even he could act immature, like a kid, and throw an attitude over something that someone more mature in that same scenario could shake off much easier. Yeah we could have just talked to Brock but it wasn't about the coffee. It was symbolic. It was proving a point to him that would set the precedence for our entire time together.

After Brock got over his attitude, which he did because he's a great guy, we all talked about it, apologized to him for why we did it and then he understood our reasoning for doing so. He agreed with what we were trying to show him and apologized for trying to be too overbearing. Even if he didn't mean to be. We all understood afterwards where we stood on the age issue and everything's been sailing smoothly ever since." Ash finished the explanation with a sip of his coffee.

"You know..." He stated as an afterthought while looking down at his black cup of coffee, which is how he drank it. "I used to not really like this stuff but after reading how a cup of black coffee a day can have good health benefits... its not half bad."

"I second that," Misty said with a laugh as she took a sip of her own coffee which she took with a little bit of creamer and milk.

Brock sighed then and looked at them all. "I will admit that I was being a little too overbearing. Ash and Misty may be younger than me but we've all been through just about the same when it comes to trying times in our lives. One thing I've seen from traveling with Ash, Misty and even Giselle is that age really does have anything to do with maturity whatsoever. Hell, they're even more wizened when it comes too certain things than what I am. We all learn from and depend on each other and that calls for mutual respect. That little 'water' trick they played on my taught me my lesson, that's for sure." He laughed a little. "I will admit that it was a well thought out way to teach me a lesson."

Everyone at the table laughed at that and a few minutes later, Donny spoke up to the others. "So, I guess you'll all be leaving soon to head out on your way?"

Ash nodded and answered for his group first. "Yeah, we're gonna have to leave well before afternoon if we want to reach Shadow's Hallow before dark," he explained.

The table went silent at his words and he looked at them all. "What?" He asked with a raised brow.

Solidad leaned forward on the table slightly. "Did you just say you were going to Shadow's Hallow?" She asked with trepidation and disbelief in her voice.

He nodded, "Yeah we are. I hear there's a gym there that's pretty out of the way and hardly no one ever challenges it. I really want to win that gym badge from there and get some more battle experience against a tough opponent. I also hear the gym leader uses Dark-Type Pokémon and none of which you can find here in Kanto that's known of so far."

Salia looked at him. "Ash, there are plenty of other gyms in Kanto that you can challenge to gain entrance into the Pokémon League. You don't have to go there, I've heard its a really spooky place," She said with a slight shiver.

Donny nodded. "She's right. I've only been through there once before and I can tell you from experience..." He took a swig of coffee before continuing. "The people are odd, the town is creepy and the whole place rains almost constantly. I never went back after that one time I had to pass through it and will take any detour I have to no matter how long it takes in order to avoid that place . Everyone I speak to says the same thing. I'd listen to miss Salia over here Ash, don't go there," He warned.

Before Ash could reply, Giselle beat him to it. "Look, as much as we really do appreciate all of you trying to look out for us, we already know what we're in for. Ash really wants to go there so he can complete the gym badge goal he has set to achieve before the League starts and me, Misty and Brock are standing by his side no matter what. If he wants to really do something then we'll go with him and support him no matter what. We'll face down whatever challenges we face and we'll do it together," She stated with a strong tone to her voice.

Misty nodded. "That's right. Besides, we may all be traveling for our own reasons and goals but we're still traveling WITH Ash, not the other way around. He let us come with him and we're not going to hold him back."

Brock seemed to agree. "Yes they're absolutely right. We stand by him no matter what,"'He said with a firm resolve in his voice.

Donny put his hands up and grinned as he made a surrendering gesture. "Alright alright young people, don't you worry yourselves about it I get it!" He lowers his hands and smiles then. "I was just wanting to warn you about you were in for potentially, that was all. Believe me, after seeing what young Ash here did involving Team Rocket the other day, I don't doubt his abilities one bit! With friends like you and such loyal Pokémon, I don't think any of you have any reason to worry. If you feel like a trip to Shadows Hallow is necessary then you just do it and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. That strong bond you all have will pull you through thick and thin."

Ash smiled at him. "We weren't upset Donny and we understood why you were warning us all, we just feel like we need to do this. I feel like I need to do this. I'm determined to earn my tenth gym badge and I really feel like the gym in Shadows Hallow will be-"

He was suddenly cut off by a gasp from Salia. "You already have nine gym badges Ash?!" She exclaimed in surprise.

Solidad also seemed shocked. "If you have nine badges, which is one more than you need to enter into the Indigo League by my knowledge, why are you so dead set on getting another?"

The Ketchum male looked at the ladies and then went into a full explanation about his goal to earn all twenty seven gym badges in the Kanto region. "So you see..." He finished up. "I need to challenge and beat the gym in Shadows Hallow or else I won't be able to complete my goal."

The three eldest people at the table understood upon his explanation and looked equally as impressed by the very difficult goal he had set for himself. "Well Ash..." Solidad began. "I'm very impressed and I hope you succeed and beat the gym there," She conceded with a smile.

Salia appeared somewhat starry eyed. "Wow Ash... I think that's so amazing!"

Donny just laughed and crossed his arms. "Maybe there is some hope for today's youth after all..."

Brock then looked up at the clock above Donny's counter and addressed his friends, "Hey guys, we're going to need to get cleaned up and ready to go if we're gonna be out of here when we need to be."

They all agreed and then finished up their meals and coffee before setting about getting themselves ready to go. The guys decided to let the girls shower up and get ready first since there was only one bathroom and while they waited, they went about taking the dirty dishes to the kitchen and cleaning up from breakfast. Solidad went first to the shower and while she occupied the bathroom, Giselle, Salia and Misty helped clean the kitchen and table. They then rotated in and out until finally, all the ladies were cleaned up and ready to go.

Ash went next, followed lastly by Brock. Donny was heading back home that day since it wasn't too far away from where they were currently, and informed them that he would just clean up once he arrived home.

After everyone was showered and dressed to go, they all cleared out their overnight rooms and then met back up in the main greeting area of the shop. Their Pokémon were all returned to their Pokéballs shortly after and just as Ash finished returning all but his two Butterfree, Donny came out from the behind the counter's back room with a traveling pack slung over his shoulder.

He went behind the counter and emptied out the safe containing all the money he had made during the Butterfree mating season, which was quite a large sum, and then met them all at the door with a key in his hand. "Well everybody, you ready to head out of here?" He asked with the same kind and happy attitude he usually possessed.

Ash answered him, "Yeah I think so." His friends, Solidad and Salia all nodded in confirmation as he looked back at the man. "We're ready."

"Alright!" Donny said as he moved towards the door. "Everyone head outside and I'll lock the ol' place up!"

Once everyone was outside and Donny had locked up his shop, he put up a closed sign on the door and joined the rest of them. "I know we're all gonna be going our separate ways before long but what say we stay together until the road splits some ways away?" He asked.

Everyone seemed to like the notion and agreed. "Sure, why not?" Ash nodded. "Lead the way Donny, you know this part of the area better than us anyway."

The man nodded and then the small group started making their way away from the shop and through the sprawling fields of the surrounding area. After some time of walking, they finally hit the road and began following it as it gradually left the high altitude of the cliffs and descended into the forest some ways to the north.

The scenery of the roadside gradually started to change from open field on both sides to forest and small grassy areas as they went further and further away from the Butterfree Cliffs. The place where so much had happened in a little over twenty four hours gradually became more and more distant until they eventually could no longer even smell the scent of the ocean.

The walk through the forest that the road was taking them all through was a rather happy time with conversation being abundant amongst everyone. Ash was behind Donny, who was in the lead, Giselle was walking by his side like usual with their hands intertwined as they made small talk. Brock and Solidad were reminiscing over more childhood memories, Misty and Salia were talking about whatever topics interested them at the moment, Pikachu was looking out over the forest as they went and both Butterfree (whom Ash hadn't returned yet) were flying side by side while enjoying each other's company. A few wild Pokémon were even seen here and there along the way.

Eventually, the group came to a four way crossroads at a break in the forest. The road ahead kept going straight to Lavender Town and then Saffron City. It simply went through another section of forest, not very thick though, before finally reaching Lavender Town itself.

The right road looked to be mostly the same in scenery and made a sort of looping backtrack towards places like Vermillion City, Cerulean City, Pewter City, Veridian City and eventually even Pallet Town.

The left side of the road lead straight into the very thickest part of the forests of the surrounding mountain area and would take the traveler through some very thick, very rough wild country before eventually coming out into Lavender Town somewhere along the way after Shadows Hallow. In theory at least. The road only actually went up to the edge of the massive treeline some distance away before turning into a smaller and much less worn looking trail path.

There was a road sign on a grassy knoll in front of them all which gave information on exactly where the roads took them. The front and right road signs had clear indications of where the well trafficked roads would take them but the left road sign... well it was much more beaten and weathered.

A very faded arrow pointed to the thick forest to the left and said in equally faded letters, 'This way: Shadows Hallow'. Brock had looked over the map all morning and said that directions on how to get to the secluded town was very sparse at best and most likely had all but been forgotten in favor of newer and more easy to access roads that went through much 'nicer' terrain to other, much more desirable destinations.

They all stopped then and turned to face one another. "Guess this is it..." Ash broke the silence first.

Solidad nodded. "I guess so."

Ash looked at her. "So where are you headed to first Solidad?"

She smiled. "Saffron City like I said last night. I'm really anxious for the Pokémon Contest there and I want to enter into it as soon as possible so I'm probably going to try and find a route that bypasses Lavender Town, if I can, for a quicker way to Saffron once I get on this road. My Pokémon and I have been training hard and I think we're ready for the contest."

He nodded and reached out to shake her hand. "Well good luck Solidad, I'm sure you'll all do great. It was really great meeting you and I hope we see other again soon, maybe even at that contest in Saffron if we can make it. Thanks for telling me so much about Pokémon Contests too."

The pinkish redhead shook his hand gladly. "I was very happy to meet you as well Ash and you're very welcome. I'm sure you'll make it to Shadows Hallow safe and sound and win that badge with no problems. I hope to see you soon as well." Her smile became a little warmer then. "And thank you again for saving my Butterfree, you're a good person Ash Ketchum."

He merely nodded to her and smiled one last time before then turning to Salia. "So... have you decided what you're going to do yet Salia?" He asked the sweet young woman.

She blushed when he addressed her and nodded. "I've decided that I am going to go to Pallet Town and meet with Professor Oak. I'm going to give it my best and show him how much I love working with Pokémon. Hopefully he'll like me and decide to take me on as his assistant or at the very least a helping hand around the lab," She explained with hope in her voice.

Ash smiled at her words. "Good Salia, I'm really glad you've decided to give it a chance. Like I said before, I really think that you're going to do well as the Professor's assistant." He grinned. "While we were all getting ready to go, I finished up first and called Professor Oak. I told him all about you and he's really anxious to meet you. I know he's gonna give you a fair shake so don't be nervous okay?"

She nodded at his words. "Thank you Ash... for everything thank you." She walked up to the pink Butterfree who was flying beside of her mate and stopped. "Butterfree... I wish you all the best with your mate and if all goes well and Professor Oak accepts me as his assistant, I'll be seeing you on quite a regular basis once Ash sends the both of you back to Pallet Town to breed."

The female smiled at her words as she flew in and hugged her former trainer, who returned the embrace readily, before she then separated and flew back to her mate and Ash's side.

The young Ketchum turned to Donny last. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me and my friends Donny. You not only had faith in us and let me go on to stop Team Rocket, you helped us at every turn and even opened your shop and hospitality to us all. Thank you, thank you very much." He bowed his head in respect to the man who simply smiled at Ash in return.

Donny placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and chuckled. "You're very welcome Ash. You and your friends were a joy to have around and I was very glad to meet you all. Good luck on your journey and I hope you succeed in your dreams." He looked towards the road that led in Pallet Town's direction. "My house is just a little over fifteen minutes of a walk away from here in that direction so I guess me and miss Salia will be heading in the same direction for a short while."

Salia smiled at him. "I don't mind us traveling together for a bit longer at all Donny, I would be happy to have someone else with me before I make the long journey to Pallet Town by myself."

The man seemed pleased at her words and said goodbye to Misty, Brock and Solidad before he turned to Ash one last time. "Now Ash, you and your friends be careful on your way to Shadows Hallow. That forest is pretty damn thick and treacherous at times. Be safe," he cautioned.

Ash re-adjusted his backpack. "We will Donny, I promise."

With that said, Salia also said her goodbyes to Brock, Misty and Solidad before she and Donny waved to them all and started their way down the right road.

Solidad turned to the group after they watched them off and said her own goodbyes. "I'm sure I'll see you all again soon. Who knows, maybe you'll get through Shadows Hallow and Lavender Town in good time like Ash said and find yourself in Saffron City before my Pokémon Contest begins. If so you can see first hand what I was telling you all about last night and then we can hang out afterwards. There's even a Pokékon Gym there that I'm sure you'd love to challenge Ash," She winked in his direction .

Ash laughed. "Yeah maybe. Take care Solidad," he said with a wide smile.

"It was great seeing you again Soli," Brock told his childhood friend in farewell.

"I really enjoyed talking to you, please take care," Misty spoke to the older woman.

"I hope we meet again as well Solidad," Giselle said in her own farewell.

"Pika Pikachu!" The small Electric-Type Pokémon on Ash's shoulder waved at her.

With their last goodbyes said, Solidad waved to them all one last time before she took the road heading straight and began making her own way. Ash and the others watched her leave until she was out of sight and then looked to the right at the imposing forest sprawled out before them. The likes of which was casting a long shadow over the open, sunny area they were in currently in.

Ash narrowed his eyes at the forest and then grinned before turning around to look at his friends. "Come on you guys, we're never going to get this done and over with if we don't soldier up and face it head on. Lets go!"

Getting a determined nod in reply from his friends, Ash began leading the way down the right path. They went for a few minutes until they finally stood before the entrance to the forest. The entire inside looking dark and unwelcoming.

He looked up at his Butterfree then before pulling out their Pokéballs. "As much as I really want to have you two with me, its gonna be really hard to fly in there. You'll be better off in your Pokéballs." Getting nods from them, Ash returned both of his prized Butterfree before turning back to the forest. Without turning around he called back.

"Okay guys, single file line and don't stray off the-" He looked down at the barely recognizable path that started to make it's way into the forest where the road seemingly disappeared afterwards. "Err... whatever remains of the road. Giselle," He looked back at his girlfriend. "You walk behind me and take my hand. Misty, you walk behind Giselle while Brock brings up the rear."

They all did as instructed and as soon as they were all in poisition, Giselle took Ash's hand in hers. He gave it a comforting squeeze before looking up at Pikachu. "You keep an eye out for anything that doesn't look right or safe, okay Pikachu?"

His Pokemon nodded and sparked his cheeks to show he understood. Finally, the group of friends stepped off the road and into the forest, instantly getting sucked up by the thick foliage that made up the dense maze of wild forest stretching on for miles ahead of them. What they were in for... none of them knew...

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

A little over eight hours later found the young group of travelers traversing a very foresty looking bog. The entire landscape around them looked eery and desolate as a fog rolled across the water surrounding the area and blanketed the forest in it's shroud. The trees were all but barren with nothing on them and everything looked dark and even smelled liked swamp.

Old rotted foliage and stinky marsh combined with the musty smells of the swamp permeated every single inch of the terrain that could be seen. The trees were all quite large but looked to be half submerged in the bog's murky water. Small lights reflected off of the water and danced around in the open air which was created by a mixture of moonlight shining through the cracks of the treetops and the ethereal glow of the fog rolling off the water. The small orbs of blue and gold light would dance in the shadows of the distance and give a pretty, yet ominous look to everything.

The four friends had literally trekked through the vast forest all day long and even though the marshy bog they were traversing through now was nowhere near a walk in the park, it was still a nice change from what they had been walking through for the past seven hours.

Ever since they had entered the accursed forest, it had been nothing but barren ground everywhere covered with pine needles, debree and moss, mixed with extremely thick shrubs and thorn bush infested underbrush. At times it would be so thick it was like a jungle and at other times it was so sparse and dead looking, they actually missed seeing the jungle type terrain.

No Pokémon had been seen so far and the path was only distinguishable from everything else by the slightly worn and rough appearance of a trail that weaved through some of the most extreme of places.

They had followed this very path/trail like a lifeline and never let it leave their sight. The two breaks they had taken to eat- and train for Ash and Giselle's evening session- were spent almost directly on the path for fear of losing it. Which, getting lost in this forest meant staying lost... forever... or until death. The former being more likely than the immediate latter.

This continued on all day long until only during the last hour did they finally get a change of scenery in the bog they were now crossing. As of currently, they were all but straddling the path that led just along the edge of the marsh with Ash holding onto Giselle's hand tightly and her all but pressed up into his back. Misty and Brock were right behind them and already had messy shoes from the few times their feet had slipped down into the nasty water. Their clothes were all slightly scuffed up and each of them were dirty in some way.

"Grrr!" Misty growled loudly as she nearly slipped into the water again. "I hate this bog and I hate this forest! When are we going to reach that damned town?!" She fumed.

Brock tried to placate her. "Easy now Misty easy! I'm sure we'll get there soon..."

She rounded on him. "Shut up! You haven't been the one falling into some nasty ass water every time you turn around!"

Ash called back to them, "Guys please be quite! Fighting isn't going to help us get out of here. I'm sure the town can't be too far from here so lets just keep going," He urged.

Misty fell silent but still grumbled to herself. Giselle asked Ash as they passed over another large tree root carefully so they didn't drop into the water, "Do you think the people at Shadows Hollow are really going to be mean and maybe even hostile?" She inquired worriedly.

Ash looked straight ahead and kept moving forward as he did. "I don't know Giselle. I hope to Arceus they're not but its impossible to know until we actually get there."

She nodded and they all fell silent as they continued on. Finally, they managed to get through the worst of the bog and were now standing on drier land that lead into thicker forest again. Misty groaned. "Great... another crawl through the jungle!" She sighed. "The scratches from the thorns from earlier still hasn't stopped hurting yet!"

Ignoring his complaining friend, Ash lead the way forward into the thicket. As they walked on into the dense, almost jungle-like terrain again, they found themselves in near pitch darkness from the sheer lack of moonlight that was able to shine down due to the extremely dense trees shrouding the area.

On and on they walked like this, carefully trying to stay on the trail so as not to stray and get lost. They continued to stay in contact with each other so they would know where the other was and this also helped them to navigate with less of chance of becoming lost or getting hurt.

Brock grunted. "Thank Arceus the map is useless here and we don't need it right now or otherwise we'd be screwed! I can't see shit in this dark forest!"

Giselle stumbled and went to fall forward but her flailing arms managed to grab onto something and kept her from falling. She felt as though she had grabbed onto something firm and as she climbed her way back up, using the object as a support of sorts, she sighed in relief. "Whew! Thank goodness this small tree was here!"

She heard a cough that almost sounded like snickering and she looked ahead. "What? What is it?!" Her eyes widened in the darkness. "What did I grab onto?!" She shrieked in panic.

She heard the snickering again before Ash's voice was heard. "Hey umm... Giselle? As flattered as I am that you apparently like holding onto my butt, could you please let it go now? You're uhh... making it sort of hard to walk y'know?"

The quickly reddening girl heard Brock and Misty snicker behind her and she shot a glare behind her at where she thought they were. "You two just zip it!" She turned back forwards as her hands reached up higher to grasp at the lower portion of Ash's tracksuit instead. "Ash..." Her voice was a little higher than usual and he could tell she was feeling mortified. "I am so... SO sorry!"

Ash stifled another chuckle to save his girlfriend further humiliation and reached his hands back, patting her arms comfortingly. "Its okay Giselle, just forget about it. I'm not upset at all, okay?"

Getting a tentative and slightly high pitched 'okay' from the obviously still embarrassed girl, Ash decided to let her recover from her 'blunder' in respectful silence.

The four friends then continued their journey further into the heart of the dense forest after that little 'incident' and somewhere around half an eyebrow hour later (estimated really since there was no honest way to tell time in such mind boggling darkness) Ash thought he was finally able to see a break in the seemingly never ending forest up ahead and called back to his friends, "Hey guys, I think we're almost out of it!"

Misty, Brock, Giselle and even Pikachu looked ahead and saw that Ash seemed to be indeed right. There was a rather large opening in the trees ahead that was feeding some much needed moonlight in at them. Feeling slightly invigorated at knowing they were almost out of the hellish terrain, they picked up their pace a little more and remained silent as they neared the break in the trees. Once they finally reached the exit and stepped out, each of them were struck with different feelings at what they were seeing in front of them.

"Well..." Brock began with a stunned look on his face. "This wasn't what I was expecting..."

Misty took a look around. "This place is exactly the way you would imagine it looking from the descriptions the guidebook gives of it..." She said in a less than pleased tone.

Giselle actually wrinkled her nose up a bit. "Why would anyone want to live here?!"

Ash took his own look around the area they had found themselves in and was assured that they had finally found their intended destination. The clearing in the trees they had just stepped through revealed a much, much more open landscape than what the traveling friends had seen in over the past eight hours.

There, lain out in front of them on both sides of a normal looking road that resembled the one they had been on before entering the forest earlier that day, was a moderate sized town. Houses, a few shop-type buildings and other dwellings which would be found in any well established community, were sprawled out in an almost straight line down the well maintained, but mostly untraveled looking road.

The town was resting in what appeared to be a very large grassy meadow existing within the otherwise all consuming forest that lay just outside of it. Trees, tall and imposing, were seen scattered here and there throughout the smallish town with different sized patches of grassy field terrain in-between a few of the houses and other buildings at different spots.

The town and the road that lead through it seemed to go in a straight line for some ways until it finally hit forest again further down near the end. The entire town was surrounded by thick forest on all sides while some of the houses were close enough to the outskirts of it to have the unfriendly woodland as their own backyard.

The houses and other buildings themselves looked to be somewhat modern, if not a decade or so behind the times, and looked well maintained for the most part. A little weathered here and there perhaps for a few of them but mostly, they were all in well kept condition. The cloudless night sky up above them filtered it's moonlight down on the town and gave it a rather eery glow. Which was the one big issue Ash and his friends instantly found with the town... it was creepy. Plain and simple, it just looked creepy.

Even though the town wasn't all run down buildings, abandoned houses and overgrown with nature like they thought it was going to be, the feel that the entire place gave off was just spooky. None of the dwellings or establishments seemed to show any life to them at all, no lights were on (even though it was nighttime) and the weirdest thing yet... the whole town seemed to have a light fog floating through it.

The only light in the whole area came from the moon and that only gave the fog an even creepier appearance. If that wasn't enough, the lack of anybody anywhere only made things worse and the general ominous atmosphere was enough to give one cold chills.

Giselle latched onto Ash's arm while getting behind him. "This place is just scary..."

Misty rubbed her shoulders. "Am I the only one that's cold?"

Ash simply shared a glance with Brock who nodded. "Well... we're not going to get anything done by just standing around here. Lets head into the town and see if we can find someplace to stay for the night."

With that said, Ash and Brock, followed by the two precocious girls, started making their way down the road towards the town. Pikachu keeping a constant careful eye out with his ears perked up the entire time.

They arrived at the town's entrance a few minutes later and noticed an old worn looking sign suspended by a poll, which was hanging down low. Brock walked up to it to get a closer look and read the words on the sign aloud, "It says, 'Shadows Hallow'. Hmm..." He put his hand to his chin. "No welcome or anything. Maybe what Donny said about this place was right after all."

Ash looked into the town and motioned forward. "Come on, we won't know until we experience it for ourselves." Just as he started to cross into the town past the sign, a man dressed in a long black rain coat holding a lantern stepped out from behind a small shack a little ways away. Ash and his friends stopped mid-step as the man held his hand out and spoke in a deep, gruff tone. "Stop! What are you four doing here in Shadows Hallow? What is your business here?!" He demanded in an impolite manner.

Ash held his hands up and answered calmly and quickly, "Sir, my name is Ash Ketchum and these are my friends. We've been traveling through the forest all day and are looking for a place to stay for the night. As for why we're here, I'm looking to challenge this town's Pokémon Gym." He spoke with confidence and surety, showing no fear to the man.

The 'town guard' as they were dubbing him in their minds, stayed silent for a few moments and seemed to be contemplating (even though they couldn't see his face from behind his hood that he had up). Eventually, the man lowered his lantern and spoke in the same deep voice, "Alright... follow me."

Without another word, the man turned around and started leading the four travelers into the town. As Ash and his friends followed the no nonsense man, Giselle never taking her hand from Ash's and Misty actually walking up to stand behind him as well, they had the chance to check the town out around them.

Ash noticed how everywhere he looked, be it home or business, he would occasionally see people looking out of their windows at them but never making an attempt to step outside. He even saw a few children playing in their yards but they were quickly pulled inside by who he was guessing was their parents.

He then called up to the man leading them, the lantern said man held swinging slowly left and right as it cast it's glow to a small area around them. "Excuse me sir but... why does everyone I'm seeing keep looking at me and my friends with such strange looks? Is it something we did?" He asked curiously.

The large man in the rain coat didn't turn around or break stride as he answered gruffly, "They don't like outsiders. None of us do."

With that simple, yet oh so telling statement, the children fell silent and allowed the man to continue leading them down the street. Eventually, they came to stand in front of a medium sized house that had two levels to it and was painted all white. There was a white picket fence around the yard, which had a mixture of grass and trees within it, and a small sign near the sidewalk that led up to the house. The sign in question read, 'Hallows Inn'.

"Come on," The man ordered as he started walking down the path and up to the house.

Ash and his friends followed and soon they were standing on the porch. The hooded man opened up the door, a bell-like ring announcing their entrance from above their heads, and stepped inside with the kids behind him.

Once inside, Ash looked around and noticed that the, what he guessed would be called the lobby, was rather spacious and had a front desk at the very front of the room. Couches, chairs and other small sitting areas were situated around the room in separate places so waiting guests could have their space from one another. Small coffee and side tables were set up at the sitting areas and rugs of different color and designs were spread out everywhere on the hardwood floor of the lobby.

Bookshelves covered the right hand wall while the left hand wall had a few doors in it that led to who knows what beyond. There was an impressive, antique looking chandelier hanging from the raftered ceiling that appeared as though it hadn't been turned on in some time and the ceiling itself looked to be made of some kind of brown wood. All in all, the inn could be placed under the more 'old timey' category of design.

The man led them up the front desk then and banged on the bell sitting atop it. They waited and a few moments later, a door to the right behind the counter opened up and out came a man dressed in white nightgown complete with a sleeping cap on his head. He looked to be in his forties and had greying hair and a wrinkled face. He walked up to the counter tiredly and looked at the man in the rain coat. "What is it Jim?" He asked in an obviously irritated tone of voice.

The now named Jim gestured to the kids behind him and answered, "These four need a place to stay for the night. Think you can set them up?"

With a tired glance at Ash and his friends he addressed them, "The rooms are cold and we don't give out many blankets. Still wanna stay?"

Ash shared a look and his friends and, seeing as there was no other options since no one wanted to sleep outside in the creepy town, they nodded. Ash looked back at the man and answered him politely, "Yes please sir, we would very much like a room."

The older looking innkeeper reached under the counter and pulled out a room key before speaking to Ash again. "It'll be thirty for the night for all four of you in one room with three beds. I know it's one less bed than what you need but you'll just have to make do. You two boys sleep with each other and let the girls have the other two or whatever, I don't care. Sleep on the floor if you can't decide but that's all we have to offer. Take it or leave it."

Ash raised an eyebrow at that. He found it highly unlikely, also given the general unpleasant atmosphere of the town and the so far surly attitude of the people living there, that the inn would be packed so full so all they had available was one room with three beds and no others. Especially given that the house was so big and Shadows Hallow had such a bad reputation amongst outsiders that practically everyone avoided it.

Still though... Ash didn't feel like getting into such a thing with an obviously very grouchy inn keeper so he just nodded instead. "Yes sir, that will be fine."

The innkeeper eyed them all for a few moments before nodding and looking at Jim. "Alright, we're fine here Jim. You can go back to your post now."

Jim merely nodded his reply and then turned around before walking back towards the door. Not so much as a 'bye', 'have a good one' or even a 'screw you' to the four friends as he walked out and pulled the door shut behind him. His heavy footsteps being heard as they echoed off the porch steps and away into the night.

The innkeeper then took a candle on the counter and lit it with a match he pulled from underneath it. After that, he grabbed the candle and also a room key from a board full of hanging keys behind him on the wall before walking out from behind the desk. He opened a door to the left of the counter and called back an irritable 'come on' to the kids and then disappeared into the next room.

Sharing a quick glance with his friends, Ash led the way as they followed the older man back through a long hall. They went almost all the way to the end of the hallway before the inn keeper stopped at a door that was right beside of a set of steps that lead up to the next level of the inn.

Just before he unlocked the door, he turned around and fixed the young travelers with a stern glare. "Now listen up you four! I said I don't care who takes what bedding arrangements and its true, I don't give two fiddlers pipes! However, I'm no fool and I know boys and girls sleeping in one room together can lead to things. While you four may look too young in my opinion to do that kind of crap, I'm not your parent or your babysitter so it ain't my concern what you do! I don't give a flying Flaffy what you do so if anything happens, keep it quite and don't let me hear it! I get up early every morning to run this place and don't want to be kept up all night by a bunch of horny kids. Got it?!"

Both Misty and Giselle looked mortified at what the older man was insinuating- Misty looking like she actually wanted to strangle the old grouch- while even Brock sported a slight blush. Not at the mention of sex but the mention of doing such a thing with either Misty or Giselle, who were both standing right beside of him! Ash was also slightly taken aback by what the older man suggested but was able to school his features enough to reply back evenly and coolly, "Yes sir, I understand and you won't have to worry about us. We just thank you for letting us stay here."

The old innkeeper grumbled a few words under his breath but seemed appeased nonetheless as he simply nodded and unlocked the door. After he was done the man pushed the door open and then, without even a grunt to them, made his way back down the hallway.

Ash and his still flustered friends walked into the room and shut the door behind them. Flipping on the light switch, they were greeted with the sight of a rather plain looking room. There were three beds, just as the inn keeper said, in a perfect line along the front wall where two windows rested. One near the bed on the far right and the other above the bed on the far left. The middle bed was in-between both windows, thus getting the least amount of moonlight shining onto it, helped by the fact that the windows had curtains. Which were currently drawn back.

There were two night stands set at the beds on the far left and right, the middle having none, and a lone dresser with a mirror on the top resting directly against the wall in front of the beds, near the door and the light switch. To the far left of the room in the corner was a door left slightly ajar, which by the looks of it was the bathroom.

Ash and the others walked over and set their packs down on the evenly spaced apart beds before taking a seat on them. Brock and Misty on two and Ash and Giselle on one. Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and went to the foot of the bed he and Giselle were sitting on, stretching out with a yawn and then curling up into a ball for sleep. The long day of traveling through the harsh forest, staying constantly alert, and then training in the same forest on behest of his crazy trainer had tired the small Pokémon out.

Ash smiled at his Pokémon and scratched him behind the ears before speaking to his friends. "So... what do you guys think so far?"

Brock leaned back slightly on the bed he was on and answered a second later, "Honestly? It seems so far that what we were told by Donny and what we read about this place in the guide was definitely accurate. The people here don't seem to be all that friendly and the entire town in itself has a very unappealing feel to it."

Misty snorted. "The people here are just plain out rude! Can you believe that old man saying what he did about us doing..." She blushed red. "'That' together in here? What a creepy old pervert!"

Giselle shivered slightly with her arms rubbing her shoulders. "He was a dirty, grouchy old man that's for sure but the guy who brought us here was even worse."

Ash put his arm around her comfortingly as he sighed. "Just try to remember that we'll only be here for tonight and then just long enough tomorrow for me to have my gym battle. After that's done we'll get out of here as soon as we can and start making our way to Lavender Town. So just hang in there for awhile okay guys? I'm sorry about all of this but it won't last long. Honestly, I don't think the problem here in this town is as extreme was what we think it is," He ventured.

Misty raised an eyebrow as she took off her shoes and socks and then laid down on the bed, propping herself up to look at him. "How so?" She asked skeptically.

Ash just shrugged. "I don't think this place is a 'dark town' nor do I think it's something that the world has just forgotten or faded into obscurity. I think, judging by how well maintained everything here in seems to be, that this town is pretty self sustaining and just doesn't like outside visitors coming in and 'disturbing their flow' so to speak."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This place is so out of the way of the rest of the region that travelers passing through here has to be a rare occurrence. Or at least rare in comparison to some of the other places we've been to. The town probably gets most of their resources from the forest surrounding them and know how to navigate it to do so, unlike us.

This just seems to be a pretty well in control and prospering place. The only thing they lack is a cheerful atmosphere and friendly occupants, which has given Shadows Hallow the horrible reputation that keeps most everyone from the outside world away. Because of that, I'm content to just finish the gym battle tomorrow and then get out of here and leave these people to what they apparently like... solitude."

The other three were silent as Ash explained his thoughts to them but after he was finished, it seemed to make sense to them. Brock even nodded. "That actually does sound pretty plausible. Just a community of people that like to be to themselves... makes sense to me."

Misty laid back on a pillow and huffed. "Yeah well either way... it still doesn't make that old man or town guard any less creepy!"

Giselle merely gave an agreeable nod of the head while Ash laughed. The way Misty could put things sometimes was just priceless to him! Sure she could be a little abrasive, sharp tongued and violent at times, but overall he really liked her. She could be funny in the way she acted, especially when she was mad (which for some reason he found very cute, like with Giselle).

However, even then... she could be very sweet and compassionate when the situation called for it, towards both people and Pokemon (again, like Giselle) and to top it all off, Misty was attractive in her own right. Sure it may have taken him awhile to get used to her little 'quirks' when they first started traveling together but in the end, he was very glad she came along since she did make a great traveling companion.

He knew most likely that if he were any less mature than he was now, he and Misty would probably buck heads and fight a lot. As it was though, he learned to adapt and become accustomed to how she was. His mother always taught him that if you liked someone then you had to learn to overlook their little flaws and find a way to handle them without changing who they were to truly get along.

Everyone, including him most definitely, had flaws and things that were annoying about themselves. It was only human. As people and as friends however, you had to learn how to accept those little 'ticks' or otherwise you would never truly like or be happy around anyone. That's what he always tried to do with people and that's exactly how he handled Misty. If she did something that annoyed him or acted in a way he didn't like, he would just ignore it and move on. Easy and simple.

Ash also realized that a lot of how Misty was probably came from some form of self defense system that she had developed over the years of being the youngest of three older and much more beautiful sisters. Misty was definitely cute and attractive in her own way but Daisy, Lily and Violet were three rare beauties that were hard to beat. Not to mention they were also very talented with their water acrobatics, had great senses of style, were very athletic and they were also smart in their own ways. Despite their almost constant infuriating use of the word 'like' in every other sentence they spoke.

Ash knew that Misty probably spent her whole life being the black Mareep of the bunch and because of that, she probably spent a lot of time trying to find something that was just hers to help her stand out from her sisters. Being somewhat loud, outspoken and aggressive to a fault was probably part of the coping mechanism she had created to prevent being eclipsed by her sister's shadows.

The Pallet native figured that Misty would find her own true personality eventually and someday catch up to her sisters in every way, even beauty. Until that time came though, he understood that Misty would probably remain how she was now and lash out at times to deal with her insecurities.

Still though, he was her friend and he would put up with every bad quality she possessed so she never had to feel left out or alone while she was with them. Who knows, maybe traveling with them all would help Misty find her own self and become more at peace with who she was?

To tell the truth, if he was totally honest, had he not ever met Giselle and it were just he, Brock and Misty, he could have actually seen himself dating the redhead. He had no doubt he could put up with her mood swings and violence and even calm her down when the time called for it so why not? Either way though, he had met and was now with Giselle and he wouldn't change that at all.

Ash shook his head then from the thoughts of the three very attractive Sensational Sisters that were now starting to swim through his head (no pun intended) and decided to change subjects so his mind would stray no further. "Hey guys, why don't we get some sleep now so we can get up early tomorrow? I want to prepare my Pokémon as best as possible for the match."

Receiving nods of agreement, each of them took turns using the bathroom and getting ready for bed until they were all finally done and ready for sleep. Brock brought up something then that they were all wondering about but were reluctant to speak on, "Hey umm... how are we going to work out bed arrangements exactly?" He asked somewhat awkwardly.

Ash answered instantly, "Giselle and Misty get the two beds and you can have the last one Brock. I'll sleep on the floor," He said while going over to his pack to retrieve his sleeping bag.

Just as Brock and Misty were about to protest him sleeping on the floor, Giselle spoke up somewhat shyly. "Umm... Ash?"

He turned to her. "Yes Giselle?"

The girl appeared slightly red at the cheeks as she played with the bottom of her black sleeping shorts. "Why don't you and I just share a bed?" She suggested with a very visible red dusting on her cheeks now.

Brock, Misty and Ash all looked equally stunned by what she suggested. Brock looked simply stunned, Ash appeared as though he hadn't heard correctly and Misty looked extremely jealous at the thought of Giselle cuddling up to Ash in bed.

The raven haired trainer shook his head then and asked, "Err... what was that Giselle? I don't think I heard you right," He said while picking at his ear.

Giselle rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Ash! Its not like we're going to do anything, just sleep! Besides, you're my boyfriend and I'm your girlfriend, it won't be weird!" She insisted with her arms crossed as she sat on her knees on the bed.

Ash thought about it for a minute and then realized that there truly would be nothing wrong with it. It wasn't like they were going to be having sex after all and besides, even if they wanted to, Brock and Misty would in the beds right beside of them.

Coming to his conclusion, Ash smiled and nodded. "Yeah you're right Giselle, its just sharing a bed, nothing worse than that. If you really wouldn't mind then I would love to share a bed with you. Thank you," He answered with a charming smile that brought a rather shy one from her.

Brock and Misty just chose to remain silent, seeing as though there really was nothing wrong with Ash and Giselle merely sleeping together and also because it wasn't their business what the two of them did. Hell they were all sleeping in one room regardless of who bedded with whom so it didn't really change anything and besides, they all slept so close together anyway when they camped outside that sharing a bed seemed of little consequence.

After they were all fully ready and prepared for sleep, they slipped under the covers of their beds and Ash turned off the light. He then navigated his way back to the bed he was going to be sharing with Giselle by using the moonlight that was shining into the room from the two windows as his light source.

Once he arrived at the bed, he looked down and saw Pikachu already curled up asleep at the foot of it. He smiled and then looked up to see Giselle already settling herself under the covers. Ash carefully slid in next to her and settled himself a healthy distance away so she had plenty of room and didn't feel smothered. They both said their goodnights to each other afterwards and then closed their eyes to sleep.

Not even ten minutes later, Ash was already very close to being fully asleep when he felt Giselle poke him. He ignored it since he figured it was just her doing something in her sleep but then he felt again. He opened his eyes and heard her whisper to him, "Ash? Hey Ash are you awake?"

The boy turned around until he was staring into the eyes of his girlfriend. "Hey Giselle what's up? Can you not sleep?" He asked concerned.

She shook her head and drew the blankets up to her chin closer. "No, I'm cold. This room is really chilly and these blankets don't do the best job in keeping you warm..." She shivered and Ash frowned.

Acting on his first instincts, he gently took her by the shoulders and pulled her in until she was flush against his body. Giselle seemed to go stiff for a moment as she looked at him in surprise, "Ash, what are you doing?"

He smiled at her and just wrapped the blanket around them both. "I'm not about to let my girlfriend go cold when there's something I can do about it. Besides, we're just going to sleep and nothing else is going to happen besides that. Are you okay with that?"

Giselle felt Ash's warmth radiate off of him and a smile crossed her lips at his caring concern for her. She began to feel much warmer with Ash's body heat soaking into her and her eyes started to grow heavy. "Yes Ash, I'm okay with this. Thank you for being so concerned for me..."

Ash just smiled and held her tighter. "You're very welcome. Goodnight Giselle."

The sleepy girl merely gave a tired and muffled reply in return before she went silent, Ash assuming she was already fast asleep. He smiled to himself again before his own eyes started to feel heavy. Eventually, the couple both entered into the world of dreams together as the moon continued to filter it's calming lunar light into the otherwise desolate and cold room.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

The next morning found the young group of friends walking through the now awake and slightly active town. It was right at seven in the morning and the dew from last night still hung in the forest canopy and on the ground. Even though it was daylight out, the town still looked less than joyous. Oddly enough, the fog seemed to be something that was ever present even if only slightly during the day as well.

The town was definitely well maintained once one was able to see it with proper lighting and it really wasn't all that big. Maybe comparable in size to Kaston Village that Ash and his friends had went to so he could win his Nature Badge, only slightly smaller.

Ash had awoken that morning at five o'clock sharp and then he and his Pokémon had their usual morning training session just outside of the town in the forest. They had managed to find a small clearing and it served it's purpose over all. The training hadn't been so much intense as it was just a time to warm up and also for Ash to instruct his Pokémon on the upcoming battle, give them an uplifting speech and also to hash out a few final details and need to know info on Dark-Type Pokémon.

After that, they had went back to the inn to find that it was already open and that his friends were up and waiting for him in the kitchen where Brock was already preparing breakfast. The inn keeper was just as unpleasant as ever and made it a point to complain about all manner of things, which the group simply ignored and humored politely.

After breakfast and they had all cleaned up, gotten ready and Ash restored his Pokémon's energy as best as he could (since there was no Pokémon Center in Shadows Hallow) they left the inn after paying the rude innkeeper. The four of them all chipped in to pay for the night stay and on the way out the door, each of them could swear they saw a happy gleam in the old grouch's eyes at finally seeing them go. The feeling was mutual enough though; none of them liked him nor he them.

As they made their way through the town and saw the people going about their daily routines, they were all equally as struck by just how unfriendly the townspeople were. It wasn't so much that the people had been rude, in fact just the opposite since literally no one talked to them, as it was just plain out coldness. The people of the town made no secret of translating through their eyes and cold stares just how much they didn't want the outsiders in their town and the message had been received loud and clear.

Ash managed to coerce the location of the gym out of a man who had been sweeping the front porch of his house but that was as far as they had got in communication with any of the people. The man's directions to the gym ended up taking them all the way to the end of town where the main road picked back up and went into the forest again. The only difference between the road (more like shabby path) that lead into the town and the one that lead out of it was that there was a two way intersection a short ways onto it.

The one way lead deeper into the forest away from town and the other way went onto a much more well trodden path that headed into a lighter section of the woods. Taking the left path, since that was the way the man told them to go to reach the gym, the four friends made their way into the shallower section of the forest behind the town.

After a short time of walking, they came out into a rather spacious clearing that had a large, almost shrine looking building set up in the center of it and looked very similar to a cross between a prayer shrine and small warehouse. The building also looked to be in need of a few cosmetic repairs and the official seal of the Pokémon League above the door appeared to be somewhat faded.

Ash and the others approached the building and after taking in it's appearance, they walked up the few steps there were to the porch and stood in front of the door. Ash looked at his friends one last time and after getting an encouraging nod from them, he knocked on the door. They waited for several moments until the old wooden door eventually creaked open and allowed them entrance.

The four young friends stepped inside and the first thing Ash noticed was how dark and gloomy everything looked. The entire building was like one massive room that resembled the inside of a warehouse down to an almost perfect 'T'.

There were four wooden pillars on each side of the building that kept the ceiling up, large glass windows that were faded from grime and dirt stretching out on both walls and the general interior of the building looked to be mostly wooden rafter ceilings and concrete walls/floors. There were a few overhead headlamp lights that stretched from one end of the building to the other and at the farthest end away from Ash and the others, a lone door stood against the distant wall that apparently led back into some other room.

As Ash stepped forward, the lights in the gym suddenly came to life and lit up the building in an eery glow of sorts. Now that the lighting was better, he could see that the battle field was stretched out directly in front of him and took up most of the gym floor. The traditional white marking lines were painted inside of the ring with the Pokémon League symbol emblazoned in the very center.

The back door opened up a few moments later then and an older man stepped through. He walked quietly out into the light and Ash was able to get a good view of him. The man looked to be well into his sixties, had a long white beard stretching down to his stomach and similar length white hair that stretched down to his shoulders.

He was bald in the center of his head however and his face itself looked to be rather aged and wrinkled, a definite sign of the many years he had lived. He wore a black, almost blue robe with a black undershirt, black belt to keep his robe tied together and sandals on his feet with white socks. His hands were up within the long arm folds of his robes.

The old man walked out until he was standing in the trainer's box on his end and eyed Ash and his friends with a critical gaze. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke in a gruff and haggard voice. "You kids here to challenge my gym?" He asked bluntly.

Ash was the one to answer him, "Yes sir, I am the one that's here to challenge your gym. My name is Ash Ketchum and we have traveled a long way here to Shadows Hallow purely for the sake of finding this gym," He answered in a polite and respectful tone.

The old man crossed his arms and raised an all white eyebrow. "Did you now? Well I have to say I am surprised. Not many people pass through this town and those that do are most of the time just lost. I seldom get challengers here at my gym, regardless of the fact I've not been here for too long. This is a town that takes the people here a long time to warm up to you but I like my privacy and quiet so it suits me just fine," He explained.

Ash smiled. "Yeah I had a feeling that there was more to this town than met the eye but I just chalked it up to the locals not liking outsiders for whatever reason. We arrived late last night and had to stay at the inn here in town. Who I'm guessing was the town gate guard guided us there after we arrived and neither he nor the manager of the inn was very... talkative. Even when they did speak I could tell they weren't happy that they had to deal with us."

The old man let an aged smile cross his lips. "Ah so you must have met Jim and Harry eh?" He chuckled slightly which sounded like an engine that hadn't been started in awhile. "Nice guys those two, once you get to know em' of course. They may seem like a couple of hard asses but once you get to know them they're actually two of the nicer ones here in town."

Ash and his friends all shared a look at this. If the two men they had to deal with last night were the friendly ones then none of them wanted to meet the unfriendly townspeople. The old man chuckled again before addressing Ash once more, "Well kid I'll give you this, if you and your friend crossed through that forest, let alone at night, just to get here and challenge my gym... you've apparently got guts.

To tell the truth, ever since I first came here from Johto and opened up my gym, I haven't had one trainer come and challenge my gym on purpose. Its always been because they got lost in the forest, managed to find the town and then heard about my gym while resting up. They've all come to try and beat me but unfortunately..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "They've all fallen short."

Ash nodded. "Yeah that's what the guidebook on gyms of the Kanto region said about this gym. That you've only been here for a short period but in that time, no one has managed to defeat you."

The man smiled vaguely. "Ah so you studied up before coming here I see? Smart, quite smart indeed. A talent that all of my other challengers has lacked to possess I'm afraid. The only gym badge I've given out so far was to a boy with a Cubone that found the place and challenged me. He didn't win but he had determination, he and his Pokémon both.

They wouldn't take defeat for an answer and kept coming back to challenge me over and over again. I dare say they impressed me with their resolve to not give up and after our fourth match, the best one we had, I awarded him the badge. Sometimes showing personal value over victory is worth more than a hundred wins combined," He said sagely.

Ash smiled at those words. "That sounds exactly like something my mentor back home would say and I would have to agree with both of you. While winning is great, strengthening the bond between oneself and their Pokémon, growing stronger in both body, mind and spirit and learning how to be better as a trainer and person can be more important than simply winning a match."

He bent down and rubbed Pikachu behind the ears. "I battle because I want to become closer to my Pokémon, understand them more and help them realize the true potential they hold." Ash looked back at the man as he stood up, Pikachu looking quite happy now. "So I agree with you sir and I hope I get a chance to battle that trainer someday."

Ash's words obviously impressed the older man because he smiled and sized the boy up. "Call me Walt kid and wise thinking for a kid your age. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders!" He smirked then before continuing. "I trust since you've read up on my gym you know about the type of Pokémon I use correct?"

The boy nodded. "Yes I do. Dark-Type Pokémon. A type not currently found in the wilds of Kanto, supposedly, but known for a fact to live in Johto. I've been preparing for this match Walt and my Pokémon and I are going to give it our all. If you accept our challenge of course."

Walt guffawed slightly and then looked back at Ash with a certain spark in his eyes. "Yes young man, I do accept your challenge and I hope you're prepared because I'm not going easy on you!" He pulled out a Pokéball from inside of his robes. "I may be old but I'm still spry! Referee, get out here!" He shouted.

Not even ten seconds after, the back door opened up again and an official Pokémon League licensed referee came running out onto the field. He was dressed in the standard referee uniform of shoes, long black socks, black shorts and a long shirt with the Pokémon League symbol etched onto the front of his left chest. This referee in particular's shirt was black.

The somewhat nervous looking ref practically bounded over to the ring and took a stiff position. "Yes sir Mr. Walt sir!"

Giselle, Misty and Brock all shared looks. "That Walt must really have his referee on a strict command huh?" Misty whispered to the others.

Brock nodded. "Yeah the guy looks like he doesn't even know the meaning of the word 'relax'."

Giselle snickered. "Some good training!"

The referee raised his hands up. "This will be a three on three Pokémon battle between Walt of the Shadows Hallow Gym and-" He stopped for a second and got Ash's full name before continuing. "Ash Ketchum the challenger! The match will be over whenever either side loses all of their Pokémon first. This match has no time limit and only the challenger is allowed substitutions. Are both opponents ready?" He looked between them both.

Both Ash and Walt nodded. Walt with a grin on his face and Ash looking determined.

The ref nodded. "Please choose your first Pokémon."

Walt enlarged the Pokéball in his hand. "Okay young man, I'll go first!" He threw the ball up into the air. "Murkrow, I choose you my old friend!" He shouted as the ball burst open and the Dark/Flying-Type Pokémon came flying out onto the field with a loud cry of, "Krow!"

Ash smiled. "A Murkrow eh? I figured that would be a possibility. So... I'm gonna go with someone you probably wouldn't expect." He then pulled out his selected Pokéball and murmured a few inaudible words of encouragement to it before tossing the ball out onto the field. "I need your will and strength... Bulbasaur!"

The Grass-Type Pokémon came forth from his Pokéball silently with fierce and watchful eyes that were locked into unwavering focus on the upcoming battle at hand. Murkrow never leaving his sight as it flapped around with it's somewhat mischievous face still seeming as though it was grinning.

Giselle seemed taken aback. "What?! Bulbasaur? But Grass-Types are weak against Flying Pokémon!"

Walt merely smirked. "Interesting choice young man. I know that you have to be aware of the weakness your Bulbasaur will have against my Murkrow."

Ash merely nodded. "We are much more than what simple type advantage and disadvantages may label us as Walt," He replied coolly.

The old man merely laughed. "Then lets see how far that confidence will take you! Murkrow use Peck!" He shouted.

Murkrow instantly shot down at the field heading straight for Bulbasaur with it's beak extended out and glowing brightly. Ash waited calmly with his arms crossed, Bulbasaur mirroring his trainer's relaxed posture as their opponent came hurdling at them. Just before the Dark-Type could get too close, Ash shouted, "Bulbasaur use your Vine Whip in double form and root yourself!"

The Grass-Type quickly brought out the vines from within his bulb and brought them together until the position he held them in resembled a club or bat. With a vicious swing as he rooted himself to the ground, Bulbasaur swung his joined vines at the Flying Pokémon and connected right on the side of it's beak. Murkrow's downward ascension mixed with Bulbasaur's powerful swing with his thick vines caused Murkrow to be batted away from him and tossed back up into the air.

Murkrow rolled upwards with a cry of surprise and Ash capitalized on it. "Now use your Razor Leaf in a cyclone formation to swarm and blind Murkrow!"

Bulbasaur called out his name and then sent dozens of razor sharp leaves at the still recovering Murkrow who looked to be somewhat dizzy from the roll. Walt watched in confusion as instead of the leaves making contact with his Pokémon, they instead swarmed all around him at different angles. Bulbasaur rotating his body and controlling the leaves trajectory into flying around Murkrow in an almost cyclone fashion. The leaves couldn't control themselves obviously but their creator's careful control of where they went almost made it look like they were actually forming a cyclone by illusion.

Murkrow looked at the wall of leaves circling around it and tried to find a way out as Ash called again, "Bulbasaur, run at that pillar and use it as a springboard to reach Murkrow!"

His Pokémoj took off like a little bullet towards the nearest wooden support pillar and jumped onto it with all four feet. He then quickly launched himself off of it with a powerful thrust of his legs straight up into the air towards Murkrow. Walt saw the now airborne Bulbasaur getting closer to his Pokémon and commanded, "Murkrow to the side! Watch out, fly away!"

Murkrow turned it's head to the side but it was too little too late as Bulbasaur passed through the ring of leaves that he had kept going the entire time had been moving. The Grass-Type impacted with the Dark/Flying-Type in a hard head ram and caused it to cry in pain with a loud, "Murkrow!"

Just as Bulbasaur passed by Murkrow, he turned in mid-air and wrapped his vines around the reeling bird Pokémon. He then cinched his vines together tightly after constricting his opponent and flipped in a fast turn as he started to fall towards the ground. His vines followed him in the rotation as Murkrow was spun in the air. Just before Bulbasaur hit the ground, he twisted his body again and released Murkrow towards the ground with a fast whipping motion.

Bulbasaur managed to land back on all four feet while Murkrow impacted the ground with a loud crashing sound. A dust cloud shot up into the air from where Murkrow had landed and Walt gritted his teeth in frustration, managing to keep his calm regardless of the situation.

The dust cloud cleared away and showed Murkrow struggling back to it's feet. A few bruises and dirt covered it's feathers but it still looked ready to battle regardless. It's eyes were locked onto Bulbasaur in a furious glare.

Ash didn't think the last attack would take Murkrow out and remained prepared for the Dark-Type to try and retaliate with a vengeance. He called out to his Pokémon then, "Bulbasaur, stay focused and sharp. This battle isn't over."

Bulbasaur nodded. "Bulba!"

Misty took in a breath. "That was a great combo Ash came up with but they really need to be careful now."

Giselle agreed. "Yeah that's one tough Pokémon."

Brock crossed his arms. "Murkrow hasn't used any of it's Dark-Type attacks yet so I hope Ash stays on his toes."

Back on the battlefield Walt merely nodded. "That was a good one Ash, very clever indeed. We're far from done though!" He pointed towards Ash and Bulbasaur. "Now Murkrow use Haze!"

Ash narrowed his eyes and prepared himself while his friends looked nervous. "Here it comes!" Misty said with anxiousness in her voice. "Watch out Ash!"

Murkrow arched it's body and spread it's wings out as it cawed loudly. It's eyes glowed red as a dark mist started to exude from around it, slowly spreading out until the entire battlefield became shrouded in a thick layer of black mist. Ash's eyes roved over the haze as he called into it, unable to see his Pokémon now. "Bulbasaur I need you to listen to me! Don't get psyched out by the haze okay? Just because you can't see doesn't mean you're helpless. You have other senses remember!"

Walt laughed from his side of the field. "Nice thinking Ash but its a whole different thing to know something and then put it into practice!" He laughed again. "Now... Murkrow use Wing Attack on Bulbasaur!"

Since Murkrow was a Dark-Type Pokémon, it could see clearly through even the darkest of conditions and the haze surrounding the field was nothing for it to handle. It's wings glowed brightly through the haze and it then charged at the grounded form of Bulbasaur down below, who was still struggling to see through the haze.

The Flying Pokémon impacted with Bulbasaur hard and sent the Grass-Type sprawling backwards. Unaware of the attack, Bulbasaur could only cry out as he was struck hard by the powerful wings.

Walt yelled again, "Wing Attack once more Murkrow! Keep it up!"

Murkrow flew back in again, completely uninhibited by the thick haze as it struck Bulbasaur from behind again. It repeated this process over and over again, hitting Bulbasaur from all sides who never had a chance to right himself before getting attacked again. Right after one of it's last Wing Attacks, Walt commanded, "Murkrow follow it up with Night Shade!"

The Dark/Flying-Type came out of it's last attack and did a flip in the air before speeding straight at Bulbasaur, who was now struggling to get up after having taken several super-effective Wing Attacks head on. Murkrow's eyes glowed red then before a beam of the same colored energy shot out of it's eyes and struck Bulbasaur right in the side, sending the Grass-Type skidding back across the floor on his stomach.

Walt then began ordering Murkrow to use a combination of Wing Attack and Night Shade on Bulbasaur, who was completely defenseless to do anything because of the haze. Ash could only stand outside of the haze and listen as he heard his Pokémon get hammered over and over again with attack after attack, unable to defend himself. The young trainer remained calm the entire time though, keeping his head level and nerves in check as he thought over all kinds of possibilities to help his Pokémon out of the tight spot he was in.

On the sidelines, the others were watching the battle with nervous excitement. Brock crossed his arms and stared intently at the battle. "This is bad... if Ash doesn't find someway to get rid of that haze then Bulbasaur is finished."

Misty looked worried but Giselle shouted over to her boyfriend, "Come on Ash! I know you can think of something to get Bulbasaur out of this mess! Just think!"

Ash heard his girlfriend but his brain was already running ten different scenarios in his head all at once like a high-speed computer as he searched for the best possible strategy.

Finally, after hearing Bulbasaur cry out from another attack, an idea came to him. He then shouted into the haze, "Alright listen to me Bulbasaur! I know you're tired and I know you're hurting right now but you've got to pull it together and focus on what I'm about to tell you to do alright? Can you do that buddy?!"

Bulbasaur heard his trainer and stood back up again, regaining his composure as he called back, "Bulbasaur!"

Ash smiled, Bulbasaur was definitely a trooper, that there was no denying. "That's what I'm talking about! Okay, I want you to try and hear where Murkrow is at and then send a Stun Spore in that direction!"

Bulbasaur did as instructed and shut his eyes while focusing his hearing. He listened intently and just managed to catch the flapping sound of Murkrow's wings. As soon as he heard it, he released a strong dose of paralyzing powder from the bulb on his back in the direction he heard the flapping.

Ash yelled again. "Now bring your vines out and start rotating them in a funnel like rotation around the spore you just released, do it now!"

The Grass-Type quickly pulled out his vines and hoisted them up into the air before spinning them around in fast circles. This created a sort of makeshift whirlwind that swirled around the spores that were just released. This concentrated burst of wind gave a considerable speed boost to the loose spores and sent them flying in the direction Murkrow was in at a much faster rate.

Walt was able to see the sparkles of the spore through the haze and knew they were heading right towards his Pokémon. He then shouted out, "Murkrow dodge those spores and use Night Shade to blast them apart!"

Murkrow quickly obeyed and flew to the side before aiming his eyes in the direction of the spores. He unleashed another Night Shade at them and the dark energy blasted them apart upon contact. Just as Walt thought they were out of the woods, Ash called out again. "Bulbasaur do the same thing but this time use Sleep Powder!"

Bulbasaur quickly repeated the combo and Walt, confused as to why they were doing this, ordered his Murkrow to do the same thing as before again to avoid it. No sooner did Murkrow break apart the Sleep Powder with Night Shade though and Ash was already ordering Bulbasaur to do the same thing again but with whatever spore attack of his choosing.

This went on for a few minutes with Ash giving strange directional commands to Bulbasaur. Like, "move left, now go!" and "slide back, then to the right and again!" Walt was horribly confused as to why they were going about such a strange and seemingly desperate attack strategy and he chalked it up to just that; panic and desperation. Which disappointed him.

He couldn't see however that Ash's attention the entire time was shifting between the battle and one of the windows on the right side of the building near the battlefield. Eventually, Ash saw the attacks in the haze become more and more centered until he guessed that Murkrow was hovering just in front of the very window he had been eyeing the entire time. Figuring that Bulbasaur was most likely directly in front of Murkrow, if his directional commands worked properly, he decided to implement the next phase of his plan.

He shouted into the haze, "Now Bulbasaur, from right where you're at do the same thing one more time and then jump back and turn left!"

Bulbasaur did as told and released another Stun Spore that he used his vines to funnel a gust of wind at, which propelled it towards Murkrow much faster. While the Dark-Type was being commanded by it's trainer to do the same counter again that they had been using, Bulbasaur hopped directly back a few feet and then turned left. The whole time up until he now he had been moving blind and only moving where Ash told him to.

Once Ash heard Bulbasaur land from his jump, he approximated that his Pokémon would now most likely be in the center of the battlefield. Lined up with both he and Walt and non-coincidentally, two windows of the building on his left and right.

Ash then quickly yelled out, "Now use Razor Leaf and shoot them directly to the right and left Bulbasaur!"

The Grass Pokémon did so without question and fired off a barrage of leaves to both of his lateral sides. Ash watched with baited breath as he heard the razor sharp leaves fly through the air within the fog. Seconds later, he saw what he had hoped for. The leaves came bursting out from the right and left sides through the haze and went straight for the windows that were in their path.

The leaves made contact with the old, brittle windows and shattered them instantly, the sound reverberating throughout the gym. Walt shot his head up and looked around at the loud sound. "What the Heliolisk?!"

Ash smirked and then yelled out again, "Now Bulbasaur, use your vines in the cyclone motion and blow the wind around from the right and left directions!"

Bulbasaur did just that and started spinning his vines around in fast circles, creating another gust of wind that blew the thick haze around. This time however, with two of the windows smashed out, the haze finally had someplace to go. Which was outside.

Ash's friends and Walt watched in amazement and if you were Walt, frustration, as the thick haze started getting blown out of the windows until finally, the gym was clear and visible once more.

The young Ketchum was finally able to see his Pokémon and saw that even though Bulbasaur looked a little tired, he was still ready to go. A definite sign of payoff from all the intense conditioning training he did. To be specific, he was more bruised and scratched up from getting pounded by Murkrow's surprise attacks while in the haze than anything else.

Walt grunted. "Good use of environment and strategy Ash but that won't save you! Murkrow use Wing Attack!" He shouted.

The Flying-Type shot down towards Bulbasaur, slower than before since it was obviously getting tired from the long battle, but Ash smiled. Bulbasaur could now see clearly and because of that, he was much more able to get out of the way of attacks than before. Bulbasaur apparently felt the same way because just before Murkrow could hit him, he jumped out of the way quickly and completely evaded the attack.

Walt started commanding Murkrow to use moves like Wing Attack, Night Shade and even Confuse Ray but each time Bulbasaur would manage to jump, roll and dodge out of the way in time or even use his vines to deflect certain threats like the Wing Attacks.

Murkrow ruthlessly charged Bulbasaur down and continued attacking him with his strong moves but the grounded Pokémon had been well trained and it showed from the way he swerved, dodged and avoided each attack that was sent his way.

While this was going on, Ash took a small second to formulate another strategy since he knew that Bulbasaur could keep up the evasion for a time, being that his conditioning was better than Murkrow's. Despite the battered shape of his body, Bulbasaur indeed was still full of energy and this gave Ash the time he needed to find a way to end the battle.

Scanning his surroundings, Ash finally came up with a complex winning strategy (at least he hoped) as he called out to Bulbasaur, "Okay, now I want you to start using Leech Seed on every inch of the gym you can while dodging Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur started jumping from place to place around the gym, dodging Murkrow's attacks while occasionally using his vines to block or even launching leaves as a quick counter. Each place he would land, the Grass Pokémon would plant a Leech Seed pod from the bulb on his back and then move on.

Everywhere he landed Bulbasaur would plant the pods all around the battlefield and even shoot them up towards the ceiling and support beams while he was jumping.

As this seemingly senseless cycle continued, Walt continued to have his Pokémon attack at Bulbasaur. Visibly becoming frustrated at the evasive Grass-Type and unable to understand what Ash was having Bulbasaur do. "Listen kid, your Bulbasaur just can't beat my Murkrow so stop trying! The whole time I've been here my Murkrow hasn't lost once and that kid with the Cubone lost to this very same Pokémon each time we battled. Stalling won't do you any good so stop running!"

Ash merely smiled slightly. While Walt was focused on Murkrow hitting Bulbasaur and talking to him, the final stage of his plan had just been achieved. Unnoticed to all that weren't paying attention, Bulbasaur had just planted his own little 'garden' around the dark lighted gym.

His eyes gleaming mirthfully, Ash yelled out, "Hey Walt, might wanna take a look around your gym and see the nice little seeds my Bulbasaur has left for your Murkrow!"

Walt seemed confused. "What are yo-" He started but then stopped as his eyes traveled around the gym and noticed that there now several small seed pods scattered practically everywhere within his gym. There were some on the battlefield, some on the outsides of the ring, the walls, the support pillars and even the ceiling. The old man looked to be at a total loss. "What... what is this?!"

Ash smirked. "Oh you'll see..." He then called out to Bulbasaur. "Now Bulbasaur, run around Murkrow and use Razor Leaf!"

The small Grass-Type nodded and then took off running as fast as his battered body would go, all while sending dozens of sharp leaves at Murkrow. Walt could only command his Pokémon to dodge the many leaves that were coming at Murkrow much too fast from the many different angles Bulbasaur kept sending them from to try any kind of counter attack. Not to mention, he could also tell his Pokémon was getting too tired to use it's moves as fast and effectively as it had been.

Bulbasaur just continued to run around sporadically while firing off a near endless volley of leaves at the tired Murkrow, who was only able to dodge as best as it could to avoid getting hit. After a few minutes of this went on, Bulbasaur had ended up pushing Murkrow towards the middle of the ring until it was hovering directly over the center emblem of the Pokémon League. Right above where one of the seeds Bulbasaur had planted were currently residing as matter of fact.

Ash knew then that it was time. He called out quickly, "Bulbasaur, jump back now and activate your Leech Seed pods!"

What happened next was something that amazed everyone watching and could be related back to whenever Ash used a similar strategy, just on a much smaller scale, on one of Misty's sisters back at the Cerulean Gym with his Roselia.

Bulbasaur called out his name loudly as the bulb on his back slightly started to glow. Then, like a veracious act of nature, the many seed pods around the gym opened up and started sprouting their energy sapping tendrils all around the battlefield. The pattern in which Bulbasaur had planted them caused the seeds to open and spread their vines out into a dome shape. The vines connecting with one another and attaching tightly in intertwining formations. Unfortunately for it, Murkrow became trapped right in the center of the dangerous dome of energy draining vines and had nowhere to escape to.

In a panic, the bird Pokémon tried to fly through the vines only to get shocked by the energy sapping tendrils and sent spinning back into the center of the 'cage'. Bulbasaur had his body rooted to the ground and a concentrated look on his face as he controlled the vines and once they were fully armed and ready... he quite literally 'lit them up'.

"BULBAAAA!" He cried loudly as the bulb on his back glowed brightly and the vines making up the dome came to life. To Walt's horror and Murkrow's eventual excruciating pain, the energy vines began glowing bright red as their energy stealing properties latched onto the only living thing in the dome. Which was Walt's by now terrified Pokémon.

The entire gym lit up brightly as Murkrow was struck by countless bolts of energy sapping electricity. Brock, Misty, Giselle and Walt watched wide eyed as the makeshift bird cage drained it's feathered occupant of it's energy in copious, painful chunks. Murkrow screeched loudly in pain as it's energy was stolen from itself and left feeling as weak as a newborn fledgling.

Ash called over to Walt while the 'light show' played out. "Grass-Type moves may not be effective against Flying-Types in small, isolated instances Walt, but make it big enough and put enough power behind it and even the weakest Grass-Type move will take down the strongest Flying Pokémon."

Walt just listened to Ash and watched helplessly as his Pokémon was continually drained of it's energy. After what seemed like hours but was really only a few minutes, the vines finally stopped being able to get anymore energy from Murkrow and finished their draining of the poor Pokémon.

No sooner did the tendrils stop sucking energy and they instantly became inactive and started to wilt, quickly shriveling up and dropping down to the ground in a large heap. Murkrow hovered in the air for a second, it's body still trembling from the massive energy drain it had endured, before falling out of the air and crashing into the ground with a 'thud'.

Bulbasaur began absorbing all of the stolen energy into his body through the vines that were now lying on the ground and as he did so and his energy was restored, the vines began vanishing into nothing.

Once he was done, Bulbasaur stood in place looking completely recharged and restored. At least energy wise. The cuts, bruises and marks still remained from the battle and he was still tired but his energy had at least been replenished.

Murkrow just lay on the ground, still convulsing slightly from the internal thrashing Leech Seed had given it but with eyes that were now totally unfocused. Bulbasaur still stood ready and waiting in case his opponent somehow got back up but upon closer inspection, it was very clear to see by the swirls in it's eyes that Murkrow was out cold.

The referee raised his hand then. "Murkrow is unable to battle, Bulbasaur is the winner!

Walt was completely stunned, needless to say, that his Murkrow had finally been defeated but couldn't help but smile. He returned his exhausted Pokémon to it's ball and thanked it before calling over to Ash, "That was without a doubt incredible Ash. My Murkrow may have never been beaten before today but after a genius combination such as that... I'm not surprised it did. You and Bulbasaur worked together on a very deep level to pull out that win and you should be proud of yourselves! However..." He grinned. "I'm fully into this battle now as I haven't been in years! I'm far from done so get ready m'boy, hahaha!"

Ash nodded and smiled at his words. "Thank you Walt and I'm having a great battle too. Lets keep it up!"

The referee looked to Walt. "Will the gym leader please choose his next Pokémon?"

Walt looked at the ref sternly. "Calm down youngster I'm getting to it!" The ref clammed up right away, looking comically pale faced as he just nodded and gulped. "Y-Yes sir!"

Walt chuckled and stowed away Murkrow's Pokéball before pulling out another. "Lets see how you handle this one Ash!" He tossed the ball into the air with a fast chuck. "Misdreavus you're up!"

The ball snapped open and in a burst of light, the Ghost-Type Pokémon Misdreavus took to the field in a sinister manner as it hovered back and forth. The dark and sightly chilling form of the spectral Pokémon combined with it's appearance only made Misdreavus that much more of an unnerving opponent.

Ash sized his new opponent up before bending down and calling out to Bulbasaur, "You did great my friend but I want you to sit this one out."

Bulbasaur looked as though he wanted to keep battling since the energy he stole from Murkrow had revitalized him but he wasn't about to buck his trainer. He quickly ran back to Ash and the boy smiled as he rubbed his Pokémon head and bulb. "You were amazing Bulbasaur and pulled out one hell of a tough win. You should be very proud of yourself, I know I am. Take a good rest!" With those final words he returned Bulbasaur to his Pokéball and then stood back up.

The Pallet native then sized Midreavus up one last time while making the decision on who he wanted to use to battle it. A decision that couldn't be made lightly.

On the sidelines, his friends were all breathing a sigh of relief that Ash had managed to pull out the win with Bulbasaur. "Man..." Misty sighed. "That was wayyy too close!"

Giselle nodded in agreement. "No kidding! If I wasn't so young I would have been afraid of that last battle giving me grey hair!"

Brock hummed to himself. "Ash and Bulbasaur did a great job that's for sure but now he has to face down a Misdreavus and that's not a Pokémon to take lightly at all. This battle is far from over..." He stated wearily.

Back with Ash, he had just finished deciding on the right choice to battle Misdreavus with and knew without a doubt that 'he' could handle it. They had both trained hard together since Ash captured him so he had no doubts about his power level, ability to obey or even chance to win.

No... Ash's only fear was that maybe 'he' would be too much for Misdreavus and accidentally hurt it. His power level Ash had found out from training together was truly impressive and well beyond normal level. He could only pray to Arceus that he had worked with 'him' enough to help control that incredible power so the battle didn't end in Misdreavus's harm. Which even if it meant his surrender, Ash wouldn't let happen. No win was worth a Pokémon's well being.

He took another deep breath before choosing the correct Pokéball and whispering to it, "I know you can do this and I know you can control yourself. I believe in you." His eyes snapped open then as he threw the ball up into the air. "Go Gastly!"

In a bright flash of light, Ash's own spectral Pokémon appeared in a dark curtain of energy. The gym slightly darkened even more than it already was as the remaining windows rattled and a howling ghostly wind blew through the room. Two glowing eyes could be seen in the blackness as creepy, spine chilling laughter could be heard coming from within the shadows.

Ash nearly felt like facepalming at his Pokémon's overdramatic entrance and could only hope that it didn't set the precedence for the entire battle.

The shadows around the specter slowly formed into a shape until Gastly's full form could be seen floating in the air. He was smiling mischievously, almost crazily at Misdreavus and Walt. The powerful Ghost-Type laughed aloud in that strange voice of his then before speaking," Hmmmhahahahaha! So good to see the faces of my adoring public yet again!" His eyes shifted back and forth. "And where is my dear trainer on this fine evening hmm?" He spotted Ash, who was shaking his head with his hand over his face and grinned even wider.

"Ah there he is ladies and gentleman! Ash Ketchum, the greatest prodigal Pokémon Trainer that has yet to be seen and he who is destined to become the greatest Pokémon Master in this whole wide world! Give him a hand my lovely audience, oh do give him a hand!"

Using his powers, Gastly caused the sound of an applauding audience to be heard ringing throughout the gym before disappearing and then reappearing over his trainer's shoulder. "Tell me young master Ash..." A microphone suddenly popped into existence in front of Ash. "How does it feel knowing that YOU are soon to be the most loved and revered Pokémon Trainer there has ever been? Women will love you, men will want to be you and if you're lucky, you may even win a brand new car!" Gastly broke out into a riot at his own sad joke.

Ash merely sunk his head down lower and shook his head again. Gastly stopped laughing and his shifting eyes looked around the gym. "Hmmm... tough crowd to tonight I see ehh? I a-" He suddenly stopped as he just then noticed a lack of his fellow Pokémon training around him in an exhausted state with an equally exhausted, sweaty Ash shouting out commands to them all while working himself into the ground as well.

Gastly quirked an eye curiously. "Well this doesn't look anything at all like the training sessions I'm used to!" He looked at his trainer. "Trying something new are we Ash? As a matter of fact..." He then looked out the windows at the still shining daylight outside. Being a Ghost-Type and naturally not being a big fan of sunlight, even though Ash made him train in it in the mornings, caused Gastly to flinch back slightly. "This looks nothing at all like our nightly training setting!"

Gastly continued to rattle on and on with Ash trying to get his attention. "Gastly..."

"In fact I recall us just training not even hours ago this morning! Time can't have past that fast in my Pokéball unless I'm just starting to lose all conception of the blasted thing...

"Gastly," Ash tried again.

"I was just telling Pikachu this morning that we needed to up the ante on our mutiple opponent sparring! I mean yes Charmander has a fierce Flamethrower in him and of course I hate getting drinched by Squirtle's high powered water attacks but what good is it all if I'm not getting hit! Of course I'm not saying anything negative on the fact considering that I've got the scorch marks to prove how effective the training is but-"

A tick mark grew on the side of Ash's head. "Gastly please..."

"And you know what I was also thinking about was-!"

"GASTLY!" Ash shouted as he finally had enough and threw his hands in the air.

Gastly stopped rambling and grinned at his trainer. "Careful my dear trainer, don't want to bust a blood vessel now do we? What could possibly have you so wound up on this..." He looked out the windows again at the sunlight, something he was usually spared of for the rest of the day after morning training, being in his Pokéball and all. "Ugh! B-beautiful day?" His seemingly endless grin stretched out even wider as he tried to press his spectral cheek against Ash's. "Or did you miss me Ash? Come now, come now be honest!"

The raven-haired trainer sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gastly... this isn't our evening training, this is my gym battle against the Shadows Hallow Gym Leader remember? I told you and the others about it this morning after our training was over? That was the whole reason I was psyching you all up and if memory serves correctly, YOU were the most excited about the whole thing. Floating around with a giant banner and singing those- " Ash made air quations. "'Victory' songs to pump us all up! Remember? Ring a bell yet?!"

Gastly, if possible, grinned even more as he nodded in an overexaggerated fashion. "Ahh yes the gym battle! One of the many things we prepare for in our rigorous daily regimen yes?" He looked around at the gym again. "Rather drab yes... could use a good interior designer and maybe a few less windows to keep in all the darkness but all in all... not bad. I give it a seven out of ten !" He turned back to Ash. "So how's it going o' great one?" He asked with a mock bow.

Ash shook his head again but couldn't the deny the humor his 'funniest' Pokémon brought to the group. Gastly always knew how to make anyone laugh with his good natured jokes and pranks.

He just smiled slightly and answered his Pokémon, "It's going in anyone's direction as of right now Gastly. Bulbasaur managed to take down Walt's Murkrow, the gym leader, in a feirce and intense battle that they both gave everything in. Walt's next Pokémon is a Misdreavus and I've chosen you for this battle Gastly. You've trained extremely hard since you joined our team and I know you can do it. Are you ready?"

Gastly looked back at the battlefield and just stared at it with a rare look of seriousness on his face for a short time before looking back at Ash and grinning again before nodding. "Ash, I know I'm a prankster and love to tell my jokes but you are my trainer. Furthermore, you've shown me more kindness and care of any other human since Artiana. We've trained together and I swore my loyalty and abilities to you. I will gladly fight alongside you in any battle you participate in. That... is a 'ghastly promise'!"

The seriousness just couldn't last as Gastly began laughing yet again at his own joke, which made Ash merely shake his head at his Pokémon in amusement. Still, he was touched by Gastly's words and nodded his head as he smiled.

"Then Gastly... lets win this!"

The spectral Pokemon grinned maniacally before floating out onto the battlefield. Ash was about to call over to Walt and let him know that they were now ready but upon seeing the almost comical looks of pure and utter shock on the old man and Misdreavus' faces, he stopped and cocked an eyebrow. "Uhh... Walt? You okay over there?" He asked in concern.

Walt just gaped a few times like a Magikarp, his eyes as wide as could be as he stammered out, "A-A t-talking G-Gastly?! It... it talks?! He sputtered in disbelief.

Ash smiled sheepishly and chuckled a little. "Yeah well... this Gastly is kind of special and a little bit different from the rest of its kind."

Walt continued to gape as he looked from Gastly to Ash, back and forth with his Misdreavus doing the same, before finally getting a grip on himself and shaking his head. He then let a small, amused smile cross his lips before calling over to Ash again, "I would say that I'm honestly surprised concerning this strange turn of events but after battling you this far Ash and re-thinking it... I'm really not surprised at all. You're a trainer of many surprises that's for sure. Now... lets see if your Gastly can battle as good as it can talk!"

Ash smiled and shared another look with Gastly before preparing himself for round two.

Back with Ash's friends, all of them were sweatdropping with comical smiles on their faces. "Well..." Brock began. "That's Gastly for you I guess, always the joker. This should definitely be an interesting battle...

Misty gave a small, nervous laugh. "Yeah but I hope he doesn't let his obsession with making jokes interfere with his ability to battle."

Giselle looked from Gastly to Misdreavus. "I think he can do it guys. Didn't you hear what he just said to Ash? He'll do whatever he has to in order to help Ash win in any way he can. I know he jokes a lot and has a hard time being serious but this is his first time ever battling. I'm sure he can become serious just long enough to win this battle for Ash!" She stated with conviction as at the exact same time, Gastly turned around and started doing something before, in a poof of smoke, he faced forward again wearing a white battle gi with a red battle band strapped to where his forehead would be.

The never ending mischievous grin stretched even farther across his face as he chuckled. "Kiyaa! Let the battle begin I say, hahahaha!" He announced mirthfully as he erupted into more fits of laughter.

Ash's girlfriend dropped her head slightly as her eyes became two thin lines and she breathed out a sigh. "Well, it was wishful thinking at least..." She sighed exasperatedly. Brock and Misty merely facepalmed in accordance with the brunette's sigh.

The referee also sweatdropped at Gastly's actions before shaking his head and raising his hands. "Both opponents ready?" Getting nods from both Ash and Walt, he brought his hands down. "Then let the battle begin!" He shouted.

Walt was fast on the drawl immediately, "Misdreavus use Psybeam!"

The small Ghost-Type's eyes glowed almost instantly as it shot forward two beams of bright, yellowish light at Gastly.

Ash swiped his hand to the side. "Gastly prepare to dodge that!"

The eccentric Ghost Pokémon grinned as he saw the energy charge coming towards him and began bouncing from side to side as he levitated around in a mock performance of how a fighter would move in the ring.

Just before the attack could hit, he quickly swerved out of the way into a spin and chuckled as the attack missed it's mark. Walt shouted out for his Misdreavus to use Psybeam again and it did, firing it's attack yet again at Gastly who waited until the last second to float away from the attack.

The older gym leader grunted and shouted out, "Misdreavus use Mean Look followed by Astonish!" Misdreavus' eyes glowed once more and locked themselves onto Gastly, who simply snickered and looked right back. "Oh really? So you think a simple glare that's meant to keep me here in the battle will help you win? I think not!"

At the same time as he said that, Walt's Pokémon opened it's mouth and let out a loud cry that shook the gym. Which sent a sizable shock wave straight towards Gastly. Ash knew such an attack would be trouble and yelled up to his Pokémon, "Gastly avoid that sound wave!"

Gastly grinned again before fazing out of tangibility just as the shock wave passed over where he was floating. Walt and Misdreavus began scanning all around the gym with their eyes while searching for any sign of the now disappeared ghostly comedian. Suddenly, Walt shouted out, "Misdreavus behind you!"

The small, spectral Pokémon whipped around quickly and saw Gastly floating behind it with a wide grin on his face. He simply cackled, "Now now now little Dreavus! Must keep our guard up at all times you know!" He mocked with another cackle.

Misdreavus floated backward with a frustrated, irritated look on it's face as it's eyes narrowed angrily. Walt quickly commanded for it to use another Psybeam and it did just that, firing off a fast beam of psychic energy at Gastly.

The talking Ghost Pokémon didn't even have to have a command in order to swerve out of the way of the attack in a little too confident of a way. Walt, obviously becoming upset at his Pokémon being made a joke of, ordered his Misdreavus to start using multiple Psybeams on Gastly.

The smaller Ghost-Type began shooting beam after beam of energy at Gastly, who continued to dodge, weave, swerve and disappear out of the way of every attack that came his way. All while saying things like, "Oops, missed me!", "Aww so close!" and even "Close but no, try again!" Misdreavus clearly becoming more and more angry as it followed the taunting Pokémon around the gym and used multiple Psybeams in an attempt to hit it.

Ash shouted up to his Pokémon then, "Gastly! Don't become overconfident and stop taunting Misdreavus! That is NOT how you behave in a battle and if you're not careful you're going to get caught in a nasty surprise! Now get serious and stop fooling around!"

Gastly stopped and turned around to look down at Ash. He had that same cocky grin on his face as he started to reply, all while completely ignoring Misdreavus. At the same time, Walt took advantage of their overconfident opponent's attitude and said loudly, "Misdreavus use Psywave!"

Now, Psywave was an attack that varied in power depending on a multitude of factors. The more prevalent of those being emotions. The more emotional a Pokémon was feeling at the time, the more power or lack thereof was put into the attack. Tired of Gastly's taunting and making it feel foolish for not being able to hit him, all while cracking jokes, had made the smaller Pokémon very angry and all of that fury was poured directly into the next attack.

Misdreavus' eyes and body glowed a furious red color as it locked it's eyes on Gastly. A look of pure anger and vicious intent forming on it's face as it cried out loudly and released the attack. The very powerful red aura of energy it's body expelled now washing towards Gastly like a tidal wave.

The Pokémon in question was too preoccupied with talking to Ash to notice the attack hurdling it's way. Ash did though and he quickly shouted up to him, "Gastly turn around!"

Gastly merey chuckled again as he replied. "What's wrong? Is the little ghosty ready to fight me again? Hahahahaha!" He finally went to turn around. "Hope its packing mor-" His sentence was cut off suddenly as he finally saw the massive wave of red, pulsating energy come rising over top of him.

Gastly only had time to widen his eyes before the powerful wave of psychic energy crashed down upon him and smashed the no longer laughing Pokémon down into the ground with a loud smashing sound. Chunks of the floor flying up into the air as a dust cloud shot up and blanketed the area.

Walt wasn't about to lose the momentum they had just gained through their last attack falter though and quickly ordered Misdreavus, whom was still glowing slightly red with it's eyes blazing the same color and a fierce look still etched on it's face, to use Psybeam.

The dust cloud around Gastly finally started to clear just as the now shaky and slightly scuffed up Ghost Pokémon began floating himself back up slowly. Still shaken by the surprise attack with one eye squinted shut. Gastly looked up just in time to see a very angry and determined Misdreavus speeding towards him with eyes glowing bright red.

Gastly tried to move but his body was still too shaken. Misdreavus took that opportunity with no hesitation and fired off a powerful beam of psychic energy at Gastly, the attack hitting it's mark and causing the comedic Ghost-Type to cry out in pain as he was hit by the full brunt of the attack.

"Yahhhhh!" Gastly cried out in pain once more as he felt like his body was being burned by fire and struck by lightning all at once.

Walt kept going without pause. "Now use Confuse Ray Misdreavus!"

His Pokémon was on it in an instant and stopped the Psybeam before flying right up into Gastly's face. Ash's Pokémon was now convulsing slightly from the last attack as he glanced up and saw Misdreavus looking at him with it's eyes glowing yellow.

Gastly was pulled into the confusion inducing move as his brain suddenly felt fuzzy. His eyes and face then went totally slack as he came under the influence of the sensory effecting status move.

Ash watched as Gastly began attacking himself with several of his own moves while also smashing himself down into the floor, the walls and ceiling. Walt looked on with Misdreavus floating back a few yards away, merely watching as Gastly beat itself around.

On the sidelines, Ash's friends were starting to panic. Brock stepped forward slightly with a tense expression on his face. "This is bad! If Gastly doesn't snap out of that confusion then its over!"

Misty and Giselle resorted to cheering Gastly and Ash on even as the Ghost-Type continued to thrash himself around. Walt decided to take pity on Gastly and commanded his Pokémon, "Misdreavus, end this now with another Psybeam!"

Gastly was too badly confused to even have a hope in dodging as the beam of psychic energy just released from Misdreavus struck him in mid-air and began zapping the battered Pokémon with strong electric-like bursts of cerebral energy. Gastly cried out loudly in pain before the energy beam exploded and sent him smashing back into one of the gym walls, a large pile of rubble falling down on top of him in the process.

Brock, Misty and Giselle all gasped in fear for Gastly while Ash looked towards where his Pokémon was now buried under the pile of rubble. His face still remaining stoic and unreadable as his eyes bore into the chucks of concrete now burying Gastly.

Walt snorted and crossed his arms while Misdreavus finally seemed to calm down, the glow now leaving it's body. "Its over, Gastly's finished Ash! You need to teach your Pokémon to not be so cocky and overconfident, it will be theirs and your own downfall every time if you do not. Heed my words young one because that is exactly why your Gastly, no matter how unique it is, lost this battle!

Ash didn't respond. He didn't even take his eyes off of the spot where Gastly was now buried. He merely waited, waited for the dust cloud to finally lift. Once it finally did, everyone was greeted to a truly surprising sight.

"What?!" Walt gasped.

"I can't believe it..." Giselle whispered in shock as Misty and Brock could only nod while feeling similar emotions.

There, struggling in the rubble but still conscious, was Gastly. He was slightly shaking from where he lay and his gaseous body was scuffed up and dirty, but he was definitely still coherent. His left eye was cracked open slightly while his right one was shut. His breathing was also somewhat ragged but he continued trying to get up.

The Ghost-Type gave a shaky chuckle as he slowly began to float back up into the air. "Well... I have no shame in admitting that I deserved that. I was careless and became overconfident..." His left eye opened some more but his face was surprisingly not spread in any kind of a grin. Instead, he actually looked serious.

"That was not how you trained me Ash and I know it. You tried to warn me but I felt too untouchable because of my abilities. I never should have taunted my opponent like that and I payed for it... good and well too. For an old Pokémon like me that was a very foolish thing to do and I won't be repeating the same mistake twice."

He slowly raised up into the air until he was level with the shadows that that particular area of the building he was in were casting upon him. He was facing downward as a strange, dark aura began to leak out from around his already dark colored, spectral body.

"Ash..." He said in an oddly serious and clearly no joking voice. "I apologize for my actions and I hope you can forgive me. I have learned my lesson this day and shall not be taken off guard by my own doing again. If you will allow me..." He breathed out and in again slowly. "I would still like to help you win this battle."

Ash stared at his Pokémon with a steady gaze for quite a few moments, judging the seriousness and truth behind Gastly's words, before nodding. "If you truly mean it Gastly and now realize that overconfidence and not taking a battle seriously is never the attitude a trainer or Pokémon should have... then yes, I do want you to finish this battle with me. As long as you remain serious when battling from here on out and never... and I mean NEVER... taunt your opponents again, I won't punish you. I will let you continue to battle and we'll start fresh right here and now. Understood?"

Gastly merely nodded and kept his face down as the dark aura continued to build and fill the space around him. "Yes, it is understood," He said in a low voice as he raised himself a little higher into the air and addressed Misdreavus, "My apologies for the rudeness I have displayed in our battle thus far Misdreavus. A poor choice of action on my part and I assure you it won't happen again..."

Both Misdreavus and Walt were slightly thrown for a loop by Gastly's apology and seemingly instant change in personality but seemed to accept it nonetheless. Misdreavus nodding it's head in a display that proved it indeed accepted Gastly's apology.

The referee suddenly called out then, "Will either side please make your next move?"

Walt shook himself from his stupor at that same moment and resumed 'battle mode' as he called out to his Pokémon, "Use Psybeam Misdreavus, lets win this! That Gastly is on it's last legs!"

Misdreavus quickly fired off yet another Psybeam that went rocketing at Gastly. The Pokémon from Maiden's Peak merely hovered in place, not even looking up as he continued to stay within the shadows. The dark energy that was forming around him became thicker and thicker until it almost looked like a thick shroud. The gym chilled to a very minuscule degree and the overhead lights flickered as Gastly's own body flickered itself.

Just before the beam of energy could connect with him, Gastly finally looked up with his face showing one of unnerving ferocity and scary determination. His eyes were glowing an almost black color as he suddenly shot out two twin beams of extremely powerful looking black energy that ripped through the Psybeam like paper and sailed towards Misdreavus.

"What is that?!" Misty yelled at the sight of the strange beams of energy Gastly had just expended.

Walt, who was struck stupid by the sight of the powerful twin energy beams, could only shout at Misdreavus, "Get out of the way of that attack now!"

Misdreavus was just barely able to scramble itself away and float to the side as the black energy beams soared past it and broke through another one of the windows of the building. Impacting with and almost knocking down one of the trees outside.

Misdreavus turned forward again just as Gastly appeared in front of it, eyes still glowing black in a truly frightening way. Walt's Pokémon tried to open it's mouth and use Astonish but a black shield of energy suddenly came around Gastly and knocked the smaller Ghost-Type back, sending it skidding backwards through the air.

In a state of desperation, Walt ordered Misdreavus to start using any attack it could in order to take down Gastly as the nearly possessed looking Pokémon started chasing it all over the gym. Every attack Misdreavus used on Ash's Pokémon was simply knocked away or destroyed by different counter attacks Gastly would use by manipulating the black energy surrounding him.

This went on for several minutes with Misdreavus trying desperately to evade Gastly. Using every attack and strategy it knew to try and stop the other Ghost-Type that seemed to have gotten a power boost from Arceus only knew where. Gastly would use moves like shooting the twin beams of darkness from his eyes, using the dark energy around him as a shield and also manipulating what almost looked like shadows every now and again to try and swat at the quickly tiring Misdreavus.

It took awhile for him to figure out what was going on but Ash eventually managed to deduce that most likely, Gastly was just using enhanced versions of the moves he already knew. Like Night Shade as the twin beams of ocular energy and very possibly, Curse being what was manipulating the energy shield and shadow hands he was utilizing at random intervals.

After all, Curse was a move that worked differently for the Ghost-Type variety than any other Pokémon and further still, Gastly being part Ghost/Psychic-Type meant he had powers and abilities that they didn't even know of yet. It was very possible that Gastly's slightly angered and frustrated current state of mind that was brought on by his own arrogant foolishness earlier on in the battle when Misdreavus had temporarily bested him, caused some level of his inner mysterious powers to rise to the surface and that was what was causing his attacks to become so abnormally enhanced.

At least... that was Ash's working theory.

Eventually, during one of the occasions where Gastly had used another mega enhanced Night Shade and Misdreavus just barely managed to dodge out of the way, a new move suddenly made itself known. Gastly stopped and his eyes glowed pitch black again as the darkness around his body began to grow thicker and more prominent.

The windows of the building clouded over by some kind of black shadow as the gym descended into darkness that only the lights inside kept from making everything totally pitch dark. Then, out of the shadows around the gym, several copies of Gastly began appearing in large numbers. Misdreavus looked around at all of the Gastly's now surrounding it with wide eyes as Walt merely gaped in astonishment, completely baffled as to what was happening.

All of the copy Gastly's then began charging Misdreavus all at once, who started flying wildly around the gym in attempt to stay clear of them. No matter where it went though, there was just no reprieve. For every spot the worried Pokémon would go, three Gastly would seemingly come out of nowhere and launch some kind of attack at it.

Eventually, after flying around the gym for several minutes trying to find some form of refuge, Misdreavus stopped right in the center of the room and began valiantly trying to fight off all of the Gastly clones that came for it.

Walt's Pokémon fought and defended itself bravely from all of the copies that came it's way and attacked none stop at any who came even remotely near. Luckily for it, they vanished upon one single hit. Unluckily for it however, there was just too many Gastly clones and that meant Misdreavus kept getting hit by something at some angle it simply couldn't defend.

The real Gastly floated outside of all of the mess, controlling the clones with wispy tendrils of the dark energy surrounding it. The darkness shrouding Gastly was now so thick that one could only see his outline within it and the tendrils of blackness almost looked like arms as they thrashed around.

Ash watched on in fascination as the many Gastly clones began pushing Misdreavus father and farther up into the air until it was nearly touching the ceiling. It was at this point, finally, did Gastly enact the plan it had been forming.

Just as the last clone attacked Misdreavus, Gastly's eyes glowed again and they all just disappeared. Before Misdreavus could enjoy the break however, Gastly's eyes glowed again as the shadows on the ceiling seemed to come alive. Several hand-like tendrils of darkness reached down and grasped onto the stunned Misdreavus at blurring speeds. Wrapping it up tightly in a full body bind and then suspending it from the ceiling.

Gastly disappeared and then reappeared in front of Misdreavus with a ghost of a smile on his face within the darkness shrouding him. He floated back ever so slightly as his eyes started to glow black again. Walt knew what was coming after having seen it quite a few times in the battle up to now and shouted up to his Pokémon in panic, "Misdreavus you have to break free now!"

The small spectral Pokémon started struggling as hard as it could to break free from the shadows that held it but it was to no avail. The shadowy hands were too strong and Misdreavus was just too tired to fight effectively.

At that same time, Gastly unleashed the twin beams of black energy building in it's eyes and sent them speeding at Misdreavus. The smaller Ghost-Type could only watch with unhidden fear in it's eyes as the energy beams closed in upon it.

Then, in a dark pulse of crackling power, the enhanced Night Shade struck Misdreavus.

Walt's Pokémon cried out in anguish and pain as the dual beams of darkness sent jolt after jolt of mind numbing, icy-like electricity into it's body. The cries of Misdreavus continued to echo throughout the gym until finally, the energy beams stopped and Misdreavus fell towards the ground.

The Johto native Ghost Pokémon impacted the battlefield below with a loud 'thud' and then laid there in a small crater unmoving. The referee came over and looked down at the downed Pokémon who could only weakly mutter out, "Dreavus..." with swirls in it's eyes before raising his hand. "Misdreavus is unable to battle! Gastly is the winner!"

Walt took a deep breath before returning Misdreavus to it's Pokéball, thanking it in the process as he did so and shaking his head.

Gastly lowered himself down from the ceiling and as he descended, the darkness around his body slowly dissipated until it was no more. The blackness surrounding the windows also lifted and allowed more light to enter into the still dimly lit gym. The victorious Ghost Pokémon lowered himself to the ground and breathed out a sigh as the exhaustion of the fierce battle finally caught up to him.

Ash walked up to him and knelt down beside of his Pokémon, smiling. "Gastly, you did an amazing job. You overcame your cockiness and you didn't go overboard on Misdreavus. You really showed your merit today and I'm proud of you."

Gastly smiled tiredly at him. "Thank you Ash, your words mean much to me. Now, if its not too much trouble... I'm feeling awfully tired and would like a good rest in my Pokéball if its all the same to you."

Ash nodded and smiled again. "You got it Gastly. Take a rest and we'll find out what that dark energy you were controlling was later on, I promise. Sleep easy my friend..." With those words, Ash returned Gastly to his Pokéball and then stood up, facing towards Walt again.

Giselle let out a sigh she had been holding in. "Whew! Arceus that was too close! I was afraid Gastly was done for!"

Misty nodded, "Hmm hmm, so did I. Lucky that weird dark energy stuff came out and helped him at the last second or he might have been a goner!"

"Its not over yet you two..." Brock said, getting their attention. "Walt still has one more Pokémon left and I guarantee you it'll be his toughest one yet."

Giselle looked across the room at Ash and smiled. "Ash'll beat it, no matter what he'll win!"

Back on the battlefield, Walt remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking to Ash. "Well young man I have to admit... this has been the best battle I've ever had. Never, in all my time as a gym leader here have I been resorted to my last Pokémon. You have truly impressed me and I look forward to our last bout. Now..." He pulled out his last Pokéball. "Its time to finish it! Go..." He threw the Pokéball out onto the field. "Mightyena!"

The ball snapped open then and one of the more common Pokémon native to the Hoenn region- though very rare to see in Kanto itself- appeared on the battlefield in a flash of bright light. The vicious looking Pokémon raised it's head up and howled loudly to the ceiling, "Myaaaaa!

Ash nearly smiled at the chance of getting to battle a Pokémon from the Hoenn region and quickly went through his knowledge of the current species he was now facing before making his choice of who he was going to use for the last battle. He then looked down at Pikachu and smiled. "You ready pal? You're up!"

Pikachu just gave Ash a smirk and sparked his cheeks as he nodded. "Pika!" He bounded out onto the battlefield and stood in front of Ash, his posture showing that he was prepared and his face displaying nothing but seriousness and cold intent. Mightyena tried to intimidate Pikachu by raising his hackles up and growling at the smaller Pokémon but Pikachu just remained calm and collected, not budging an inch.

Brock smiled and nodded. "This should be a good battle. Pikachu and Mightyena. Ash knows that neither has a type advantage over the other so it'll be reliant entirely on skill and prowess in battle."

Giselle looked at him. "Umm... Brock? Doesn't Ash always battle that way, rather he's going with a type advantage or not?"

He nodded. "Well yeah but Ash still tries to plan his battle out before hand and even though type advantage really means very little as a whole in how a battle turns out in the end, it can't be denied that it definitely helps."

Misty raised a finger. "And besides, even if Mightyena did have a type advantage over Pikachu, I have a feeling Ash still would have used him."

The brunette shrugged. "Maybe..."

Back on the battlefield, the ref raised his hands and brought them down. "Let the battle begin!"

"Quick Mightyena use Shadow Ball!" Walt shouted without missing a beat.

The vicious Pokémon opened it's mouth and fired a ball of dark colored energy straight across the field at Pikachu. Ash adorned a serious expression on his face as his feet spread a little bit apart and he called out, "Pikachu to the left!"

Just before the ball of dark energy could hit him, Pikachu took a quick hop step to the left and the attack sailed right past his ear, the wind of it ruffling his fur as it crashed into the opposite wall. Walt grunted and commanded again, "Use Quick Attack combined with Shadow Ball!"

Mightyena took off in a burst of speed towards Pikachu and started firing multiple Shadow Balls at the electric rodent in fast succession. Ash gave Pikachu another simple command. "Pikachu, acrobatics!"

The Electric-Type dug his paws into the ground before shooting up into the air over the first Shadow Ball. He then began hopping, jumping, flipping and dodging each ball of energy that Mightyena discharged at him. All while keeping on the move himself so the bigger Pokémon didn't close in on him.

"Mightyena stop and use Scary Face!" Walt shouted.

The Dark-Type stopped running and firing Shadow Balls only to jump in front of Pikachu and leer at him with a vicious, snarling face. Ash was quick on the draw though and called out, "Pikachu block it with your tail and discharge a little Thundershock to make Mightyena back off!"

Pikachu spun around and covered his face with his tail to block out the sight of Mightyena's face and then charged a small electric attack and launched it. "Chuuuu!" He yelled as the electricity crackled around and struck at the pack Pokémon feet, causing it to jump back in surprise.

Walt gave another command then. "Mightyena use Bite and keep the pressure up on that Pikachu!"

Mightyena barked loudly before lunging at Pikachu and trying to bite down on him with his razor sharp teeth. Pikachu didn't need Ash's direction as he knew what to do next. He began swerving in and out between his opponent, expertly dodging each of Mightyena's attempts to sink it's teeth into his flesh. This went on for a few moments with Mightyena trying to get ahold of Pikachu and the smaller Pokémon just dodging out of the way each time.

Walt became frustrated and started to wonder why Ash wasn't ordering his Pikachu to use any attacks. Not wanting to waste time though, Walt commanded Mightyena to start using Agility to make itself faster in it's attacks.

This strategy seemed to work as the Dark Pokémon started moving much quicker as it continued trying to bite Pikachu. Ash simply called out for Pikachu to increase his speed some more and the next thing Walt knew, Pikachu was keeping up with Mightyena perfectly again. Knowing he needed to break the cycle, Walt shouted, "Now use Iron Tail Mightyena!"

The gym leader's Pokémon stopped and turned on it's heels instantly, it's tail glowing bright like steel as it swung the now iron-hard tail around. Pikachu was caught unawares by the attack and took the attack right to the face, launching backwards across the field.

Walt then ordered Mightyena to use Double Team and as Pikachu stood again, he found himself surrounded by a circle of snarling Mightyena. The white haired gym leader shouted at his Pokémon to start using Quick Attack combined with Bite. This resulted in all of the Mightyena charging in at Pikachu at different times with teeth bared and red eyes narrowed fiercely fierce.

Pikachu stayed in a battle stance the whole time while looking around himself in every direction, trying to sense out the incoming attacks. Ash called out to Pikachu from the trainer's box on where to dodge, move and counter whenever a clone would move in on him.

Still, despite all of his efforts, Pikachu was knicked, bitten and tackled a few times. Eventually, Ash was able to think up the best way out of the situation and yelled, "Pikachu jump up on the nearest Mightyena and then vault into the air before using Thunderbolt!"

The small yellow Pokémon nodded before shifting his gaze. Right as another Mightyena clone came charging in to hit him, Pikachu jumped up into air and onto the fake's back for just a second before then vaulting high up into the air. He spun around in mid-air before charging up and releasing a strong bolt of thunder with a loud, "Chuu!" His body glowing golden as the Thunderbolt hit the ground with enough force to crater it, all of the Mightyena getting hit in the process. The real one included.

While the original Mightyena cried out in pain at getting shocked, all of it's clones disappeared. Pikachu landed back on the ground and Ash quickly followed up by having him use Quick Attack followed by his own Iron Tail on the still recovering Hoenn Pokémon.

Pikachu took off in a blur as he jumped into the air and then smashed Mightyena in the side. The Dark-Type yelped in pain again as Pikachu turned around and jumped up, bringing his iron-like tail around and clobbering the bigger Pokémon in the face. Mightyena skidded back and shook its head to clear it of the sudden dizziness it felt before it then heard it's trainer call out for it to charge back in at Pikachu and try to hit him with either Bite or Iron Tail.

Ash told Pikachu to do the same thing and not even seconds later, both Pikachu and Mightyena were charging each other, clashing in mid-air with two Iron Tails which quickly pushed them apart. The two of them then jumped back at each other and started a close quarters combat fight of different attacks. Mightyena using Iron Tail and Bite and Pikachu using his own Iron Tail and head to try and land hits.

Both determined Pokémon clashed over and over again, each one landing the occasional hit in on the other. This went on for a few minutes until their trainers ordered them to jump apart. Then, at the same time, both Ash and Walt shouted, "Pikachu/Mightyena! Thunderbolt/Shadow Ball!"

The Dark and Electric-Type Pokémon charged up their attacks and ran at each other, both of them now showing the marks of battle. The two of them jumped into the air at the same time and released their attacks, once more at the same time, which rocketed towards their respective targets.

Pikachu and Mightyena were both still recovering from their high jumps and couldn't get out of the way in time from the attacks coming their way. Because of this, Mightyena was struck with a powerful bolt of Pikachu's electricity and howled out in pain as Pikachu was struck with the Shadow Ball head on and sent flying back across the gym, skidding and rolling on the ground before finally coming to a stop.

Ash and Walt watched as their Pokémon both struggled back to their feet, both of them looking scuffed up with Pikachu only fairing better due to the intense conditioning and resistance training he did daily.

The raven haired trainer found his brain flying at a thousand miles an hour as he started putting together a strategy to beat Mightyena with. It wasn't until he looked up at the ceiling for some reason in which he couldn't remember that inspiration suddenly struck him. He spotted the suspended lights hanging above the gym, giving the room what little lighting it did have and grinned to himself as it all fell into place.

He quickly called out to his first Pokémon, "Pikachu! Take off running towards those support pillars at the other end of the gym!"

Having learned never to question his trainer when he obviously had some type of idea, Pikachu did as told and started running towards one of the support pillars. Walt didn't know what was going on but didn't want to take chances as he knew by now how unorthodox Ash could be. With no hesitation he shouted, "Mightyena use Shadow Ball to stop that Pikachu!"

Mightyena barked before it began firing off multiple Shadow Balls at Pikachu, who kept running towards his target, all while dodging and weaving out of the way of the rain of Shadow Balls coming down upon him. Once he was nearing the pillar, Ash yelled out for him to stop, which Pikachu did. He then told him to wait until just before Mightyena's next Shadow Ball was upon him before jumping up and using Iron Tail to smash into down into the ground.

Walt saw Pikachu cornered against one of the support pillars and smirked before telling Mightyena to fire off one last Shadow Ball at him. The Dark Pokémon did just that and right as the ball of energy came hurdling at Pikachu, he crouched down and prepared himself.

Just before the Shadow Ball could hit him, Pikachu jumped up and flipped around before slamming his now steel hard tail into the ball of darkness. The Shadow Ball impacted the ground and exploded which sent the already in airborne Pikachu soaring even higher up until he was level with the rafters of the support beams.

Ash yelled out quickly, "Pikachu grab onto one of those beams now!"

The small but fierce Pokémon reached out just as he started falling and grabbed onto one of the wooden beams, pulling himself up until he was crouching on top of it. With Pikachu now more than twenty feet up in the air and Mightyena having no up after him, Walt growled in his throat. "Mightyena just use Shadow Ball up in the rafters until you catch that annoying little Pokémon!"

Ash grinned to himself again as the Dark-Type started firing off multiple Shadow Balls at Pikachu high up towards the ceiling. Pikachu was small and agile though so he was able to easily hop from rafter to rafter, avoiding each energy ball until he was practically dancing around the ceiling. Ash knew the next phase of his plan was at hand and so he ordered Pikachu to use Double Team.

The next thing to transpire was a truly unique sight as the entire ceiling became practically covered in yellow copies of Pikachu as they jumped around. Many of them were jumping from rafters, a few were climbing up higher and a few of them had even jumped down onto the lights hanging from the ceiling and grabbed onto the chains, hanging onto them like a Mankey. Walt eye twitched at the sight and finally reached his limit before commanding a very confused Mightyena to start using rapid fire Shadow Ball until he got rid of them all and hit the real one.

The quickly tiring Dark Pokémon started blasting Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball up at the ceiling, vainly trying to get rid of all the Pikachu. Several of them were hit and disappeared but even more of the wayward balls of dark energy would go off course and strike random spots. One of the unfortunate spots Mightyena kept hitting were the lights. Several of the Shadow Balls were flying directly up at where the lights connected to the ceiling and blasted the area around them, severely weakening the places that the chains connected to.

This process went on and on for several minutes with Mightyena exhausting itself in it's fruitless attempt to hit Pikachu. Ash kept his focus on the chains that connected the lights to the ceiling and once he was sure they were all weak enough, he called out to Pikachu, "Alright buddy, now use Thunderbolt and aim it in a straight arc right at where those lights chain to the ceiling!"

A chorus of "Pika!" Was heard as all of the copies of Pikachu charged and released Thunderbolt at exactly the points Ash told them to hit. The arcs of electricity hit the ceiling where the chains holding the lights up were connected to, which were already weakened by Mightyena's Shadow Balls hitting them, and caused the lights to snap loose. The chains broke free from the ceiling as the lights all started falling down towards the ground. They stopped a few feet away from hitting the ground though, still being held up slightly by the chains in the ceiling, but that wasn't the worst of it.

When the chains snapped and the ceiling where they were held up from broke apart, several wires up inside of the ceiling came down with it and fell towards the ground. This happened at several different places in the gym and now live electric lines, which were sparking in some places, draped down over the battlefield below like a jungle of very dangerous electric vines.

Luckily, Ash and all of the others were far enough away from the battlefield not to be in range of the electric lines but Mightyena was not so lucky. It was now trapped in one small spot, terrified to move anywhere because of the crackling electric lines that were now basically boxing it into a small area.

Walt could only look around himself in complete shock at what had happened to his gym in a matter of seconds. Electric lines hanging loose everywhere like some sick fun house and gaping holes in the ceiling. It was beyond comprehension now on just what insane idea the crazy yet brilliant young trainer before him had come up with and at the present time, he didn't really care if he won the match or not. He just didn't want to get electrocuted to death!

The only thing Walt wanted in that moment was to help instruct his terrified Pokémon on just how to get out of the dangerous situation it was now in without getting roasted. As it was, his mind was coming up to a complete blank.

Ash saw Walt's temporary lapse in coherent thought and took that time to shout up to his Pokémon, "Now Pikachu! Come down from the rafters and get ready to end this!"

Pikachu called out from the ceiling with a loud affirmative response as all of the copies of him began disappearing. Pikachu then jumped down from one of the high rafters he was on and grabbed onto one of the free hanging electric lines, swinging down to a safe height that he was able to jump from.

Pikachu then dismounted from the wire and landed on the ground right next to a cluster of sparking wires that zapped at his feet. The many electric lines around Pikachu sent their sparks flying onto his fur and lit up the powerful little Electric-Type's body, giving him an eery yet imposing appearance. Being an Electric Pokémon and possessing the rare ability Lightningrod meant that he could naturally stand amongst live electric wires all day long and it wouldn't bother him.

His eyes focused unblinkingly on Mightyena, who was looking everywhere in fear as the wires around it sparked and crackled. The only thing on Pikachu's mind at that time was defeating the Dark-Type once and for all and winning the match for his trainer and the rest of his teammates. That was all Pikachu cared for. His team and trainer was his family and Pikachu fought for his family. He wasn't going to hurt Mightyena but he damn sure wasn't going to take any pity on it just because it was a little afraid of some sparking wires.

Pikachu lowered himself down into a combat position and sparked his cheeks as he waited for Ash to give the final command that would end the battle.

On the sidelines, Brock and the others were shielding their eyes from the bright sparks the electric lines were giving off. Misty coughed from the smell of burnt wire. "What the hell was Ash doing?! Has he..." She coughed again. "Lost his mind?!"

Giselle kept her eyes covered as she responded, "I don't know why he did it but it definitely worked because Mightyena..." She coughed as well. "Is rooted in place and looks too scared to move a muscle!"

Brock also coughed as he shouted to be heard over the sound of the crackling electric lines. "Any Pokémon that wasn't an Electric-Type like Pikachu would be too scared to do anything! Those electric lines probably aren't carrying enough voltage to harm Mightyena like Pikachu could if he really put a lot of power behind his attacks but I'm sure the fear that those sparking electric lines induce would be enough to stop any non Electric-Type Pokémon in their tracks for awhile and I bet that's exactly why Ash did this too! To scare Mightyena out of being able to do anything else!"

Giselle had her ears covered slightly from the loud sound of the crackling electricity. "I sure hope that's why he did it and it wasn't just an act of insanity!"

Back on the battlefield, Ash raised his hand. "Now Pikachu... THUNDERBOLT!"

The battered up Electric-Type sparked his cheeks as he started growling in a low voice, "Pika..."

The arcs of electricity coming from his cheeks became greater as a yellow glow started to surround his body. "PIKA..."

Then, with a loud cry of "CHUUUU!" and a thrust forward of his body, a massive jolt of electricity was sent arcing across the ground as it rushed towards Mightyena. The Dark-Type could only watch with wide, scared eyes as it's fate came zapping at it with a fierce, loud crackling sound.

The Thunderbolt connected with Walt's Pokémon the next second and began electrocuting it ferociously. The power cables hanging around Mightyena were picked up on by Pikachu's electric bolt and this caused even more electricity to erupt out of the sparking lines and into the Dark Pokémon.

Mighteyna cried out loudly as the electricity coursed through it until eventually, the energy exploded and caused a large cloud of smoke to shoot up into the air. Walt, Ash and everyone else covered their eyes as the smoke filled the gym and the sound of the electricity after the explosion filled their ears. An almost hissing sound caused by the electrical discharge being heard echoing throughout the gym like it was getting amplified by a megaphone.

Once the smoke finally cleared out through the broken windows of the gym, everyone looked in Mightyena's direction to see the results of what had happened. The sight that greeted their eyes wasn't really that big of a surprise all things considered.

The Dark-Type Pokémon was laying flat on it's side with smoke coming off of it's singed fur. It's mouth slightly open and it's eyes nothing but swirls.

The referee, absolutely stunned since he knew what Mightyena's defeat meant, raised his hands up into the air and made an announcement that became the first he had ever made in such a way in that particular gym. "M-Mightyena is unable to battle, the winner is Pikachu! Since all three of the gym leader's Pokémon are now out, that means the match goes to challenger Ash Ketchum!"

Brock, Misty and Giselle all breathed a huge sigh of relief at the same time as Ash smile. Pikachu came running back up to him as the boy knelt down and took the small Pokémon into his arms. "Pikachu you did an amazing job! You fought Mightyena toe to toe as hard as you had to and gave it your all. I am very proud of you and I hope you are too." He started rubbing his slightly dirty and scuffed up Pokémon behind the ears as Pikachu smiled happily. He then gave Ash a thumbs up and replied with a loud, "Pi Pikachu Pi!"

Walt returned his unconscious Pokémon to it's ball and gave a small sigh before smiling a little bit. He called over to the referee to go and cut the power at the electric box a short distance away near the back door so the electric lines would stop sparking and after he did so, the older man walked across the battle torn gym floor towards Ash. He stopped in front of the boy and looked down at him.

Ash let Pikachu climb back up onto his shoulder before he looked at Walt and addressed him, "Hey Walt... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened to your gym. I know I was the cause of it because I got carried away and became so wrapped up in creating strategies to win that I-" Walt just stopped him with a raised hand and shook his head.

"No Ash please, you have no reason to apologize. You merely did whatever you had to in order to win the match for you and your Pokémon and furthermore, you showed just how brilliant you are at making strategies up on the fly that hardly no one could hope to prepare for. Hell, I doubt many others could even think up some of the battle strategies that you did today!"

The aged gym leader smiled sincerely. "You also showed that you and your Pokémon have a truly deep bond that reveals itself to it's fullest whenever you are battling together. You fought and overcame the overbearing darkness of this gym that no other trainer until now has managed to achieve and you did it with the trust and friendship that you obviously share with all of your Pokémon."

He paused then and scratched at his long beard. "Now as for the building itself, well... that's what Pokémon Gyms are made for! They get torn up and destroyed and you simply repair them. So don't you go feeling guilty for that one bit young man."

Ash nodded in understanding at Walt's words as the old man let another smile come across his wrinkled, bearded face. He chuckled a little before reaching into his robes and pulling out a small black case which he presented to Ash.

The seasoned older man then opened up the black case and revealed a lone gym badge resting on it's velvet surface. The gym badge was square in shape, colored a dark blue and had a single red dot straight in the center of it.

Walt took the shiny badge out and handed it to Ash. "Here you go Ash, I present you with the Dark Badge. You earned it and I hope it takes you one step closer to the Pokémon League."

Ash looked at his newest badge and then showed it to Pikachu, who sniffed it and then smiled happily at the proof of their latest conquest. Ash closed his fist over the badge and then smiled. "Thanks a lot Walt, I really appreciate it."

The old man just waved him off. "Don't thank me Ash, you earned it."

Brock, Misty and Giselle walked over to them and Ash smiled at his friends as he held up the badge. "Another one down guys!"

Brock nodded. "You did great Ash, that battle was tough but you and your Pokémon pulled through it great."

Misty smiled at Ash. "I was really nervous there for awhile but you came out on top Ash, great job!"

Giselle walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "I'm really proud of you Ash, you and your Pokémon were amazing."

"Thanks all of you, that means a lot." He smiled at them and then turned back to Walt, who spoke first. "So, where are you heading to next Ash? I can imagine that you won't be sticking around our uhh... 'fair little town' in any longer than you have to am I right?" He winked at Ash and then laughed in his gruff and gravely voice.

Ash laughed as well and shook his head. "Yeah... no offense to you or anyone else here in town but Shadows Hallow really doesn't like outsiders and we respect that. The people here like living their lives in seclusion and that's perfectly fine. Besides, Lavender Town is our next stop after here and since its only..." He checked his Cross-Transceiver. "A little past ten o'clock, we would all like to try and make it there before dark. Which if we leave now, we should be able to make it." He explained.

"Lavender Town isn't very far from here is it sir?" Giselle asked Walt.

The man shook his head. "Not far at all young lady. In fact, depending on which route through the forest you take, you can definitely make it from here to Lavender before dark." He smiled. "I actually know of a way you can get to Lavender Town through the forest pretty quickly but its rough. Only the people of this town know about it and if you're tough enough to handle it then you'll make good time. From what I've seen, I think you kids are pretty sturdy so what do you say? Want me to show you the way?"

Ash and his friends all shared a glance with each other before looking back at him and nodding. "That would be great Walt," Ash answered. "If you wouldn't mind though, I'm going to take a little bit to rest and get my Pokémon back to health before we head out. Since there's no Pokémon Center here in town, I'm going to treat them myself as best as I can using some of my own medical supplies to tide them over until they can get properly healed by a Nurse Joy."

Brock chimed in, "And I can go ahead and whip us up some dinner before we head out. That way we won't have to stop to eat again until at least supper time. I'll also feed the Pokémon too."

"I'll help!" Misty offered.

Giselle looked at Ash. "I know how to make the food you feed your Pokémon from watching you Ash so I'll do that while you work on healing up Bulbasaur, Gastly and Pikachu if you'd like," She offered.

Ash nodded at his friends. "Sounds great guys, thanks!" He then looked at Walt. "That okay with you Walt?"

The old man waved him off and smiled. "Of course! I've got a kitchen where I live in the back of the gym and you're all welcomed to use it if you like."

Brock nodded enthusiastically. "That would be great, thanks!"

Walt nodded. "Alright then, follow me."

Ash and his friends then followed Walt as he led them to the back of the gym and then through the door he had come out of earlier. He opened the door and walked in before gesturing them all in.

Upon entering, they saw that the whole place looked very much like an apartment. The living room and kitchen was conjoined with only a wall separating them and two entrances on either side lead to the kitchen. There was a couch resting against the dividing wall of the kitchen with a coffee table in front of it and TV sitting against the opposite wall. There was also a small hallway to the far left that lead to two bedrooms and a bathroom and- overall- the appearance of the apartment-like area led to the feel that Walt must have been a rather clean person.

Walt invited them all to make themselves at home and then Giselle, Misty and Brock made their way into the moderately sized kitchen, which had a door leading out to the backyard behind the gym near the refrigerator. While everyone else, even Walt and the referee (whom apparently roomed with the older man) started preparing dinner, Ash took his and his friend's Pokémon outside.

Once in the spacious backyard, which was near the forest that bordered the entire town, Ash settled himself down and called all the Pokémon out from their balls. He then started to work on healing and recovering his own Pokémon and as he did so, he basked in the light of the beautiful day it was shaping up to be.

As he sat there, working on relaxing and healing his Pokémon that had worked so hard for him in not just the gym battle but also each day during training, he felt content. He and his team had just won another hard fought gym match and now they were moving on to the next destination of their journey. From where he was sitting on an old stump near a picnic table a few yards away from the gym, Ash was able to see through the thin line of trees separating Walt's gym from the main town and could just make out the townspeople going about their every day lives.

The boy continued working on Pikachu, who was happily relaxing while his trainer applied some Super Potion to his slightly sore body, and just remained quiet with a smile on his face as he continued going about his task. He could hear Gastly telling a dramatized version of the recent match to his other Pokémon as well as Brock, Misty and Giselle's own but it only made him feel that much more at peace.

Never mind that he was hearing such obvious embellishments coming from the Ghost-Type like how he had fought off a hundred Gengar, how Pikachu battled and defeated a huge mechanized Mightyena or even how Bulbasaur had battled his own opponent while completely on fire... no, never mind any of that. He was simply happy to just sit there in peace and work on healing his Pokémon until someone came to let him know that dinner was ready.

Which Giselle did about an hour later much to his and his Pokémon's famished joy.

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* * *

Dinner was overall a rather enjoyable time with Ash and the others spending the time conversing and learning different things from and about Walt and the referee, who they learned was actually named Ed. The whole lunchtime affair was held outside at the picnic table and during that time, Ash's Pokémon had all finally recovered after eating a good meal and being able to just relax.

After the meal was through and all of the Pokémon had eaten, Ash and his friends packed up before preparing to head out. Once their Pokémon were returned, they said their goodbyes to Ed and then followed Walt as he led them out of the clearing his gym was in and onto the road that went through the small patch of woods that separated Walt's home from the town and deeper into the forest itself that surrounded the isolated community.

The old man led them down the road that headed out of Shadows Hallow and they followed it for quite a few minutes in companionable silence. The forest on both sides of them began to grow thicker and thicker the farther they went until pretty soon, it seemed as though the very trees themselves were closing in on them. The path becoming less and less clear as the vegetation became denser.

Walt continued to lead them on until they eventually came to a bend in the road that curved rightward into the treeline. He suddenly then stopped and the others came to a halt behind him.

Ash looked at Walt with a questioning expression. "Is this it?" He asked curiously.

The man nodded and turned around to face them. "Yes it is. If you were to keep following this path around the right turn here, you would find that it gets narrower and a little bit more grown up but nothing compared to what you went through getting to Shadows Hallow. It would eventually take you to Lavender Town and you would still most likely end up reaching it by late evening but this way..." He pointed straight ahead at the thick forest in front of them that plunged deeply into the thicket. "Will get you there at least two, if not three hours earlier."

Seeing the look of disbelief on their faces, Walt holds his hand up. "Now I know exactly what you're thinking but trust me, this did actually use to be a well traveled path to Lavender Town. It still is traversed by us townspeople whenever we need to go there, which isn't very often, and we do so because we're used to this forest.

Once you pass through the thickest part of the treeline here, you'll eventually see the rough outlines of the path we always follow in front of you. Just stick to it and you'll eventually come out into the treeline on the outskirts of Lavender Town." He looked each of them over. "I'm only telling you four about this because I believe you can handle it. If at any point you need to turn around then just do so and then use the more well worn one to the left of me, there's no shame in doing so so don't let your prides get the best of you."

Ash shared a look with his friends and upon getting nods from each of them, he looked back at Walt. "I appreciate the concern Walt but I know we'll be fine. We passed through some thick forest to get here so I know we can do the same to get out. Thanks for showing us the way," He said gratefully.

The old man merely gave a small smile in return. "I was happy to help Ash. Just remember to be careful, watch out for each other and keep building the bonds between you and your Pokémon. If you keep striving to be the best then I know you'll get there."

Ash shook hands with the man and thanked him once more before Brock, Misty and Giselle did the same. After they were all finished saying goodbye, Walt waved to them. "Well I've gotta get back to the gym now kids. Take care of yourself!" With those final words said, the aging man turned around and started walking back the way they had come, slowly getting farther and farther away until he eventually disappeared.

Ash looked at his friends and made sure they were ready before he started moving towards the treeline. He then stepped through the thick outer barrier of brush and fought his way through to the other side with his arms held firmly over his eyes.

Once inside the thick underbrush of the forest itself, he moved as many obstacles as he could out of the way for Giselle and Misty, who had an equally tough time getting through the treeline. Brock followed suit with a little less complication since the way had been more cleared out from the previous three breaking their way through the brush before him.

Once they were all inside, Ash gave the signal and they began walking forward. He eventually found the faded and overgrown path Walt told them about and made sure they were on it before he resumed pushing his way through the thick foliage surrounding them. "Come on guys... lets go," He grunted with a huff as he lead the way onward. Clearing out as much brush as he could for his friends as he did.

Needless to say, it was going to be a long, tiring day of intense traversal through some very nasty terrain for the group of friends. A trek in which no one in their right minds would envy them for if they knew what was good for them.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

The day passed by for the young group of travelers like a star falling from the sky it seemed like. They had walked all day through dense forest, rugged terrain and fierce underbrush. All the while trying to keep sight of the worn and faded path below their feet, only ever stopping twice. Once for a short break from the tiring excursion through the jungle-like terrain and then once in the evening in a small clearing they had found so Ash, Giselle and their Pokémon could train.

Ash may have won his Shadows Hallow gym badge but that didn't mean that he had any reason to slack off or rest. There was always something to improve on and he was more than willing to to do it.

During his training session, he ended up sending Gastly back to Professor Oak's lab and had his first Butterfree returned to the team in his place. He did this since he had sent the Bug-Type back home temporarily that morning when he was training his Pokémon before their gym battle so he could have a chance to get Gastly prepared and caught up to speed on what was happening.

He hadn't sent the pink Butterfree in the male's place for two reasons. The first was because she didn't know anyone back home at the ranch yet and Ash felt as though her first time going there should be with her mate so he could bring her up to speed on who all of the other Pokémon was.

The second reason was because he really wanted to use her in a battle, preferably a gym based one, before he sent her and his original Butterfree back home to the lab so they could mate whenever they were ready to. She had been training hard in the short two days she had been with him and that combined with her already impressive skills led him to believing that she was more than ready for such a challenge.

So as it stood, his current line up after sending Gastly back to the Professor's consisted of Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, both Butterfree and Pikachu (whom was always with him so shouldn't really even be mentioned in such head counts truthfully).

Training and supper time quickly came and went though and after that, the four friends continued on their way through the brutal forest. At the current time they were just now nearing a thinner part of the forest, the first that had been seen all day, and just as night had started to fall across the sky as well.

Ash was leading them on and could see the path starting to become a little bit clearer below their feet. He then heard Misty speak up from behind him, "Oh thank Arceus! Ash do you think we're almost there?" She asked with very obvious hope in her voice.

The raven haired trainer passed underneath a low hanging branch as he answered her, "I don't know Misty, probably. We've been walking just about the amount of time Walt told us it would take to reach Lavender Town going the way we did so we're most likely getting close."

Brock chimed in, "Judging by how thin the trees are getting I would say we're pretty close too."

Giselle suddenly called out while pointing forward, "Guys look, I see lights!"

The rest of them stopped and looked at where Giselle was pointing above the treetops. They could just make out the faint glow that could only come from a city being lit up at night as they gazed over the treeline. Ash smiled and looked back at his friends. "I think we've made it everybody, come on!" He started walking a little bit faster through the brush, followed closely by Brock, Misty and Giselle.

They continued moving with renewed excitement for the next few minutes until they passed through another thick wall of brush and dense foliage. They struggled their way through and once they made it out, the friends found themselves standing in a much clearer section of woods. Ash looked forward then and saw the shining lights and buildings of Lavender Town just ahead.

He and the others quickly traversed through the small patch of woods, excitement coursing through them, before finally breaking through the treeline. They all stopped right after and looked down to see that they were standing atop of a grassy hill overlooking what could only be Lavender Town directly below them.

They could see cars passing up and down the many different roads of the mid-sized town, lights of the street lamps and houses that were now on for the evening and even a few people walking the streets as they went to do whatever it was they had planned for themselves.

Giselle came up and grabbed Ash's arm as she too looked down on the town. A happy smile crossed her face as she squealed in excitement and jumped up and down. "Yay we made it!" The brunette stopped bouncing then and leaned over to kiss Ash's cheek. "Great job Mr. Navigator!"

Ash just laughed at Giselle's joke and kissed her hand in reply as Misty trudged up and dropped to her knees on the ground beside them. "Finally! We're free!" The orangette shouted and threw her arms into the air. She then looked back at the forest they had just come through as an angry scowl crossed her face. "That old geezer Walt lied to us! There wasn't any 'path' that whole way! He had us go through another treacherous deathtrap of a forest, promising it was a short cut to Lavender Town, just to mess with us! He probably went back to his gym and laughed his ass off with Ed at how stupid we were!" She fumed.

Ash looked back at the forest, where they were standing now and then down the steep hill leading into the town. Which looked rather unforgiving in itself with no clear sign of any paths to take them down safely. "I don't actually see any paths now that you mention it Misty. Just back there the trail was getting clearer and now it seems to have simply... disappeared."

Brock came up and stood beside Ash while assessing the area. "Well..." He began with hesitance. "I think Walt really was showing us a shortcut."

Seeing Misty look at him like she was about to go off again, he explained. "Look, there may not be any paths that will take us into town from here but I do think this is the way most people from Shadows Hallow go to get here. Walt told us to just keep going straight after we left the road earlier today and eventually we would reach Lavender Town much quicker than usual."

Brock gestured out in front of them then. "He was right too. Its only a little past eight o'clock now and if we would have followed the main roads to here, it would have taken at least two if not even three hours longer. Maybe he viewed the way we came as a path because he was used to it and it did have at least somewhat of a traveled appearance to it."

Ash nodded. "Yeah Misty I don't think Walt was trying to get us lost or tell us stuff just because. After all..." He gestured down towards Lavender Town like Brock had. "We're here and we did arrive in a shorter amount of time than it would have taken us if we would have went the normal way so give the guy a break. Yeah it was some rough terrain but we encountered the same thing when we were traveling into Shadows Hallow," He said in a placating voice.

Misty nodded and sighed. "I knows you guys and I'm not trying to complain either, I'm just really tired and ready for bed. We've been walking all day through that rough forest and I'm just ready to rest," She conceded apologetically.

Ash went up to her and draped his arm across her shoulder. "Don't worry Misty, we'll find someplace to rest for the night, I promise. There's probably a Pokémon Center down there that we can stay at for the night and get our Pokémon healed and rested up while we're at it."

Misty blushed at his close proximity as Giselle wrapped her arm around Misty's other shoulder. "I'm tired too Misty but we'll be able to rest soon, don't worry!" She comforted with a chipper smile.

The redhead merely nodded at them both, unable to speak at the moment or at least not trusting her own voice to do so. Just being around Ash was hard enough for her poor mind and senses to handle anyway- let alone being as close to him as she was currently- but something extremely strange was also effecting her that Misty couldn't put her finger on. Something of which that she shoved out of her mind no sooner than it had entered and with not even a second's more of thought for the subject.

What she found to be so odd was how... strangely enough... 'pleasant' for lack of a better word, that Giselle smelt to her. Again, Misty didn't even really notice that she was giving thought to such a thing but it was there nonetheless, far back in the depths of her mind.

Ash released Misty from his hold then, feeling rather satisfied at the very pleasing and unique scents he had been inhaling unintentionally from both of the girls, not just Giselle, as they all stood so close together. If he could label it then he would say that Giselle smelt somewhat of spice and cinnamon, very powerful but not overly so to the nose. Or at least not to his senses.

Misty's scent on the other hand was different. Hers was not as strong and imposing as Giselle's, funny considering how assertive the fiery redhead could be, but it was still just strong enough to tingle his senses in a very enticing way.

She smelt of what could best be described as that of a fresh sea breeze on a warm summer day mixed with the complementing aroma of lilacs in peak season. Almost as though the fresh sea breeze was pulling in the lilac scent across the ocean from some exotic destination.

There was something about both girls that Ash just found to be... alluring, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The more and more he thought on it though, the more he realized that if he wasn't in a happy relationship with Giselle, whom he cared for deeply, then he could actually see himself now having very possibly tried dating Misty.

She was just like her sisters Daisy, Violet and Lily in many ways that perhaps even she didn't realize. They were all beautiful, unique, intelligent in certain aspects, kind when they wanted to be and were just flat out good women in all their own ways. Misty mirrored these same qualities even if she didn't see it but Ash knew that someday she would.

Someday, no telling when, she was going to bloom into her own breathtaking, gorgeous flower just like her sisters and everyone was going to see it and look at her in a totally different light. That, Ash was willing to bet all of his Pokéballs on for an absolute certain.

Putting those thoughts out of his mind for now though since he knew such things were pointless to dwell on, he turned his attention back to the town and looked out over it along with the others. After a few moments of silence, Giselle suddenly pointed into the distance and got everyone else's attention. "Hey guys look, there's some kind of big tower on the other side of the town."

The others looked in the direction Giselle was pointing and indeed they saw a rather massive tower stretching high up into the night sky some distance away on the other end of Lavender Town. The huge structure stood tall and imposing over the rest of the town like a beacon of some kind and with the way it was backdropped against the dark sky, the entire tower looked a bit creepy and ominous.

Misty touched a finger to her lips. "I wonder what that tower is used for?" She wondered aloud.

"We're never gonna find out if we don't get down into the town," Ash answered over his shoulder before anyone else could as he walked over to the edge of the hill and looked down.

The young man searched around for the best possible route to the bottom of the steep hill and upon finding what way he thought would work best, he called back to his friends. "Hey guys follow me, I think I've found a way down!"

The other three walked over to him and then, after he secured Pikachu a little more to his shoulder, he got down onto his butt and started slowly sliding himself down the hill.

After a few moments of carefully pushing himself down the trecherous incline, he reached a small, level plateau which he stood up on fully before reaching up to Giselle. "You've got a skirt on Giselle and I know you don't want to be sliding down a hill in one. Let me help you."

Giving him a grateful smile, Giselle grabbed his hand and then walked down the hill carefully until she was standing beside of him. He then offered his other hand to Misty, who blushed a little but took his hand regardless and repeated the action of Giselle. Brock just followed down the same way Ash did and after he was with the others, Ash turned around and repeated the same thing again to get further down the hill.

They repeated this cycle over and over again until eventually the four friends were standing at the bottom of the large hill. Repositioning his pack on his shoulders, Ash turned around and saw that they were now just a few feet away from one of the roads outside of town. The four of them walked up to it and then made sure the way was clear before crossing the road to the sidewalk on the other side.

Upon finally making it into the town, Ash and his friends just stopped on the sidewalk and took a look around. Even though they were technically on the outskirts of the town, they could still see enough to get a proper idea of what Lavender Town looked like. If there was a word to describe the town simply then Ash would probably just use the term 'comfortably old fashioned'.

The design of the buildings, streets and general layout of the town all looked like something you would have seen from a town back in an older time. Everything was modern now obviously but it still carried the feel of an old timey presence. Like modern day mixed with a small taste of a time long since past.

Ash noticed then that people were looking at them a little funny as they passed them on the street and he couldn't help but chuckle. "These people are looking at us like we're a bunch of alien Pokémon," He said in amusement.

Giselle looked herself over. "Well given that we're all dirty and look less than pleasing from walking all day through that jungle masquerading as a forest, I can kind of see why."

Misty looked at Brock. "Have any idea where the nearest Pokémon Center is Brock?" She asked.

The older boy merely shook his head. "No but maybe we can try asking one of the locals?"

Ash nodded at the idea and walked up to a man who was walking their way. Smiling kindly, he greeted the man politely. "Excuse me sir, can you please tell us where the nearest Pokémon Center is?"

If the man was put off by Ash's appearance then he didn't show it as he simply answered in an equally kind voice, "Sure thing young man." He then pointed down the street towards the inner part of town. "Just follow this road until you hit the main part of town and then take a left at the very next street you see. You'll go that way for another few minutes or so and then you'll see the Pokémon Center up ahead. Its got a big pink 'P' on it that'll be glowing this time of evening so you can't miss it."

Ash thanked the man and then went over to his friends to tell them the directions. After that they started walking down the street they were on, slowly making their way farther into the old fashioned town until they eventually came to an intersection with three ways. The left street was the one in which the man told Ash to go, the right one led down to a large complex of houses and the center one was just a continuation of the street they were on at the moment, looking like it just led to more houses and residential area.

Just as Ash and his friends were about to cross the road to the other street they were supposed to be on, the raven haired trainer suddenly felt a cold chill run through his body as he stopped mid-step. He then felt the air around him stir slightly as a voice, faint but still noticeable, sounded from within his head.

_'Come...'_ Was all Ash heard as he turned to stare in the direction he thought he heard the voice speak from.

The boy was currently standing completely still in an almost trance like state as he looked down the street they were on that led further into the town. He felt as though something was calling to him, like there was something inside of him saying to listen to the voice. Then, without any warning whatsoever, Ash took off running down the street in the direction he felt a pull towards.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu called out as he had to dig his claws into Ash's shoulder to keep himself from falling off. Giselle, Misty and Brock looked after him with surprise written on their faces. "Ash!" Giselle shouted. "Ash where are you going?!"

Not getting a response from the boy as he just kept running, she shared a look with the other two who just nodded. They then took off after him as fast as they could while Ash continued running without any sign of stopping.

On and on he ran, going deeper into the town as he started running down all kinds of different streets, obviously not concerned with anything other than where he thought he was supposed to be headed. His friends followed as fast as they could while yelling, "Ash wait up! Come back!" But it was for naught though as the boy just continued to barrel down the streets like someone had set him on fire and the only way to put it out was to keep running.

As Brock, Misty and Giselle gave chase after a suddenly crazed Ash, they started noticing that he was heading out of the main part of town and was now entering a section of the city that looked to be mostly abandoned and rather run down looking.

The roads were becoming more worn and weathered in appearance with weeds growing out of the sidewalks and large cracks spiderwebbing in several different directions across their surfaces like someone had taken a jackhammer to them. The businesses and shops on every side of every street were closed and boarded up and all of the houses were totally empty and in a state of bad disrepair. Their yards overgrown with weeds and other gnarly looking foliage that showed just how long it had been since anyone had taken a mower to them.

Ash kept running blindly as he went deeper and deeper into the oddly ruined portion of Lavender Town until eventually, he came out into a large open area that was barren of buildings or houses of any kind. The only thing that could be seen in the entire area was the tall, imposing figure of a large tower rising high up into the sky in the distance.

The tower, which appeared to be made of some kind of stone, seemed to sit right on the farthest edge of Lavender Town in a forest-like area. Grass and trees, which all looked to be dead and wilted, rested on either side of the cobblestone path that lead up to the massive structure. The same type of dead greenery stretched on all around the immediate vicinity and surrounded the tower with dense vines climbing up the sides of it.

It wasn't until Ash made a turn onto the cobblestone walkway which headed straight to the eery looking tower did any of them realize that, for whatever reason, the tower in question was apparently his intended destination.

The seemingly possessed boy eventually came to a stop right in front of the tower and was followed just seconds later by his friends, who had come to a stop behind Ash and were panting to regain their breath. Once she got her breath back, Giselle straightened up and looked around at their surroundings, realizing that they were now far outside of the main part of town. The tower, whatever it was meant for, truly did seem as though it rested right on the very edge of town

Giselle also noticed as she stared up at the tall tower- which was actually much bigger up close than it had appeared earlier- that she was actually looking at the same tower in which she had seen atop the hill when they were are all looking out over Lavender Town. One glance back to Brock and Misty proved that they recognized it as well from the way they were staring up at the impressive manmade structure.

The former star student of Pokémon Tech found herself to be rather unnerved in that same moment by not only the dead trees and grass surrounding the tower but also by the somewhat ominous and foreboding feeling it seemed to give off. She glanced over then at Ash and saw him simply standing a few feet away while staring up at the tower like he was hynoptized. Pikachu was down on the ground looking up at his trainer with worry as Giselle walked over to his side.

The attractive brunette looked at her boyfriend in concern and gently touched his arm as she asked softly, "Ash? Ash are you okay? What's going on?"

Instead of answering her, Ash just took a few more steps forward until he was standing directly in front of the large door that led into the tower. There was a big padlock attached to chains around the door handle and as Ash reached out to touch the door, he found that he couldn't open it. He pulled over and over again on the locked entrance with a look of frustration on his face as he continued to yank on it.

Brock, Misty and Giselle quickly ran to his side. "Ash stop its locked!" Misty shouted as she went to reach for him.

The squinty eyed teen stepped in front of her though at the last minute to stop Misty from touching Ash. "Hold on Misty! Something isn't right with Ash and he could attack any one of us right now, just stand back for a minute," He advised patiently.

They all watched then as Ash backed up a few paces and went to run towards the door with his shoulder lowered. Just before he could connect with the door however, they heard someone shout, "Stop boy! Don't get any closer to that tower!"

The kids turned around quickly and saw an old man standing in the grass a few yards away to the left. He had his hand extended and a serious, almost panicked expression on his face as called out to them, "Don't let him keep trying to get into that tower! Stop him!"

Giselle turned around to see that Ash had returned his focus to the door and was trying to yank it open again. Not knowing what else to do but believing that they needed to listen to the strange older man, she looked down at Pikachu. "Pikachu there's no other choice, use Thunderbolt on Ash to stop him!"

Pikachu looked at her and then Ash with a look that obviously showed how he didn't want to do such a thing to his trainer. He quickly shook his head in reluctance then and called back, "Chu Chu! Pikachu Chu!"

Giselle crouched down next him him. "Pikachu if you don't do this then Ash could get hurt! Now please use your Thunderbolt to help him!"

The Pokémon looked between them both one last time before reluctantly running up to Ash. His cheeks sparked as he released just a powerful enough Thunderbolt on Ash that it would hopefully knock him out of whatever trance he was in. The bolt connected with the boy and electrocuted him fiercely as he convulsed and jittered around before falling to the ground.

His friends ran up to him after the electricity finally stopped and knelt down. "Ash! Ash are you okay?!" Giselle cried out fearfully as she put his head in her lap and looked over him with worried eyes. Pikachu also ran up to his trainer's side and stopped by his head, hating himself for what he had to do. The old man finally made his way over to them just as Ash finally started to stir, his eyes opening up slowly as he groaned.

"Ugh... what happened?" He sat up then and looked around. "W-Where am I?"

Giselle hugged him tightly and buried her face into his chest. "Oh Ash thank Arceus you're okay and finally back to normal!"

Pikachu jumped up on Ash's lap and looked him over to make sure he was okay as Brock and Misty crowded around him. "How are you feeling Ash?" Misty asked softly.

"Do you feel... normal now?" Brock ventured carefully.

Ash looked between his friends, catching site of the old man standing just a few feet away, before nodding. "Yeah, yeah I feel fine. A little fuzzy headed and dizzy but other than that fine. Why wouldn't I be though?" He asked perplexed.

The others shared looks between themselves. "Ash... you really don't remember anything?" Giselle slowly asked.

Before Ash could speak, the old man did for him. "He wouldn't remember anything. None of the others ever did..." He finished in a quiet tone as he came closer.

Ash looked up at the man from where he was sitting on the ground and raised an eyebrow. "Umm, who exactly never remembered mister-?

The man smiled. "My name is Fuji young man. I will explain to you all that I can but not here." He then looked around the area and up at the tower with an expression of weary trepidation on his face. "This place is not a good place to be." Turning around, Fuji started to walk away while calling over his shoulder. "Follow me to my home and I will tell you everything there."

Ash and the others shared a look amongst themselves but couldn't see a reason not to follow the man who didn't seem to mean them any harm so far. Deciding to just go with it and see what he could tell them, they chose to follow the mysterious man known as 'Mr. Fuji' to his home where they could hopefully have a few answers provided for the extremely unusual situation they had been presented with.

Ash got up slowly off the ground, Giselle supporting him on one side while Brock supported his other. He smiled at them gratefully and then shook his body out before standing on his own and then walking after Fuji, who was waiting for them a short distance away. "Come on guys, lets see what he knows..."

The four friends plus Pikachu then followed the older man as he led them away from the tower and through the small forested area surrounding it. He headed out of the woods a short time later and after a few minutes passed, they found themselves on the other end of the abandoned part of town. Fuji walked onto one of the broken sidewalks and then followed one of the ruined streets through a deserted neighborhood with Ash and his friends staying right on the old man's heels.

Eventually, they came within sight of what appeared to be a triple sided complex of sorts resting in a large grassy lot some ways down the street in front of them. Fuji made his way to the compound-like building and walked into the yard, leading them up to the door. He opened it up and moved aside as he gestured the four kids inside.

They stepped in and looked around at their surroundings. The entryway opened into the living/sitting area with high ceilings and was set up in a sort of traditional, feudal interior design. The kitchen was open and only separated from the living area by a large bar top counter with two entryways leading around the barrier and into the kitchen.

There was also a platform landing resting directly above the kitchen with two staircases leading up to it. Up at the top they could just see what they thought were two doors. Back down on the main floor, there were two more doors, positioned directly on the right and left sides of the room that led to only Arceus knew where. Ash and the others figured that, judging by the other two sides of the complex outside that were attached to the main one they were currently in, the two doors probably connected them all together.

The center of the living room had two couches and two armchairs set up in a square figure with a coffee table resting in the center of them. The walls on both sides of the room were covered in bookshelves full of books, picture frames of miscellaneous art and other items.

Mr. Fuji walked inside after removing his shoes, which the friends mimicked, and then moved towards the center of the room. He called over his shoulder to them afterwards, "Make yourselves at home, I'm going to make some tea." He then went into the kitchen to start the tea while Ash and the others walked over to the couches and took seats.

They all waited slightly anxious while Fuji made the tea and once it was done he came back holding a kettle and five cups on a silver tray. He poured each of them a cup of tea before pouring himself one and sitting down in an armchair. He settled in and while he did, Ash got to finally take in the mysterious man's appearance.

Fuji looked to be perhaps in his sixties but his face was rather smooth and well taken care of despite his age. He had long white eyebrows, was bald and had a clean shaven face. He was a rather small statured man and wore a sort of light tan, button up short sleeved shirt and darker tanned, almost grey, pants.

The older man cleared his throat and then addressed the kids. "So, I suppose I should I tell you what I promised now right?" He nodded to himself and then smiled. "But before I do, perhaps I can get your names if that's not too bold to ask?"

Ash nodded went first, "My name is Ash Ketchum sir."

"Giselle, nice to meet you and thank you for bringing us here Mr. Fuji." Giselle introduced herself and thanked him simultaneously.

"My name is Brock, same here. Thank you for opening your home to us sir," The former Pewter Gym Leader said with a polite bow of his head.

"My names Misty, I am also grateful Mr. Fuji," The youngest of the Waterflower sisters introduced herself with a slight dip of her head.

"Pi Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu chirped from Ash's shoulder.

Fuji smiled again. "Well it is wonderful to meet you all. Ash, Brock, Giselle and Misty." He then looked at Pikachu and reached his hand forward, letting Pikachu take in his scent before lightly scratching him behind the ears. "And of course you as well Pikachu."

The Pokémon in question merely smiled contentedly at the man's more than appropriate form of greeting and gave a happy 'cha' in reply. Fuji chuckled in amusement as he looked at Ash. "I can tell this Pikachu is well taken care of young man, you have done a good job of raising it."

Ash just thanked him for his kind words and then Fuji took a sip of tea before he commenced to speaking again. "The first thing I will say is that you Ash are not the first new arrival in town to be drawn to that tower against your will. It hasn't happened in quite some time that I am aware of but it has happened regardless. I will even take a guess and venture to say that you heard some form of voice in your head that compelled you to go to the tower didn't you?"

Ash's friends looked at the boy in interest as he nodded wearily, slightly unsure about where all of this was headed. "Well, my memory is kind of foggy but... yeah, that was generally what happened. I heard some sort of voice in my head saying to 'come' and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the ground after Pikachu shocked me." A serious expression came across his face then as he leaned forward. "What happened to me Mr. Fuji?"

The older man sighed before setting his tea cup down. "It is a long and complex situation that has many different ways to explain it but what I will start with is by telling you that the tower you found yourself at was once the pinnacle of Lavender Town. Also... its the reason why this entire portion of the town was abandoned and forgotten by everyone else."

Seeing the looks of confusion on the faces of his young guests, he went on. "The tower is known as Pokémon Tower and it was built for and once used as a massive memorial site to honor lost and departed Pokémon. It was constructed countless years ago during the founding of this town and was held in high reverence for many, many years after. Not just here in Lavender Town either but the entire Kanto region as well."

A fond smile came across his face then. "The tower was truly a thing of beauty in it's glory days. The inside was just as splendid as it's outside appearance and was comprised of several levels of sanctuary rooms. Numerous memorial stones for all of the Pokémon that were chosen to be honored there after death, which were a very great many, rested in almost every corner of tower.

It was well maintained and cared for by the Pokémon Tower Memorial Keepers that lived in the tower itself at all times and their job was to keep the building itself and all of the memorial stones cleaned and polished to absolute perfection until every room all but shined with a white, alabaster glow."

He closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in memory for a moment before opening them and continuing. His eyes now slightly clouded over. "That was until a travesty befell the tower and brought it to it's knees, forever falling from grace. A great... 'misfortune' then fell upon the tower afterwards and ended up effecting this entire side of Lavender Town in horrible ways.

Eventually, the people here ended up leaving and moving to the other side of town. Forever abandoning all of this to slowly rot and decay away into nothing while everyone put the dark memory of what Pokémon Tower had become into the past. Hoping that in time, the tower and the part of town surrounding it would simply fade away. Essentially I suppose... become buried under a thick layer of denial and repression."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Wow, it must have been some tragedy if whatever happened to the tower went on to effect so much of the town as well..."

Fuji nodded. "Yes, it was a horrible... horrible thing that happened." He then looked at Ash. "Now as to answer your question as to what happened to you Ash..."

A sigh escaped his lips. "It is complicated and something that I do not believe I can fully explain. All I can say is that what happened to that tower, and by extension this town, has left it's repeated mark over the years. Over time, travelers would come here and find themselves 'compelled' to go to that tower. As for why it happened... that is an explanation that, as I said before, I feel that I cannot properly give."

Ash looked at Fuji intently and appeared to be in deep thought over what the older man told him. Ash truly had no clue what happened and he also had a hunch that the man knew more than he was letting on but wouldn't say for some reason. Either way, he had to come to the conclusion that as long as it didn't happen again, he would be able to let it go. Possibly.

Everyone else in the room seemed to feel the unease in the current conversation so Brock decided to shift the subject. "So then Mr. Fuji, why are you still living here in this part of the city?"

Fuji gave a small smile and sighed. "Well for two reasons Brock. For one, I have grown attached to this place over the years and I can't seem to bring myself to leave it. Sometimes, injured or abandoned Pokémon wander through this part of town seeking refuge and I take them in until they're ready to head back out on their own again.

Also, with Pokémon Tower being unaccessible anymore, I decided to take it upon myself to convert a part of my home into a small memorial sanctuary for Pokémon. Over the years, I have added many memorial stones to it and even copied a few of the ones from Pokémon Tower on request of the poor individuals that lost their Pokémon.

My little sanctuary isn't nearly as big as the ones that Pokémon Tower houses naturally but it does justice for what is needed of it." He paused and took a sip of tea before continuing, "And I suppose there is another reason as well..." He sipped his tea again. "I run an official Pokémon Gym out of the other end of my compound on the right side."

Ash's eyes widened as did everyone else's at hearing that. "Wait!" Ash spoke up loudly with his hands raised. "Did you just say that you run an official Pokémon Gym? Right here in this compound? Certified by the Pokémon League itself to hand out gym badges to winning challengers?"

Fuji nodded, somewhat amused at Ash's pretty apparent excitement and surprise. "Yes, that is most definitely the case young man. I run Lavender Town's very own Pokémon Gym. The likes of which has become all but lost to time along with the rest of this part of town.

Back in it's heyday, during the golden years of Lavender Town, my gym bustled with challengers from all over. After everything happened though, my gym started fading more and more into the background. Now, I rarely ever get challengers and the people of this town have stopped seeing me as the gym leader. Instead I'm now known mostly as the crazy old man that lives in the ruins of the old part of town. I keep up to date on my gym license though just in case I do happen to get challengers," He finished casually.

Brock leaned forward in his chair. "Why doesn't the book on official Pokémon League certified gyms of Kanto say anything about your gym then Mr. Fuji?" He asked curiously. To which Ash, Misty and Giselle all nodded in agreement to.

Fuji shrugged sadly. "I may keep this gym licensed but because I never get challengers anymore, the newly updated guidebooks on the gyms of Kanto that you mentioned Brock has simply stopped including my gym into the pages. Even the Shadows Hallow Pokémon Gym gets more challengers than I do, or at least so I've heard."

Ash leaned forward in his seat as well with a determined glint burning in his eyes and, upon seeing this, his friends knew what was coming next. "Mr. Fuji, I am on a quest to collect all of the gym badges of Kanto before this coming year's Pokémon League Indigo Conference and in fact, my friends and I just came from Shadows Hallow where I challenged the gym leader there and earned it's badge."

The boy stood up then and looked into Fuji's eyes with untamed ferocity all but radiating off of him. "I would be honored if you would allow me to battle you for this gym's badge!" Pikachu looked resolute from Ash's shoulder as he nodded and called out in agreement, "Pikachu!"

Fuji just stared at Ash and Pikachu intently, lookig into their eyes as he sized them up. Something about the fire and passion in the boy's amber orbs set an old flame for battling alight in his spirit and after a moments of deep thought, Fuji smiled and nodded. "Okay Ash, I will accept your challenge."

Ash smiled widely and nodded in return as Brock, Misty and Giselle looked excited at the prospect of seeing Ash have another gym battle. The old man took a sip of his tea again before holding up an index finger. "We will have to wait until my friend gets here though Ash. I told her that we would catch up today and she should be here at any moment."

The young trainer in question appeared confused. "Friend?" He asked.

Fuji nodded and gave a slight grin. "Yes, she is a dear old friend of mine who is also rather... 'learned' I suppose you could say in the arts of Pokémon battling herself. In fact, one would say she's a rather big celebrity here in Kanto for both her status, as well as prowess in battle. Once she gets here, I am sure she would love to meet a spirited young trainer like you and perhaps even concede to watch and referee our battle. That is of course, as long as you do not become intimidated by her presence," He said mysteriously with a sly grin and slight chuckle.

Giselle blinked. "Why would Ash be intimidated by-" Suddenly, she was cut off by a knock at the door.

Everyone turned their heads to face the door as Fuji smiled and got up. "Ahh that must be her now!" Ash and his friends watched in anticipation as Fuji went over and opened up the door. They heard him greet the new arrival in a friendly way, like how two people who knew other for years would do, before engaging in a few words of conversation that none of them could hear.

Hard as they tried to listen, all they could hear out of the mystery person was that it was indeed a woman and an older woman by the tone of her voice. She had a firm but confident infliction to her voice and this only further peaked their curiosity as to who it could be.

Eventually they managed to catch Fuji say something to her about meeting a couple of new friends of his and a fiery young trainer that had just challenged him to a gym battle. They heard the mystery woman say something back in a voice that sounded to be of both surprise and interest as Fuji finally let her in and guided her into the main room.

When the older man stepped aside and revealed the woman standing behind him, the group of young people almost jaw dropped to the floor as they gaped in surprise. All except for Ash, who looked to be feeling a mixture of both excitement and extreme curiosity as to what someone of her status was doing there in the same place as them and how Fuji could have possibly known her.

Brock was the first one to stammer the newcomer's identity out of all of them. "Y-You're! You're A-Agatha of the Elite Four!" He exclaimed loudly while pointing with a trembling finger.

The older woman, whom had a rather stern and sharp looking face, faded blond hair and was wearing a purple dress with a white apron over it and a white oval pendant of some kind attached to the chest, merely gave a slight smile and nodded. She had a brown cane with her and she leaned on it while replying to Brock's choppy greeting. "Yes that's me sonny, good to know word of my name still gets around every now and again," She said in a crisp, to the point, yet still friendly voice.

Giselle looked like a Remoraid with her eyes being as wide as they were. "B-But you're a member of the Elite Four! What are you doing here?!"

Misty looked over at Ash for a second. "Can you believe that we're in the presence of an actual member of the Elite Four Ash?!" She gushed with pure excitement tinged into her voice.

However, when Ash didn't reply she looked at him again only to see that he was staring at Agatha intently. Almost as though his eyes were sizing and scaling her up. Like he was about to have a Pokémon battle with her and was trying to learn all he could from her just by watching every move she made.

The redhead had never seen Ash look at someone in such a way and had to wonder what was going on in his head at that moment. Agatha answered Giselle's question at the same time then, "Well young miss I've known Fuji here for many a year. Met him back whenever Lavender Tower was still going strong. I had just lost a Pokémon to sickness at the time and while I was here paying my respects to it at the tower, I ran into Fuji who was already living here.

He helped me get over my grief by being a good source of conversation, an ear to talk to and dare I say it, a shoulder to cry on when I needed one. We've been friends ever since and I try to get down here to visit him whenever I get the chance to slip away from my duties as a member of the Elite Four for a time."

The sharp looking woman then slightly narrowed her eyes as she searched out amongst the kids for the one that Fuji told her about that had a seemingly vigorous spirit and had challenged him to a gym match. By sizing the children up, something she had learned from years of battling opponents, she could tell that all of them seemed like they could be potentially talented trainers. Rather it would be enough to defeat Fuji though, she didn't know.

Eventually, her eyes landed on Ash and upon seeing the way he was gazing at her, with what appeared to be calculation and complete in-depth assessment, she knew it was him. Unlike his friends, Agatha could see that this boy was different to some degree.

While she could definitely see respect in his eyes for her, she didn't see any kind of amazement, fan worship or disbelief like she was so used to seeing. Especially from younger trainers such as him. Instead she saw that he was simply observing her, studying her like a hunter would do before even thinking about going after it's prey.

She then saw that the young Pikachu on his shoulder was mimicking it's trainer's behavior as it eyed her carefully and, needless to say, it was an interesting and unusual sight for her to see.

While she obviously didn't feel scared or intimidated by him, which was something she had just learned to manipulate and control over the years, Agatha still felt herself becoming impressed with the young man's apparent method of assessing and sizing up people such as herself upon first meetings.

She then walked up to Ash and looked down at him. "So... are you the young trainer Fuji here told me about that's challenging him?" Agatha asked sharply but not unkindly.

Ash merely nodded. "Yes ma'am, that's me. My name is Ash Ketchum and these are my friends," He pointed to said friends in turn. "Brock, Misty, Giselle and this-" The boy gestured up to Pikachu on his shoulder. "Is my very first Pokémon and good friend Pikachu." He looked back at Agatha then and slightly, not dramatically, bowed his head to her while saying respectfully, "Its an honor to meet you Agatha."

Agatha, for her part, caught onto a couple of things during that small introduction. The first was how Ash had introduced his Pikachu as his good friend and not just Pokémon. For many trainers, especially rookie ones which she guessed he was by the looks of him, very rarely ever introduced their Pokémon as their friends as well.

The next thing she noticed was how he refused to bow lowly to her like his other three friends did. He still showed her the proper respect that most people his elder, such as herself, should get and was also polite, but he apparently didn't feel the need to lower himself to her just because of her famous reputation.

Which was again, something many, MANY trainers, would and had done to her and quite frankly, she hated it. She preferred meeting people that had fire and spunk and didn't feel like they needed to bow to someone just because they held a higher standing in society.

The Elite Four member just nodded to Ash's response and gave her reply. "It is pleasant to meet you as well young man. I can tell by the glossy coat and vibrant red glow of the electric sacks on it's cheeks that your Pikachu is very well taken care of and raised. Yes, well raised I would say indeed..." She then gave him a stern look. "Now I hope you've trained hard and readied yourself boy because I can tell you that Fuji here is no pushover. If you don't give it your all then you won't win," She advised in a wise tone.

Ash nodded respectfully to her. "Yes ma'am. I always train with my Pokémon and we prepare as best as we can for every battle we go into. We'll give it our all," He stated with conviction as Pikachu nodded with an equal amount of determination in his eyes.

Agatha gave another nod and then looked at Fuji. "Well, I would probably be right in assuming you don't have a referee for this gym anymore Fuji so I'll act as the standing judge if you'll have me," She offered.

The older man merely smiled in response. "That would be wonderful Agatha, thank you."

Misty leaned over and whispered to Brock and Giselle, "If Agatha is really going to be judging this match then I hope the nerves of her being here don't get to Ash..." She voiced in concern.

Giselle and Brock just nodded in equal concern but didn't say anything.

Fuji clapped his hands and addressed them all then. "Well! Shall we move to the battlefield now everyone?"

Seeing no qualms with the planned course of action, Fuji led the group to the door on the far side end of the room and opened it, letting them step through first. After everyone had entered inside the almost totally dark room, the old man flipped a light switch and the room was suddenly lit up in a bright glow.

Ash and his friends were finally able to see their surroundings and found that they had entered into a large, open storage-like area with white stone walls and floor and metal ceilings. Lights hung from the ceiling and the battlefield stretched out in front of them far and wide to the other end of the room some distance away.

Fuji stepped out into the trainer's box closest to the entry door and Ash made his way down to the one at the end of the building once Agatha had asked for his last name.

They both faced each other after that with serious expressions on their faces as Agatha came out to stand on the sidelines. She cleared her throat and then called loudly, "This will be a match between gym leader of Lavender Town, Fuji, and the challenger Ash Ketchum. Both trainers will use only three Pokémon and the side that loses all of their Pokémon first will be declared the winner. There are no time limits and only the challenger may substitute Pokémon. Are both sides ready?"

Fuji and Ash simply nodded without saying anything.

Agatha eyed the two of them for a second before commanding, "Both trainers now choose your first Pokémon please."

Fuji pulled a Pokéball out from his belt, which was hidden underneath his slightly long shirt, and threw it out onto the battlefield. "Shuppet I choose you!"

In a burst of stars and light, the cloak-like Ghost-Type Pokémon appeared on the field with a rotational twirl through the air. Fuji chuckled as he called over to Ash, "I forgot to mention earlier young man, my gym specializes in Ghost-Type Pokémon. Lavender Town is known for it's rather haunted mystique and it wasn't a little known secret that before Pokémon Tower was closed up, Ghost Pokémon would frequently make the tower their home. I decided to honor our town's ghostly traditions and what we're most famously known for by making this gym specialize in just that same type of Pokémon."

Ash didn't reply to the old man's explanation, instead he just eyed the Hoenn native Ghost-Type and thought over his options to battle it with. Even though he hadn't visited a Pokémon Center yet, Bulbasaur and Pikachu had already been healed up by himself earlier that day in Shadows Hallow before they left. It wasn't a treatment to the level one of a Nurse Joy could perform but it still did the job and because of this, he knew they could easily battle again after having received an almost full day's rest in their Pokéballs. Bar their evening training session of course.

Even with all that in mind though, he wasn't planning on using any of those three anyway. He liked to rotate his Pokémon in and out with every battle, especially big ones, that he competed in so they could all receive hands on battle experience to go with their intensive training schedules. Which he essentially did just to make them more well rounded and that was why he was currently planning on using an entirely different three Pokémon line up for the coming battle.

On the sidelines, his friends were talking amongst themselves. "Do you really think Ash and his Pokémon are ready for this?" Giselle asked somewhat nervously. "He hasn't had a chance to get any of them checked out at a Pokémon Center for days! Since we left Tide Town as a matter fact!"

Brock crossed his arms and looked thoughtful. "Yes but Ash has been taking of them and healing them to the best of his abilities as much as he could since then. They may not have been as thorough and effective as what Nurse Joy could do but Ash has still done a pretty good job.

Besides... I really don't think that he's going to use the same Pokémon he did against Walt. I just don't see it knowing him. Ash refuses to use the same Pokémon twice in a match after they win a battle unless there's no other choice. Because of that, I truthfully don't foresee him taking it even a step further by using all or even part of the same team that he did to beat Walt."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't Fuji being a little dishonest when he didn't tell Ash that his gym specialized in Ghost-Types until right as the match was about to begin?"

Again, Brock shrugged. "All depends on how you look at it I suppose. Fuji really wasn't doing anything wrong by not telling Ash sooner because he still did tell him before the battle started, which doesn't break any rules. The whole match was just kind of a last minute thing anyway so it'll be interesting to see how Ash handles it.

He's never battled without having time to plan, prepare and assess for his gym matches beforehand and now that very thing is happening to him. I think it will be a great test of just how good he is at being able to adapt on the spot and not freak out under pressure in an unexpected situation. Good trainers handle matches well when they plan for them but great ones will do well either way."

Back on the battlefield, Ash finally chose his first Pokémon. Pulling a ball from his belt, he tossed it up while yelling, "Squirtle I need you!"

The small Water-Type came bursting out from his ball in a flash of light and stood ready for battle with no flashy intro. "Squirtle!" He grunted with a determined expression on his face.

Agatha looked back and forth a few times before raising her hands and bringing them down. "Let the match begin!"

Fuji called out quickly to put the pressure on Ash as soon as possible, "Shuppet use Night Shade!"

The puppet-like Pokémon shot it's attack at Squirtle, which Ash was quick to yell out for his Pokémon to evade. The Water-Type quickly jumped to the left and rolled to avoid the attack. Ash then commanded Squirtle while he was coming out of his roll, "Now Squirtle use Water Gun!"

The turtle Pokémon opened his mouth and shot a powerful burst of water towards Shuppet but Fuji just smirked and ordered his Pokémon to avoid it. Shuppet did so and seemed to blur into nothing as it got out of the way of the aquatic attack faster than anyone could follow.

"Wow that was fast!" Giselle blinked in surprise, Brock and Misty nodding along with her in agreement

Fuji then commanded Shuppet to use Confuse Ray continuously, which Ash knew would be trouble if it hit Squirtle. He called out as fast as he could, "Squirtle withdraw into your shell quickly!"

The Water Pokémon ducked into his shell just as the waves of confusion began crashing down upon it. Fuji, feeling his plan was working, grinned before calling out, "Now Shuppet use Psybeam on Squirtle!"

The puppet Pokémon's eyes glowed before several waves of beam-like psychic energy flew at the withdrawn Squirtle. Ash took immediate action. "Squirtle fire water towards the ground with a rocking motion inside of your shell and get out of the way!"

Squirtle lurched forward in his shell and fired a blast of water at the ground below it, which sent the shelled Pokémon hurdling up into the air just as the beam of psychic energy impacted with the ground where he just was.

Squirtle spun in fast circles up in the air as Ash yelled out, "Now use Bubblebeam on Shuppet!"

Ash's Pokémon popped out of his shell and fired a salvo of bubbles at the Ghost-Type, who was now floating down below it. Fuji commanded quickly, "Shuppet use Night Shade to counter that!"

Shuppet did so immediately and both attacks met in the air before exploding and throwing up a smoke cloud. Squirtle landed on the ground in a ready position just as Shuppet came flying through the screen of smoke at him, it's eyes glowing as another Confuse Ray was shot towards the Water-Type.

Squirtle waited until the last second and then hopped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sensory scrambling move. He skidded a few feet away to the left and at that moment, Ash saw two red glowing eyes behind his Pokémon in the smoke cloud.

He tried to warn Squirtle but it was too late as Fuji's Pokémon sent a powerful Night Shade at his Pokémon and struck him straight in the back, knocking Squirtle off of his feet and sending him skidding across the ground.

The smoke cloud had cleared away by this point and Fuji let no reprieve be allowed as he ordered Shuppet, "Now use Curse!"

Ash instantly knew that the next move would be big trouble for Squirtle if it hit and he looked to his Pokémon, only to see to his dismay that Squirtle was still reeling from the surprise attack he just took seconds before.

Shuppet's whole body glowed green before it cried out loudly in pain as an electrical surge of energy draining static zapped a large dose of critical energy from it's body. Shuppet then looked up with plasmic sweat dripping down it's forehead and glared at Squirtle before sending that same electrical charge of green energy at him. Ash stepped forward then with his eyes set into a serious and steely looking expression.

"Squirtle listen to me," He called out calmly but also urgently. "You have to snap out of it and dodge that attack now or you're going to be in trouble. Please... do it now!"

The Water-Type heard his trainer and turned around but it was just a little too late. The green, foreboding looking beam of lightning was on Squirtle sooner than he could move. It struck his small frame and lit the blue skinned Pokémon up as it started sapping him of a large portion of his energy. Squirtle cried out in pain as he was struck by the electric-like charge and tried to move but he simply couldn't.

The attack finally subsided after several moments of intense punishment and almost instantly Squirtle fell down to one knee, one eye closed as he panted and grunted in pain.

"Crap!" Misty shouted. "Squirtle really didn't need this right now! He was already having enough trouble evading that Shuppet's fast attacks!"

Brock and Giselle both nodded with sweat rolling down their foreheads in worry for Ash but back on the field, Fuji was already on the move again. Showing that he was much more brutal of a battler than his kind disposition would clue at. "Shuppet!" He called out. "Shake it off and use Night Shade!"

The now very exhausted Shuppet lifted itself further back into the air and charged up a beam of darkness in it's eyes before firing it at Squirtle. Ash's Pokémon was still down from the last attack and couldn't even hope to move before he was hit yet again with the attack and sent rolling across the battlefield before landing in a heap with scuff marks on his shell.

Fuji then commanded his struggling Pokémon, whom the Curse attack had drained of over half of it's health, to stay on Squirtle and use as many attacks as it could to take him down. Shuppet may have been tired but it listened as it took off after Squirtle. Ash had no opportunity to warn his Pokémon before, yet again, he was being attacked by a barrage of attacks from the Ghost-Type.

Shuppet used attacks like Psybeam, Night Shade and even Shadow Ball on Squirtle. The battered Water-Type tried to defend himself as much as he could but it was all for naught as he was just too stunned and weakened by the previous attacks he had sustained to do anything.

Ash's friends watched on in dismay as Squirtle was ruthlessly assaulted by the many attacks from the tiring Shuppet and all the while, Agatha kept a very close eye on the match. Or more specifically, on Ash. She kept watching his every move and facial expression throughout the battle, sizing him up and scrutinizing his battle style.

The older woman had to admit that she was impressed so far with how well trained his Pokémon seemed to be and how well he handled them but once Fuji had really started getting into the flow of battle and Shuppet hit Squirtle with Curse, she knew it was all but over.

That very attack strategy Fuji put into play was a deadly combination she had seen her friend use many times before and even experienced, veteran trainers had a hard time not losing their cool whenever Fuji started going off on one of his onslaughts.

She fully expected to see Ash start panicking since he was still just a rookie trainer but when she instead saw that he had one of the most composed, well controlled and focused looks on his face that she had ever seen, it threw her off balance slightly. And that was extremely rare for such a seasoned professional as her.

At first she thought that maybe he just didn't care about what happened to his Pokémon and only saw them as tools for battle- which would have enraged her should that have been the case- but when she heard him speak words of deep encouragement and belief to his Pokémon and also the way she saw him almost become one and move with each strike Squirtle took, she knew that wasn't the case at all.

It was right after Squirtle had been struck with another attack and was forced to the ground yet again did she hear Ash say something that really made her see the young trainer in a new light.

He had called out to his Pokémon and said, "Squirtle, I need you to hear me okay?! You are strong and I do mean strong! You have so much heart, determination and skill in battle that it amazes even me, your own trainer, every time I see you fight! I know you're in pain and I know you're hurting right now but I need you to believe me when I say that I know... I KNOW you can do this! Think of all of our training, think of all that we do to become one in our minds, hearts and souls. I believe in you my friend and I KNOW you can do this! Now stand back up and lets do this together! Let us fight together and let us win together!"

Those words he spoke, words of such conviction and passion, almost sent a chill down the older woman's spine. Those very words he spoke and the way he looked when he said them, that look in his eyes, the fire she saw in them... it reminded of her two people, two great trainers that she had known in her life time.

One was her dear friend Samuel Oak when he was a much younger man in his prime and taking on the world as a Pokémon Trainer himself. The other, to a much greater degree, was none other than Lance Blackthorn. Champion of the Kanto and Johto regions, as well as herself and the rest of the Elite Four's superior.

Lance was the exact same way when he battled and right now, she was seeing this rookie, greenhorn trainer inspire and encourage his Pokémon on in the exact same way as Lance did his own. It actually made her eyes widen somewhat as she was almost fooled into thinking that she was watching a much younger Lance himself battling it out against Fuji.

Back on the battlefield, the words that Ash spoke to Squirtle caused a whole new fire to light within the Pokémon's spirit as he forced himself up off the ground with a loud grunt of effort and stood up tall while staring Shuppet down with pure grit and raw fury in his eyes.

The next thing that happened shocked everyone greatly. A blue glow of energy that almost looked like the color of the deepest ocean blue water, rose up and surrounded Squirtle. The Pokémon's eyes glowed blue as well as he raised his head up and yelled loudly to the sky.

Ash knew exactly what it was that had just happened to his Pokémon however and smiled. His friends and Fuji merely gaped in astonishment while Agatha had a much more measured and controlled expression on her own face. Though on the inside she herself was surprised. It took a real bond between a trainer and their Pokémon to bring out the ability she was now seeing and to witness it come out in Squirtle simply cemented for her the fact that the deep bond he and his trainer shared was obviously very strong indeed.

Giselle was the one to voice what had just happened for everyone who was still too shocked to. "Wow that's the ability Torrent! When a Water-Type Pokémon with that ability is really in danger and low on energy, Torrent activates within them and gives a huge energy burst to their physical and special attacks!" She explained with awe in her voice.

Sure enough, that was exactly what had happened to Squirtle and Ash wasn't about to waste it. He quickly raised his hand and shouted, "Alright Squirtle that's the way to do it now lets not waste it! Use Water Pulse on Shuppet! Now!"

Squirtle opened his mouth as the blue glow around him grew brighter and a large ball of aqua formed in his mouth. Fuji knew that such an enhanced attack would be trouble as he shouted out to his Pokémon, "Shuppet counter that attack now with Night Shade!"

The tired Ghost-Type fired off a much weaker version of the attack it had been using all battle just as Squirtle released Water Pulse. Both attacks met in mid-air but the Torrent enhanced blast of water was much too powerful for the weakened Ghost-Type attack and cut right through it.

Fuji could only watch as the aquatic attack sailed straight towards his Pokémon and impacted with Shuppet in an all consuming wall of brutally ferocious water. The attack shot Shuppet backward and slammed it into the ground where it caused a large crater to appear in the ground.

Squirtle didn't appear to give any reprieve as at the very next second, the blue glowing energy around him became stronger and a wall of water rose up around the small Pokémon. It encased him inside of it and Squirtle seemed to instinctively know what to do next as he lowered himself down until his head was pointed forward. Ash also knew what had just happened and recognized the tell tale signs of the attack that he knew Squirtle had just learned.

Grinning, he called out with a wave of his hand, "Now Squirtle, put that new move to the test! Use Aqua Jet!"

Much to everyone else's surprise, Squirtle shot forward like a bullet as the water around him sent the Water-Type rocketing across the battlefield. A large trail of water surging behind him as he did so.

Shuppet was just starting to shakily recover from the Water Pulse it had taken head on and then looked up only to see the water shrouded form of a speeding Squirtle come hurdling towards it in the air. The Ghost Pokémon tried to move but was helpless to avoid the attack as Squirtle struck slammed into it the very next moment and sent Shuppet careening across the battlefield.

Squirtle didn't stop there though and kept traveling forward using Aqua Jet. He turned in mid-air then and raced ahead of Shuppet, hitting the Ghost-Type yet again with another hard tackle as the puppet-like Pokémon was sent careening in another direction with a loud cry of, "Shuppeeet!"

Ash's Pokémon then began a pattern of flying through the air with Aqua Jet, never missing a beat as he would meet Shuppet head on at a new location every time and send it flying elsewhere with a fierce strike of brutal, aqua infused power. Effectively turning the match into what looked almost like a game of pinball, with Shuppet being the ball.

Eventually, after several moments of the same strategy, Shuppet was sent flying up into the air once more. Squirtle chased after him until he was directly overhead of his opponent. He then started falling down to meet Shuppet in mid-air but Ash had another plan. Smirking internally he called out, "Squirtle! Grab a hold of Shuppet when you meet it and then spin around on the way down so it's falling headfirst!"

Squirtle did just that and grabbed Shuppet when they met in the air. As they started falling back to the ground he then spun his opponent around until Shuppet was now upside down. Fuji had no idea what was coming next and he had no ability to order kind of counter to Ash's next command. "Squirtle, now use Water Pulse and shoot it directly into Shuppet!"

Squirtle opened his mouth and sent a large gush of water at the falling Ghost-Type. The water torrent was shot directly into the small body of Shuppet and sped up the Pokémon's descent towards the ground exponentially.

Fuji's Pokémon hit the hard concrete ground as a large explosion of water and dust kicked up into the air, drops of rain and cement raining down on the battlefield just seconds after the impact.

Squirtle used Aqua Jet again to veer away from the ground so he wouldn't crash and landed near Ash where he stopped and stood straight up in a ready position. The only thing keeping him from collapsing now being sheer will power and the effects of Torrent that was still influencing his body.

Once the smoke cloud cleared on the other side of the battlelfield moments later, Shuppet was revealed laying upon the ground face up and knocked out cold.

Agatha blinked in surprise before raising her hand a few seconds later. "Shuppet is unable to battle! Squirtle is the winner!"

Fuji himself looked slightly stunned as he returned his downed Pokémon to it's ball but merely shook his head then and smiled. He looked across the field at Ash, who was now beside of Squirtle while checking him over. The Water-Type had returned back to normal as Torrent had finally receded and was currently looking pretty beaten and scuffed up.

Ash smiled at his Pokémon, whom was panting but also looking at his trainer with a tired smile of his own, and then patted his shell. "That was incredible Squirtle and you gave one helluva fierce performance just now! Thank you, I'm very proud of you."

Squirtle just gave his trainer a thumbs up. "Squirtle..." He nodded exhaustedly but in obvious enjoyment of his trainer's praise.

Ash then returned his Pokémon to his Pokéball before standing back up and looking across the field at Fuji. The older mad smiled and nodded. "Very impressive Ash, very impressive indeed. Now..." He pulled out another Pokéball. "Lets see how you fair with this one!"

He threw the Pokéball in his hand onto the field then and out of the ball came yet another Hoenn native Ghost-Type, Duskull.

Ash observed the new opponent he would have to face and immediately knew exactly who to use. He was ready to see just how adapt of a battler she was and how much his training with her had payed off over the past two days.

The boy then pulled out the Pokéball he needed from his belt and smiled. "Thanks Mr. Fuji, now lets see how YOU deal with this!"

Without another word, he tossed the Pokéball up into the air and shouted, "Come on out my beautiful Butterfree!"

In a burst of extravagant lights, Ash's newest Pokémon, the pink Butterfree, emerged from within her ball. She appeared in a flourish and did several intricate spins and turns in the air with her masterful flying abilities before turning in a circle and announcing loudly, "Freeee!"

Fuji and Agatha's reactions to the appearance of such an oddly colored Butterfree truly was comedic. Fuji merely gaped open mouthed as he sputtered, "I-Its p-pink!"

Even Agatha looked surprised but she hid it much better. _'Hmm...'_ She mused in her mind. _'The only all pink Pokémon I've ever heard of can be found only on Pinkan Island in the Orange Islands. No trainers are permitted on the island, let alone allowed to capture any of them. I don't know him very well but something just tells me that this young Ash would never do such a thing as capture protected Pokémon against the law so I do wonder how he managed to obtain such a rarity?' She grinned to herself and shook her head in slight amusement. 'This young man is just full of surprises...'_

She waited until Fuji recovered from his shock at seeing the rare Pokémon and then called out, "Both trainers ready for battle? If so then begin!"

Fuji quickly shook himself from his stupor and commanded his Pokémon, "Duskull use Willow Wisp!"

The strange looking Ghost-Type glowed eerily for a few seconds before firing multiple little blue balls of self guided fire at the female Butterfree.

Ash raised an eyebrow. 'So he's starting this one with a status effecting move huh?' He thought to himself. 'Well I've not gotten to see how good she is at battling yet except in practice matches with the others but those really don't count. I know she's fast so lets see how this goes...'

He raised his hand and then called out, "Butterfree use Agility to dodge and then use Gust to counter!"

What happened next shocked everyone, including Ash. Butterfree nodded with a stony expression on her face before she quite literally just fazed out of existence.

Fuji, Agatha, Ash, his friends, Pikachu and even Duskull went wide eyed at the tremendous speed that the female Pokémon had just demonstrated. The wisps of fire that Duskull sent her way simply passed harmlessly through the location where she once was and at the very next instant, Butterfree appeared at Duskull's side and sent a strong gust of wind at it.

Being taken totally off guard by her unnatural speed, neither it nor Fuji could do anything to counter as the gust of wind struck the Ghost-Type and sent it speeding across the battlefield before slamming into the ground.

Ash blinked in shock as Butterfree hovered in the air with the same impassive expression on her face and in her eyes. "Wow..." He stated dumbly. "You're fast Butterfree!"

Fuji seemed amazed as his Pokémon rose back up off the ground slowly and then looked at the Butterfree before them. "Alright Duskull," He said wearily. "Watch out for that Butterfree's speed. Use Confuse Ray and follow it with Shadow Ball!"

His Pokémon complied without hesitation and it's eyes glowed as it sent a ray of confusion inducing light at Butterfree, followed instantly by the dark blob of Shadow Ball.

Ash was quick to react to the incoming attack. "Butterfree use Double Team combined with Agility!" He shouted.

The pink female flickered as several copies of herself were created and then increased their speed with that of Agility. Just before the waves of confusion could hit, all of the copy Butterfree surrounded the original in a circular dome-like formation and took the force of the attack, expelling it upon contact. Just before Shadow Ball could hit, Ash quickly yelled, "Now use Wing Attack, as quickly as you can!"

That statement would prove to be an even further testament to the pink Butterfree's speed as she came rocketing out of the dome of her clones, all of them vanishing as she flew towards the energy ball. Just as she almost came in contact with it, Butterfree twisted herself around and smacked the ball of darkness hard with one glowing, powerful wing, knocking it towards the ground where it exploded.

The female then rushed towards Duskull with her dumbfounding speed. Fuji, impressed that she had managed to dodge both attacks and in such an inventive way by using Double Team as a dome shield of sorts, knew that he had to stop her before she reached his Pokémon. He took quick action, "Duskull use rapid fire Shadow Ball and don't stop until you knock that Butterfree out of the air!"

Duskull called out it's name before building up a massive amount of energy that it then started shooting in several rapid bursts of Shadow Ball. Butterfree narrowed her eyes in focus and just picked up the speed as she swerved in and out of each ball of energy that tried to strike her.

Fuji grew frustrated as he saw just how disabling Butterfree's completely unexpected super speed was to his Pokémon attacks but just before he could order any further commands, the pink female had already made it through the barrage of Shadow Balls and was now directly in front of a very surprised Duskull. Her wings glowed a bright white color then before slamming themselves into the Ghost-Type, knocking it out of the air and towards the ground once more.

Before Fuji could even think of reacting, Butterfree was already below Duskull, looking up at it with fierce eyes. Ash saw the potential for an early finishing move and took it. "Butterfree use Confusion followed by Whirlwind!"

The mate of his first Butterfree hovered in mid-air as her eyes glowed blue and Duskull's descent was stopped instantaneously. The small reprieve from falling that Duskull was allotted did not last long however because in that next instant, Butterfree started whipping her wings together at an extremely fast pace which formed a small twister in the air that only got bigger and bigger the more power she put behind her wing thrusts.

As the twister was made more and more powerful, the frozen in place Duskull was thrown back up towards the ceiling where it was then caught up inside of the whirlwind of extremely fast moving air. Even though Ghost-Types were technically strong against Psychic-Types and should have been able to break free from the constraints of Confusion, which was a Psychic attack itself, the immense speed of the twister it was caught in made it all but impossible for Duskull to focus on anything. Let alone being able to break free from Confusion.

Ash then put the final phase of his plan into action. "Butterfree come down to the ground and then use Wing Attack on the floor!"

While the female Butterfree started doing as her trainer commanded and rushed towards the ground, repeatedly smashing into the floor with her powerful wings, cracking and breaking apart large sections of it into chunks, everyone else was left to wonder what Ash's plan was. Fuji had his face screwed up in an intensely concentrated expression with sweat forming on his brow as he tried to think of some way to help get his Pokémon out of the position it was currently in.

Agatha kept a close eye on both Ash and Butterfree, still critically observing every detail of their battling abilities, before looking at Fuji. She herself was at a loss as to what Ash was going to do now that they had Duskull in such a precarious situation and also wondered why he was having Butterfree bust up the floor.

For someone like her to be at a loss as to why someone was doing what they were in a battle was anvery rare occurence to have happen but if there was one thing she was starting to understand from watching Ash battle, it was that he was apparently quite privy to creating off the wall strategies at the drop of a hat. Which could be an extremely effective method of battling for the executor of said strategies and a nightmare for the opponent facing them.

Fighting an opponent that was prone to unpredictability in battle was a hard thing to find but a true joy to observe when you did find one. Rather you were an observer or their opponent. Even if you were the one undergoing extreme frustration in a match with someone who was so all over the place in technique and strategy and could actually make it work into a winning battling style, it was still very hard not to respect such a thing.

As the older woman looked at Fuji she could not help but think inwardly, _'Interesting indeed... I haven't seen Fuji getting put through the paces like this or be forced onto his toes in such a way in a very long time. I don't even think he himself remembers the last time he had such a battle. Looking at him though, I can tell that he's having a truly enjoyable time with this match.'_ She then frowned slightly._ 'And after everything that man has been through in his wretched life, I'm happy he can have a slight reprieve of the memories I know still haunt him...'_

Agatha then looked towards Ash and Butterfree. The young trainer was standing with his arms crossed and had a look of concentration, determination and focus on his face as he watched his Pokémon continue to bash the floor apart into rubble with her wings. As she stared at the boy's face, her thoughts couldn't stop wandering again.

_'In all my years as an Elite Four, I have seen few trainers, let alone ones that are as wet behind the ears as this boy still is, who could keep my interest and attention so completely enraptured in their battle. His style reminds me of those I've seen from true champions and prodigies over the years with battle prowess and skill in Pokémon raising that were nearly unprecedented in their times.'_

Her eyes narrowed slightly in deep thought while her focus was locked intently onto Ash. _'His intelligence and contemplative ways of thinking reminds me of Sam greatly. His fire, intensity, determination and obvious deep bond he shares with his Pokémon, not to mention how he can motivate them the way he does, reminds me of Lance. Also, the way he remains calm, cool, collected and level headed in battle but with an obvious penchant for being brutal when he needs to be in order to pull out a win for his Pokémon, reminds me so very much of the young Sinnoh Champion... Cynthia Shirona.'_

Agatha smiled to herself then as her eyes remained on Ash._ 'Yes... in fact, he and Cynthia seem to be extremely similar in how they act in battle. Calm, cool, collected, calculating and I dare say it, cold when need be. Which is something impressive considering that Cynthia is so many years his senior in both life and battle experience, as well as in her time with Pokémon in general._

_Actually, all of the people this boy seems to remind me of in ways are many years his senior and to see him already beginning to show the traits that make them all so feared and respected in the world of Pokémon battling, training and research respectively is... unique to say the least.'_

A thoughtful expression came across her wizened face at that moment._ 'Hmmm... Ash Ketchum? Now that I see his face I must admit that the similarities between he and Richard Ketchum, a veteran trainer whom I have seen take on the Indigo and Johto League Conferences many times before, is rather unsettling._

_Richard is talented to be sure with much heart but is prone to rash decisions, recklessness in battle and a tendency to choke on his nerves during competitions of a higher importance. If he and this boy weren't so completely different in the way they go about battling then I would almost say that they were father and son. Though who knows? The apple falls far from the tree on some occasions and this could be one._

_Still, the times I've met and spoken with Richard, he has never mentioned anything about having any children. So most likely they are not as closely related as parent and child but perhaps through a more distant relation with the same name? Yes that is possible. I'll have to mention this interesting young man to him when next I see him.'_

She turned her full attention back to the match again but let one last item of thought cross her mind._ 'I will have to also remember to mention young Ash Ketchum in passing to miss Shirona should I see her again in the near future. I can see many similarities between those two and I believe she would find him interesting. A mirror of her younger self even perhaps._

_Cynthia, from what I understand, was a prodigy trainer as a child and that was what allowed her to go on and become the youngest Pokémon League Champion ever at the young age of sixteen. It could perhaps be possible that this boy is more adept at his craft than even she was at his age? I will have to keep an eye on his career as a Pokémon Trainer if I can and if he truly sticks it out and goes the distance then maybe in a decade or so, he would be able to offer someone like Cynthia a challenge that I'm sure she thirsts for._

_Of course it would be many, many years before this young man, no matter how skilled he seems to be, could stand before someone like miss Shirona and hope to win but when he's older... I do wonder...'_

She was suddenly broken from her reverie by Ash shouting out, "Now Butterfree, start whipping those loose pieces of floor rubble into the air and towards that twister Duskull is inside of with your Gust attack!"

Butterfree stopped what she was doing with her Wing Attack and then the very next second started churning up a powerful Gust that sucked up all of the loose, large pieces of floor rubble into it's vortex before shooting them towards the twister that Duskull was still trapped in. The chunks of debree were absorbed into the whirlwind and started swirling around the inside of it violently, making the funnel appear as though it were peppered with large dots as they spun around.

Confusion was the main expression on most everyone's faces for a short time until Ash's plan started to reveal it's violent nature. With Duskull being trapped in the center of the cyclone and immobilized by Butterfree's Confusion, the many pieces of floor rubble that Butterfree had sent into the twister made the Ghost-Type their prime target to crash, smash and knock into.

Being that the concrete floor rubble was of a rock-type element and since Duskull was unable to move due to the twister and Confusion, the poor Ghost Pokémon was helpless to do anything as the chunks of hard floor slammed into it and thrashed it around inside of the funnel of violent air.

Fuji watched in equal awe and dismay as his Pokémon was beaten senseless by pieces of his very own gym. Duskull cried out in pain as it was continuously smacked with rubble and the old man knew there was nothing he could do. Ash had his hands tied for him tightly.

After several minutes of this cycle repeating itself, Ash decided to end it. "Butterfree stop the twister and use Wing Attack!"

The female Butterfree shot off towards the twister and just as she started to get pulled into it's range of suction, she quickly put an end to the attack. The uncontrollable winds ceased almost as soon as they began once she stopped feeding the proverbial fire with beats of her strong wings like she had been doing. As soon as the cyclone died down and everything calmed, all of the large chunks of rubble inside of it started falling to the ground like pure led.

Duskull was left suspended in the air by Butterfree's Confusion that she still had going and looked to be very beaten and battered from the pummeling it had endured. Fuji tried to give a command to save his Pokémon but the female Butterfree that had proven to be too much for them handle made it to Duskull first.

She stopped Confusion just as she reached Duskull and right as it started to fall to the ground, she slammed into it with her wings and sent the Ghost-Type plummeting towards the ground. Duskull traveled in a fast paced descent that seemed never ending until it impacted the floor below with a loud crashing sound and then went still.

Agatha looked towards the Hoenn native Pokémon after all the dust settled and saw swirls in it's eyes. Knowing it was over, she raised her hand. "Duskull is unable to battle! Butterfree is the winner!"

Ash quickly called Butterfree down to him and then embraced her in joy as he started praising her incredible battle talent. Fuji on the other hand merely shook his head in amazement before returning Duskull. After that he pulled out his last Pokéball and held it in his hand while closing his eyes.

After he finished praising Butterfree, whom was equally as ecstatic as him for winning the battle, Ash called her back to her Pokéball before looking at Fuji with a deeply focused and slightly cautious look in his eyes. This was the last battle of the match and he knew that Fuji's last Pokémon would most likely be his best.

Eventually, Fuji opened up his eyes again and looked over at Ash. His face was serious as he said sharply, "Ash, you have given me a truly memorable battle that I will never forget and for that, I am grateful. However, you have no hope in defeating this last Pokémon of mine, not even with that quick Butterfree of yours. It is my oldest and strongest Pokémon of them all." He gave a small smirk before throwing the ball up into the air.

"Come out my friend and battle with me!" He shouted.

Out of the Pokéball came a large, matured, battle hardened and powerful looking Haunter. The Pokémon didn't even have the customary grin on it's face that was so famous for others of it's species. This one simply looked serious and ready to battle.

Ash instantly knew from looking at Haunter how tough the battle was going to be and without any hesitation, he picked his last Pokémon to use. Tossing the ball out of his hand, he yelled, "Lets show them what true fire and the heat of battle means buddy!"

In a flash of light, Charmander appeared from the Pokéball into a battle stance on the field. Dead seriousness was on his face with his tail flame burning brightly and his whole body tensed for the fight ahead. He and Haunter stared each other down as they both growled and moaned fiercely, "Charrrr/Haunteeeer!"

Everyone could instantly see the sparks flare between the two Pokémon and knew that this last battle was going to be the most intense yet.

Both Ash and Fuji prepared themselves, staring each other down without so much as blinking as Agatha brought her hands down. "Let the battle begin!"

Ash and Fuji both yelled at the same time, "Charmander/Haunter! Flamethrower/Shadow Ball!"

Both Pokémon were fast as lightning as they charged up their attacks and fired them at each other simultaneously with loud cries of "Charrrr/Haaaaaun!" The large scale, powerful attacks collided in mid-air with each other, mixing together and fighting for dominance before exploding.

Fuji ordered for Haunter to charge through the smoke and start using rapid fire Shadow Ball while Ash commanded Charmander to do the same with Flamethrower. Both Pokémon charged at one another through the smoke cloud and started launching their respective attacks at the other. Shadow Balls missed their mark and collided with the floor, walls and ceiling while the hot streams of fire would sear throughout the gym and scorch whatever it touched.

Chamander would duck, weave and dodge around all of the attacks Haunter sent at him while Ghost-Type fazed in and out through the blasts of fire aimed for it.

Ash called out, "Charmander use Slash on the floor to break up pieces of it and throw them at Haunter!"

As Charmander started doing that, Fuji grinned before shouting, "That won't work a second time around Ash! Haunter use Night Shade!"

The Ghost-Type started firing dark beams of energy at the rocks Charmander would toss at it and blast right through them. The dark beams would then continue on towards Charmander and cause him to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. Ash quickly realized they would have to abandon their current strategy as the fast, powerful and well trained Haunter was breaking apart the rubble no sooner than Charmander could throw them and then counter firing with Night Shade.

The tables quickly turned as Charmander was forced to start dodging the attacks Haunter was now using, occasionally switching up and using Psybeam instead of Night Shade.

Roll, flip, twist, turn and jump was the only methods of defense Charmander had against the powerful, well honed attacks that came his way. It became a face-off of power, timing, speed and accuracy as the Fire-Type started to defend himself with his own moves in order to counter like Ember and Flamethrower.

It soon became a violent sequence of explosions and destruction as the more experienced Haunter but equally as vicious and determined Charmander continued going head to head. Every now and again one of their attacks would hit or lightly graze the other and leave small marks or scratches on their body but nothing too extreme.

Ash then yelled out, "Charmander use Smokescreen!"

Charmander stopped jumping around for a split second and opened his mouth before releasing a plume of dark smoke from it that started to cover the battlefield. The Fire-Type then started running through the smoke while using multiple Flamethrowers in many directions in an attempt to hit Haunter.

However, Fuji just laughed. "Sorry Ash, but that little ploy of yours will only benefit us! Haunter use the smoke as cover and then use Shadow Ball!"

The Ghost-Type started fazing in and out through the smoke as it launched multiple Shadow Balls at Charmander. Unlike it's opponent, Haunter could see through the smoke so it provided more of a weapon for the Ghost-Type than it did as an assistant to Charmander, who couldn't see anything in the haze. Ash's Pokemon was then forced to stop his attacks as the first wave of Shadow Balls came hurdling at him through the smoke.

The cold blooded fire lizard was forced to start dodging and evading Haunter's attacks again, only this time with much more difficulty than before due to the low accuracy provided by the smoke.

Try as hard as he might, Charmander still found himself catching a few of the Shadow Balls to his back or sides and was forced to compose himself as the painful orbs of dark energy really started to punish and pummel his small body with each hit he took.

Fuji just just bided his time, ordering Haunter to continue using Shadow Ball, Night Shade and Psybeam through the smoke to try and hit the madly dodging Charmander. After several minutes of this though, he suddenly called out, "Haunter use Confuse Ray now!"

Before Ash could say or do anything to stop the unavoidable, Haunter shot a powerful wave of confusion through the smoke towards the as of yet unaware Charmander. Just as the Fire-Type turned around and finally sensed the looming attack, the red waves of spectral energy were already upon him. He instantly felt his brain go fuzzy then as his eyes went foggy and his body began acting completely out of his control.

Charmander started to thrash around at that moment and use his attacks without command or reason. Shooting Flamethrowers off at the air and tearing at the ground with his claws. Fuji could immediately tell that the Fire Pokémon must have been confused by the sporadic attacks being sent out at crazy angles and then ordered Haunter with no further hesitation, "Start using your attacks on Charmander and don't lighten up until it's over Haunter!"

Haunter let a vicious grin form on it's face from inside the smoke cloud before it honed in on the flailing Charmander and started using attack after attack on the poor Pokémon. Outside of the battle zone, Ash could hear the attacks colliding with Charmander as he cried out in pain. The boy just took a few breaths to calm himself and knew that he had to wait for the right moment to reveal itself to him so he could find a way to get Charmander out of the bad situation he was now in.

His friends on the other hand, were not so confident. "Charmander's getting killed out there!" Misty cried fretfully as she tried to see through the smoke obscuring the battlefield. "If Ash doesn't do something then he's done for!"

Brock had a bead of sweat forming on his brow as he looked into the smoke while biting at the inside of his right cheek. "The problem is, I don't see any way that Ash will be able to plot or pull some crazy plan out of his ass to save Charmander this time. That Haunter is just too strong and experienced. It was a miss match and now its too late to compensate for it."

Giselle shook her head. "No Brock, you're wrong." Both Misty and Brock looked at her in question then. "Ash is smart and he wouldn't ever put his Pokémon in a position that they couldn't handle or would get hurt in. You guys don't train with Ash and his Pokémon but I do and I can tell you that Ash and Charmander are very much in-synch."

An intense gleam came into her eyes. "When those two train together they put everything they have into one another and trust each other. The only other Pokémon I think Ash has that with to such a degree is Pikachu. He has a deep bond with all of his Pokémon but he and Charmander are just..."

Giselle shook her head and glanced towards Ash. "I'm telling you guys that there is just something special there between them. Charmander is way more than just a normal Pokémon and they both know it. Charmander likes to push his limits and Ash encourages it. So please..." She looked at them again with eyes that left no room for argument. "Just have faith you guys."

Misty and Brock was only able to stare speechlessly at her but could find no fault in her words. Instead, they merely nodded and remained silent, feeling slightly ashamed of themselves for not having more faith in their friend.

Back on the battlefield, Fuji made what he felt for certain was his finishing move. With a calm expression on his face, he commanded with a thrust of his right arm, "Haunter now use Hypnosis followed by Dream Eater!"

The Ghost-Type Pokémon flew further into the smoke cloud and found the beaten and battered Charmander just now getting back up from a Shadow Ball that had knocked him down, the confusion finally beginning to wear off.

Ash's Pokémon looked ahead of him then and suddenly saw two glowing red eyes staring back at him through the smokey haze. Charmander, even in his current weakened state, was afraid of no Pokémon and merely gave a resilient glare back at the eyes as he growled, still trying to stabilize himself on his feet.

The next thing he saw however was two hypnotic, concentric rings of red light coming from the equally red eyes that hit him head on and caused him to feel extremely tired just seconds afterwards. He tried with every fiber of his being to fight the drowsy feeling but it was for naught. Charmander finally lost the battle moments later and fell backward, falling into a deep sleep before he even hit the ground.

The smoke finally started to lift just enough that everyone could now see through it and as it cleared, Ash saw his Pokémon fall to the ground in a slumbering unconsciousness. The very next thing he saw was Haunter floating a mere few yards away from Charmander before sending a spectral image of itself at the sleeping Pokémon, his eyes glowing red as he did so.

Fuji had his arms crossed and eyes closed, knowing the battle was over and even Agatha had a similar expression in her guarded eyes. The spectral form entered into Charmander and lifted the Pokémon up as a bright red glow surrounded him. The glow became violent and malicious then as it started sapping large quantities of energy from Charmander and into Haunter itself, all while tormenting the Pokémon in his sleep.

After several moments of this, the glow finally stopped and Charmander fell to the ground in an unmoving heap. Ash's face was unreadable and Agatha's thoughts were playing through her head once again. 'Well, the two of them fought valiantly but Fuji and Haunter are one helluva fierce team to beat. Hopefully he has more luck with that Squirtle or Butterfree.'

Just as she went to raise her hand to declare Charmander unable to battle, Ash suddenly spoke. He spoke right to his Pokémon with a voice that sounded as though they were the only two in the gym.

His tone was soft but firm as he said loudly, "Charmander... I know you can hear me so please listen. You... you are special. You are so much more than you think you are. You are strong, you are powerful, you are all of the things that I know can and will make you one of the greatest Pokémon this world has ever seen. All the training we do, all the suffering we've done to get where we are now. Charmander... don't ever give in. You are something more... far more than anyone thinks is possible."

His fists clenched. "You are going to stand at the top one day and be what you have always dreamed of being! You are going to stand at the pinnacle above everyone else and I'm going to be there with you! We're going to get there together Charmander... we're going to fight with everything we are and with everything that makes us better!" He was shouting at this point, "YOU ARE WHAT NO OTHER OF YOUR SPECIES CAN BE CHARMANDER SO LETS PROVE IT! SHOW THIS WORLD THAT YOU WON'T GIVE IN FOR ANYTHING!"

Suddenly and at those very words, Charmander started to stir as his mouth moved slightly. His eyes twitched and his body jumped before the flame on his tail began glowing brightly. And by brightly... it means that it was burning blazing hot. Steam started to pour from his body as his body twitched again, violently.

Then, to everyone's utter and complete shock, Charmander started to get up. His battered body that was covered with marks and scratches from the battle began burning as the fire from his tail erupted outward and surrounded him, shrouding the Fire-Type's body in a furiously blazing, fierce looking wall of fire. His hind claws dug into the gym floor and the claws on his forearms extended as he looked up.

The look on Charmander's face could be simply described as one of pure, unbridled rage and ferocity. His eyes were smoldering with a red/orange glow and his face was set into a ferocious looking snarl. The air around him began to heat up, steam escaped from his body, the ground he stood on became red from the heat and as he opened his mouth and expelled a breath, steam came from it and his nostrils like an erupting volcano. His shoulders moved up and down with the heavy, shaking breaths he took that was caused by the fury coursing throughout his very being at the moment.

Charmander then raised his head up to the air and let out a bone chilling growl-like roar as fire erupted from his mouth that was much larger and much more powerful than what should have been possible for a Pokémon his size.

He looked forward then at Haunter with blood lust screaming in his now blazing orange/red eyes. Everyone observing the violent change in the Pokémon were taken completely aback.

"W-What's wrong with Charmander!?" Misty stammered in a frightened tone of voice.

Everyone in the gym was starting to feel the rise in heat as Brock looked at Charmander with his squinty eyes, straining to stare at the bright glow surrounding the Fire-Type that the heat was giving off. He put his arm up in front of him to help shield from the intense temperature increase as he responded, "I think its Blaze, an ability that certain Fire-Types possess which is similar to Torrent for Water-Pokémon like Squirtle earlier. It activates under the same extreme physical and emotional circumstances as Torrent but this seems different than what I've usually heard Blaze is like. This looks a lot more powerful and dangerous than the normal version of it."

Meanwhile, both Agatha and Fuji seemed to be beyond shocked at the turn of events. Fuji could only stare in amazement while Agatha looked at the seemingly rejuvenated and furious Fire-Type with just a small amount of surprise actually showing on her face.

_'How?'_ She questioned in her mind._ 'All the times I've seen Haunter and Fuji use that combination, very few have ever managed to stay conscious after it. Let alone battle ready!'_ Her eyes narrowed once more._ 'The way that boy can motivate his Pokémon to go past limits even they themselves don't know they have is just astounding! He almost seemed to speak directly to his Pokémon's soul and Charmander responded in kind. It's determination to keep going for both itself and Ash even when it was down for the count is what activated Blaze, I'm sure of it.'_

A somewhat perplexed expression came across her face then._ 'Though I have never seen Blaze take hold of a Pokémon like this before. Could it have something to do with the obvious strong bond both Ash and Charmander share that unlocked something deep within it that surpasses that of even Blaze?'_

Agatha shook her head and chuckled dryly to herself._ 'Watch yourself old girl, you're starting to sound like that old tree knot Oak!'_

Anymore thought for her was deemed impossible though for at the next instant, Charmander made his move. The enraged and brightly glowing Fire-Type lunged forward in a burst of speed so fast that a trail of fire and cracked gym floor was left in his wake. He charged straight towards Haunter and Fuji that knew his Pokémon would be in trouble if he didn't find a way to put down the incensed Fire-Type.

He quickly called out, recovering from his shock at the sudden turn of events quite admirably, "Haunter stop that Charmander with a combination of Shadow Ball and Night Shade! Hurry!"

Haunter started rapidly executing his attacks towards Charmander at rapid speeds but the Fire Pokémon was completely unperturbed by them. His mouth glowed with crackling flames before he opened up his maw and started whipping his head from side to side, streams of fire exploding forth, coming into contact and shredding through Haunter's own attacks like paper through a shredder. Charmander kept charging forward all the while, breathing heavily in rage as smoke poured out of his mouth and nose.

Seeing that nothing was working, Fuji commanded, "Haunter create your biggest Shadow Ball and then fire it at Charmander while backing it up with Psybeam!"

Haunter drew on the energy it had stolen from Charmander earlier through Dream Eater and started building up a large Shadow Ball in it's hands. Ash, seeing the ploy, called out, "Charmander shoot a Smokescreen at Haunter now!"

Charmander reared his head back as he ran and then threw it forward again as he expelled black smoke from his mouth that streamed towards Haunter. The Ghost-Type had just managed to create it's greatest Shadow Ball and then released it, firing Psybeam behind the dark energy sphere to increase it's speed as the plume of black smoke washed over it and took Haunter by surprise."

Ash yelled, "Now Flamethrower!"

Charmander opened his mouth and expelled a white hot jet of flames straight through the smoke cloud which impacted with Haunter's Shadow Ball/Psybeam combination. The force of the incredibly powerful Flamethrower caused the ball of dark energy to be pushed back and then turn slightly before exploding. The blast was enough to all but blow the smoke away as the shock wave knocked Haunter back several feet.

Fuji, starting to lose his measure of cool somewhat now, shouted, "Use Hypnosis Haunter! Stop Charmander!"

Haunter's eyes glowed red as multiple red rings of sleep inducing energy came forth from said eyes and sped towards Charmander. Ash was quick to react though. "Charmander jump into the air and spin yourself with Flamethrower!"

The Fire-Type narrowed his eyes at seeing one of the moves he had learned to so thoroughly detest and then jumped into the air, still heading straight for Haunter and also the rings of Hypnosis as he started spinning in a fast circle. The tail flame behind him blazed wildly until it was burning furiously and had surrounded Charmander in a dome-like circle of fire.

The sleep inducing rings of energy missed their intended target and instead hit the wall of fire as they burst apart into nothing. The flames around Charmander grew larger until he became practically invisible within the protective cocoon of intense heat and only a moving wall of fire could be seen hurdling towards Haunter.

Just as Fuji was about to take more action, the wall of flames suddenly parted as Charmander came shooting through them like a bullet. His mouth was wide open as he spewed forth a truly tremendous burst of fire that rocketed towards Haunter and came upon it within seconds. The Ghost-Type had no time to react before the flames consumed it's spectral body and sent it flying back across the field, crashing into the ground several yards away.

Fuji grit his teeth at the incredible damage he knew his Pokémon had just sustained and then watched as Haunter slowly levitated back up into the air with scorch marks all over it's ghostly body and one eye closed shut.

Charmander continued charging forward without stop and Fuji knew the next few moves were going to be his last shot at preventing a total sweep defeat for he and his Pokémon.

He quickly started commanding for Haunter to use Shadow Ball, Night Shade, Confuse Ray and Psybeam on Charmander. The now injured Ghost Pokémon had only been able to nod in understanding before it began unleashing a huge barrage of attacks at the incoming Fire-Type.

By this point however, Charmander had tunnel vision and could only see Haunter and taking it down within his vision. Ash ordered him to use a rapid Flamethrower while he ran to stop the attacks coming for him and he did just that, never once stopping as he sent a stream of widespread flames in every direction he sensed danger. Effectively cutting through and destroying every attack Haunter sent at him with frightening accuracy and overwhelming strength.

Just as Charmander was a mere ten yards away from Haunter, Fuji called out, "Haunter use Shadow Punch!"

The Ghost-Type's arm became cloaked in dark energy as he reared back and prepared to bash Charmander away when he finally got close enough. Ash however, had other plans. He quickly shouted, "Full speed Charmander! Jump as soon as you get to Haunter!"

Charmander picked up his speed until he was practically blurring forward and then jumped into the air towards Haunter. Haunter also took off into the air as both Pokémon went on a collision course with each other. Ash yelled again, "Now use Ember!"

Just before Charmander made contact with Haunter, his tail flame blazed up skyward and spread out like a wildfire as he spun his appendage around, twisting his body in mid-air. Ghost-Type and Fire-Type met with a room shaking 'crack' at that same moment, Haunter's Shadow Punch meeting Charmander's glowing hot tail like two swords made of raw energy and power. At the same time, Ember caused another wall of fire to spring up and surround the two clashing Pokémon within it's burning hot center.

Charmander and Haunter fought and struggled for dominance and both Ash and Fuji were about to issue more commands but Ash was quicker. "Blind Haunter with a burst of extra fire from your tail Charmander!"

The Kanto starter focused even more fire into his tail and then sent it blazing outward towards Haunter. The Ghost-Type quickly became spooked and shut it's eyes from the flames as it backed away slightly. This gave Ash all the time he needed to execute the next move that he felt would be the clencher. He raised his hand high into the air before yelling, "Charmander... DRAGON RAGE!"

Charmander's eyes radiated an even brighter red that quickly turned to silver as his stomach glowed in a similar color. His whole body essentially lighting up with a bright white/silver shroud of light. Fuji quickly called out in a panic, "Haunter get away from it now!"

The Ghost-Type couldn't even attempt to get away though. Not only was it surrounded on all sides by a dome of fire but it's eyes were still shut from the slight burn they had sustained from Charmander's tail flame burst. That small hesitation was all Charmander needed to open his mouth and reveal a glowing, bluish/silver orb of energy charging within.

With a thrust forward of his head and loud cry of "CHARRRRRRR!" He unleashed the powerful Dragon-Type attack directly at Haunter, who was mere feet away. The ball of light became a beam that quickly swallowed the Ghost-Type up in it's bright glow and then cut a swath straight across the gym, through the floor and towards the opposite wall. The whole room flashed brightly, blinding everyone, before the charge of draconic energy finally came into contact with the reinforced wall on the other side of the gym and exploded with an earth shaking 'BOOM'!

The gym shook from the force of the explosion and the room was covered in smoke as everyone covered their eyes and mouth. Once it all began to settle many moments later and they all opened up their eyes again, a strange smell of what resembled sulfur was in the air and a slight haze covered the room.

A faint orange/red glow could be seen near the middle of the gym and when everyone looked to the source of the glow, they saw a panting, sweating and battle worn Charmander hunched over with his body still faintly glowing. Blaze's effects had finally ended and he had calmed down but the harsh results of the long, hard battle remained and the evidence of the massive power he had used could be seen in the way his muscles twitched and convulsed.

Even still though, Charmander was looking ahead with one eye closed and the other open, an expression of total focus and intent etched onto his face that showed he still wouldn't give in yet if Haunter wanted to keep battling. No matter how exhausted he was.

Everyone then turned their attention towards where Dragon Rage had impacted with the far wall and saw a mid-sized crater dented into it's surface with a trail of torn up floor leading to it. What really caught everyone's attention though was the Pokémon in the center of the crater. Haunter was lying squished up into the wall covered in scorch marks with it's eyes completely unfocused, showing that it was lost deeply into unconsciousness.

Fuji, Giselle, Misty and Brock all gaped at the sight while Agatha only let the shock of the revelation show for a split second before hiding it away behind her unreadable facial expression of stone once again.

Doing the job she had been temporarily assigned to, she walked out onto the field and raised her hand. "Haunter is unable to battle, the victor is Charmander! Seeing as how the gym leader is now out of Pokémon to use in this three on three match, I hereby declare the winner to be Ash Ketchum!"

Giselle, Misty and Brock all snapped out of their stupor at Agatha's announcement before they started cheering and clapping loudly for Ash. The boy in question merely smiled and nodded his head in relief that it was finally over before walking out onto the field and kneeling down next to Charmander.

He looked his tired Pokémon over and then placed a hand on the Fire-Type's head as he smiled. "Now what you just did Charmander... THAT was the mark of a Pokémon who is going to become a true champion someday. You were beyond amazing and I am far more than proud of you," He said with a genuine smile.

Charmander looked at Ash and gave him a tired smile and nod of the head before allowing his trainer to pick him up. Ash walked over to the others while Pikachu congratulated his teammate on his big win from Ash's shoulder.

The victorious young man approached Fuji and waited for the old man to return his beaten Pokémon. Once he did, Fuji turned to face Ash and gave him a true smile with his eyes still dancing with the heat and joy of battle. "That match Ash was without a doubt the best I have had in these many years, even back in this gym's heyday. You showed so many fantastic qualities that will someday make you a truly great Pokémon Trainer. You displayed intelligence, determination, resourcefulness, incredible strategic thinking and above all, the depth of the amazing bond you share with your Pokémon."

Fuji reached out and put his hand on Charmander's head, lightly rubbing the exhausted Pokémon's still warm skin with a gentle and kind massaging motion. Charmander closed his eyes and relaxed fully in his trainer's arms due to the pleasant sensation he was feeling at the older man's gentle touch and cooed happily.

Fuji gave an eyesmile at Charmander and chuckled a little before withdrawing his hand and looking back at Ash again. "What truly impressed me out of everything else today though was the deep, intimate bond you share with this Charmander, Ash. You were able to bring out the very best in this Pokémon and helped it reach down to achieve a level of power and strength within itself that I don't even think it knew it had. I can tell that over the years, you and this Charmander are only to grow closer, stronger and even better together as a team. Its rare to be able to meet someone that can bring out the power in a Fire-Type like I saw done today but you did so Ash and you should be proud."

Ash bowed to Fuji. "Thank you for your praise Mr. Fuji. If it wasn't for my Pokémon battling as hard as they did today then there's no way I would have won. This is just as much their victory as it is mine in every way," He said truthfully and modestly.

Fuji looked at Agatha, who smiled and nodded in return to him. A seemingly silent conversation passed between the two wizened old veterans in that moment. Ash's words only further cementing their already growing positive opinion of the boy in a very good way.

The bald man snapped his fingers then before smiling again as he walked over to a cabinet at the far side of the gym near the entry door. He opened the cabinet and fished around for a bit before finding what he was looking for. After he was finished and closed the cabinet again, he came back over to the group and stood before Ash again.

Smiling sincerely, he held his hand out to Ash and revealed to the boy a badge resting in his palm. "You earned this young man," Fuji said kindly. "I award with you this for your hard effort, the Spirit Badge."

Ash stretched out his hand and accepted the badge that Fuji was offering to him. Holding it in his palm, he took in it's appearance. The badge was shaped just like a clock tower bell and was a mixture of dark and light golden brown. The body of the bell was what was dark brown and the gong that rang the bell was the part that had a lighter shade of golden brown to it.

Ash looked at the badge with a smile on his face and then showed it to Pikachu and Charmander before his friends as well had a look. He turned back to Fuji and nodded. "Thank you Mr. Fuji, I really appreciate it."

The old man smiled. "You earned it young man, you earned it."

Brock clapped Ash on the back. "Congratulations Ash, I was worried there for awhile when Haunter and Charmander were battling but you came out on top. Great job," He complemented earnestly.

Misty looked guilty. "I did the same thing Ash and I'm sorry. You did great though and Brock's right, you should be proud of herself."

Giselle kissed his cheek. "I knew you had it in you, all of you, and I was right. I'm proud of you Ash," She told him with a smile.

Ash returned the smile and thanked his friends before noticing Agatha as she came walking up to him. She stood before him then with an unreadable expression on her face that slowly formed into a smile. "Well young man..." She began. "I have to say that that was one thrilling match to watch. Even more so than some of the battles I've seen take place in the Indigo Conference. You really showed that you possess quite a lot of skill as a Pokémon Trainer and it was as clear as day that the bond you share with your Pokémon's runs deep as well." She focused a little more on him. "Tell me Ash, how long have you been training Pokémon so far?"

Ash appeared thoughtful and did a little mental calculation in his head before answering. "Well, I left for my journey the day of my birthday, which was June 21, and here it is now at the end of October so... almost five months this November," He replied with surety.

Agatha seemed mildly surprised that Ash had only been on his journey for such a short amount of time but moved on to the next question she had as she looked at Charmander. "And was this your first Pokémon?"

Ash smiled and shook his head. "No actually ma'am, he wasn't." He then gestured to Pikachu on his shoulder. "Pikachu actually was." Seeing Agatha's curious expression, he explained. "Its kind of complicated but... on the day I left for my journey, I was the first to arrive at Professor Oak's lab and didn't really feel any connection to any of the usual starter Pokémon he had to offer.

I met Pikachu as a Pichu years before in the forest near the Professor's lab and saved him from falling off a cliff. I felt a bond with him instantly and ever since then, I had wished that he could be my first Pokémon. It just so happened that the Professor had captured a Pikachu that was chewing the electric lines near the lab on the morning I went to the lab to get my first Pokémon and when he showed him to me, I recognized instantly that he was the Pichu I had saved years earlier. He recognized me too, we both were happy to see other again and then he decided to become my first Pokémon."

Agatha listened to the story with wrapped attention, as did Fuji, and by the end she was smiling. "That's a very interesting story Ash. Very interesting indeed. In fact, I would wager to say that you and this Pikachu were destined to become partners." Ash and Pikachu smiled at that before she spoke again, this time in amusement. "So, you know old Sam eh?"

It took Ash a moment to realize who she was talking about but once he recalled that Professor Oak's first name was Samuel, he smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah I know him definitely. I live in Pallet Town and he and his family are really close to my mom and I. Professor Oak is really great and he even mentored me five years before I left on my journey. He's more like my grandfather than anything else though honestly," He declared fondly and proudly, his adoration for the old professor shining through in that moment.

Agatha smiled to herself and chuckled mentally._ 'So, he does know the old board after all and not only that but he also sounds to be rather close to him as well. Very close in fact if he sees him as a grandfather. No wonder I noticed so many similarities between how he and Sam formulate strategies and techniques in battle. If the coot really did mentor him for so long it would explain part of why the boy seems so intelligent and adapt at Pokémon Training for his age. I know that Oak has his own grandchildren though so do I wonder if he did the same for them or if its just something special about this boy in particular?'_

Agatha decided to change the course of the conversation then, putting those thoughts onto the back burner as it were so she could contemplate on them again at at a later time. "So tell me then Ash, how many badges do you have now?"

Ash just shrugged and answered her with complete honesty yet also modesty, "Eleven as of right now ma'am."

Fuji looked stunned and Agatha merely blinked before smiling to herself again and shaking her head. _'Oh yes, now I can see it. The old board has definitely had a strong influence in this boy's outlook on Pokémon Training.'_

She then asked while actually smiling outwardly this time, "Then that means you now have more than the required number of badges to enter this coming year's Indigo Conference. What is your plan now?" She inquired curiously.

Ash answered without any hesitation, "Myself, my Pokémon and my friends are traveling all across the region so that I can collect every gym badge there is before the conference."

Agatha nearly laughed out loud as an almost miniature version of Samuel Oak started to manifest itself in the boy as she looked at him. Oak was always determined and an overachiever just like Ash was showing himself to be right now but she had to admit that even her old friend had never aspired to achieve something so difficult before.

She just nodded and then leaned on her cane. "I wish you luck then Ash. If what I've seen from your battle today was anything to go by then I can definitely see you accomplishing that very goal."

Ash felt humbled by the respected member of the Elite Four's words and bowed his head slightly before looking back at her with a fire now burning in his eyes that caught her off guard. "Thank you Agatha, your words mean a lot to me and I have every intention of achieving that very goal with my Pokémon. Then, we are going to go to the Indigo Conference this coming year after training and preparing as much as we can and we WILL come out victorious."

His eyes were deathly serious then as the proverbial fire became even brighter within them. "And the reason I say with such confidence that we, not me by myself but my Pokémon and I together, are going to win the Indigo Conference is because after that..."

Agatha could have sworn she saw Lance looking at her then when Ash said the next words that he did. And not only that but the way in which he said them, with such conviction, determination and confidence, caused her to believe in that moment that he could actually achieve the goals he was setting for himself.

The boy had her attention focused solely on him as he said with a level of conviction that almost made her blink in surprise, "...After that I am going to accept the opportunity to take the Kanto Champion's League challenge that is offered to the winner of each year's Indigo Conference and I WILL end up battling you. That..."

He smiled then. Not a cocky or overly confident smile either but a smile that practically shone with all of the pure grit and determination he possessed to achieve every goal he had set for himself. "That Agatha is my promise to you and a promise that you can share with the rest of the Elite Four for me."

His smile faded and was replaced with utter seriousness the next moment. "I know that each of you receive challenges and the same such 'promises' from trainers all the time but I am here to tell you right now that everything I am. Everything my Pokémon are and everything we are together as a whole is going to go towards making that promise I just made you a reality. We ARE going to win the Indigo Conference, we ARE going to face you and the rest of the Elite Four and we WILL..." Pikachu and Charmander's own faces showed the same unwavering determination and intent that Ash's did. "We WILL win."

The last word out of his mouth was said with such finality that the entire room went silent. Agatha for her part was both shocked and baffled by the young trainer before her. He was definitely right when he said that he knew several other trainers must have promised and said the same things to her and the other members of the Elite Four.

Oh yes indeed he was right.

Herself and the other Elites could compile whole books with the promises and all but blood sworn oaths that were made to challenge and defeat them but very, very rarely did they ever actually end up getting challenged by those same individuals later on. Let alone defeated or even close to it. The rare few that did actually accept the offer to take on the Champion's League after winning the Indigo Conference wouldn't even come close to defeating Lorelei, let alone the rest of them.

Most of the spirited challenges they received would be well meaning, with every intention for said trainers to make good on their promises, but would ultimately fall to nothing as the true weight and almost overwhelming difficulty of accomplishing what they had promised to do came crashing down upon them.

Most trainers got more than they could take in the Indigo Conference so the thought of actually taking on something that made the conference itself look weak by comparison was almost petrifying for the bulk of the population. The largest percentage of trainers after managing to conquer the Indigo League couldn't even imagine what it would be like to then go on to face the Elite Four and so, they let their heart filled promises die out rather quietly and quickly.

Over the years, Agatha and the other Elites, including Lance, learned to just take the promises with a smile and put on a fake face of excitement for the challenges presented to them. They had all learned long ago that words were just that... words. Talk merely was talk until someone had the guts to back it up.

To be completely honest, what Ash had just told Agatha was a mirror of similar things she had been told over the years by many others so it wasn't the words he just spoke that had gotten to her so much. What got to her was the passion, the complete and utter conviction in which he swore to her that he would make good on his promise. The way his eyes burned when he said what he did, like a thousand suns were blazing in his amber orbs, is what made her pay a little more attention to the promise he just made her than all the others.

She didn't know if Ash could win something as big as the Indigo Conference no matter how skilled he was though. He was still just a rookie trainer and no greenhorn in history had ever won a League Conference. Ever.

Still, he could surprise her she supposed and watching his progress throughout his career as a Pokémon Trainer from then on out would help her be able to see just how far he was going. To see if he really did have what it took to go the distance. Even if his promise didn't come true, which she was highly skeptical about herself, he had still managed to accomplish something very few others did by getting a member of the Elite Four (namely her) so interested in him that she was now willing to follow his still very young career.

Obviously, she knew that even he did somehow win the Indigo Conference and then, by some wild chance, accepted the chance to battle in the Champion's League, it was without a shadow of a doubt in her mind that there was no way the rookie could ever defeat Lorelei, Bruno or especially herself. Agatha simply knew that it just wasn't possible.

It never hurt to dream though and she hoped that he did hold onto that lofty goal of his so that maybe, just maybe, it would carry him out of his greenhorn years and into a more experienced stage of his life. A stage that would then maybe allow him more of a chance of victory over one of them. Again, unlikely but possible. Not like the chances of him winning as a rookie though. That was almost laughable to the older woman and knew that he would be crushed in a heartbeat by Lorelei in mere seconds if they battled now.

No greenhorn rookie could defeat a champion. That was just common knowledge to even the youngest of Pokémon Trainers. So with all that in mind, his promise didn't faze her in the least. She knew he couldn't beat any of them now or anytime in the near or even distant future so why should she really care?

It wasn't her being cocky either, just realistic.

Agatha broke free of her thoughts and shook her head to clear it before smiling at Ash. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see if you'll be skilled enough to make good on that promise of yours then eh?" She said in a non-mocking tone of voice.

Ash just looked at her for a few moments without saying anything. He wasn't stupid. He knew that she didn't take his promise seriously and he honestly couldn't blame her. A rookie trainer swearing to win a League Conference and then go on after that and battle four of the toughest trainers in the entire region, who were also years his senior in every possible way... it really was almost absurd.

Truthfully, if Ash were anyone other than himself, he would laugh or scoff at his own declaration so naturally, he couldn't blame Agatha for her unwillingness to truly take him seriously. Hell, even his friends thought his dream was a little too far out there. Which was fine though, they could all laugh and think what they wanted. He and his Pokémon would just have to prove them all wrong through actions rather than words and make the entire world jaw drop after they did what everyone said was impossible.

His small moment of self reverie over, Ash simply smiled back at her and nodded. "I guess we will."

Before he could say anything else, he suddenly felt Charmander slump in his arms more than before and looked down. He saw that his Pokémon was looking rather unwell with his tail flame flickering a little as he panted slightly and small beads of sweat formed on his brow.

Keeping calm since he was able to tell by his body language that Charmander was just very tired and needed some proper medical treatment after going quite a long time without, Ash looked at Fuji. "Mr. Fuji, where is the Pokémon Center located here in the city? I really need to get all of my Pokémon healed and rested up, especially Charmander. It's been quite some time since we've been to a center."

Fuji looked down at the exhausted, battle worn Fire-Type and nodded without a second's hesitation. "I'll do you one better Ash, I'll take you there myself. My Pokémon need to be looked over after our battle anyway."

Ash nodded. "Thanks Mr. Fuji." He then turned to his friends. "Do any of you want to go or need to have your Pokémon looked at?"

Misty shook her head. "No my Pokémon are still good to go."

"Same here, my Pokémon are totally fine," Brock answered.

"And my Pokémon are still going strong from when you healed them up earlier today Ash so we don't need to go either," Giselle answered her boyfriend.

Ash looked back at Fuji. "Well I guess it'll just be us then."

Fuji nodded and looked to Agatha. "Would you mind keeping the others company here while Ash and myself go to the Pokémon Center Agatha?"

The older woman just shook her head. "Of course not! Now shoo, get going and go have your Pokémon checked up ya old coot!" She teased in good humor.

With the matter settled, Ash and the others went back into Fuji's apartment-like home before he and the older man left the compound and headed for the Pokémon Center.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

On the journey back through the deserted part of town, making their way towards the inhabited parts of Lavender where the Pokémon Center was at, Ash and Fuji mostly remained in comfortable silence. Only occasionally breaking it to make small acts of conversation here and there.

After some time of walking and eventually entering into the non abandoned section of town, the two finally arrived at the large Pokemon Center located inside of an equally as sizable shopping square. They made their way inside and after handing their Pokémon off to the friendly Nurse Joy waiting at the front desk, they went over to a table in the lobby and sat down. Making the decision to just wait for their Pokémon instead of dropping them off.

During the time they sat there, Fuji noticed that Ash seemed strangely quiet, almost like he was in deep thought, and decided to see what was troubling him. "You seem to be in some intense thought there young man," Fuji observed.

Ash shook himself free of his thoughts and looked at the kindly old man. He then just smiled and shook his head. "Ah you know just...thinking is all really," He answered absently.

Fuji stayed silent for a few moments before asking another question. "Care to share your thoughts?"

Ash seemed to contemplate on it for a while before hesitantly beginning to speak, "Well... its just... I guess I'm still thinking about what happened at Pokémon Tower, what you said about it and also what happened to me."

Fuji nodded and crossed his arms. "Yes I would imagine that you would still be thinking about such a thing. It was a travesty that happened to the tower and that part of town by association but there was just..." He took a slight pause. "There was just nothing that could have been done about it."

Fuji's brow creased at what he just said and he looked down for a few moments before looking back at Ash then and smiling. "I know its all a very interesting subject to think on and can be enrapturing for the mind but I would advise you not let your thoughts linger on something so dark Ash. It doesn't do one good for their health you know," He advised wisely.

Ash sighed and looked up. "Yeah I know you're right but still... its one of those things that for some reason just won't leave my mind no matter how hard I try to force it to."

Fuji was about to reply to him before Nurse Joy suddenly called over to him about needing to know something about his Pokémon. The old man got up from the table and looked at Ash. "Just give me one minute Ash, she probably just needs to ask me if my Haunter is aggressive since his attitude has always been a little standoffish around strangers. I'll be right back and then we can continue this conversation. Okay?"

Getting a simple shrug of acceptance from Ash, Fuji got up and followed after Nurse Joy into the healing room in the back of the center.

Ash stayed where he was in his chair after that and just continued to stray deeper into his thoughts. He had just started thinking about what the giant tower looked like when he and the others had seen it before they came into the town when suddenly, he felt a cold draft blow against his skin. No windows were open and the doors were shut in the center so he had no idea where the draft had come from.

He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up then before he felt the entire atmosphere become almost heavy and somewhat dark all of a sudden. That's when he heard it. The same voice from before whisper into his ear.

_'Come to us Ash Ketchum... come to us now... come... come... come now...'_

No sooner did the words enter his head and Ash started feeling a combination of both drowsiness and light headedness. He felt his eyes grow slack and something start to take control of his mind. He tried desperately to fight it off but whatever was attempting to invade his mind was much too powerful and his efforts were futile.

The boy's head suddenly dropped to the table, face down, the very next instant and his body became rigid. When he finally lifted his head up seconds later, his eyes were shown to be drooping and clouded over. He then stood up from the table in a total trance and turned around before he started walking out the door of the Pokémon Center.

He left the building and entered into the cool night air as he began making his way down the dark streets in a slow, sedated pace. The only light around was that being given off by the overhead street lights.

On and on Ash walked until he started coming back into the deserted part of town. He made his way down the broken and desolate streets as a familiar route started making itself known. After some time of traversing through the ruined streets, the dark, looming and imposing form of Pokémon Tower could be seen rising up into the sky a short distance away. The backdrop of night and the way the ominous tower, which looked even worse in the blackness of such a late hour, contrasted against the tall mountains in the far distance made a very unnerving sight to see.

Ash traveled down the street he was on before coming to the cobblestone path that led the way to the front doors of the tower. He stepped onto the walkway and began trudging down the long path. The dark, twisted trees and long, dried up grass on either side of the path made the already dreadful looking area seem all that much worse.

Eventually, Ash came to stand before the entrance of the giant tower. He stepped up to the locked door and just as he went to reach for the handles, the chains and padlock that kept the door shut glowed a faint blue before unlocking and falling off. The chains dropping to the ground and landing on the stone ground with a 'ching'.

Ash grasped ahold of the door handles before pulling, a rustic, creaking sound being heard as they slowly swung open. A cold draft blew against the spaced out trainer's body as soon as the doors opened and all that could be seen beyond was darkness. With no hesitation, Ash stepped inside the building and the doors slammed shut behind him.

On the inside, all was almost completely dark. The smell that hit Ash's nose was one of a building that had been shut up and barred from the outside world for many years. The scent being somewhat similar to that of a tomb that had just been opened.

The entranced young trainer looked around at his surroundings with glazed eyes and took in the appearance of all that he could see around him. The entry level or ground level floor of the tower was massive with a wide circumference and extremely high ceilings that were supported by huge wooden beams. There were also four giant windows elevated high up into the walls of the expansive room. Two on each wall.

It was only because of these windows that there was any visibility available whatsoever inside the tower in the first place. The moonlight shining in through the huge windows landed on the floor down below and rebounded off of it's surface as it illuminated almost everything inside in an eery, dim glow.

Ash looked to the left then and noticed an old receptionist desk sitting against the wall near the door and when he looked around at the room laid out in front of him, all he saw was white marble memorial stones. The stones were literally scattered everywhere in near perfect rows throughout the ground floor. There was even several platforms built into the walls above him that were lined with the same types of stones in a circular pattern all the way up to the high ceilings. Many of the memorials stones were cracked and damaged though which would leave one to wonder exactly how such a thing happened to objects that were so high off the ground.

Ash looked a little further on after that and saw a big staircase stretching along the side of the far most wall that lead up to a large archway type of opening, which had another set of steps beyond that. Leading Ash to believe that those same steps led to the higher levels of the tower.

When he looked straight ahead of him and to the left however, he saw what looked to be yet another large archway type of opening that, instead of leading up, appeared as though it was heading straight down into the apparent lower levels of the tower.

Being not in his right mind anyway, Ash felt compelled to go over to the archway that to the descending steps and then take them. He couldn't explain why he felt the compulsion he did but it was there and if he could actually think for himself for a moment, he would most likely put the blame on the strange, disembodied voice that he kept hearing at different times. Like right now for instance. He was currently hearing the voice clearer and much louder now than he had before.

_'Yes... come to me Ash Ketchum... sooo close now... so close...'_

Ash nodded, still in a deep trance, as he started walking towards the arch-like opening across the room. As he walked, totally on auto-pilot, he didn't notice three shadows floating about in the recesses of the room not illuminated by the moonlight. The shadows really had no visibly distinct forms or features but there was no doubt that they definitely were some kind of entity or creature from the they were floating and moving around independently. Something that normal shadows could not do obviously.

Whatever they were though, their eyes were locked onto Ash as he made his way towards the staircase and they never left his form with each step he took.

As Ash finally reached and passed under the archway, he found himself inside of a large, dark opening that looked like it was carved into the very wall itself. What had his attention though was the staircase leading down into the ground that he had been heading towards the whole time. There was quite a few large pieces of rubble lying on top of them however, having fell from the ceiling overhead, and was blocking the largest portion of the way that lead into the darkness down beyond the stairs.

Ash, being in his possessed state, did not register this however and just continued to walk towards the stairs. Just before he could reach the obstructions blocking his way though, one of the shadows that had been watching him appeared just overhead. It's eyes glowed blue then and the large pieces of rubble were suddenly lifted up and shifted to the side, clearing a space just wide enough for Ash to walk through. Which he did, completely ignorant of what had just happened.

The young Ketchum walked down the steps and descended into the darkness waiting for him below, being trailed by the three shadows all the while and having no idea what was about to happen to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Back at the Pokémon Center, Fuji had just finished talking with Nurse Joy and was now walking back out to the table that he and Ash had been sitting at. Upon arriving however, he was surprised to see that Ash was nowhere to be found. The old man looked around the center lobby curiously, trying to find where Ash may have wondered off to.

Not seeing him though after several moments of searching, Fuji figured that Ash was most likely just in the restroom so he sat down and decided to wait for his young friend. However, as time passed and Fuji waited and waited, he came to realize that Ash was not in the bathroom. The older man became slightly worried at the absence of the talented newbie trainer and began looking around for him again.

After doing another search through and even outside of the center and still not finding him, Fuji, who was now visibly concerned, went back inside and up to the front desk. He saw Nurse Joy writing something down on a form she had in front of her, evidently waiting for the Pokémon to finish their time in the PMR (Pokémon Recovery Machine). Fuji stopped at the desk then and asked her politely, "Excuse me miss, have you seen the boy I came here with running around anywhere?"

Nurse Joy looked thoughtful and tapped her chin. "No sir I have not, I'm sorry. Is everything alright?"

Fuji's brow creased a little and he frowned but shook his head before replying, "Really I'm not sure just yet. Hmmm... thank you miss, I'll be back shortly." Without another word, Fuji turned and left the Pokémon Center, leaving a confused Nurse Joy in his wake.

Once outside, the older man took a seat on a bench outside of the center and crossed his arms while he descended into deep thought. He was now very worried about Ash and had no idea why he would simply disappear without so much as a word on where he was heading. He knew that Ash wouldn't have went back to his compound because they had agreed to wait together at the center for their Pokémon to be healed and rested up. That begged to question though on what exactly had happened to Ash or where he went.

One reason he was so worried was because of how distressed and deep in thought Ash had been about Pokémon Tower and what had happened to him when he and his friends first arrived in the city. What was worse was that all of those thoughts that he was so fixated on had happened just before he disappeared.

Fuji's eyes suddenly widened as that final thought passed through his head and it all seemed to click together as the memories of how Ash was acting just before he went to meet up with Nurse Joy came rushing into his mind. The old man bolted up from his seat then and ran a little bit away from the center before turning around and looking in the direction of where he knew Pokémon Tower to be.

His eyes narrowed and his brow creased further in worry and fear as he continued to stare in the direction of the tower he had come to dread so much. He had a sinking, terrible feeling that he knew exactly where Ash had ended up heading off to and if his suspicion was correct, then he knew it wasn't by the boy's own choice.

With no further hesitation and a few mumbled curses, Fuji took off running much faster than a man his age should have been able to. He was heading straight in the direction of Pokémon Tower as quickly as he could with his only thoughts at the moment being that he hoped and prayed it wasn't too late for Ash.

He had no time to go back home and retrieve the others to let them know what was happening. Fuji knew that if he was indeed right about what was happening with Ash right now then he needed to get to the tower as fast as he could before something very horrible happened to the young Pokémon Trainer he had come to respect.

Something so horrible that Fuji had prayed every single day of his life he would never, ever, have to hear of or... Arceus forbid, actually witness happening again. He only hoped that this time... he wouldn't be too late to stop it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash could currently be found walking down a dark, dank corridor far underneath of Pokémon Tower. The stone walls, floor and ceiling were wet with collected moisture and a smell of stale air was the most predominate scent. The long passageway seemed to go on forever with no end in sight, the walls being spaced only a certain amount of distance apart so that someone had just enough room to walk and that was it.

Ash remained in his tranced state as he trudged down the corridor until he came to a two way split in the passage. The right hand side was not an option since a cave-in had pretty much completely covered the entire entrance. Because of this, Ash had no other options than to go down the left passage. However, just before he could take the forced path, one of the three shadows that had been tailing him suddenly drifted down until it was facing the closed off entrance to the right corridor.

A blackish red surge of energy suddenly shot forward from the shadow and impacted with the rubble, causing a cloud of dust to erupt within the tunnel. When it passed, there was now a moderately sized hole carved into the large pile of boulders that was more than big enough to fit Ash through. Suddenly feeling compelled to go down the now uncovered right tunnel, he stepped in through the hole that had been made and traversed his way through it.

Once through the small hole, he found himself standing up inside of a much darker and more damp feeling corridor. Not that he could feel it though obviously since he was in a total trance. The boy then started making his way down the passageway that had black stone lining the floor, walls and ceiling, before eventually coming to a large metal door.

Feeling as though he needed to go through that way, Ash walked up to the door and reached for the handle. He made to pull it open but the door showed itself to be locked for it would not budge. Yet again, another of the three shadows came to hover behind Ash as it's eyes glowed blue. The door glowed a similar color and then the door handle moved as the lock keeping it in place became forcefully undone.

The door swung open and Ash stepped through. He now found himself standing inside of a massive room with multiple pillars set up at different points to keep the ceiling up. Just like the passage lead to it from outside, the entire huge room and pillars were all colored in a pitch dark shade.

Ash started walking towards the end of the massive room where he saw two pillars collapsed against the wall on their sides with several large pieces of ceiling laying on top of them, effectively creating the biggest pile of debree seen yet. What was odd though was how all of the large chunks of ceiling and destroyed pillars seemed to have fallen and were focused into a very specific area. Making a large mound of rubble piled up in a single spot.

Even in his foggy state of mind, Ash could still sense something dark and ominous, almost bone chilling, coming from the other side of the rubble. This of course made him wander up to it naturally, the controlling presence in his mind feeling as though it was beckoning him towards that very same spot. Like it was where Ash had been meant to go the entire time.

The possessed young trainer found himself standing in front of the massive pile of rubble just a few moments later but couldn't see any other way to go or the reason for why he felt so drawn to that particular area. Without his notice yet again, the shadows suddenly appeared behind Ash, only this time it was all three of them together.

The three shadowy figures glowed blue in perfect unison and then projected a dark blast of aura of some kind at the rubble. As soon as the energy balls made contact with them, the sizable pieces of ceiling and even the pillars themselves levitated up into the air before being thrown away in different directions. Once all of the rubble was gone, the source of the dark, ominous energy was revealed.

There, set into the cinderblock wall, was yet another door. This door however was completely made of dense steel and was as wide as it appeared to be thick. The door looked to be very heavy duty, like it was made with the purpose of keeping something out... or in.

Ash walked up to the door in his dreamlike trance and as he approached the door, the dark feeling energy coming from behind the steel barrier became stronger and stronger until it started to permeate the entire massive room with it's sinister oppression.

As Ash stood looking at the large steel door in front of him, the shadows behind him started to twist and take shape before they materialized into the shape of three Pokémon. Three Ghost-Pokémon as a matter of fact. A Gastly, Haunter and Gengar.

The newly revealed to be Ghost-Type Pokémon watched Ash with undisguised excitement set onto their eerily grinning faces and floated around in what almost looked like an anxious dance of sorts. The Pokémon's eyes glowed again as they sent a strong combined pulse of energy at the door. The large barrier was strong though and refused to budge.

However, instead of stopping, they continued pouring energy into the door while the voice in Ash's head spoke again in a voice laced with barely contained unnerving excitement.

'Yesssss... place your hand on the door now and let me out... let me out...'

Feeling like he had lost all control of his motor functions, Ash's hand started reaching out towards the door in a slow motion. The Pokémon behind him increased the power in their energy waves while the voice in his head spoke louder and more fiercely.

'Now... DO IT NOW!'

Ash's hand finally made contact with the door and as it did, a bright flash of light erupted in the room. Ash felt his whole hand become fastened to the door as a powerful presence from beyond the door latched itself onto his very being and began draining the very energy from his body. Ash raised his head and started yelling in pain as he felt a burning hot sensation fill his being. He then snapped awake from his trance and looked down to see what looked like blue energy transferring from him and into door. The entire door now glowing a bright blue as Ash struggled vainly to try and pull away from it.

No matter how hard he tried though, he just couldn't free himself and started to feel very tired. Almost as if his very soul was being drained from his body and he was powerless to stop it from happening.

Then, without any warning, the door started to slowly shift and move as it opened. Slowly, very slowly the door began opening, all while Ash remained stuck to it and the three Ghost-Types behind him continued feeding their own energy into the door.

However, just as the door started to open up in earnest, Ash suddenly heard a loud shout coming from the other side of the room. "STOP!"

Ash turned his head towards the source of the voice and saw Mr. Fuji standing at the entrance of the cavern-like room. The three Ghost-Type Pokémon whipped around immediately and glared at the arrival of the older man. Fuji's eyes were set into a fierce expression as he stepped fully into the room, pointing at the three Pokémon as he shouted, "You will not free your master!"

He then took off running towards the group of ghosts with an amount of speed and agility that would normally not been seen in someone of his age. He ran quickly towards the Ghost Pokémon with his body bent slightly forward, almost like ninja, as the three spectral creatures shifted their attention completely onto Fuji and started launching Night Shade and Shadow Ball attacks at him.

The old man began ducking, weaving and swerving out of the way of each attack that came his way, nimbly avoiding them without ever so much as breaking his pace. Eventually, Fuji managed to come within feet of the Ghost-Types and then, just before they could do anything more to stop him, Fuji reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a medium sized piece of paper. The paper had writing of some indistinguishable dialect drawn onto it in black ink and took up almost all the free space on it.

Fuji tossed the paper at Gastly who quickly scrambled away, obviously in fear of the strange paper, before it stuck to one of the pillars behind the three of them. Fuji stopped just in front of the Pokémon then, whom all looked smug since he hadn't hit any of them with the paper, but didn't make any further movements. Instead, he merely gave a small smile.

Before the ghosts could attack Fuji, the seal tag attached to the pillar behind them started to glow a bright white color. Gastly, Haunter and Gengar turned to face the source of the light and had to cover their eyes as the light became brighter and brighter, effectively beginning to shroud the room in it's glow. The Ghost-Types cringed back at the brightly shining light and started to disappear into the shadows that shrouded the expansive room in it's farthest corners.

Fuji saw his chance and quickly moved forward. He ran to Ash and grabbed ahold of the boy who was still stuck to the energy draining door. He gripped Ash's shoulders tightly and grunted in effort as he pulled backwards. The energy tried with all it's might to keep hold of Ash but with the seal paper on the pillar that was bathing the room in it's bright glow, it was at a disadvantage since the malevolent energy obviously didn't care for the light all.

With a final groan of effort, Fuji managed to pull Ash free from the door as they both went tumbling to the floor. Fuji wasted no time and scrambled back to his feet in a hurry, reaching down and shaking Ash's shoulders urgently. "Come on son, we have to leave this place now!"

Ash just grunted and moved his body as much as he could in response. Feeling as though almost all of his energy and stamina had been drained from his body as he struggled with as much willpower as possible to stand. He slowly got to his knees, his eyes like stone while sweat dripped down his brow. "O-Okay... j-just give me... a second... AGGHHHH!" The boy grunted loudly then as he finally pushed himself up to a standing position but almost instantly started to wobble as he did.

Fuji quickly stabilized him and put one arm around Ash's waist while he took the boy's right arm and put it over his shoulder. "Its alright Ash, just hold on. You've done great holding on this long now let me help you get out of here!"

Ash nodded and drooped his head down as he gasped for breath, still feeling incredibly drained. Fuji moved them both towards the pillar and grabbed the seal paper stuck to it before pulling it off. He held the brightly glowing paper out in front of him then like a holy relic against evil as he started shuffling the both of them towards the exit as fast as he could.

They were nearly at the exit of the cavernous room before they suddenly heard a low, droning type of sound come from the back of the room where the still partially open steel door was at. Fuji turned his head to look at what was happening but didn't stop running. What he saw would make even the bravest of men feel pass out from pure terror.

A thick, oppressive, completely dark shadow started to fill out from beyond the door and swarmed towards the retreating humans like a hungry wave intent on swallowing up everything before it. The shadow engulfed the gigantic room as it rushed ahead but what was truly frightening was the pair of large, glowing red eyes that were revealing themselves from behind the door.

A cold chill ran down Fuji's back as he looked at the eyes filled with pure hate and malice that had their gaze locked onto he and Ash. Even though they were almost a full room length away from said eyes by now, Fuji felt as though he was standing right before them and could feel the burning red orbs all but piercing into his very soul. He suddenly felt short of breath as an almost overwhelming sensation of fear and dread started to fall upon him but he continued to run.

He managed to tear his eyes from those of the malicious red ones staring back at him and looked down at Ash. He could feel his knees buckling under his aged bones but still tried valiantly to stay up. His only thought and concern being to get the young man in his hold to safety. He noticed the light giving paper in his free hand start to flicker then as the darkness began to overwhelm them and that moment, Fuji felt almost all hope leave him.

He fell to his knees, just managing to keep Ash from hitting the ground face first while the seal tag flew from his hand and landed a few feet away. He wheezed in an effort to get his breath and looked back to see the shadows bearing down upon them. The red eyes glowing from behind the steel door seemed to grow larger and larger as their presence appeared to expand and encompass everything. Their bloodthirsty glow becoming even stronger as the darkness danced around the room.

Fuji looked down at Ash, who was kneeling towards the ground with his face down and eyes closed. He felt sweat pour from his forehead and weakly tried to stand again, only to remain kneeling where he was. He grit his teeth and clenched his teeth in frustration as his breath continued to come in heavy gasps. 'No! Not again! I can't... I can't fail like this again!'

But even as he said those words he felt his body grow weaker and weaker. Fuji reached out and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder as he felt tears start to prickle at the corner of his eyes. "I-I'm sorry... Ash..." He could feel the dark beginning to pull at his consciousness and his resistance fading. "I'm sorry..."

Just before Fuji fell to the ground and the darkness overcame him, Ash's eyes started to struggle and squint from behind their closed lids before finally snapping open. As they did, an electric blue glow blazed into the boy's eyes as another source of bright light began glowing brightly from within his gut. The light started to surround his body before it rose up in a dome and covered both he and Fuji.

The older man felt all of the oppressive feelings and overbearing pressure from the darkness melt away as the warmth and comforting glow of the light coming from Ash started to re-energize his body. Fuji looked at himself, the shadows outside of the dome of light that had been stopped in it's tracks, and then finally at Ash with a look of pure shock and awe on his face.

Slowly, Ash stood up in what appeared to be a slow moving, graceful trance and then faced the source of the darkness coming from the steel door on the other side of the room. His electric blue eyes met those of the red ones that were just beyond the door and he raised his hand. The light surrounding his body glowed even brighter as the dome of light started to expand around he and Fuji, the shadows slowly pushing back as they almost appeared to cower in fear of the light.

A bright, blue orb of light started to grow in his outstretched hand then before, with a silent but powerful thrust forward, he sent the ball of light at the heart of the shadows. The red eyes only had time to widen in surprise before the ball of energy soared through the partially open door and then exploded in a burst of pure light. The red eyes snapped shut and seemed to disappear as the light engulfed the entire room and chased the shadows back behind the door and into whatever lay beyond them.

As the light continued to glow and expand outward, spreading up through the tunnels that made up the catacombs below Pokèmon Tower, it began bathing the entire tower in it's bright light.

Unknown to both Fuji and the light possessed Ash, all of Pokémon Tower, from where they were in the recesses of the tower to the very highest levels of the sanctuaries above, became totally bathed in the brightly glowing light. A beam of which shot up into the night sky and was seen by all in Lavender Town, striking the people with a mixture of emotions ranging from amazement, shock and in some cases, even fear.

Back at Fuji's compound, Agatha and Ash's friends looked out of one of the living room windows and stared up at the pillar of light in both awe and befuddlement. However, for a certain brunette beauty standing next to Misty, she had a strange feeling that she knew exactly who the light was coming from if any the past experiences she and the others had with such things were any indication. She could only place her hand to her chest and look out the window at the light with a feeling of worry as she whispered silently, "Ash..."

Back in the cavernous room below Pokémon Tower where all of the light was coming from, Ash simply continued to stand where he was with his hand outstretched. His face was totally impassive as the light continued to pour from him. Fuji knelt where he was on the ground with his arm over his face as he tried to shield his eyes from the almost overwhelming brightness surrounding them.

Just as the light reached it's peak, the red eyes that had disappeared behind the door gave way to a quick glimpse of a massive, shadow shrouded figure that was writhing and turning in pain from where it was floating within the room beyond. Both Fuji and Ash heard a loud, soul piercing shriek come from the mysterious being before the spectral figure vanished into the very farthest recesses of the dark chamber and the steel door slammed shut with a loud banging sound, the barrier sealing itself off again instantly.

As the light slowly started to recede from the room and back into Ash again, the boy turned and looked down at Fuji just as the last of the light faded from around his body and his eyes returned to normal. With a small grown, he stumbled back and forth before falling forward.

The old man was quick to reach up and balance Ash before he could hit the ground and just stood there, holding the now unconscious boy upright in his arms while his face remained in the same stunned expression he had it in during the entire extremely strange event that had just transpired. He looked across the chamber then at the door which the sinister being was held behind and saw that it was once again sealed shut with no trace of any shadows of darkness coming out of it anymore.

He turned his head after that and then stared ahead at the tunnel leading back to the surface and saw that his seal paper was now glowing brightly again from where it was laying a few feet away on the ground, unimpeded by the darkness that had nearly snuffed it out.

Fuji hoisted Ash's arm over his shoulder and walked them over to the smallish piece of paper before reaching down and picking it up. He held it firmly in his free hand, straight out in front of them like before since even though the danger of the darkness and the being that had caused it had now disappeared, he didn't want to take any chances.

He looked back at the door on the other side of the room one last time to make sure there were no chances of it opening back up again and then looked down at Ash. In his mind the only thing Fuji could think of was, 'If that... 'thing', that nearly did us both in a second ago really is the same one who haunted Lavender Town many years before and caused so much pain and anguish for so many people, I don't know how this young man could have had such a debilitating effect on it.

Whatever that strange light was that he was giving off, that monster certainly didn't appear to like it in any way shape or form. I can't know for certain but maybe just maybe it has been done in for the time. Or at least won't try anything else like this again anytime soon. I certainly never imagined it surviving if it really is the same creature that Agatha and I delt with so long ago but if it is then we will have to remain extra vigilant from here on out so history does not repeat itself once more...'

Pushing those thoughts aside for later though, Fuji hoisted Ash up a litter more and then started walking them down out of the chamber and into the catacomb tunnels that crisscrossed all underneath of Pokémon Tower.

As he made his way through the tunnel he was currently in, Fuji kept his glowing seal tag in front of him to ward off any of the three Ghost Pokémon that had tried to stop him from helping Ash earlier. It was unlikely that they would try anything so soon after the extreme light show Ash had just displayed but he knew it was better safe than sorry.

Eventually, they made it back to the surface and entered the ground level memorial room where the exit was located. Fuji wasted no time in hurrying towards the outside door, even as he felt the eyes of the three Ghost Pokémon on his back. He knew they wouldn't approach he and Ash since the seal tag was glowing so brightly around them but he could still feel them. Feel them watching his every move from the shadows of the tower as made his way to the exit with Ash grasped firmly to his shoulder. Now that he knew they wanted him so badly, Fuji was going to make sure that they didn't get Ash. Not when they were so close to being free.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking in slow motion, Fuji made it outside and wasted no time in shutting the doors of the tower behind him. Still keeping a hold onto Ash, he reached down and picked up the chains on the ground that had been keeping the door locked. He wrapped them tightly around the door handles and cinched them down as much as he could before stepping back.

He gave one last look at the tower stretching up high into the sky above him and then promptly turned on his heel as he quickly hobbled himself and the unconscious trainer he was supporting back to his home. The only thoughts passing through his mind at that moment was on just how blessed he and Ash must have been to have had Arceus on their side during that entire terrifying situation. For he knew that there was no other way they could have escaped the nightmare they just did without some form of divine intervention making itself known in their favor.

Looking down at Ash's unconscious face, Fuji was left to wonder if the connection between the young man and the light that had saved them really had anything to do with such a mythical, omniscient force as the fabled 'God of All Pokémon'. And furthermore (if that was even the case) could it have been that the seemingly ordinary, no matter how talented, boy he was currently supporting on his shoulder had some kind of favor in the eyes of said God Pokémon? Whom of which most just considered as a fictitious bedtime story?

Fuji didn't have the answer and settled for the realization that he most likely never would. He liked to believe in the potential for unexplained, fascinating miracles and tales of wonder. If the thought that Arceus had somehow had a hand in Ash saving them both in the tower allowed him to get by with the incredible sight he saw, then he would just take it and leave the deeper pondering of such things for younger and more intelligent minds than his.

If only Fuji would have known though on just how right he was in thinking that maybe Arceus had a special interest in the young man known as Ash Ketchum. If only the older man knew that the existence of the 'supposedly fabled' God Pokémon and the very active role SHE played in the universe wasn't as ludicrous and impossible as some, well actually most, people believed.

Oh if only he knew...

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

'In Ash's Mindscape'

The young Ketchum awoke to find himself laying down while staring up at a white void of nothing. He blinked his eyes from the brightness that assaulted them and shifted his body. He was surprised to find that his body wasn't sore at all like he thought it would be if the straggled memories running through his head was any indication of what had happened to him.

He groaned, sat up and then looked around at his surroundings. He saw that everything around him was literally nothing but a large, white expanse of absolutely... nothing. Furthermore, everything was totally colored in white. No other sign of color or anything else anywhere. Just... white.

Ash slowly got up and then looked down at his body. He saw that he was fully dressed in his tracksuit, which confused him since he felt as though he should be dressed in white as well to go along with his surroundings. Looking around a few more times, he decided to start exploring whatever the place was that he was in to see if he could get any answers.

The last thing he remembered was Fuji rushing into wherever he had been at in order to help him and then throwing some strange piece of paper at one of the pillars in the chamber room that had lit everything up in a bright glow. He also remembered the man helping to free him from the door that was draining his energy and then feeling weak while laying on the floor like he couldn't move his body. After that... all he had was fragmented pieces of memory that consisted of darkness and then an extremely bright light that encompassed his whole body in it's warmth. He also recalled glowing red eyes and a loud piercing shriek but then nothing.

Shaking his head to clear it of the jumble of broken thoughts in his head, Ash continued walking through the white void as he tried to find something, anything, that would make sense to him.

Eventually, Ash started to hear what almost sounded like a low humming as the sky above him began to shift and a faint yellow glow formed itself within the void. The glow became brighter and brighter until a circular ring of golden energy started to take shape from nothing. The humming seemed to get louder at the same time the light became brighter until it was like a deafening drone.

Ash watched in fascination as the ring of light swirled around in a rotating motion and then, to his further amazement, a large figure started to emerge from the rift. The new arrival appeared in the same golden glow as the ring of energy it came from but as it descended towards the ground, the being grew larger and larger until was at full size. Which meant that Ash had to crane his head to look up at it.

The figure then commended to taking a physical shape and as it did, Ash's face morphed into a big smile as he recognized exactly who it was that he was looking at. As soon as the creature had finished forming, he called up to it while waving excitedly, "Arceus!"

The majestic and divine Pokémon opened her eyes, revealing the golden orbs that radiated power and wisdom as she looked down at the small human waving up at her. The great Goddess Pokémon gave her best version of a warm smile to the boy through her mouthless face and her eyes softened upon seeing one of her most loved and treasured human creations.

Taking in the sight of her Chosen-One, the one whom she foresaw would accomplish so many amazing things in his life, waving up at her like the light hearted child he still was, caused a good natured chuckle to resonate from deep within her throat. The sound vibrating around the great white void and sending a warm, happy feeling through Ash's body.

The All Pokémon lowered her head down until it was level with Ash's then, one great eye staring at him as she did. The boy wasted no time in wrapping his arms around what he could of her massive face in a tight embrace and she chuckled again warmly at the gesture. "Hello my young Chosen-One," She greeted with an affectionate nudge of her head. Ash stepped back and she took him in with an appraising eye. "You certainly have grown since last we met young one and you have accomplished quite a good deal in the short time you have been on your journey."

Ash smiled up at her as he replied, "Yeah maybe but... I still have a really long way to go," He said modestly.

Arceus nodded sagely. "That you do young one. Still, you have been doing your best and what I am most proud of is that you have been raising your Pokémon companions with much love and care. You seek to build your bonds with them and help bring out the most of their potential as you can and that... that is what truly makes any Pokémon Trainer great. To always value and love your Pokémon above winning a simple battle is what makes you strong."

Ash took in her words with a serious expression. "I'm nothing without my Pokémon Arceus and I know that full and well. Its them that wins our battles, not the other way around."

Arceus looked at him with pride in her eyes as she nodded yet again. "Always keep that mindset Ash and never forget it. If you don't, I guarantee that you and your partners will go a very long way in this world and carve your names into the rock of history for all time. Now... I am sure you are wondering why you are here, am I correct?"

Ash crossed his arms and looked around. "Well honestly, I figured that you just brought me to another dimension like you did last time but I am curious as to why you did so."

Arceus tilted her head to him slightly in acknowledgement. "While you are partly right, I did not bring you to another dimension. At least not fully. This is actually your mindscape, a place within the very farthest recesses of your subconscious that takes physical form into an astral plane of sorts that embodies all that the individual most needs to deal with or contemplate on. Most humans can never reach such a state of total subconsciousness unless they fall into a deep coma. Or if they possess a strong affinity to the psychic energies that makes them into what you humans call 'Psychics' or 'Telekinetics'."

Ash looked confused. "Wait... then how am I here and why does my mindscape seem so empty?"

The Goddess Pokémon looked around the blank plane of Ash's mindscape before answering. "The reason you are here is because I helped give your already quite impressive and in-tuned mind the little push it needed to access this state of unconscious being. In all honesty, you may find that someday you will be able enter your mindscape entirely of your own free will," She said mysteriously, causing Ash to look at her with a questioning face.

Before he could ask what he wanted to though, she continued. "As for why your mindscape is so blank at the moment, you can think of it as a blank slate if you will. Remember, mindscapes are meant to house memories and thoughts of which your mind most needs to retain, contemplate on or even be rid of. You are still young, thus you have not seen or experienced enough tragedy or unexplainable circumstances for your mind to place them here. Not yet at any rate. As you age and go through more in life, you will find that there will be more to see and contemplate on here within your mindscape. If you ever learn how to access it on your free will that is."

She lightly tilted her head to the side once more. "Also, the more intelligent you are and the less that leaves you with question will mean the less that is stored here. The same goes with tragedy. If you handle such occasions better than others and don't repress but instead accept them, the less unresolved issues will be stored here. Just because a tragic memory may be stored in your mindscape does not mean that you never have to deal with it. You are merely allowed a 'reprieve' from it if you will. All things have to be delt with in due time, there is no avoiding your problem or problems forever."

Her eyes gleamed wisely. "So... if I were you, I would hope that you can deal with most of your hardships in life right when they happen so you do not have to store such unpleasant thoughts and memories in here for later times."

Ash scratched his head. "Well what about happy memories? Since this is my mindscape can't I will memories that I value as precious or interesting into existence here as well?"

Arceus gave another of her head tilts as she she hummed in her throat. "Very good Ash, you figured it out for yourself. Yes you can. I was just about to tell you that very same thing that you just came to yourself. If you simply imagine it and will your mind to faze something into existence that you want to see here in your mindscape, then it will appear. Try it, just concentrate and focus on what you want to see in your mind..." She instructed as she trailed off slowly.

Ash listened to her instructions carefully and then closed his eyes as he concentrated on the thought that he wanted to take form in his mindscape. He focused intently for a few seconds until he felt a pulling sensation come from his mind at the same time that he felt something shifting in the mindscape. He opened his eyes then and his mouth all but dropped open. What he saw made him feel both amazed and also excited at his success, all in one.

There, stretching out all around him and replacing the white void, was an exact replica of Pallet Town. Everything, from the mountains in the distance, the many houses that dotted the countryside, Professor Oak's Lab and even his own house was now spread out before him like he was back home. Even the trees he remembered climbing as a young child had been replicated.

He felt a warm summer breeze blow through his hair and looked further around at his surroundings. He noticed that Pallet Town had been replicated in the favorite season of his home, which was in early summer. He smiled to himself as he looked towards his house and saw the mental duplicate of his mother outside in her garden working away with her flowers and other plants. He then looked up towards the lab and saw Professor Oak walking the fields of the ranch as he inspected all of the many Pokémon he watched over and took care of.

Ash even saw a mindscape version of Daisy Oak helping her grandfather by taking a few notes for him in-between interacting with the Pokémon and this brought a slight blush to his face as he realized that even his subconscious mind had an infatuation with the Professor's eldest grandchild. He could practically feel Arceus' amusement as she watched him and quickly turned around to face her again, coughing sheepishly as he made an attempt to change subjects.

"S-So then... can my mindscape also play back memories and stuff?" He asked while trying to get his blush under control.

Arceus gave a small chuckle at his embarrassment due to the situation but answered regardless. He didn't catch the fact though that she seemed to look at the mental image of Daisy for a moment with some type of knowing gleam in her eyes before she spoke, "Yes young one, it takes more focus but you can also replay memories here in your mindscape. Just focus on the events down to the best detail you can and then do the same thing you just did with the memory of your hometown."

Ash quickly shut his eyes, ready to change scenes so his embarrassment would go away, and focused on the first memory that came to mind. After a few minutes of intense thought and concentration, Ash felt another shift in his mindscape and opened his eyes to see that Pallet Town had disappeared. He was now standing in Professor Oak's Lab with a much smaller Arceus next to him.

He looked in front of him then and saw the day he received Pikachu from Professor Oak playing out like it was really happening all over again.

Ash watched in fascination as his memory played like a movie before his very eyes while Arceus gave an approving hum. "Very good Ash, it is not easy to re-create memories within a mindscape but you have done well for your first time."

She watched silently then as memory Ash unwittingly activated the Star Mark on his right palm and used it to speak to Pikachu's heart in order to help get rid of his anger and hard feelings at Professor Oak, the circumstances of his capture and the Electric-Type's general dislike of humans. After she witnessed Ash successfully calm Pikachu through the use of the mark, she turned to the real Ash and spoke to him, "Lets see you do another memory Ash, try something more difficult now."

Ash nodded and closed his eyes again as he focused on another memory. This time he recalled the night he and his friends first saw Dragonite at Bill's lighthouse. After a few more minutes of fierce concentration, he heard the sounds of Dragonite's cooing once the now usual shifting he was starting to associate with the changing of the mindscape finally passed.

He opened his eyes then and saw an exact re-recreation of his meeting with the massive Pokémon unfolding in near perfect detail. Only a few objects in the far off distance of the memory being somewhat blurry due to his current lack of mastery over his mindscape.

As he watched the memory run it's course up to the moment Team Rocket attacked, his eyes widened upon seeing himself transform under the influence of the dark blue energy that would consume him whenever he became too angry. While memory Ash prepared to end the three idiotic Rocket's lives with the energy sphere he had built up in his hands, only being stopped from doing so by Giselle, the real Ash couldn't believe how vicious and feral he was when the uncontrolled dark energy would consume him.

The memory continued to play out until it got to the part where Ash was yet again using his Star Mark to communicate with Dragonite, whom had felt both angry and hurt at being attacked by Team Rocket. The whole time during the memory, Ash noticed that Arceus remained totally silent as she stood beside him in her shrunken form. He expected her to say something to him when they watched his memory self become consumed by the dark energy but to his surprise, she didn't.

Ash wondered why she remained silent but just figured that she wasn't ready to explain why such things happened to him yet. It made him feel slightly irritated that she didn't explain something so important and potentially dangerous to him but on the other hand, he felt strangely at ease with the out of control moments he went through now since they apparently weren't so threatening to him or his friends that Arceus felt he didn't need to be informed on the cause for the incidents just yet.

He pondered briefly if maybe she didn't even know the cause for why the berserk transformations he went through happened but at the same moment he scoffed to himself. She was the Goddess of all Pokémon for crying out loud. Of course she knew! Hell, he would bet anything that she was tied to them in the first place so he felt confident that she would tell him in due time when she felt he was ready. He just had to have faith.

However, right after his memory self calmed Dragonite with the use of the strange mark on his palm, Arceus suddenly spoke to him. "It is time you were told something important young one. End this memory and I will explain."

Ash looked over at her but didn't argue. Instead he just focused again with his eyes closed and ended the memory. He felt his mindscape shift again and opened his eyes to see that the mental recreation of Pallet Town was in place once again. He also saw that he was now standing on one of the tall hills overlooking his hometown with Arceus in her full size standing in front of him. From where he was standing on the hill peak, he was now level with her face. Leading him to believe that she must not have really been at full size like he originally thought since even the tallest of hills in Pallet couldn't come close to equaling her true size.

He stood in front of her with a curious look in his eyes and Arceus could tell he was waiting so she began speaking, "Ash... the time has come for you to learn the truth of the mark on your hand," She stated with complete seriousness in her powerful voice.

Ash's eyes widened and he looked at his right hand where the mark would appear whenever he was channeling it's strange abilities. He then glanced back up at Arceus and clenched his fist. "What is it?"

The Pokémon of creation remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking again. "It is a symbol known as the Star Mark and is tied to an ability known to only a select few in this world. The Star Mark gives you the ability to access and channel emotional energy within both yourself and Pokémon in order to establish an 'emotional connection' between each other of sorts, using your hearts as the mediums.

This was an ability that I bestowed upon a group of ancient people long ago that worshiped me and had a very strong connection to Pokémon. The land they lived in was very harsh for the most part and required the assistance of the Pokémon that lived nearby to help cultivate and enrich the surrounding area they called home.

However, the Pokémon were mistrusting of people and didn't want to help them. The tribe of humans had nothing but the best of intentions and good will towards the land and Pokémon and simply wanted to make them see this. The tribal chief at the time came to my alter and prayed that I would help them and the Pokémon understand one another. I obliged, seeing as the people's hearts were pure, and gifted them with the Star Mark so they could open their hearts to the Pokémon and help them understand exactly what they were feeling.

It worked and eventually, the Pokémon came to help the people nourish and farm the land so both they and the humans would prosper. Over the years, the tribe grew and people began to branch out and go off into the world on their own. Generations passed and eventually there were born certain families that possessed the Star Mark as a form of family bloodline. Even now in current times there are a few families that still possess this ability. There are not as many as there once was though for when a family becomes too corrupt, the mark quite literally leaves their bloodline. Never to be born into anyone in said family ever again. Still, even though there may not be many, there are a few straggled families left who are worthy enough to wield the Star Mark."

Ash looked down at his palm again in amazement as he said with fascination laced into his voice, "So then... do I come from such a family? Is that why I can use the Star Mark?"

Arceus shook her mighty head. "No young one I am afraid you do not. I will admit to breaking a few of my own rules whenever I bestowed upon you that gift. The day you were born I appeared above your crib in the hospital, invisible and much smaller than you see me now, and breathed the ability of the mark into your body. You are the only human being alive today able to wield the Star Mark who is not a descendant of the ancient tribe of old."

Ash's mind felt like reeling with the information he was just given concerning the mark but he still asked a rather obvious question, "How do I control it? Up until now I've only been able to channel it when I've felt most in need to help a Pokémon and ended up activating it out of pure luck."

Arceus merely blinked before answering her Chosen-One. "The answer to that is quite simple my young one. As I said before, the Star Mark is tied to strong emotions and was meant for the purpose of connecting your heart to that of a Pokémon who is in emotional turmoil so you may help them. All that is required for you to activate that mark is by focusing on your desire to connect your heart to that of the distressed Pokémon and to feel it's emotions so you may help it.

Once you do that, the mark on your hand will appear as you have already seen it before and the energy from within your heart will reach out and tie itself to that of the Pokémon of choice. After that happens, your hearts and souls become temporarily bound and it is in this state that you will then try getting your feelings across to the Pokémon in need."

The divine Pokémon paused for a moment to let what she just said sink in before continuing with a very serious tone to her voice. "Now, something you must know about that mark Ash. When you are connected to a Pokémon through it's ability you will see, as I'm sure you're already aware of, that an aura of a certain color will surround both yourself and the Pokémon you are connected to.

The colors will range from many different spectrums; being white, yellow, green, pink, grey, red and black. White is the color of calmness and serenity, which is what your aura should always be before you try using the Star Mark. If your aura is any other color or changes color while in the middle of the connection, sever it for a time to recompose yourself before trying again. Horrible things can happen to you and the Pokémon you are trying to help if both of your emotions are conflicted at the same time. Do you understand?"

Ash nodded instantly. "Yes I understand," He answered seriously.

Arceus seemed satisfied and went on, "Yellow is the color of nervousness or trepidation and is one of the most common aura readings you will receive from a distressed Pokémon when trying to help them. Reason being because their fear of you or whatever situation they're in will cause them to become distressed.

Green is a color which represents a feeling of unsureness or indecisiveness and can sometimes be the midway point between getting a Pokémon's emotional aura from red to white, which is where all Pokémon should be since white shows a perfect harmonious balance.

Pink is a feeling of love and will usually only be seen by a Pokémon who is in love with a mate or holds emotions of deep affection for their trainer or human companion.

Grey is the color that represents when a Pokémon is not sure what they feel and has emotionally detached themselves for the most part. Getting a Pokémon to switch from this color of aura is very difficult since reaching them with your emotions is all but impossible. The Darkness Pokémon Darkrai, one of my Legendary children, is a perfect example of this color aura of emotion.

Due to several unfortunate circumstances it has been through with humans over the course of many years, Darkrai had all but locked it's heart out to all emotions of any kind. Even hatred. It simply feels nothing and never lets any form of emotion slip from within itself no matter the circumstances. Sometimes it's actions may be misconstrued as evil but in all reality, it acts on no real emotion. Only the desire to 'do'.

Red is the most common form of color you will encounter when connected with a Pokémon through the Star Mark. The reason for this is because anger represents this emotion and as you can imagine, there can be many reason why a Pokémon would become angry with a human or fellow Pokémon. Which then calls for you to use the Star Mark in an attempt to calm them down. I know from your memories Ash that you have encountered this very emotion before while using the mark am I correct?"

Ash nodded but remained silent. Arceus explained on with a heavy sigh then, "The last of these colored auras symbolizing emotions would be black and it is the most sinister, oppressive and malicious aura you will ever feel. For a Pokémon to have this color to their aura their emotions must go far beyond that of anger or even fury.

The color black is what happens when a Pokémon has been through something so tragic and severe that their fear and anger has morphed into that of pure and utter hatred. Evil thoughts and intentions come with this color of emotion and it is by far the hardest and most dangerous aura to try and tame. For if you are not careful then their black aura will taint and corrupt your own until it destroys you."

She lowered her face until one huge eye was looking into Ash's smaller two. "I must warn you Ash that sometimes a Pokémon's anger or hatred is too great to calm in one connection. Sometimes you will be forcefully expelled out and when this happens you will have to decide rather to go back and try again or end the attempt at helping them in order to save yourself."

She raised back up and looked down at him again. "Each of these emotions all feel a certain way and I cannot describe them to you. Only by feeling them for yourself will you be able to get the understanding for each emotional aura. Pray that black never finds your Star Mark my Chosen..."

Ash looked at his palm that held the concealed Star Mark and let everything Arceus just told him swirl through his head for several moments. Eventually he clenched his hand into a fist again and looked up at the Goddess Pokémon with a serious, determined expression on his face. "Arceus... I promise you that I will not let this gift go to waste and vow to make sure I use this mark for nothing but the good of all Pokémon I meet that need my help. No matter what their color aura... I swear that I will help them!"

Arceus hummed softly down at the small human. "I know you will young one, that I have no doubts about it."

Ash smiled at her but then a thoughtful expression flashed across his visage. "Arceus... not that I'm not happy that you are telling me all this about my Star Mark, because I am, but... why are you explaining only now? Couldn't you have just told me all this at any point after the fist few times I used it?"

Arceus sighed and remained quiet for a few moments until she finally answered him. "The truth is young one... the time when you had to know all about the Star Mark and what it could do wasn't upon you yet. Yes you have used it before now for admirable, kind hearted purposes but there was never a situation presenting itself to you at those times in which required of you needing to know all that I've just told you..." She finished with a slight trail off to her words.

Ash, being the intelligent young man he was, put two and two together. "And the time and situation you just mentioned... its upon me isn't it? That's why you're telling me all of this now right?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "Is this connected to what's been happening to me ever since my friends and I arrived in Lavender Town?"

Arceus gave an incline of her head in acknowledgement of his words. "You are a most perceptive child young one. Yes... that is exactly why I have called you here and explained to you the nature of your Star Mark," She conceded with an air of tension in her voice.

Ash felt a slightly nervous feeling settle in his stomach but pushed it away as he bravely asked, "And what is supposed to happen to me here that is so important that you needed to summon me?"

The great Pokémon stayed silent for a few minutes before she finally broke the silence. "The reason I called you here has to do with the... being, that has taken a great interest in you. The one who resides within the human place of sanctity you call 'Pokémon Tower'."

Ash stepped forward with an anxious expression upon his face. "W-What is it?"

Arceus sighed. "The humans call it many different things. In all truth I do not believe any of them know what it really is anymore. They call it a monster, a devil, a dark spirit... evil incarnate even." The Goddess of Pokémon shook her head sadly. "It is a shame which breaks my heart to know that it is viewed with such disdain for in all truth, it is none of what the humans believe it to be. It is a poor, wretched soul that has allowed the years and tragedy which has filled it's life to tear down the being of light that it once was. You could say, I suppose, that the one I speak of is the very definition of misunderstood or that it's story is one that would break the hearts of even the most callous of men."

She took a breath and composed her thoughts before continuing. "The true nature of the creature I speak of was... 'special' in it's position as one of my many children. When I made it, I filled it with all of my hopes and good will for someone that could help bring love and understanding between people and Pokémon. I gave it an ability similar to your Star Mark in that it could feel the emotions and intentions of others. My hope when I created it was that it would strive to use it's understanding of emotions to help bring about a greater peace to the world."

Ash turned his head to the side slightly. "What exactly was 'it'?"

Arceus looked down before replying. "The form it took, that I gave it, was one of a Pokémon. A Gastly to be precise."

Ash's eyes widened. "You mean that thing in the tower is a Gastly?!" He shouted in total shock.

The creation Pokémon shook her head. "Please listen little one, your questions will be answered at the end of what what I am going to tell you," She asked.

He just nodded and bowed his head. "I'm sorry Arceus, please continue."

Arceus inclined her own head. "No apologies are necessary young one, questions are natural amongst anyone." She looked up at the mental recreation of the sky in Ash's mind before she finally spoke again. "In the beginning it was born as a Gastly, yes. Originally, it's egg was lain and hatched in Mt. Coronet, which resides in the region of Sinnoh."

Ash suddenly interrupted, "Yeah I know all about Mt. Coronet, Professor Oak had me read about it during our world geography lessons. It's situated right in the heart of the Sinnoh region and is also said to be the cradle where all life began. Historians and archeologists who study the ruins on and near the mountain say that there is a strong connection between you and it. Some people even call it 'Arceus' Cradle' and link it with the Creation Trio; Dialga, Palkia and Giratina as well. Am I right?"

Arceus gave an amused chuckle. "Yes little one, well learned indeed you are. Mt. Coronet is where I first began breathing life into the world and it was for that very reason that I decided to have the Pokémon I hoped would bring peace to the world, born at it's location.

Over the years as the young Gastly grew and observed passing trainers and other humans coming through the mountain, it became increasingly aware of the ability it possessed to sense emotions. Gastly was a rather loving, soft hearted Pokémon in it's younger days and merely wanted to see others happy and getting along.

When it would sense a fellow Pokémon or human's distress, Gastly would want to help them overcome their inner turmoil in whatever way it could. Sometimes it would be able to help but others... it would unfortunately fail. You see, other Pokémon would usually be willing to listen to what Gastly had to say and would even accept it's assistance on occasion. The desire to overcome their own personal troubles or those they may have had with another Pokémon being too great to pass up the opportunity when Gastly would come along claiming that it could help them.

Gastly may have only been able to sense emotions but it was because of this ability that it grew to form a very empathic heart. Meaning that it could understand the plights of others to a degree in which those who were firsthand encountering said troubles were unable to do. Gastly having an empathic heart also meant that it was exceedingly compassionate and would stop at nothing to help someone overcome their darkness."

She sighed again. "Where Gastly failed, as I mentioned earlier, was with humans. Pokémon would be willing to accept Gastly's help since they were all of the same general race of species. Humans on the other hand, were a much harder case to sell. As you know young one, humans can be rather aggressive and none-responsive to those unlike them and Gastly was a Pokémon. It didn't matter if it truly could sense their emotions and know the ways in which to help them. The humans it would try to help could not understand Gastly when it tried to interact with them and, mixed with the fact that Ghost-Type Pokémon are often met with fear and suspicion, they would run from it. Sometimes even chase Gastly away."

Arceus looked out over the recreation of Pallet Town. "Gastly tried and tried, time and time again to help humans as it did for it's fellow Pokémon but no one would listen. Gastly eventually decided to leave Mt. Coronet and travel the world in order to help others with it's gift and while it would indeed help Pokémon, humans still would fail to give Gastly a chance. One such encounter led to a human brutally attacking Gastly with one of his Pokémon and left it badly wounded in the wilderness one day. Gastly was unable to help itself and just as it was ready to give in, a kind, elderly human woman found it and took Gastly back to her cottage to heal it.

The woman held no fear of Gastly and cared for it like it was her own Pokémon. Gastly had been weary of her for a time due to the near constant mistreatment it suffered at the hands of the humans it would try to help, but in time... it came to trust her. After it was healed, Gastly stayed with the kindly woman and helped her with all it could at her home, finally living for itself for once after trying to change the world on it's own for so long."

A forlorn expression came across Arceus' face then. "For a short time, Gastly was happy while it lived with the woman. I met with it in one of Gastly's dreams shortly after it made the decision that it wanted to stay with her and in this dream, I told Gastly of it's origins and that I was the one who gave it the ability to sense other's emotions."

Yet again a sigh escaped her mouthless face. "I realized that my hopes for Gastly to bring peace to the world through the ability I granted it was a fool's dream. I was merely trying to create a temporary replacement because I had grown tired of waiting on the right time to create the one in which I knew, who had been prophesied, would bring about true peace to the world."

She looked down at Ash again. "Which was you my chosen. It was not yet my given time to bring you into existence and I was tired of seeing the world fight amongst itself. I knew your birth was still less than a century away and I made the choice to take an easier way out by creating Gastly in order to bring peace through understanding of others emotions.

It was not until I witnessed Gastly get savagely beaten by the trainer and his Pokémon that left it in the woods for the old woman to find did I realize the fatal flaw in my plan. No Pokémon, no matter how pure or kind hearted, would be able to lead the world to peace. Many humans feel superior to Pokémon in their role of who leads what in this world, sad to say, and because of this... a Pokémon will never be able to change the world on their own. Humans need to see one of their own, or at least whom they think is one of their own, leading the effort to change the world for a better tomorrow. Only then will they understand and try themselves. Not by following the actions of a unique and kind hearted Pokémon that merely wants to help heal the pain it can sense within others."

She shook her head sadly. "And it only took Gastly nearly losing it's life to make me realize that. Even after I witnessed it's mistreatment at the hands of all the other humans before that it tried to help, it took something so severe to make me see how foolish I was. It was after my realization of all of this did I come to accept that I had to just wait for the time when the world was finally ready for your birth.

I told Gastly in it's dream about you and that I was sorry for putting such a burden onto it's shoulders for so long that was supposed to be meant only for you. A burden that only YOU would be able to carry. I didn't expect forgiveness but I told it that as a small act of repentance for how unfair I had been, I wanted Gastly to stay with the elderly woman it grew to care so much for and live out it's days in peace and happiness."

Arceus' eyes softened. "Even after all it experienced at the hands of my own stupidity and impatience, Gastly was simply overjoyed that I would allow it to stay with the old woman and forgave me. After that night, Gasty's life was finally looking up for the first time in it's life."

A look that was a cross between sorrow and fury flashed across her face the next moment as her voice hardened."But human's fear and suspicion of what they do not understand is a powerful thing and it showed itself to be never more true shortly thereafter."

She took a moment to calm herself before speaking again. "The trainer that had harmed Gastly was traveling through the forest near the old woman's cottage one day and saw she and Gastly working together out in her flowerbed. Gastly was using it's abilities to help their work along by moving large rocks and other heavy objects around the yard and when the woman nearly tripped and fell, Gastly caught her using it's power.

The man only saw Gastly actions as an evil Pokémon trying to control, manipulate and harm the old woman and rushed out to attack it. Gastly was furious at seeing the human who had injured it so brutally but upon hearing him telling the woman that it was just trying to control her for it's own selfish intentions, it snapped and attacked him. The human and his Pokemon tried to defend themselves but Gastly, fueled by it's rage that the man would insinuate it would hurt the only human it ever truly cared for, defeated them easily.

Just before Gastly could finish them off however, the woman stepped in and told Gastly that harming the man and his Pokémon would do no good for anyone and asked it to let them go. Gastly did so against it's better judgement and unfortunately, it turned out to be a choice it would regret. The human went back to his home in a nearby town and spread malicious lies that there was an evil, manipulative Gastly living with an old woman in the forest and was biding it's time to come and destroy them all. The people panicked and, being as controlled by fear as they were, went to end the 'threat'."

Arceus stopped and let herself become immersed in memory before resuming the story. When she did, she spoke with a great air of sadness, "The townspeople went to the old woman's cottage later the following day looking for Gastly only to find that it wasn't there when they arrived. The woman claimed that she had sent Gastly on an errand to look for certain herbs she needed up in the mountains but I personally believe it was because she knew what Gastly's actions the previous day would bring about in some form or another.

When the townspeople, led by the man Gastly had attacked, reached the cottage they demanded to know where it was. The woman refused to tell them anything and after a short time of trying to force her to tell them, the man declared that the old woman was Gastly and that it had now fully possessed her."

She shook her head sadly. "The people believed what the crazed trainer of old said and became aggressive. The man said that the only way they would be free of Gastly's evil was to kill it's host..."

Ash's eyes widened. "Don't tell me..."

Arceus nodded. "Yes. The humans captured the old woman and tied her up to the one of the railings on the porch of her cabin. They then set fire to it and watched as she burned alive. She was loyal to Gastly though unto the bitter end and never once revealed where it had gone, even as the flesh was melted from her bones.

After their terrible deed was finished, the humans went back to their town and celebrated the defeat of the 'monster', leaving the charred remains of the cottage and the old woman's smoldering bones behind without so much as a care.

Gastly arrived back at the cottage later that evening and upon seeing what had happened... it's mind snapped. Filled with grief, unbearable sorrow and pain that could not be described, Gastly tried everything it knew with every ounce of it's power to bring it's only human friend back to life. It tried until the skies opened up and rain began to pour in torrents, dousing the flames of the burning cottage, to return the woman to the realm of the living but the blackened bones of all that was left of her remained unfazed."

She looked unblinkingly at the horizon in Ash's mindscape once more. "Gastly never truly understood what dying meant, even though it had been able to feel the sorrow and pain death caused to so many others that had experienced it by using the ability I had cursed Gastly with. But... unfortunately..."

Yet again a heavy sigh escaped the Omnipotent Pokémon. "It wasn't until Gastly felt the loss of someone so close and precious to it's heart did it come to realize the true harsh reality of what death really was. What made it all that much worse was the footsteps Gastly noticed nearby that belonged to the townspeople who had taken the life of it's dearest friend. It prayed to me in that moment to restore the life of the woman but I could not. She had died at peace knowing she protected Gastly and for that reason, I could not rip her from her eternal bliss in the afterlife just to be sent back into a world that was so much crueler by comparison. It's prayers fell on deaf ears that day I am ashamed to say..."

Arceus let out another sigh, only this time quite shaky. "Even in the wake of the terrible pain Gastly was feeling, it could still reason out what had happened by the footsteps it found belonging to the large group of humans responsible for the travesty.

Remembering what the old woman had told Gastly about never going to the nearby town because the people there would not understand and even possibly try to harm it, Gastly then knew that her death had not been accidental but instead a horrendous act of pure evil in which had stolen her life away. In that moment, something deep within the once pure hearted Pokémon shattered completely as it's anger and utter hatred for the ones who had committed such a terrible crime of malicious evil exploded to the surface.

Gastly's rage triggered a massive rush of it's inner power to be released and caused an unnatural evolution to occur by extension." She then willed a small portal into existence next to her that she linked to her own memories. From the swirling mist of nothing slowly appeared an image, which eventually turned into a mirror-like movie showing what Ash knew had to have been Gastly.

He saw the enraged looking Pokémon floating in a downpour of rain with a large cloud of smoke coming from the wreckage of the cabin behind it that was still rising up into the air. Gastly's face was twisted into one of such pain, sadness and raw fury that Ash almost felt like flinching back as he stared at the memory playing out in front of him.

He then watched as a dark, malicious looking energy exploded forth from the Ghost-Type before it started wrapping itself around the Pokémon in a bubbling, writhing mass that grew larger and larger. The way the dark energy moved and lashed about almost reminded him of the way a Pokémon would look when undergoing evolution, only it was lacking the bright, warm, powerful white light that they normally displayed. The transformation he was currently watching through the cloudy mirror that was happening to Gastly looked more like a dark, twisted, evil form of evolution that he had never seen, nor heard of before.

As his eyes locked themselves onto the fascinating, yet terrifying sight before him, Ash saw the dark energy die away only to show the new image of a massive, pitch black shape with glowing red eyes emerge from the fog of the evil energy. The eyes Ash saw seemingly staring back at him through the recreation of Arceus' memories sent a chill down his spine as a feeling of familiarity passed through him.

More specifically, the fragmented memories he had of when he and Fuji were down in the catacombs below Pokémon Tower and he saw an identical pair of malicious red eyes staring back at him as he unleashed the powerful light that chased it away and allowed them to escape.

Ash only now realized as he stared into Arceus' portal mirror that the eyes he saw then and the ones he saw now were exactly the same and belonged to the exact same creature.

His shock gave way to awe as he watched the monstrous figure cloaked in black, thick fog send a large pulse of dark energy out of itself that spread out over the entire area and, in a bright flash of light, decimated everything around it to ash. The forest surrounding the burnt down cottage, which was once so green and lush, now resembled a broken, barren plain of charred ground and destroyed trees.

Then, to Ash's horror, he saw the dark being rise up into the air. The light of the town someways away from the now decimated forest was aglow against the night sky and the boy could tell by the way the brights lights were dancing and swaying around that the townspeople were apparently holding some kind of festivity. He didn't know exactly what it was for but he had a bad feeling in his gut that it was to celebrate the fact that they thought Gastly was now dead.

The shrouded in darkness creature narrowed it's glowing red eyes at the town before, in a burst of shadow, streaked across the sky like a lightning bolt towards the town. Ash watched as it neared the town, a chill dropping over the land as it went while the sky above darkened even more. The moon above being hidden by dark clouds.

The townspeople didn't know what was happening until the enraged being was already upon them, all the lights in the town getting extinguished as soon as it arrived. In a whirlwind of shadows, Ash saw the remnants of what Gastly once was appear in the middle of the town square. The people began screaming in terror at the appearance of the evil looking creature and started running around in a panic to escape from it. Gale force winds blew through the town at high speeds as the shadows themselves seemed to come alive.

Ash's eyes widened in horror as he witnessed what could only be described as complete and utter carnage take place within the mirror of Arceus' memories. The dark being stayed in one place as tendrils of shadows would seek out the fleeing townspeople and then grab them before suspending them in the air. After that, the humans would be killed in truly nightmarish ways.

Some would get smashed into buildings, roads and other large objects in the town until they were literally busted to pieces or turned to paste where they impacted with whatever they hit. Others were simply squeezed to death by the tendrils of dark energy holding them up or violated through every possible orifice of their bodies until their insides were either scrambled or ripped out completely. Some were even turned completely inside out.

Other townspeople were chased down by shadowy beings that were controlled like puppets on a string by the now dark creature causing all of the chaos. They were chased down and savaged by the shadow minions until dead or in some cases, strung up by energy tendrils and tortured until death finally took them. Black spheres of energy were also being hurled at the town by the corrupted form of Gastly and everywhere they impacted, dark fires would spring up and engulf the town in it's black flames. Some people getting caught up and burnt alive by the fire.

While all of this was happening, some of the Pokémon Trainers of the small community were in the town square with their Pokémon by their sides, trying desperately to fend off the seemingly unstoppable monster that had found their home. The trainers would command their Pokémon to attack the dark being but every time they did, it would quickly strike back ten fold and show them the error of their ways for daring to attack it.

With every attack the many Pokémon would launch, the creature would simply re-direct it, vanish it or counter it with dark blasts of energy. The strangest thing that happened though was when the former Ghost Type's eyes suddenly glowed blue and several similar colored orbs of energy would then fly at the Pokémon. Upon the orbs reaching and making contact with them, said Pokémon would then disappear into thin air like they were never even there.

This would naturally frighten the trainers and enrage them but no sooner did all of the Pokémon vanish and the malevolent being then sent out sharp spikes of darkness that would chase down and impale the humans onto them. While they tried to escape, dark pulses of energy would then surge through the spikes holding them in place and enter their bodies like electricity, effectively burning the very flesh from their bones until only skeletons remained.

Eventually, only one human was left standing in the town and it was the man who had attacked Gastly before and then turned the townspeople against it, leading to the old woman's death when they went looking for it. The trainer in question, who's Pokémon had also been vanished by the dark being, was surrounded by a group of demonic looking shadow. Fear easily being read across his cowardly, pathetic face as he whimpered to be spared.

The red eyed shadow creature then descended upon the man, it's crimson orbs boring down onto him with pure hatred and contempt as the air become extremely thick and almost impossible for the trainer to breath. The former Pokémom turned compete monster then, fast as lightning, sent multiple tendrils of energy at the man which impaled him in several different places. Each one causing him to scream out in pain.

Dark pulses of energy then started circulating through the tendrils and into the man, burning him from the inside out while he screamed himself horse from pain. The shadow minions then began savaging and mutilating the vile human before them as they bit, clawed and pulled chunks out of his skin. A few of the bigger shadows even grabbed his arms and legs and pulled on them until they completely broke.

After what seemed like forever of watching the gruesome nightmare in front of him, Ash saw the torture of the man finally stop. However, he was then forced to watch as the creature of darkness brought the man up close it's shrouded face until he was suspended directly above the dark mist and shadows that covered of the creature.

The man opened his bloodshot eyes from the near unconsciousness all of the torture had placed him under, just as the shadows cloaking what was once Gastly finally fell away and revealed, to Ash's complete shock, a Pokémon on the other side of it. A huge, terrifying and evil looking Pokémon but a Pokémon nonetheless.

What surprised Ash though was the identity of the Pokémon. He expected to see a warped, twisted or perhaps mutilated version of Gastly but instead, who he was now looking at through Arceus' memories was none other than a Haunter.

It looked completely different from normal though, being that it was far, far bigger, had red eyes instead of white and it's entire body was a shade of much deeper purple, almost black, than what normal Haunter had. It's entire body was also covered in what looked like sharp purple spikes that were flaring and jutting out from it's spectral skin.

It wasn't until Ash saw the true form of the shadowed being and then just stared at it for a short time did he finally realize that this completely evil and demonic looking Haunter actually was Gastly!

The once kind hearted Pokémon didn't simply fade away to nothing or change into something totally different when it had become consumed by darkness after discovering what had happened to the old woman it cared so deeply for. Ash now realized that what had appeared to him to be some kind of dark, twisted evolution overtaking Gastly earlier on in the portal of memories was just that... evolution.

Gastly had evolved during that extremely emotional turning point and it's anger, combined with the immense sorrow and other volatile emotions it had been experiencing at the time, caused a chain reaction get set off in an unholy mixture with Gastly's unique power.

Somehow, the pure gift Arceus had bestowed upon Gastly that also granted it much more power than usual, had been corrupted in that mind shattering moment of intense emotional agony when evolution occurred. Because of that, the power it possessed had been warped into the dark, malevolent energy it was displaying now and that very same dark energy had also effected Gastly's evolution. Not only completely altering the way it looked as Haunter but also doing some kind of permanent damage to it's psyche that, in turn, caused it's very soul to become a dark, twisted shadow of it's former self.

In simple terms, Gastly's rage and pain had quite literally corrupted and consumed it. Entirely.

Ash turned his full attention back towards the memory playing in front of him again and saw the wicked man responsible for everything now looking down into the eyes of Haunter with complete and total fear in his eyes. The man tried to open his mouth and beg for mercy but at the same moment, Haunter placed it's large hand over his head. It's eyes yet again glowed red and a dark aura began exuding from it and poured into the man. The corrupt trainer's eyes widened momentarily in shock as his mouth opened into a silent scream. Then, just as fast as his head jerked up, the man's body went totally slack as he slumped into Haunter's grasp.

The mutated Pokémon's glowing red eyes remained locked onto the human's now unseeing ones and the very next moment, it pulled it's hand away from the man's head. As it did so, a black, ethereal form came forth from the man's body until it was completely out of him and in Haunter's tight hold. It then let the lifeless body drop down to the ground without a second thought and turned it's attention solely to the strange, transparent looking form of energy it was now holding.

Ash was further sent into shock as he saw the spiritual form start shifting and molding itself until it eventually took the full form of the man himself, who's body was now lying on the ground below. The male figure looked surprised at first as he looked around but as he then looked down and saw the body on the ground, his body, a look of pure terror came over it's face. He tried to scream but had no voice and that very moment was when Ash knew what had happened.

Somehow, in some way he didn't even want to think about, Haunter had just pulled the man's very soul from his body and the dark, humanoid looking form held within it's hand was just that... the bastard trainer trapped within the confines of his own soul looking down at his former human body.

The soul turned his petrified gaze onto Haunter but before he could even blink his now non-existent eyes, the monstrous Ghost-Type let a sadistic, manic grin come across it's face as it's mouth opened widely.

Ash felt like getting sick as he watched Haunter stuff the soul into it's gaping maw and close it like a trapdoor afterwards. Haunter's eyes then blazed with pure power as a massive burst of energy came from within it and spread out over the town. The waves of dark energy bathed every body littering the ruined street in it's dark glow and as it did, souls upon souls started to lift up from the lifeless forms they once occupied and into the air.

Ash saw the confusion and fear on the many soul's faces before Haunter made a pulling motion with it's ghostly arms. Like a vacuum, the dozens of souls started speeding towards Haunter and with it's mouth wide open yet again, the dark Pokémon let the souls pour into it's mouth like water into the mouth of a parched desert wanderer. Ash felt like he was watching a horror movie as Haunter grew larger and larger with every soul it absorbed into it's body. The dark aura around it growing even more powerful as it devoured the souls.

After the very last soul had been swallowed up by Haunter, the now radiating with power Ghost Pokémon raised it's body high up into the air. It then called every shadow it had created back into it's body before, with an outward thrusting motion of it's arms, a massive burst of dark energy was sent roaring out of it's body. The power took on the form of a giant dome that expanded and expanded until the entire town was completely engulfed by it.

Ash had to cover his eyes from the brightness of the immense blast caused by the unimaginable power surge and after it had passed, he looked around and saw that where the town once was, a huge crater was now the only thing left. The area looking like a meteor had dropped from the sky and destroyed everything around it.

He then looked to the center of the crater and saw Haunter levitating within it, now somewhat smaller but still much bigger than average Ghost-Types of it's same species would be. The Pokemon looked around at the desolate crater it had just created and seemed satisfied with it's work if the sadistic grin that came across it's face was anything to go by.

After assuring there were no survivors left, Haunter took the image of a shadow cloaked in darkness yet again with red eyes being the only you could see inside of it. The powerful specter then ascended up into the sky and took off flying towards the nearby mountains.

The memory stopped and the cloudy portal slowly disappeared while Ash was left staring at the spot where it just was with a blank expression on his face. His mind was reeling with dozens of thoughts but the main question he had, that he actually voiced just seconds later, appeared to be the one thing he was most interested in at the moment.

He finally looked up at Arceus with a heavy expression on his face then as he asked almost distantly, "What happened after that?"

Arceus shook her head sadly and sighed in an equally as morose tone. "After it destroyed the town you saw, Haunter began traveling the world as it hunted down those that it deemed to have 'black souls' and would then do the same thing to them that it did to the townspeople who took it's only friend from it. Unfortunately, Haunter's already fragile mind, warped by pain and hatred, corrupted what good intentions it had left.

After a time, Haunter stopped attacking only the humans who truly deserved it and had cruel intentions for others and instead, began terrorizing the good humans as well. It's hatred for the human race evolved to the point of no longer caring who it hurt and thus, good or bad, all humans who crossed Haunter's path would meet the same, horrible end..."

She trailed off and stayed silent for a short time before continuing. "Haunter's path of destruction eventually led it to Lavender Town, where yourself and your friends are now currently."

Ash suddenly waved his hands in the air to stop her. "Hey wait! Why would Haunter come here to Lavender Town anyway?"

"It was drawn here," Arceus replied simply. Seeing his confusion, she explained. "Haunter is attracted to places that are consumed by negative emotions, evil actions, horrible memories or cruel crimes. The ability that I granted it, which has become twisted and warped by it's hatred as well, allows Haunter to pick up on any locations that are the darkest and most depressing it can possibly find. The more miserable the place Haunter is at, the more powerful and happy it is. Right around the time that the catastrophe at Pokémon Tower happened, the entire town was all but drowning in it's own despair and sadness. For Haunter, it was like honey to a Combee and it descended upon the town like a plague."

She exhaled sadly once more, a seemingly reoccurring trend for the Goddess. "Haunter made it's home in the abandoned tower, which alone had more blood and tormented memories to it's history than almost any other human-made structure of the modern day. The horrible incident that took place in the tower, combined with the many years it served as a memorial for deceased Pokémon beforehand, made it the ideal residence for Haunter to take up. Being in the center of a place that had born so much pain and sadness, Haunter's power increased to incredible levels and it used that power to torment the town surrounding the tower.

For years after Haunter's arrival and subsequent first attacks, the people began leaving the area around Pokémon Tower and started moving deeper into the town to escape the chaos they were experiencing at Haunter's hands. Only the brave actions of a lone man, who found a way of exploiting Haunter's greatest weakness to pure light, managed to end the nightmare for the town by sealing it away in the lowest recesses of the tower. Where it has remained these many years. Forgotten to all but a few but most definitely not gone. Haunter still lurks beneath the tower within it's prison... it's hatred ever growing as it tries to find some way to free itself."

Ash looked up at her steadily. "And that thing that has been trying to control my mind ever since I showed up in Lavender Town... the thing that tried too use me to get itself free that Mr. Fuji helped get me to get away from... that was Haunter wasn't it?" He looked down. "Those red eyes I saw when Gastly first evolved into Haunter in your memories..." He looked back up at her again. "Those were the same eyes I remembered looking at me when I was below Pokémon Tower in that hypnotic trance I was in."

Arceus nodded sadly and replied, "Yes my Chosen-One... Haunter and the creature you encountered the night before are one and the same. It has taken a greater interest in you more than any other human being it ever has before and it is because it knows who you are."

Ash seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"Haunter knows you are my Chosen-One because I told it about you when it was still just a Gastly, which was in the dream you saw from my memories. Your very essence, my young one, is interwoven with my own. Your Aura is shared with mine because you are my Chosen-One, my human avatar. When you entered into the town, when you were just miles outside of it, Haunter could sense your strong energy. Since it so closely resembles my own and Haunter hates me for thinking I allowed it's human friend to be taken from it, it hates anything to do with me.

You are my Chosen and because looking at your inner Aura is like looking at my own, just on a much smaller scale, Haunter knew exactly who you were. It also hates you by extension since you are so precious to me."

She took a slight pause. "However... it also has developed an obsession with you. Due to the nature of Haunter's prison, only an extremely strong energy source can break it free. You have such an energy and that is why Haunter wants you so badly, to free itself. In fact, if the old human Fuji wouldn't have intervened and bought me the time I needed to force some of my power through you, Haunter could very well be free right now."

Ash's eyes widened. "So that power I remember feeling... it was you after all!"

Arceus nodded to his exclamation. "Yes young one, it was my power you were channeling to subdue Haunter so yourself and Fuji could escape. I know you felt as though you were in great danger but I was watching over you the entire time, ready to intervene and help you should the need call for it. When you channeled my power just before you lost consciousness, that was I interfering to assure nothing happened to you."

Ash smiled softly at her. "Thank you Arceus, I should have had no question it was you that saved me."

The mighty Pokémon looked down at him with an equal softness in her own eyes. "You have no need to thank me for saving your life my Chosen. Without you this world would lose the potential for a very bright future."

The boy continued to smile at her warmly before a curious expression yet again came over his face. "Arceus... who was the man that sealed away Haunter and also, could you tell me exactly what happened to Pokémon Tower before Haunter came along? What was this great catastrophe that everyone keeps saying was so horrible?"

Arceus lowered her face down to his level again before answering him. "The answer to both of those questions are not for me to answer young one." Seeing Ash about to say something, she cut him off. "Fear not Ash, the explanation you seek to these questions will be answered as soon as you wake from the sleep you are in. I guarantee you they will," She said reassuringly.

Ash reluctantly nodded his head and decided to let the subject go before looking down at the ground again as a shadowed look passed over his features. He remained totally silent for a few minutes and Arceus grew concerned. "What troubles you so young one?"

The boy remained silent for several moments before he finally spoke in a low but clear voice, "Arceus... is there any help, any hope for Haunter?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Isn't there anything that can be done to help it? No one, person or Pokémon, should have to live their entire life so alone and full of pain. I know it's done terrible things but there has to be good inside of Haunter!" His eyes appeared questioning then. "Right? Haunter can be saved... can't it?"

Arceus looked down at the boy who was looking up at her with so much hope and sadness in his eyes and her heart broke for him. She knew how pure his heart was and how much he truly loved Pokémon, always hating to see any of them suffer. She let her own sadness show in her voice as she replied, "Oh my dear little one... you don't know how many times over the years I have thought the exact same thing about that poor soul. I hate when any of my children becomes so lost in their own misery as Haunter has and even though I would like to say there is help for it, I honestly have no idea if it is possible. Haunter has been so lost in anger and hatred for so many years that it's true self has been buried underneath layer upon layer of pain and denial."

Ash's eyes burned bright with determination and fire as he said loudly, "Then I will take that pain away from Haunter and help it to see that there is more to life than anger and hatred!"

"NO!" Arceus's voice boomed just as loudly, making Ash nearly fall down. Her voice calmed a little then before she spoke, "Ash I know exactly what you are thinking and I am telling you no."

Ash yelled back defiantly, "You have no idea what I was thinking!"

Arceus looked down at him knowingly. "Oh don't I? You were thinking of going back to the chamber where Haunter is held under Pokémon Tower and risking your life in order to find some way to help it. Am I correct now?"

The boy went silent and Arceus knew she had hit the nail on the head. She sighed yet again and spoke more softly, "Young one I know your heart is pure and that you just want to help but you need to understand that Haunter is dangerous. Extremely dangerous. It has killed and taken the souls of more people than you can possibly imagine. It would do the exact same thing to you after it used your energy to free itself and you cannot die in such a horrible fashion. You must understand and accept that sometimes, certain individuals are just beyond sav-"

"No you're wrong!" Ash interrupted defiantly, causing Arceus to stop mid-sentence and stare at him in surprise. The boy looked up at her with fire dancing in his eyes as he started yelling loudly, "No one, no Pokémon, is ever beyond saving Arceus! I don't care who they are!" He clenched his hands into fists. "Haunter may have done bad... horrible... things, but that does not mean it's beyond saving! I'm supposed to be this great 'Chosen-One' aren't I? Well then how do you expect me to live up to those expectations if I can't save one Pokémon from itself?!"

Arceus was silent as Ash continued ranting. "Arceus please... I can do this! I know I can! You have to believe in me, I know I can save Haunter if you just give me the chance!"

She simply shook her head at Ash and replied simply, "What if you fail? What if you fail and the worst happens and you die? What becomes of the world then young one?"

The trainer stood silent for a few moments while looking down at the grassy fields of the illusionary Pallet Town until he finally looked back up at her and saying seriously, "I'll just have to make sure I don't fail then. Please Arceus... I know I can do this."

The great Pokémon stood in continued silence for several minutes, causing Ash to become nearly on the verge of his wits end, before she finally spoke again. "If you feel so strongly about this Ash, I will not stop you. This is your life and you do have the option to choose what to do for yourself. I may not agree with it but if you feel like you can help save Haunter from the depths of itself... I will support you," She conceded.

Ash smiled widely at the massive Pokémon and bowed his head in respect. "Thank you Arceus, I promise you won't regret this!"

Arceus shook her head and looked down on him with an exasperated expression showing within her eyes. "I truly hope I do not young one. Losing you would be a tragedy that I cannot fathom." She suddenly became serious again as she then said in an authoritative voice, "Now Ash I need you to listen to me very closely! In order for you to have even a hope or prayer at succeeding at this, you are going to have to be at one with your Star Mark. Haunter's emotional aura will be the likes of which you have never dealt with before and if you do not give it everything you have and then some, you will stand no chance in getting through to it. Do you understand?"

Ash nodded without any pause for thought. "Yes Arceus, I understand." He then looked at his right palm which held the Star Mark within it. "I swear that I will use this mark to the very best of my abilities in order to help Haunter!" He vowed with resolution in his voice.

Arceus gave her best version of a smile at him and nodded. "If that is the case then you will need the assistance of your friends, not just your Pokémon young one. I believe now may be the time to confide in them."

The boy seemed thoughtful for a few moments but eventually nodded himself. "Yeah I think you might be right. They've stuck by me this far and have proven how true of friends they are. I think now is the time," He agreed.

She stood up to her full height and made a gesturing motion with her head. "Then it is time you awaken young one. We will see each other again soon and until that time, keep your friends close, love and care for your Pokémon as equals instead of lessors and never forget what is truly important in life. Which is love, respect, joy and honesty. Have fun with your life and on your journey and never be afraid to take the path less traveled. As for your confrontation with Haunter... use the strength and purity of heart that I know is so abundant in you and there is no doubt in my mind that you will succeed."

Ash nodded and gave her another smile. "I won't forget Arceus and I will succeed in saving Haunter!" His determined smile remained in place even as his body started to slowly fade from the mindscape, showing that he was about to wake up.

Arceus smiled after him as he begun to fade and just before he was totally gone and his mindscape started to vanish as well, she spoke softly into the wind, "I have faith in you young one..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

(Back in the real world: Fuji's House)

Ash slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring up at a ceiling while lying in a rather comfortable bed. He shifted a little and blinked his eyes to adjust to the dim light in the room as he sat up and looked around.

He saw that he was in a rather spacious bedroom with hardwood walls, floors and ceilings. There was also a desk, wardrobe and other pieces of furniture spread throughout the room that looked to be made of some kind of expensive looking wood.

His eyes wondered down to the bed he was on and saw Pikachu lying at the foot of it, curled into a ball while sleeping away peacefully. He then shifted his focus to his left and saw, to his surprise, Giselle sitting on a chair by his bedside. She was fast asleep with her head leaning uncomfortably to the side and a frown in place on her face as she slept.

Ash guessed that she must have been by his side nearly twenty-four-seven since he went unconscious, knowing her, and had finally fallen asleep watching over him. Same with Pikachu evidently. This brought a smile to Ash's face as he looked at the two and felt a deep sense of affection and gratitude for them in that moment since they had apparently stayed with him the whole time he was out by the looks of it.

Ash turned his head to the right and then saw something else that further shocked him. Sitting on a seat connected to a window at the far wall, on opposite sides with a blanket and pillow to each of them, were Brock and Misty. They had their heads leaning against the sides of the window that each of them were sitting at, with the blankets covering them up to their stomachs.

Seeing this made Ash pause in thought as he took in the sight of his friends all in the room with him, sleeping in tiny little places and looking rather uncomfortable all things considered, just so they could be there for him. It really made him feel even more special in that moment and very grateful to his friends for the loyalty and dedication they were always showing him.

He stirred a little bit more and it was enough to wake Pikachu, who opened his eyes groggily and saw his trainer sitting up in bed looking around. The little yellow mouse hopped up almost instantly and called out excitedly as he bounded over to Ash and jumped at him, "Pika Pi!'

Ash, taken by surprise, caught Pikachu regardless and held him to his chest while hugging the happy Pokémon. All of the commotion was enough to wake his friends, who all jolted up with a start as they looked around worriedly. Upon seeing Ash awake though, all of them rushed over to the bed.

"Ash you're awake!" Misty shouted as she ran to him.

"Man you had us worried," Brock breathed out with some relief in his voice as he stopped at the edge of the bed.

Giselle just threw yourself at him. "Oh Ash you're okay!" She said in a shaky voice as she hugged him tightly, squishing Pikachu in-between them both.

Ash let out a huff of air as Giselle squeezed him tightly and wrapped his arms around her in return as he wheezed out, "Y-Yeah Giselle I'm good... I'm okay... can you ease up a little please? C-Can't breath!"

Giselle released him quickly with an apologetic squeak and held him at arms length while Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder and started to look over Ash in concern.

While he talked to Pikachu in a reassuring tone to calm him down and let him know that he was okay, Giselle asked worriedly, "Are you okay Ash? We were so worried about you and had no clue what was happening! Fuji just said that you needed rest and then explained what happened to us but we were really worried about you when he came back last night and you were unconscious on his shoulder!"

"Yeah Ash what happened?" Misty asked as she came over and sat next to him and Giselle on the bed.

Brock nodded as well, obviously wanting to know what had happened. Seeing this and knowing that the time had finally come for him to be honest with them, Ash decided to take Arceus's advice.

Inhaling and then exhaling slowly, Ash collected his thoughts before finally speaking. "Okay guys... it's time to tell you all something that I've been keeping hidden for some time. I'll tell you what happened to me last night and I'll also reveal a secret I've been keeping but... but I need you all to understand that I wasn't trying to hurt you by not telling you this and it wasn't because I don't trust you."

His friends looked at each other before looking back at him again. "Ash just tell us what you need to," Misty said comfortingly.

Brock nodded. "Yeah we won't be upset man, don't worry about it."

Giselle held his hand. "Please Ash, we're your friends. Tell us what you need to."

Looking at each of them in turn, he remained in silence for a few moments before finally speaking again, "Okay... well... this is what happened..."

He then went into a fully detailed explanation of everything that had happened to him the night before. Or at least, what he could remember of it. All throughout the story, Ash's friends remained engrossed in what he was saying. However, when Brock asked him how he knew the creature haunting Pokémon Tower was a Haunter and why it was so interested in him... that's when he dropped the bombshell on them.

As he started telling them about his meeting with Arceus, which made all of their eyes widen in shock, everything went totally dead silent. He explained everything to them concerning the revelations that the All Pokémon told him and as he did so, Ash could tell that his friends were trapped between amazement, disbelief and complete and utter shock.

By the time he finally finished up by telling them of his plans to find some way to help Haunter, all three of his companions were slack jawed. For several minutes they just sat where they were and tried to process everything he just told them. Ash knew that if they even really believed him, what he had just revealed not only would have shocked them but essentially changed everything they ever thought they knew about life and how everything within it went on.

Most people in the current era of the world didn't even believe Arceus existed so to have someone tell you that not only did they meet them but also that they were some legendary prophesied one who was meant to all but change the world as you knew it... yeah... that would be a hard pill to swallow. Especially since Ash himself had a hard time believing everything that he had been both blessed and cursed by Arceus to know.

Sometimes he did wonder why Arceus told him of his destiny, let alone when he was so young, but he knew he had no right to question it. She was essentially the creator of all things in the universe and he was just a kid. Someone who hadn't even lived a tiny, minsicule portion of the time she had. He knew that he could never hope to understand an Ominpotent beings' train of thought so why even attempt to?

Hell, even if (by some impossible chance) his life was being made into a story or book of some kind that added new words and pages to it with each breath and step he took and was also being read by countless numbers of readers, Ash knew that not a single one of them would ever be able to even so much as hope to understand the inner machinations of a Goddess like Arceus' mind.

So with all that in mind... why would he even attempt to understand anything Arceus told him, let alone question it? He figured it best to just do as he was told for the sake of the world and also... honestly... for his own sanity as well. He trusted her and that was all there was to it. No one would ever change his mind on the matter and force him to think otherwise either. No one.

Unfortunately, even though his mind processed these thoughts in such a way, he feared that his friends wouldn't be able to do the same and would end up losing their minds or having some kind of outburst at everything he just told them. Which was something he only did in the first place because once again... Arceus' advised him to do so.

When someone finally did speak again, it was Brock. Who did so slowly, almost as though he was still trying to comprehend what they had just been told even as he was speaking. "So lemme get this straight..." He pointed at Ash. "You, are actually this 'Chosen-One' that was created and brought into existence by Arceus, the God of all Pokémon and creator of everything, who is meant to bring peace to this world through an elaborate series of events and scenarios that even you do not know about completely, if at all?"

He rubbed his temples. "Furthermore, this creature that has been terrozing Pokémon Tower and is responsible for totally emptying an entire section of Lavender Town... is actually a Haunter. A big, powerful, super charged Haunter that is actually almost a hundred years old and is basically evil right now because of what a bunch of humans did to it long before? Do I have all of that right?"

Ash nodded and tilted his head from side to side slowly. "Yeah that's pretty much it in a nutshell."

Misty spoke up then. "So wait a minute... since you are basically Arceus' 'favorite child' then... does she... you know..." Misty trailed off and this caused him to prompt her on.

"Yeah? Spit it out Misty."

She looked a little uncomfortable as she ventured onward slowly, "Does she help you win your battles?"

Ash's eyes widened at that and he quickly shook his hands, not wanting any of them to get the wrong idea. "Nonono guys not at all! No way, Arceus does NOT help me win my Pokémon battles. She helps me out in life threatening situations and gives me a little advice here and there but... that's it. She never interferes with my life as a Pokémon Trainer. All the battles I take on are just me and my Pokémon, no one else. I promise you all that."

Seeing relief wash over all of their faces, he watched as Misty sighed. "Okay, good to know. I was just wondering."

When no one else said anything, Ash quickly grew confused. "Umm... is that it? None of you are gonna say anything else? Out of everything I just told you, all the life changing bombs I just dropped on you... don't you have anything else to say? Anything?"

He raised his hands in the air. "For Arceus' sake you guys I at least expected you to be terrified of me and run away as far as you could get. Best case! Worst case I was afraid you would call the men in little white coats to come and get me!"

Brock, Misty and Giselle shared their own confused expressions with each other before Giselle looked back at him. "Ash... why would we do that?"

He looked at her in disbelief. "What? Why do you think?! I'm basically a walking danger magnet that's only going to get you three into worse and worse trouble the longer you stay with me! You know why now too so I don't get why you'd all be okay with this and not just walk out on me!"

Misty actually laughed at that. "Oh come on Ash! Do you really think that we would up and leave you all because you've turned out to be just as different and unnatural as we all already thought you were?"

Seeing his perplexed facial expression, Giselle elaborated. "What Misty is trying to say Ash is that we are your friends and care about you no matter what. We have your back and always will. When we made the decision to come along with you we were doing a whole lot more than just tagging along. We were making the choice to follow you and partake in whatever happened to you."

Brock nodded. "That's right man. We're your pals and that's how we'll stay. If you've got some crazy ass destiny to fulfill then we'll be here to help you out and do whatever we can to make sure you succeed."

To say Ash was stunned would have most definitely been an understatement. He knew that his friends cared for him but to go so far? Now he knew without a doubt that they were true friends through and through with not so much as a shred of question in his mind anymore.

Smiling, he shook his head. "You guys just keep on surprising me. Honestly, I am totally touched by everything you all just said and right now, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Without you three I don't know where I'd be."

Misty and Giselle merely smiled and hugged him while Brock grinned and waved his hand. "Just explain to us this whole 'plan' you've got for helping Haunter and then we'll take it on from there dude in whatever way we have to."

Ash nodded and then collected his thoughts before speaking again once Misty and Giselle had released him. "Well honestly, I don't know exactly how I'm gonna go about doing it but before I do anything, Arceus told me that I needed to speak to Mr. Fuji. I don't know why exactly but she hinted that he had something to do with Haunter's imprisoning. I need to find out what."

Misty gestured towards the door. "Well they're downstairs drinking tea so it might be a good time to talk to him. They both wanted to know how you were when you woke up too."

Ash nodded and then got up out of the bed. Slipping his tracksuit jacket on, he waited until Pikachu was up on his shoulder before walking towards the door. "Come on then guys, let's go and talk to them."

His friends quickly exited their seats and followed Ash downstairs. Upon entering the living room/kitchen area of the small apartment like house, they spotted Fuji and Agatha sitting around the coffee table in the middle of the room while sipping tea.

Glancing up, Fuji spotted Ash and waved at him. "Ah Ash you're finally awake I see! Feeling any better now?"

The boy walked over to one of the couches around the coffee table and took a seat with Giselle and Misty sitting beside of him. Brock took his own next to Agatha on the couch she was sitting on while Fuji remained in his armchair.

"Yeah I am actually, a lot better. I really need to thank you Mr. Fuji, if not for you then I don't know what would have happened." Well actually that wasn't true. He knew that Arceus would have found some way to save him but there was no sense in splitting hairs now, Fuji did a very selfless thing by saving him and in Ash's mind, he deserved the proper gratitude that was owed to him for that.

The old merely waved it off. "Don't thank me Ash. You were in danger and as my guest, let alone a young trainer whom I have grown to respect and like, I could have never left you to the horrid fate I'm sure would have befallen you if you had remained there."

Agatha joined into the conversation. "I myself was very worried about you when Fuji brought you back in the condition you were in but he assured us all that you were okay. I must say that you are either very lucky or have a guardian angel on your shoulder young man because if what Fuji told us is true then you were in great danger. Either way, I am pleased you are safe," The old woman finished with a warm smile in his direction.

Ash smiled in return at them and bowed his head. "Thank you both for being so concerned about me and also for being so kind, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it."

Fuji pointed at the tea kettle on the coffee table then. "Please young people, help yourself to some tea if you wish. Meanwhile, if it is not too soon, I would be interested to know exactly what happened to you Ash. That is, if you can even remember."

Fuji of course knew most of what had happened to Ash since he witnessed the bulk of it for himself but he wanted to see how much the young man could remember before he actually said anything, less he bring up any memories of the former night that Ash would rather leave in the past and out of mind.

Naturally he knew nothing about Arceus' intervention as the cause for the light that had saved them both but in the same respect, Ash had no clue what it was either as far as Fuji was aware. If the boy could even remember anything from the previous night of course.

Agatha interjected at that moment, "Even if you can remember what happened but the memory is still too raw then don't feel like you need to tell it Ash. We can wait or you don't have to tell us at all." Fuji nodded in agreement to what she said.

Ash shook his head. "No I was going to talk to you about it anyway. To be honest I... I need to know something that I believe only you can answer for me Mr. Fuji. In fact, before I even begin to go into the biggest part of what I have to tell you, I'm going to have to ask for complete honesty from you. Can you give me that?"

Fuji looked at Ash oddly but nodded regardless. "Of course Ash. I will tell you whatever I can to help answer any question you have."

Ash took a deep breath and then let it out. "Okay... this is what happened to me..." And so, he went into a long tale of everything that he could remember concerning the previous night's events. With each new detail added, every part explained and minute after minute that passed, Fuji and Agatha's faces morphed from ones of shock, to disbelief and then finally... to utter blankness. When he finally finished, there was silence in the room.

It remained this way for many minutes more until Fuji finally spoke in a shaky, unsteady voice. "Is... is all of that true Ash? You aren't embellishing any of it?" When the boy shook his head with a serious expression upon his face, Fuji went slack in his chair. "A Haunter... it was always a Haunter... I never would have guessed..."

Agatha herself seemed to be in a state of similar bafflement. "Never, in all my years of Ghost Pokémon studying and research have I ever heard of a Haunter being able to do the things that..." She then looked at Fuji with a haunted shadow in her eyes. "What we did Fuji... all of the assumptions about what it was... we were-"

The old man cut her off, "Wrong. Yes my dear Agatha I know... we were horrible wrong. We never could have known..."

By this point, everyone else in the room, even Ash, was rather perplexed and didn't have any clue as to what they were talking about. Ash had a feeling that what they were speaking of was part of what Arceus told him he needed to find out from Fuji but he also got the feeling that whatever it was... was big.

Being the first to speak, Ash spoke up as he needed to have answers. "Mr. Fuji, Agatha... what is it? Please tell me what you're taking about. I need to know what it is that you know or the next thing that I am going to tell you, about the thing that I have to do, it won't be able to happen otherwise. Please."

Fuji looked back at him and sighed after several moments of silence. "Oh very well... after what you went through, you deserve to know whatever I can tell you Ash. Now, bear in mind, what I did... what Agatha and I both did was... it was all we could think of to save this town and stop the catastrophe that was happening at the time."

Ash nodded. "Yes that's fine I understand. I'm not going to judge you for anything you did, I just want to have some answers to all of this crazy crap that's been happening."

Fuji looked down at his teacup before replying, "Agatha and I... were the ones that locked Haunter away into the room that it's in now below Pokémon Tower. Many years ago, when Haunter first appeared in the tower, the town had already been through a devastating event and Haunter's coming, combined with the torment it brought to the town, was slowly but surely causing everything to crumble around it. So... to end it, we took actions into our own hands."

He paused for a moment and looked at Agatha. "To be honest I... I have thought at many times that the level of horror and destruction Haunter brought with it was entirely my fault and-"

Agatha smacked his shoulder. "Oh shut up you old fool! I have told you over and over that your past had nothing to do with what befell this town! Now stop it!"

Fuji held his hands up and tried to placate her. "I am sorry Agatha, I know shouldn't say such things but I just can't help myself sometimes..." Looking at Ash again, he sighed once more. "My past youth has many events of... 'unfortunate circumstances', riddling several of the decisions I made."

Ash leaned forward and clasped his hands together curiously with his friends mimicking his curiosity in different ways. Seeing this, Fuji started explaining. "You see kids... I didn't always live here and my life hasn't always been what you see now. A kind, at least I hope I'm kind, old man who runs a small gym out of his home and just cares for his community. No, I used to be much more... or less depending on how you look at it, than I am now.

The truth is, I was born and raised on Cinnabar Island to a quite wealthy family. The Fuji family has a long line of scientists, biologists, archeologists, Pokémon researchers, you name it in our blood line. Many of my family over the years has held much renown in scientific areas of research all over different parts of the world. My parents were no different.

My father was an oceanic researcher who studied the make up of the islands and geography of the ocean in the southern seas where Cinnabar and several other island chains were located, while my mother on the other hand studied marine Pokémon life specifically and exclusively. Both of them being quite successful in their respective fields as well.

I had two brothers besides myself. An older brother by the name of Blaine and a younger one named Isaac. We lived in the family Fuji manor our entire growing up on the island and went to an exclusive prep school that was famous on Cinnabar called Seaside Academy. It was actually one of the most popular private schools in all of Kanto and we were three of the brightest minds in the school at the time. And that's not bragging either, are marks more than showed it. We were also favored and preferred amongst the teachers and other faculty of the academy due, not only to our grades, but also in large part to the name of our family and the success of our parents as scientists.

My brother Issac and I both had dreams of being just like our parents and had a penchant for the arts of science. All three of us were quite successful at school and had top grades but our eldest brother, Blaine, broke the mold somewhat by being more interested in Pokémon training and battling than anything else. In fact, he followed his dream and passion and ended up becoming Cinnabar's very first gym leader years later."

Fuji shook his head. "But I digress. Issac and myself were always fascinated with Pokémon as well but for us it was more from a scientific, biological standpoint. Prehistoric Pokémon that were long since extinct held our fascination more than any other and that led to us fashioning our own long term dream. Once we graduated the academy, Issac and I went to different universities within Kanto to specialize in our own preferred fields. For him it was Pokémon physiology and psychology and for myself, I studied in Pokémon cellular genetics and evolution.

Our dream was to create the world's very first Pokémon Resurrection Machine and in order to do that, we needed to have a working fundamental knowledge of every physical aspect of Pokémon that we could. Hence why Isaac studied physiology and psychology and I studied cellular genetics and evolution."

Giselle went wide eyed. "Pokémon Resurrection Machine?! What is that?"

The old man smiled. "Simple. We wanted to create a machine that would be able to read a fossilized Pokémon's genetic code and then essentially 'restore' it's physical form from the base up. In theory, you would be turning an ancient, long extinct Pokémon from a fossilized rock back into a living, breathing creature. Basically turning back the clock so to speak."

All three kid's eyes went wide in disbelief and it made Fuji chuckle. "Yes I know, as incredible and far fetched as it sounds but, we were determined to make our dream a reality. Once we finished with school, Issac and I returned to Cinnabar in order to collect our inheritance and pay our respects to our parents, who had passed on in a research vessel accident off the coast of Cinnabar while we were away.

Our brother Blaine used his half of the inheritance to build his gym and we used ours to come together and construct the island's very first scientific research facility. Which we called Seafoam Labs, after the island chain far south of Cinnabar that are parents met at for the first time years before when they were on separate research expeditions.

Once we were up and running, Isaac and I hired a few assistants and then went to work on making our dream a reality. Being a public research facility, we needed to bring in income so we took on various other projects that we would work on at different times in-between working on our big project, that way we could get funding.

Over the years we took on small projects that never saw the light of day and others which turned out to be quite the success. Why, we had a hand in many of the big name gadgets, devices and appliances you can find today. One of the biggest things we had ever worked on, which was actually the smallest part we ever played in a project, was when we helped several regional professors and other Pokémon Researchers create the Pokédex."

Ash sat straight up in his chair. "Really? You helped create the Pokédex?!" Even though Fuji was getting a little off topic, Ash always loved learning and hearing new stories from those who were older and had more experience than him in life. Moments like this were a priceless gem to him.

The old man waved his hand and laughed a little nervously. "Oh no not a huge part mind you but yes we did help a bit. We didn't have anything to do with the content or collected knowledge that went into the Pokédex but we did help design it and provide a good place in which the real brains behind the project could work on and test it out."

Fuji leaned back then and stared up at the ceiling with a wistful smile on his face. "I remember working with some of the brightest and greatest minds of the time, even up to the present day, back then. From Professor Oak himself, Professor Rowan of the Sinnoh region, Professor Westwood who lives not too far away from Cinnabar Island and even Professor Juniper from Unova.

Of course, we also had several other bright young minds working on the project who have risen to quite the notable prominence in their respective fields of research in recent years. Such as Professor Elm from the Johto region, Professor Birch from Hoenn and one of the most important of all, Bill himself who helped to collect the largest amount of data and information for the Pokédex. There were a few others as well but I can't remember them all now."

Fuji smiled fondly. "I remember Professor Juniper would bring his then young daughter, Aurea, with him to the lab on more than one occasion when we'd be working. That girl was a chip off the old block, just like her father. Loved anything to do with Pokémon and especially Pokémon Research. Hyper girl she was, brilliant as they came, but hyper though. That little lady would get into so much trouble and keep us all on our toes every minute of every day! Prankster too lemme tell ya."

He laughed aloud. "There was this one time where she went on a mad pranking spree and put glue on Isaac's chair, hot sauce in my coffee, peanut butter in Oak's ears and stole her father's hair piece and strung it up on the flagpole outside the building!"

Fuji descended into a fit of laughter again as Ash sat there with a gaping mouth. He had only seen Aurea Juniper once and that was on a video call she had been having with Professor Oak back when he was training with him. He recalled how intelligent, classy, knowledgable and kind (not to mention beautiful) she had seemed to be during that call so to hear Fuji describing her as pretty much a monster child when she was younger made his mind more than a little confused.

Seeing Ash's perplexed face, Fuji stopped laughing and spoke again. "Oh no Ash you miss the point. That was merely how she was as a child. Aurea actually grew into quite a fine young woman and even followed in her father's footsteps and became the Unova region's leading Pokémon Professor."

Ash nodded. "Yeah I know, I saw her one time on video call while I was training with Professor Oak. He also speaks quite highly of her."

Fuji went to say something else before being elbowed by Agatha, who raised an eyebrow at him. "You're getting off subject again ya old coot!"

He raised his hands and shook his head. "Ah yes! Gah I apologize, sometimes I just ramble too much... anyway. Over the course of the next few years, my brother and I continued to work on different projects here and there while continuously using every bit of money we had to make our ultimate goal into a reality. About six years into our research facility's opening, we finally came closer than we ever had to acheaving our dream. We actually had a plan on how to go about building the Pokémon Resurrection Machine and even had several different schematics drawn up to put it into action."

Fuji then sighed sadly. "Unfortunately... we ended up hitting a roadblock that we both feared we would end up encountering. While our plans were sound and our blueprints were feasible, we were simply working on a machine that was just too advanced for the technology that was available to us at the time. Seeing this, we had no choice but to stop work on it. Then, shortly after that, we were presented with an offer that at the time, seemed like a gift from Arceus but was really more of a horrible nightmare thought up by Darkrai itself than anything else."

The old man shook his head lowly. "About six months after stopping work on our project and becoming rather discouraged that our dream had been stopped so abruptly, especially Isaac, we were approached by representatives from a newly founded company called the Rocket Corporation."

Ash's eyes widened. "That sounds like-"

Fuji nodded. "Yes... Team Rocket. Or at least, how they originally started out. You see kids, back in my early days, Team Rocket weren't what they are in present time. Now they are known, or what little is actually known of them at least, for being cruel, vile, ruthless criminals that spit in the face of the law and will do anything they have to in order to make money.

However, back then they were much different. I suppose you could say they pulled off a perfect 'Mightyena in Mareep's clothing' at the beginning. When they first appeared on the scene in Kanto, they masqueraded as a new business corporation that was trying to find new ways to create clean, renewable energy for the world as well as advertising themselves as investors that believed in giving back to the world of science for the betterment of all life.

We were told by the employees who came to us that they were going around the region trying to recruit up and coming, highly sought after scientists into their company's newly budding science and research division. We were told that they were working on projects which would truly make a positive difference for the world and that they needed every bright mind they could possibly get. The silver tongued devils knew exactly how to speak are language too because they then said that their technology was state of the art and never before seen in Kanto.

Quite naturally, this peaked mine and my brother's curiosity. We figured that if we could work for them for a time and get to know and understand the machines and technology they had on hand, we could potentially put what inheritance money we had left into creating our own versions of them in order to finally make our PRM machine. Or at the very least, possibly make a deal to buy some equipment off the company after we worked there for a time.

This in mind, we accepted the job. Well, that and they also paid a near unbelievable salary. Something which caught my brother's interest right away. We had been living rather frugally over the years since we put every dime we could into our machine and Isaac made it known quite often how much he detested living in such a way. I think he accepted the job more for the money than the possibility of finally achieving our dream but I never said anything. At the time, I was too excited myself.

Fuji paused and took a drink from his tea cup. "We were shipped off to the Rocket Corporation HQ which was somewhere I still don't know the location of. To get you there they would put you in a helicopter with blacked out windows and then fly you directly into the building's aircraft hanger. A fact I probably should have seen as suspicious back then but I didn't.

Isaac and I were soon placed on our own team in the research center for advanced techno-biology along with two other young scientists; One known as Dr. Zager and the other a man named Dr. Namba. At first the four of us got along great and shared many similar interests. We all had high hopes, big dreams and somewhat skewed beliefs on how the world really was. It didn't take long at all after our team was formed that we started getting handed down a whole host of different project assignments. Nothing too out of the ordinary at first. A few energy saving projects, new ways in which to feed the hungry, environmental conservation, you name it.

Honestly, we all worked very well together. We each had our own list of strengths and weaknesses and one didn't have, the other did and vice versa. We complemented each other, which was why they put us together as a team I guess and for the first year things were great. We were making good money, which we hadn't actually seen yet since they kept it all in employee accounts. We lived on sight so they paid completely for everything we needed, which is a reason why we never really had that much concern for why we didn't see any of the supposed 'big money' we were making.

Isaac and I were also truly working around state of the art equipment which I myself came to realize would, with a little tweaking here and here, work perfectly for our project back home. In fact, I had even started drawing up blueprints of the machines that would most likely benefit our PRM machine so that I could get to work building them back home if the company refused to give us access to the equipment there at HQ.

The best part, for me at least, was that I truly thought the projects we were working would really be making a difference in the world. When we finished one, the supervisors of our department would have the completed projects taken away for, what they said was, 'field testing' and if it passed, they would move on to getting it manufactured and distributed. It wasn't until everything started changing a year later and the company began showing it's true colors did I learn what they were really doing with are hard work."

Fuji clinched his fists together. "What they were really doing was scrapping everything we and every other team would work on. Junk it. Dismantle and tear it all apart in some other part of the building where no employee was allowed to go. In reality, they had been having us do all of these assignments as a test run. They wanted to weed out the best of us and get rid of any that didn't make the cut. What better way than to give large projects which took whole teams to complete and then judge each individual team after they were done? That's exactly what they did and we were all stupid enough to follow it. Like Raticate on a wheel."

The older man shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Eventually I began noticing changes in the company that started off subtle and then became more and more noticeable and extreme as time passed. The company started cracking down on us all, contact to the outside world became less and less frequent, patience and understanding became a thing of the past and the projects began taking on very questionable undertones. A fact which I started noticing pretty early on and would make my opinions known about.

It eventually became so bad with certain assignments we were given, things like Pokémon 'genetic experimentation', weather modifying machines, psychological manipulation... that I just couldn't bring myself to do them anymore and would speak out against them. Subtly of course so I wouldn't seem like a renegade but I still spoke out. Eventually I was taken completely off my team and instead I was placed on some geological mining project that was bound for the Kalos region in order to study and take samples of strange new stones geologists were finding over there called 'Mega-Evolution Stones'.

I was given orders to leave and got shipped out before I even had a chance to say goodbye to my brother. Something I know was intentional because, unlike me, my brother had no problems working on the projects given to them. He reveled in it, found pleasure in working on what the admins of the company said would 'change the world' but no longer with 'for the better' part in it. Zager and Namba had changed as well in that time. Both of them falling deeper and deeper into the mad science of what they were being forced to undertake. No longer did they care for the betterment of the world, it became nothing more for them than a way to make a lot of money and feel like rock stars while doing it."

Fuji huffed. "Oh yes the company loved them. They didn't care what heinous crimes against nature or unnatural acts they had to perform in order to create the things they were working on. They loved every minute of it and as much as I hated to see it, Isaac was falling into the same dark web of villainy. No longer did he even care for our dream, it was all about money and the vanity of it."

Going silent, Fuji shook his head for what seemed like the tenth time before going on, "I spent a little over a year in the Kalos region. Myself and the 'expedition team' I was with, which were really nothing more than a group of Rocket lackeys who had once been promising geologists in their own fields but fell to the darker side of their profession after joining the corporation, spent our entire time there searching for Mega-Evolution stones.

I knew from the time we first arrived that what we were doing was illegal because we secluded ourselves away from anyone else, only searched supposed 'hot spots' in the dead of night and weapons amongst our superiorso became a normal sight to see while on the search for the stones. I honestly grew to become rather detached from it all. No longer did I have any delusions that the company I was working for wasn't just a band of criminals hellbent on their own selfish deeds. Unfortunately, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop them so I just kept my head down and tried to stay out of trouble.

Once we finally returned home, empty handed with no luck of finding any Mega Stones, I was almost immediately placed back on my old team. Something which surprised me since I was all but certain my days in the Rocket research center were over. Apparently though, they needed some of their best teams onboard for a massive project they were undertaking of the utmost secrecy."

Fuji let out a long, drawn out sigh. "So... being back on the same team with Zager, Namba and Isaac again, all three having changed dramatically since the last time I saw them to the point of where I no longer recognized even my own brother, we began work on what came to be known as project 'Genesis'."

Ash leaned forward until he was almost sitting off of his chair. "Project Genesis? What was it?"

Fuji sat back in his chair a little more and traced his finger around the rem of his tea cup. "Project Genesis was the very first true genetic experimentation project of the high caliber level it was at that the organization had ever taken on. In simple terms, they wanted to artificially create a Pokémon of their very own."

Giselle and Misty both spoke up then at the same time, "Create their own Pokémon?!"

He nodded. "Yes and not just any Pokémon either. To genetically engineer a Pokémon you first need the genes, meaning DNA code, of another Pokémon that already exists to use as the 'base model' so to speak for creating a completely new one. The Pokémon who's DNA we ended up using as a cloning model... was Mew."

"No way..." Brock muttered in disbelief.

"Impossible!" Giselle exclaimed loudly.

"I didn't even think Mew existed!" Misty said in an equal tone of shock.

Ash however remained silent as he listened to Fuji continue what he was telling them. "Yes, Mew. To this day I don't know how they managed to collect a sample of such a mythical Pokémon but however they did it, we had a hair sample to use as our source for extracting the DNA from.

Over the coming months, we worked tirelessly on the project of reversing engineering the hair fiber found, replicating it and then mutating it during gestation to create a new Pokémon. Unlike the two other insane scientists and my equally as mad brother whom I worked with, I took absolutely no joy or had any interest in what we were doing. From what I had been seeing out of the company, I knew that whatever our abomination of a creation we were working on turned out to be, if it even succeeded, would almost definitely be used for some evil purpose and it was that very thought process that eventually led to me betraying the organization."

Ash looked surprised. "You turned on Team Rocket?"

He nodded again. "Indeed. One day a conference meeting was called that had every Rocket Corporation member at the time in attendance. The Genesis project was nearing a great breakthrough and with the way the admins had been breathing down our necks and forcing us to work faster, I knew that the meeting could only mean nothing good. I feared something terrible was about to change and it turned out I was right.

They announced to us all at large that the company was officially entering a new 'evolution' of it's existence and that the time had come for the Rocket's true purpose and 'potential' to flourish. The lead admin in charge of the entire company, who was right below the mysterious 'Boss' that no one ever saw, was a man named Rykon."

Ash and Pikachu both formed angered expressions at the mention of the name and Fuji raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know of him?"

The boy gave a terse nod. "Yeah... yeah we know of the bastard."

Seeing that Ash wasn't offering up anymore info and not willing to push him, Fuji went on. "Rykon announced that the company was officially changing over to become an organization of... 'questionable legality' and that the name would officially be changed to Team Rocket. At the same time, several employees who had already taken proudly to the new organization name came into the announcement hall wearing the same outfits you see on Rocket agents presently.

Basically, we were given a choice at that time. We could either take up the uniforms and follow the organization to whatever end, or... be 'terminated'. I was no fool and realized what this meant right away. Luckily, I was nearest to the door and managed to slip out just as I heard several of the bravest people I ever knew of start protesting against the drastic change in direction the company had decided on."

Fuji looked down then and closed his eyes. "I stopped just outside of the door and watched as chaos erupted. Almost immediately, Rykon gave a single hand gesture and the dozens of newly minted 'Team Rocket Grunts' started releasing vicious, feral, completely brainwashed Pokémon that only had one desire... which was to serve Team Rocket. They then shut the main doors in order to prevent escape and..."

He shuddered slightly as bad memories replayed themselves in his head. "Everyone that didn't join them were slaughtered. Right then and there. It was... carnage. I still remember the sight, the sounds... the smell of blood as it splashed through the air and coated the walls and floor in it's red stain of death.

Raticate resorted to swarming people and biting them to pieces. Ripping out flesh from the neck and main arteries on the legs... Zubat and Golbat were draining the very life from their victims... Fighting-Types were using some of them like human training bags. Crushing their limbs and ripping them apart... some of the Pokémon were given orders to simply maul the poor souls until they were dead."

He took a deep, calming breath to steady himself then while everyone in the room, even Agatha, seemed to be very unsettled from the horrendous tale of murder and carnage caused by such an evil, completely immoral organization that had haunted more thoughts and wrought more pain than anyone could imagine.

Ash however had his hands on his knees with his fists clenched tightly and teeth gritted. His anger... his utter hatred for Team Rocket growing with each passing moment. Giselle saw this and began to fear for his self control as she reached out and gently took hold of his hand to steady and comfort him. Which worked almost instantly as he looked at her and, upon seeing her comforting smile, felt peace wash over him.

Oblivious to the plight of the others, Fuji continued, seemingly wrapped up in his own story telling. "After that I left, unable to stand the brutality I was witnessing. I knew without even looking that my brother had joined the new 'cause' of Team Rocket and I took that as the severing of our final ties.

I decided right then and there that Project Genesis could never be allowed to see it's completion and that's when I went to the lab and destroyed all of our research while everyone was preoccupied with what was happening in the meeting hall. There were very volatile chemicals in the lab that were extremely flammable so I simply opened the vats, broke open some nearby gas canisters and then collected my own personal research notes before leaving.

I knew that without my valuable research notes and data files which I had created and compiled over the course of the year working on Project Genesis, that they would have a much harder time completing it and that's why I took my research. Not wanting there to be any chance of it surviving for Team Rocket to find after the explosion that followed my actions. And yes I did say explosion.

After I sabotaged the lab I only had a short time to get out and not even five minutes after I managed to and was well away from the headquarters, did the entire section of the building that the lab was in exploded. I knew I had to make myself scarce as fast as I could but being that I was never able to see where the HQ building was actually located, I was forced to flee into the nearby forest and ran and ran until I eventually came out to a town sometime later that I recognized. Which was Viridian City.

Soon after that I decided to go underground since I knew Team Rocket would be looking for me. With that in mind I headed back home to Cinnabar Island, reconnected with my brother Blaine and went back to researching on the original dream I had since I was a child. Which was building myself and Issac's resurrection machine.

It wasn't easy adjusting at first and I knew Blaine had questions but he respected my privacy and never asked too much. He would inquire as to what to happened to Issac but all I would ever say is that we had conflicting interests and had to part ways from working together. Since I was living back home again, I hid all of my research papers and data on Project Genesis in the family safe of our manor and kept it there without telling Blaine or anyone else.

Time passed, about six months, and by that time my life was finally starting to even out a little. Me and my assistants had finally managed to make the PRM machine a reality by using the last of my inheritance money and for the first time in forever, I actually felt like my intellectual talents were being used for a good purpose. Our machine was the very first of it's kind and we intended to use it to usher in a whole new world of discovery, research and fascination for everyone by bringing Pokémon back to life that hadn't been seen by human eyes since the earliest days of our history... maybe even ever."

Fuji chuckled and raised his right index finger. "There are companies in other regions such as the Devon Corporation in Hoenn that swears their own 'Pokémon Resurrection Technology' is the very first of it's kind but that is the furthest thing from the truth! While I heard of other scientists and companies supposedly working on the same thing that Issac and I had dreamed about, very few if any ever actually achieved it and if they did, they almost most certainly would have come after my own machine."

The bald older man sipped his tea again before staring down at the brown liquid in his cup with a far off expression on his face. "My sense of peace didn't last long though. I always had a fear that the newly christened Team Rocket would find me eventually and sooner than later... they did.

One night while my brother was staying over late at his gym to take on a last minute challenger, I was at the manor unwhinding for the night when I heard a knock at the door. I went to the door, answered it and saw none other than Isaac standing on the other side flanked by several members of Team Rocket.

To say that I was surprised to see him being the one to find me was an understatement. They forced themselves inside and I was quickly subdued by a few of the agents. Isaac questioned me, ruthlessly, about the location of my research notes without so much as a passing formality but I refused to tell him anything. They resorted to torturing me but still I said nothing. All I told them during the entire ordeal was that my research was destroyed in the explosion I caused and proudly at that.

Isaac refused to believe me no matter what I said and sent the others who came along with him to search the manor. My brother felt confident that they would find where I hid my papers and data since he thought he knew where all of the hidden locations within the manor were at. However, little did he realize, there were actually two safes in the manor. One, which belonged to the entire family and was where we stored our valuables and family heirlooms and the second one was my father's own personal safe."

Fuji placed his teacup down and crossed his arms. "I suppose I should clarify. Earlier I said that I hid my research in the family safe and while that was true, in an act of paranoia earlier that same week, I decided to move it to my father's secret safe up in the attic. Of which I only ever knew of. To this day I don't know why he never told anyone but me about it but looking back on it now, I'm glad he did. If I wouldn't have decided to move my research data on the spur of the moment like I did, Isaac would have found it and Project Genesis would have been back in Team Rocket's possession once again.

Fortunately enough, he didn't find it and that never happened. Unfortunately though, when he was told that the Rocket agents couldn't find anything after turning our home upside down, he went into a fit of rage. I speculated that the higher ups of the organization had entrusted him with bringing back the date needed for Genesis to continue but because he couldn't find it and I made it clear that I would never tell him where it was... he finally broke whatever bonds as brothers that we may have had."

He looked down then and squeezed his arms around his chest a little tighter. "He had me tied to one of the pillars in the entrance foyer of the mansion and then commanded the manor to be set ablaze. I knew he had changed but to think that he would go so far as to have our family home destroyed just... broke my heart. Watching him flee with the rest of Team Rocket after a gas fire had been started in the kitchen, I knew that the brother I loved was as dead as I had been sure that I would also be in mere minutes."

He smiled softly. "By all rights my death should have been on that night. The flames slowly began to consume the entire manor until everything around me resembled a raging inferno. Years of history, memories and family... all burning to nothing before my eyes. The smoke was so thick that I could hardly see and before long, my mind began to slowly fade into unconsciousness. For whatever reason though... I was chosen to be spared.

Just before I faded into blackness, I saw the door of the manor burst open and in come running a large figure, cloaked by the smoke and already fading sight of my slowly dimming eyes. The last sensation I remembered feeling after that was being carried through the air and then... nothing.

I awoke sometime later in a hospital room in the only hospital on the island with my brother Blaine asleep by my bedside. He awoke shortly after I did and then went through a mixture of fear, relief and anger when he saw that I was okay. Fear that I had died, relief that I was okay and anger at the fact that I didn't tell him anything else of what was a much more serious situation than I led him on to believe. He told me that he was the one who saved me, or more specifically... his Magmar did. He said that he was on his way home, saw the smoke, ran to the manor, saw it was on fire and then sent Magmar in to find me in case I was still inside.

I found out that I had been unconscious for almost a whole day after that night, had several bruised bones, cracked ribs, broken leg from the torture I had undergone from Team Rocket and my lungs had sustained minor damage from the amount of smoke I inhaled. Blaine also told me that the manor was all but in ruin now. The fire had been put out by the local firefighters but the supporting structure of it had been so heavily damaged that it was labeled hazardous to live in any longer.

I told Blaine everything about the past that I had been neglecting to tell him of ever since I returned home. Being that I was alive because of him and our family home had been destroyed due to my unresolved demons, I felt that I owed it to him. Surprisingly enough, even though Blaine was usually always sort of hot headed, he understood and took it rather well. He didn't agree with mine and Isaac's rash choices but he was glad I was okay and promised to do whatever he needed to in order to help me and keep me safe.

For the next few months I spent my time recovering while reconnecting and getting to know my brother better. Blaine and I were never close when we were younger but that was something we started to fix while I was healing from my injuries. We both assumed that Team Rocket thought I was dead but I still didn't want to put anyone else close to me in danger and that's why, after I had fully recovered, I made the decision to leave Cinnabar and find someplace to live where I hopefully wouldn't have to worry about Team Rocket finding me if they ever found out that I was alive.

Blaine had been training me on how to handle, capture and train Pokémon after I healed up so that if I did run into trouble again while I was on my own, I would have Pokémon to help defend me if I could succeed at forming a bond with any who I may have ended up capturing on the road. Shortly before I left, I passed my research center and the maintenance and further development of the PRM machine to a trusted colleague and assistant of mine who worked at the lab and left the deed to the building to Blaine.

After I finished my preparations to leave, I only did one last thing and left the location of the safe my research was in that I was hiding from Team Rocket, as well as it's combination, to my brother. I felt sure that the fire couldn't have destroyed it since the safe was almost completely fireproof and to keep it secure from anyone who may have went snooping around in the ruins of the manor, I knew that Blaine would be the best suited choice to keep it safe since he still owned the deed to the property."

Fuji looked at the coffee table, lost in his memories. "I wandered the region for many months on my own. Occasionally passing through a small town and city here and there but for the most part, I was sticking to the most isolated areas I could find and away from civilization. Along the way I ended up getting my first ever Pokémon, which was a Doduo that I rescued from a group of poachers in a forest when their backs were turned. I nursed it back to health and we became so close, Doduo decided to come along with me.

After sometime of traveling, I eventually found this town we're in now. At first I didn't have any intentions of staying here but one visit to Pokémon Tower back when it was still the epicenter of this entire community changed all of that for me."

Giselle raised her hand. "What was it? Peace?

"Prosperity?" Misty asked.

Ever the pervert, Brock couldn't help himself. "Sex?!"

The three women in the room gave a death glare to the teen while Fuji merely chuckled and shook his head. "What kept me here... was love."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Love? What do you mean?"

Fuji smiled wistfully. "I met the love of my life right here in this town. From the time I first visited, I was amazed by the peace, tranquillity and beauty of Pokémon Tower. Everywhere you looked was nothing but flawless perfection and expert craftsmanship in every square inch of the tower. It was multiple floors of pure white memorial headstones made of beautiful alabaster ranging in all shapes and sizes, ceilings that stretched far above your head and calming incense that burned in every corner of the tower to bring a sense of peace and comfort to the distressed visitors who were mourning the loss of their Pokémon.

In all my years I had never felt such a peaceful serenity calm my soul and fill me with such foreign feelings of tranquility and bliss. Strange I know for a place that was created to honor the memory of departed Pokémon but..." He stopped then and looked up at the ceiling. "It was amazing to me. The tower itself was cared for and looked after by those who called themselves the Tower Keepers. There wasn't many of them, perhaps five or six, but the one who caught my eye the most was a young brunette by the name of Luanne.

Fuji closed his eyes as if he was picturing the woman he spoke of in that moment. "She moved with such grace... such poise. From the moment I saw her I knew that I had fallen in love. Call it strange, like something from out of a fairy tale but I couldn't help myself. Her hair was as soft as silk, her eyes a warm chocolate brown and her face was so serenely beautiful... like an angel. When first I saw her she was lighting an incense on one of the floors while I was behind one of the taller memorial stones examining it when I caught sight of her. I watched her then in secret for as long as I could before she was called away by one of the other Tower Keepers.

From then on I visited the tower each and every day without fail. My only hope with each renewed visit was to able to see her again. Most of the time I would just wander the tower on my own hoping to see her and others I would join tour groups lead by one of the Tower Keepers in hopes of her being my guide. Just to see her... listen to her speak."

The old man laughed. "I still remember the day when I finally spoke to her. I had followed her up to the third floor and was watching her from behind a memorial stone when she called back to me. Oh my heart stopped when she did for I feared that my game had finally ended. She would confront me for why I was stalking her and then have me forcibly removed from the tower, such was my greatest fear.

Instead though... she merely smiled and gestured me over to her. She asked why I followed her so often, saying that she had seen me at the tower multiple times over the recent months. As embarrassed as I was, I could only be honest with her and admit the truth. When I told her that I just wanted to speak with her but didn't know how she laughed and..."

Fuji looked down and clenched his hands together. "I-It sounded so beautiful I..." His voice broke slightly and Agatha instantly reached over to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Her face was set into one of great sympathy and sorrow as she gently rubbed her friend's back. Saying nothing at all as she simply provided the physical comfort he was obviously in great need of currently.

Ash and the others could tell a very sensitive subject had just been addressed but they wisely remained silent. Once he had composed himself somewhat, Fuji continued. "She... she told me that I didn't need to hide and watch her from afar if I wanted to meet her. She said that all I needed to do was come up and say hello. All I could do was sputter and stare at her wide eyed before we both broke out into fits of laughter. It was the perfect ice-breaker because after that, we talked for hours."

He wiped his eyes quickly and then patted Agatha's hand in thanks while giving a small smile. "After that day we were practically inseparable. I would visit every day around lunch time and then we would talk about whatever came to our minds. I found that we both had much in common. She herself was a woman firmly of faith in the Arceun religion and even though I was a man of science, she somehow found a way to break down my stubborn factual mindset without even trying and before I knew it, I myself began praying to Arceus."

Fuji shook his head then as he said in an airy voice, "I have always found it fascinating how things can happen in life which completely changes everything you thought you knew. All my life I never believed in a higher power. With my parents tragic death, the horrors I saw Team Rocket perform all for the sake of money and my brother's own descent into darkness... I honestly believed that there was nothing but what we are. In my mind I thought, how can a God see the tragedy and sorrow befalling it's creations and do nothing? Because of this thought process I never believed in anything except for what I could see, touch and hear.

It wasn't until I spent time with Luanne and watched how she did everything that she did in life did I begin to see things differently. She would do things and make decisions entirely based on faith and belief with no surety whatsoever that things would turn out for the better. When I asked her how she could live life that way one day, she told me something that changed my life forever."

Fuji held his finger up once more. "She told me this... 'Is it better to live your life and do the best with what you can, taking chances and finding joy whenever you have the option, all while believing that there is someone... somewhere, watching out for you to keep you safe, or would you rather just live your life in a box, fearing everything that came your way all because you were afraid to take a risk and die due to believing that nothing existed on the other side?' She said that rather you believe in someone up above or nothing at all, both are a choice of faith that you make for yourself."

He held both hands out in front of him then. "On one hand you believe in nothing so in reality, you DO actually have faith in something. Which is the faith that nothing exists at all. While on the hand you can believe that there is something else after this life that can offer you a new adventure, a new path at the end of this mortal existence that leads to an eternity with no end. Whichever way you look at it, either one could be right so why not take a chance and believe in the possibility of a happier end instead of blank nothingness?"

Fuji lowered his hands and smiled. "My eyes opened at those words for the first time ever and I realized that she was right. Why waste my entire life away living in some small shroud of doubt that if I died tomorrow, my very existence would come to a complete end? I wanted to believe that when I finally passed on, my family, my mother and father, would all be waiting for me on the other side. Even if I was wrong, I decided that I would rather take a chance on happiness in eternal bliss than a bleak non-existence.

Interestingly enough, once I began praying to Arceus and fully accepted her as my Goddess, asked her to let her loving spirit live within me and show me what true love was really like, my entire world opened up before me and for the first time... I felt inner peace. I actually knew love, her love, and it filled my very spirit. From that day on I was a changed man.

Shortly thereafter, Luanne and I began dating while at the same time, I myself became a Tower Keeper and joined their ranks. In a little over a year, we both married and in yet another year after that, I was blessed with the best news I could ever hear. Luanne was pregnant with our child."

Fuji reached for his tea cup again and took another sip. "For the next seven months we lived in utter joy and peace. We had moved in together on the outskirts of town into a quaint little house so she could stay in her hometown and we both loved working at the tower. During that time, I had even made the big decision to become Lavender Town's very first gym leader. I had become much closer to my Doduo in the time since I captured it, even being good enough to get it to evolve using training methods my brother taught me.

With a whole new lease on life, I grew to see just how much I truly loved Pokémon and that only spurred me on to learn more and more on my own and build onto what Blaine taught me. I found through my studies that I had a rather strong love for Ghost-Types due to their mystery and mystique and that is what actually led me deciding to catch a Gastly and become the Kanto region's very first Ghost-Type Pokémon gym.

Luanne naturally supported me in my new endeavor and just before I set up my gym, I went into the forest near the north edge of town where Ghost-Types were supposedly found every now and again on occasion. That was actually where I ended up catching my Gastly which evolved into the Haunter you battled yesterday Ash. I wrote a letter to Blaine and told him of my ambition to become a gym leader and he was ecstatic, naturally so since he himself was a rather famous gym leader who's own gym had actually become one of Kanto's eight most popular Pokémon Gyms just a few years prior. Essentially, his gym on Cinnabar became one of the 'main eight' that trainers would go to if they really wanted to collect an impressive badge set and test themselves to the max before challenging the Pokémon League.

Once he found out, Blaine used his connections in the Pokémon League to help get my gym set up and with my intensive study, hard training and Blaine putting in a good word for me, I became a league certified Pokémon Gym Leader in no time. Blaine even came to Lavender Town to visit and congratulate me on my success in person, meeting Luanne in the process. He even gave me Misdreavus and Duskull as a present before he left. I found out later that he had went all the way to the Johto and Hoenn regions just to catch some special Ghost-Types for me once he found out what kind of gym I was opening. Such was the level of pride he had in me and ever since that day, our relationship as brothers had never been stronger.

More time passed afterwards and Luanne gave birth to a boy which we name Zachary. I myself had been succeeding in my efforts as a gym leader quite exponentially and had become a rather highly talked about subject in town. My gym was slowly becoming well known and challengers from around the region would come here just to challenge me. I became unofficially known as, 'The Ghost-Type Gym Leader with a Bird Pokémon mascot'. My Dodrio never liked battling and really couldn't anyway since I was a Ghost-Type specialist so instead, he became a mascot of sorts for the gym who would greet challengers at the door and then give them a ride to the battlefield."

Fuji chuckled in remembrance. "Yes those were the best days of my life. I was married to the love of my life, had a wonderful son, a great career and all the happiness I could ask for. Unfortunately... it wasn't meant to last..."

The bald gym leader sighed heavily and looked down at his tea cup. "Looking back on it now I guess I was rather foolish to think my past would simply forget about me as easily as I had forgotten about it. I may have moved on but there were other things in my dreaded past, or should I say... other 'people' that I should have known would never let me have peace as long as I was alive."

As Fuji trailed off, Ash fit the pieces together and said in a matter of fact tone of voice, "Team Rocket."

The man nodded. "Yes. Looking back on it now, I should have foreseen the potential danger that having my reputation as a gym leader so well known would bring. I think that I became so fooled by own sense of safety and peace that I let my better judgement completely slip by me. I should have thought ahead and realized that if so many people were hearing about me, Team Rocket would eventually discover that I was alive. They had more eyes and ears in some of the most unsuspecting places throughout the entire region thab you would ever believe. Given how much I took from them by stealing away the research for their most coveted project, any inclination I was alive would surely send them straight to my door... which it did.

One day Luanne and I were having our weekly shift at the tower. After Zachary was born, we only worked at Pokémon Tower once a week since I made enough money to support us with my gym. Reason being because the town paid me so much of a lump sum for bringing in large groups of travelers and other visitors to challenge my gym, something that boosted the local economy in turn. Which is the same general principle for all gyms. Your pay comes directly from whatever town or city you work out of, almost like a tax being payed to you for bolstering the popularity and visitation numbers of the community, which makes money for everyone. Major and locally owned businesses alike."

He shook his head roughly then. "Anyway, on this particular day we did what we usually did and left our son at home with a friend of Luanne's who would stay and watch him for us, along with my Dodrio who always stayed home when Luanne and I left. The tower was bustling that day with several people visiting and paying their respects. My wife and myself were enjoying the atmosphere as we always did and... and that's when everything changed."

Fuji seemed to withdrawal in on himself before continuing in a slow, almost haunted voice. "There were people in the tower that day dressed in long trench coats, which I found suspicious but didn't say or do anything about it, not wanting to cause any kind of trouble or panic. At around noon I was up at the top of the tower with Luanne in a storage room that held all of the unfinished memorial stones that hadn't been completed yet.

Earlier in the month, a lone Marowak showed up at the tower wounded, and taking pity on it, Luanne and a few of the other women who worked at the tower decided to take it in and nurse it back to health. Marowak turned out to be female though, as we found out soon after, being that she was pregnant. She gave birth to a single egg two weeks later.

Lunanne and I were with Marowak helping her tend to her nest when aI heard a loud commotion followed by an explosion rocking the tower down below. I knew something was wrong instantly and had Luanne stay behind while I went down to the ground floor to see what had happened.

When I arrived, I was greeted to the sight of something I hoped to never see again. Team Rocket agents were everywhere on the main floor, their Pokémon out with all of the visitors and the rest of the Tower Keepers lined up in a row on their knees in the middle of the floor. Rykon, who was the main Admin of Team Rocket, was at the head of the Rocket agents and a large hole had been blown in the ceiling, showing where several of the Rockets had apparently come in from. Giving a reason for the sound of the explosion. I also saw discarded trench coats on the floor and knew my earlier unease had been proven true after all. Something that failing to act on desperately cost me I soon learned.

I tried to be discreet when I saw what was happening but I could hear Rykon demanding to know where I was at to the people they had captured. The fact they were looking for me didn't come as a surprise nearly as much as the fact that they had discovered I was alive somehow, let alone knew where I was at. It didn't even register to me then that it was all my own fault because the success of my career as a gym leader had gotten my name out into the region.

I was caught at that moment between what I wanted to do and what I needed to do. I wanted to go back upstairs, get Luanne, go home and get Zachary and then leave to go somewhere far away. However... I knew I couldn't do that. It was my own dumb blindness that had brought Team Rocket to Lavender Town and it was up to me to fix it. Or at least... to pay for the terror I had brought to the kind people of this town.

With that in mind, I mustered up every bit of courage I had and stepped out into the open. As soon as they saw me, Rykon instantly had me captured. He interrogated me, tied me up and had me beaten. The strangest thing for me though was that the entire time I was being tortured, he never once asked me anything about the Genesis Project or the research data I took. This continued on for longer than I care to recall. I was beaten, stabbed, choked... Lavender Town's police station was on the other side of town so I knew that if they even heard what was going on, it would be far too late before they could reach us.

Rykon stopped personally beating on me then to say the first words he had since I had allowed myself to be captured. He told me to 'enjoy the show' and then had everyone besides me placed in the center of the room. They... they were then executed right in front of my eyes. People I didn't know and ones I did. Tower Keepers that I had worked with and formed bonds of friendship with... all dead. Rykon went down the line with a knife in hand and slit their throats. No remorse... no pity, no mercy..."

Fuji shut his eyes tightly. "I thought I was next. He approached me with the knife but before I knew what had happened, a bone club came out of nowhere and struck him, knocking Rykon away from me. I looked back and saw Luanne and Marowak standing near the staircase. I tried to tell them to run, to get away and leave me but they wouldn't do it. Luanne had formed a strong bond with Marowak over the past month and because of that, she was willing to listen to her when Luanne commanded her to engage Team Rocket in battle."

Fuji finally opened his eyes and when he did, the sadness and pain in them was as visible as the sun that hung high in the sky every day. "Luanne was always strong minded and sure footed. When she put her mind to something she wouldn't stop until she either accomplished her goal or was proven that what she was attempting was otherwise impossible. Because of that, she refused to leave me to my well deserved fate and fought with Marowak as fiercely as she could. They took on as many of the Rocket agents and their Pokémon as possible and refused to give in."

He smiled faintly. "She was amazing. Both of them. Over ten grunts took them on but their connection and synchronicity with one another was perfect, even though she was no trainer and Marowak was no trained Pokémon. They fought as hard as they could, Marowak being a blur as she battled with all the ferocity of a Pokémon giving it a full one hundred percent.

Only... it didn't last unfortunately..."

Fuji took a moment to sigh heavily. "Rykon grew frustrated with his men and eventually intervened himself. He called out his chief Pokémon, a brutal and vicious Rhydon, which he used to fight Luanne and Marowak with. Marowak fought valiantly, braver than I ever had seen any Pokémon fight before, but in the end she was simply outmatched. Rykon's Rhydon had years of fierce battling and savage mission operations to it's experience while Marowak merely had heart and above average ability to her own. She was just outclassed.

In the end, Marowak was forced into submission after she couldn't stand the intense beating she was enduring any longer. It wasn't enough to beat her though, Rykon then had his monster of a Pokémon..." Fuji stopped and looked at the floor again while clenching his pants legs. "He... ordered it to crush her..."

He leaned forward then and brought his hands up together in front of his face. "I tried to get up and run to her, to help Marowak, but they were holding me down. Luanne had been detained by that point as well and she was too shocked by the command Rykon gave Rhydon to even attempt to move. It was almost like it happened in slow motion... I was watching as Rhydon approached Marowak. She was too beaten to move... I... I could only look away..."

A tear escaped Fuji's eye. "I heard Luanne scream in horror but even still I refused to look. By that point I was too wrapped within my own horror and self hatred at what I had brought down upon those I cared about to notice anything else. It wasn't until I heard my wife scream again in an entirely different way did I finally open my eyes. When I did I saw two grunts had dragged her to the center of the entrance wall until she was facing me."

Fuji's eyes seemed to form a far-off glaze over them as he murmured in a monotone," Rykon took a knife to her... I was screaming... begging until my voice became raw for him to stop. I told him I would do anything... I would finish Project Genesis myself for them and go back to Team Rocket. I just wanted him to spare her. He didn't listen, he didn't care how much I screamed. He just... just smiled at me. Such an evil, terrible smile... one of joy and pure bliss in what he was about to do. I struggled, I screamed and thrashed but I felt powerless... as though I was trapped beneath a mountain of led and couldn't move."

Tears slowly started to fall from Fuji's eyes in earnest as he now appeared to be completely lost in a numb, unfeeling state of recollection. "Luanne refused to cry. She refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her break. She just looked at me and..." His voice cracked even more so. "And she smiled. It was a smile of love... everything she felt for me. Every unspoken word, every memory we shared... it was all in that smile. I only saw one tear escape her eye before... before..."

Agatha was up out of her seat and next to Fuji in an instant, hugging her old friend close to her as she sat on the edge of the armchair. Fuji dropped his head low as small, silent sobs racked his aged body. Giselle and Misty both had tears falling freely down their faces in streams by now. Brock merely looked away towards the far wall and swallowed thickly as he attempted to control his own emotions at the heart shattering story. But Ash... Ash was a different story entirely.

The young man's hands were gripping his knees so tightly that his knuckles were white and his teeth were clenched. He remained completely silent but his body was shaking... not in sorrow but in anger... pure... uncontrolled anger. Fury was the more suitable term. Hatred was the only emotion he felt at that point in time... Fuji had no need to finish his sentence because everyone knew how it ended. His hatred was fueled by the cruel story and directed towards the monstrous organization who were the direct antagonists of Fuji's tale. The only thing he could think of was murder... of death... unstoppable feelings of vengeance towards a group of human beings that deserved no pity and no remorse.

From his lap, it was obvious that even Pikachu had been effected the same way for his teeth were bared in a silent snarl with small sparks of electricity coming from his fur at random intervals. Ash knew it wasn't healthy or holy in the slightest but all he could think of, and he knew part of these feelings had to have been coming from Arceus,l herself, was the desire to bring a swift and painful end to the Rocket Commander known as Rykon. A man he and Pikachu both already hated due to their encounter with him on the Anne.

Fuji continued to speak then in-between his silent sobs, oblivious to Ash's near murderous thoughts. "My world had shattered. There was nothing I could see or feel by that point. Everything was just numb. I begged to know why, I demanded from Rykon to tell me what caused them to find me and ruin my life. I told him again that I would have went with them back to headquarters to finish Project Genesis but he just... he just laughed.

Rykon finally spoke then and said it wasn't about the project. He said it was never about the project. They had already found a way to move on without me. They came to find me because they wanted to prove a point. They wanted to show that no one could turn their backs on Team Rocket. It was about making me pay for walking out on them... he said he was just bored and wanted to have fun! FUN! THEY KILLED MY WIFE AND ALL OF THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WANTED TO HAVE FUN!"

He stopped shouting after those final words and just slumped back in his chair while Agatha watched him worriedly. "The only thing keeping me from just giving in at that point was my son but even then I felt as though I would never see him again. Rykon came to me with the knife and I knew then it was over. I just closed my eyes... trusting that Blaine would raise Zachary like his own before Rykon put the blade to my throat. After that... everything went black."

Fuji sighed tiredly, exhaustedly. "I awoke in a hospital bed in Saffron City a week later with Blaine and Agatha both asleep at my bedside. The fact that I was somehow alive paled in comparison to the grief and pain I felt at the death of Luanne, which Blaine confirmed was true once he awoke and stopped fussing over me. He told me that the police arrived had just moments after Team Rocket somehow managed to escape without so much as a trace.

An ambulance was called for me and upon arriving, they saw that I was still alive. Somehow, Rykon missed my jugular when he slit my throat and I just passed out due to a combination of blood loss, the shock of what had happened and the stress of what I had seen. I was the only one that survived out of everyone else and Luanne..." He trailed off then, seemingly unwilling to continue as another lump grew in his throat.

After a few seconds passed to compose himself, he picked back up once again. "It took over eight hours of surgery but they eventually managed to stabilize me after I had been airlifted by the emergency helicopter service, The Sonic Dragonite, to the hospital in Saffron City, which was one of the biggest in the entire region. My first thought after coming to and being informed of everything that happened was almost immediately of my son.

I couldn't speak because of my throat but I could draw and I wrote on a pad to Blaine and Agatha to tell me what happened. I could sense something was very wrong by their reactions to my question and that's when they told me the news that ended up sending me into a spiraling depression that took years to pull myself out of."

By this time, Fuji had fully composed himself and was now explaining the rest of the story with a much more steady voice, though great pain was still evident within. "They told me that after Team Rocket left the tower, they apparently went to my small gym building and burned it to the ground. Mine and Luanne's house... was not spared a reprieve of the same fate either."

Giselle's eyes widened as she put her hands to her mouth. "Please don't tell me they..."

Fuji refused to look at her as he answered simply, "To the ground. Nothing was left. Our house had also been incinerated, with... with Zachary, my wife's friend and Dodrio inside. The fire department managed to put both flames out after several hours of continuous fighting but it was too late. The report officially stated that the cause was an obvious crime of arson in both cases and a... a double murder in the other.

The police found the bodies of my wife's friend Karry, Dodrio and... and my son inside of the house. They were nearly unrecognizable from the fire but the police said it was clear there had been a struggle. Dodrio seemed to have been defending both of them with Karry protecting Zachary. They had no idea what had happened even after an investigation but since the fire had ruined everything, any evidence had been long destroyed. I knew who it was though obviously and further counted on the fact that Team Rocket was most likely depending on the fire covering their tracks for them."

Fuji rubbed at his eyes and breathed out slowly. "I was broken after that day. My entire life just lost it's meaning. Not only did I lose my wife, son, best friend in Dodrio and several dear friends but Pokémon Tower had been closed down until further notice due to the devastation that occurred inside. Blaine and Agatha stayed with me for the several weeks it took before I could leave the hospital. I barely said a word at all in that time, even after my throat healed, and slept almost all day every day. Blaine wanted to remain with me longer and was willing to sacrifice his gym in order to stay and take care of me but Agatha kindly volunteered to stay instead."

The elder woman in question took that time to intervene, "I volunteered to stay with Fuji because I knew that all he wanted at the time was to be to himself and be given space. Blaine was a kind soul bless him and even though he had nothing but good intentions, he couldn't understand and wouldn't have been able to comprehend what Fuji was going through or how to handle him."

She pointed to herself. "I myself was in the same situation as Fuji was when I first met he and Luanne. I had just lost my first ever Pokémon, which was an Arbok, to a large cell of Team Rocket members while I was helping a group of young trainers I met on the road free their Pokémon from the villains. I was very experienced by that point but the numbers of Team Rocket were just too great in size and we were overwhelmed. My Pokémon had sustained serious injuries during the fight and even though I was able to rush it to the Pokémon Center, it passed away sometime during the operation.

I had it's memorial stone placed here in Lavender Town at the Pokémon Tower and for longer than I care to remember, I was bitter and angry at the world for taking my friend away from me. It wasn't until I met Fuji and Luanne at the tower when I was paying my respects that my life finally made a turn for the better. They showed me kindness, care, took me in and made me feel like life was something worth living again. Because of all that, I knew what Fuji was going through and was the reason why I decided to stay with him and make sure he was okay."

Fuji looked over at Agatha and smiled. "Yes, Agatha truly was my saving grace in the darkest time of my life. After I was released from the hospital I needed somewhere new to live and found this place to purchase cheaply since things on this side of town never sold for much, even back in it's heyday.

Agatha moved into the guest room and stayed with me for the next six months. Those months were without a doubt the hardest of my entire life and there were many times in which I didn't think I would pull through. Only Agatha standing by and all but beating sense into me kept anything from happening to me that would have most definitely been self inflicted.

Over the course of that dark time, I secluded myself away from people. Not wanting to face the world or the traumatic things I had witnessed. For all intents and purposes, I blamed myself. I believed that if it wasn't for me, Luanne, my son, Doduo, everyone in the tower, Karry... would all still be alive. It took Agatha basically barging into my room one day and throwing me out of bed, giving me a tongue lashing and telling me how ashamed Luanne would have been at how I was acting, before I finally started snapping out of the depression I was in.

To put it simply, I realized that my life had been spared for a reason. I didn't know exactly what that reason was at the time but I knew I still had some sort of purpose. I knew my wife would have been very displeased with how I was acting and not wanting to disgrace her memory, I eventually made a vow to myself to live my life for both of us, as well as our son. To help people in any way I could and be the best I could be as who I was so I could honor Luanne's memory. She loved to help people in life and I knew that even in death, she would have wanted me to do the same.

So, with that in mind, my long bout of anguish finally came to an end. I turned the two sides of this building I wasn't using at the time into the gym on one side and the prayer sanctuary on the other one, which you haven't seen yet. I had my gym leader's licensed renewed after me and my Pokémon got back into shape and then got a permit from the town for the sanctuary."

"Why would you build a prayer sanctuary Mr. Fuji?" Brock asked curiously.

The old man looked at him. "Simple. With Pokémon Tower still closed to the public, I wanted to have somewhere for people to go and pay their respects to their departed Pokémon. I went to Pokémon Tower after getting special permission from the town to do so, which was only granted to me in the first place because of my previous occupation as a Tower Keeper, and then copied down the names and dates of as many memorial stones as I could. Afterwards, I struck up a deal with the local stone cutter whom I was friends with and had as many small memorial stones made for me as I could that would fit in the Prayer House, as I had named the sanctuary, in order to honor as many of the Pokémon memorials in the tower as possible."

Fuji smiled slightly. "The next few months after that were actually rather pleasant. I finally felt as though I was beginning to heal inside, slowly but surely. Agatha refused to leave yet and stayed with me, helping me maintain the Prayer House and my gym. Being that I specialized in Ghost-Types for my gym and she was a Ghost Pokémon expert, Agatha trained me when we had the chance and that allowed my skills to improve vastly. All in all, things were good."

The elder woman closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "It wasn't meant to stay that way though."

Fuji nodded in a subdued fashion. "Yes, I had one last trial I was meant to endure before I could truly have any form of peace." He sighed then, quite heavily. "It was at a time when the town was prospering. Life was in full swing for everyone and times seemed to be good. I still remember the exact day it first happened... it was in a cool October and the day was serene. Pokémon Tower had just been re-opened to the public after nearly a year of having it's doors shut, the tragedy of Team Rocket's malicious attack on it finally having faded into the past. I had even been originally asked to return as one of the new Tower Keepers but it was too soon for me and I declined.

The grand re-opening hosted nearly two hundred people visiting that day from all over the region. Police were stationed around the outside and also inside of the tower and everything seemed to have been going smoothly... for a time. I didn't know what had happened since I was in my gym training my Pokémon at the time with Agatha but before we knew it, our entire side of town started erupting into a panic. Sirens signaling the sounds of police vehicles and ambulances began blearing through the town and we could distinctly hear the sound of people screaming coming from the direction of the tower.

Agatha and I ran outside and saw that the emergency vehicles were indeed heading towards the tower and several people were running in terror away from that direction. We both knew that something was terribly wrong and ran as fast as we could to the tower. When we arrived we were greeted by a truly terrifying and unforgettable sight. The likes of which has never left my mind.

What we saw could only be described as pure chaos. Police and medical rescuers surrounded the building, people were running and screaming away from the tower and the most frightening of all, fire could be seen roaring through the windows of the upper floors. The sky above the tower was also pitch dark and a storm had slowly begun to build around the area. We tried getting the commanding Officer Jenny to tell us what was happening but she refused to disclose any information, only saying that something dangerous and 'unknown' had shown up at the tower and started reeking havoc.

They had a police line set up with several officers inside already, supposedly trying to 'detain' the situation but all we could hear was screaming and panic from inside of it. I don't know what it was to this day but something compelled me to enter the tower and see what was happening. Not listening to my better judgement, I ran past Officer Jenny and into the tower. I didn't know it at the time but Agatha followed me in, for whatever reason."

"Heh!" Agatha grunted with a snort. "I did that because you always do crazy things without thinking and I knew you would need someone there to keep you out of trouble!"

Fuji coughed into his hand and sweatdropped. "Y-Yes well..." He quickly composed himself with another cough. "When we entered the tower I was stunned by what I saw. The ground floor was littered with fallen debree, the staircase had been partially destroyed, the ceiling and walls were cracked, memorial stones had been all but totally annihilated... it was terrible.

Agatha and I made our way up the tower and passed floors along the way that were completely destroyed, if not even more so at places, than the ground one was. It wasn't until we reached the topmost level where heavy smoke could be seen filling the large chamber like a great black curtain did we finally find what was responsible for all the chaos. It was something that, yet again, I would never forget seeing either. For as long as I lived."

Fuji made gesturing motions with his hands while telling the next part of the story as he tried to create a clearer picture of what he was describing for Ash and the others. "When we entered the sanctuary portion of the top floor, which was basically a huge dome shaped room with windows fitted into the ceiling that showed the sky above and large memorial stones down on the ground, we saw massive walls of fire surrounding nearly every corner of the room. All of the police officers that had entered the tower were definitely there alright... but they were all dead. Charred and burned into next to nothing while a huge black cloud... almost looking as though it was made of pure darkness and shadow, swirled in the center of the room amongst the fire.

From the moment I saw it I knew I was looking at something unnatural, something that wasn't of the good and pure of this world. My entire being felt as though I was being pulled into a void of black desolation and all happiness within me seemed to fade. Agatha and I both started to tremble uncontrollably and the worst thing about it was the glowing red eyes staring at us, seeming as though it was piercing through our very souls. When it saw us, we felt like a strong force of heavy gravity was suddenly being weighed down upon us and glueing us to the floor. It then let out a bloodcurdling, horrible screaming sound that made your very skin crawl in terror and ears ring.

We could only watch as the cloud of shadows slowly began to descend upon us. If it wasn't for Agatha's quick thinking and tapping one of the Pokéballs she kept on her side, who knows what would have happened. Her Gengar was the Pokémon she chose and as soon as it appeared she commanded it to use one of it's attacks on us to free us from whatever paralyzing influence we were under. It worked and once we were free, she and I both used our Pokémon to try and combat the monstrosity facing us."

Fuji shook his head, almost as if in disbelief. "We used every Pokémon we had on us and coordinated our attacks and battle strategies out as best as we possibly could but... none of it worked. My own Pokémon and especially Agatha's were experienced and powerful but all of it was like a mild annoyance to the creature. None of our attacks took any effect... none of our attempts at any sort of plan could come to fruition... it simply didn't matter what we did, nothing worked. Not a single attack passed through that dark fog, let alone so much as grazed whatever lay beyond.

The battle dragged on with almost no end sight and what was worse, our Pokémon were wearing down and the fire was almost completely out of hand. We knew we had to escape and that's when we decided on something drastic to insure our survival."

"We brought the roof down," Agatha interjected then with no fanfare and rather bluntly at that.

"Brought the roof down?!" The kids all repeated in unison.

Fuji nodded slightly. "That's correct. We had our Pokémon focus their attacks on a portion of the ceiling above us and then had them bring it down. We were near enough to the exit when it happened that we had time to escape luckily and our tactic took the monster by surprise apparently because it couldn't react in time to stop us from leaving. Fortunately enough, we managed to make it downstairs and out of the tower before the section of roof our Pokémon weakened collapsed entirely on the top floor.

We could hear a loud, shrill wailing sound coming from the tower once we had made it outside and by the kind of affliction in the voice we heard, we both thought that the ceiling collapse had killed whatever it was. Officer Jenny was upset at us at first but once we explained to her why we did what we did and furthermore, what had happened to her fellow officers, we were the last of her concerns."

He hung his head sadly. "So many lives were lost that day, so many funerals... it was Lavender Town's darkest day and the final death toll for the tower. It's doors were closed permanently and hasn't been opened since. After that day, Agatha and I thought the terror was over due to the ceiling collapse we caused. Thinking that it had truly killed whatever it was that had taken the innocent lives of so many but again... we were wrong.

Over the course of the next few weeks, attacks around the tower and strange phenomena started occurring on a regular basis. People who got too close to the tower would either end up disappearing or getting seriously injured. Strange things began happening in the town around the tower as well. Car crashes were becoming mysteriously more frequent, people and Pokémon were getting sick, spontaneous fires would ignite in shops and homes and just generally odd, dangerous events would keep popping up everywhere.

In fact, almost every attack and unfortunate circumstance that happened would be preceded by a black curtain of mist which would bath the area that was it's target in an impenetrable, thick layer of ominous fog. The phenomena actually became so infamously interrelated with each new disaster that happened, the local townspeople started to call the creature that lived in the tower 'Black Fog', after the gastly dark mist itself that seemed to be connected to it.

The townspeople at that time were all becoming very nervous and unsettled and after only three months of enduring the abnormal events, people started to move out of this part of town. Some just moved to the other end of town and others went completely away. Only a few remained behind including myself but slowly, one after the other left until only I eventually remained.

I felt as though it was my responsibility to stop whatever it was that had come to Lavender Town and taken up residence in the tower. I didn't really even know why I believed such a thing but I felt as though it was because, for some reason, my horrid past that had caused so much torment for the town was what had brought yet another plague to it. This time, the worst one yet. Because of this, I fully believed it was my duty to finally take a stand in stopping the ill fortune I had been bringing to the town and resolved to find some way to stop whatever the creature was.

Once I told Agatha of my plan, she agreed to help and then we began planning a way in which to stop the monster. It took a lot of planning but eventually we worked out a strategy. The first part of it had to do with finding some way to trap the creature within something powerful that would keep it from ever again harming or hurting anyone. The idea we came up with involved using something called a 'Sealing Room' located beneath the tower to trap the creature within it.

The sealing room, or rooms, I speak of were basically large, cylindrical chambers hidden within the catacombs beneath the tower. These rooms were built with powerful energy absorbing seals fashioned into the very stone itself that they were made of. No one knows exactly how the energy containing seals were made or who even created the sealing chambers themselves since the tower itself was very old and documents from such distant times were scarce, but whoever made them did an excellent job at constructing what was basically a makeshift prison for anything that was able to manipulate or use paranormal energy. Like psychic power and the spectral energy Ghost-Pokémon are able to wield for instance.

Our plan was to lure the creature down into the catacombs and into one of the sealing rooms. After that, we were going going to shut the door, which was made of metal and covered in seals as well, and lock the monster inside. Theoretically, we figured that the seals would drain it's power quickly and make it weak enough to contain.

The second part of our plan relied on exactly how we were going to go about luring the creature down where we wanted it. To do this, I utilized some of my old inventing skills, connections I still had with my old friends and associates back home on Cinnabar at my former research facility, and used all of that to create special seals that stored light and energy inside of them. Which were powered and charged by either the sun or an Electric-Type Pokémon.

I had the idea because when Agatha and I had our Pokémon bring down a portion of the ceiling in the topmost floor of the tower during our first encounter with the creature, the sunlight that started streaming into the room made it shrink back and cower in fear. That little event led me to assuming, on a strong hunch, that it hated light. Airgo... the, as I dubbed them, 'Light Seal' was born.

I had the idea to use the seals I created to help drive the creature away from us and into the chamber since we both knew our Pokémon would be completely ineffective against it in battle if our first encounter with it was any inclination. With all of that finally settled and planned out, Agatha and I went to Pokémon Tower one night and put our plan of attack into action."

Agatha took over for him then. "My part of the plan was to go up into the upper floors of the tower and look for the creature and then lure it down into the catacombs to where Fuji would be waiting in the biggest of the seal chambers. I eventually found it on the sixth floor, which was subsequently the darkest of any of the other ones, and then engaged it in a decoy battle with one of my strongest Pokémon.

I knew I couldn't I hope to defeat it and I didn't want my Pokémon getting hurt so I focused on drawing it down towards the catacombs as subtly as I could. We barely made it and were nearly overwhelmed by the unnatural power it possessed but we eventually managed to make it to Fuji's location."

"Once she did," Fuji took over at that moment. "I hid in the corner of the chamber and waited until they were inside. As soon as I saw the shadowed apparition of that monster fully enter the room I sprang out from where I was hiding and activated one of my Light Seals. Agatha had one as well and we used both of them to illuminate the dark chamber in a bright light that was nearly identical to that of sunlight itself.

We could tell instantly that the creature was effected by the light from the way it recoiled and screamed in pain and we took those precious few moments to flee the chamber. Once we were clear of it we shut the door, I activated the trigger seal in the center of it that would activate all of the others inside the room and then held our breath to see what would happen. After just seconds the door began to pulse a bright bluish color and the crack underneath of it showed an equally as bright light filtering out of it.

I knew the seal's energy absorption effects was taking effect then and at the same time, we started hearing a horrible... terrible screaming sound emitting from within the chamber. The wailing was nearly deafening to our ears and sounded almost like a whole army of ghoulish sirens going off at one time. The ceiling above us actually started to crack and shake and that's when we knew that we had to leave. We escaped unharmed but even then we could still hear the horrible screaming from deep below the tower, so loud and powerful that the entire building actually shook on it's very foundations.

We just stood afterwards and watched, listening in enraptured fascination as the screaming continued with seemingly no end in sight. What amazed me was how just long the chamber was taking to absorb the creature's power. I knew from experiencing when I battled with it that the monster was strong but seeing first hand just how long it took for the chamber to actually weaken it enough for it to be subdued was just... unreal. Eventually it did stop of course and everything became silent but by then we were still too in shock from what had just happened to fully register our success."

Agatha smiled. "We did it though. Trapped that monstrosity away right under it's nose just as you planned y'old geezer," She jested her old friend with a playful smirk.

Fuji returned her smirk with a smile. "Yes dear Agatha we did succeed indeed." He looked back at the children then before continuing, "After that night, we never had any other problems out of whatever it was that came to torment this town. We never did find out what it was or the true reason for why it came here of all places but either way, we were just glad to finally see the last of our problems gone.

Unfortunately, even though the creature had been stopped, the damage done to this part of town was too great and no one dared coming back. It has remained abandoned aside from myself ever since those days and in that time, I have remained here. Keeping watch over the tower, accepting the very rare challenge of whatever wayward trainer finds their way here and stumbles upon my gym, and also keeping the doors of my Prayer House open for those who still wish to pay their respects to a dearly departed Pokémon friend."

Agatha nodded. "I left shortly after that and tried to convince Fuji to come with me but the fool was stubborn and said he had a never ending duty to this town that he felt obligated to stay committed to. He said that he wanted to remain vigilant in case the creature we locked away ever somehow managed to get free and even though I didn't quite understand it or even believe such a thing was possible, I respected his decision and left to pursue my dreams which eventually led me to becoming what I am now."

The elder woman's face appeared to drop then as age and weariness seemed to overcome her for a moment. "I never would have imagined that Fuji would end up being right and all these years later that same old nightmare would arise again and pose a threat to this town once more. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it could somehow start regaining it's former strength while being locked away in such a powerful sealing chamber but apparently, Fuji and I underestimated it's power. To be honest... I thought whatever it was would eventually just waste away and die being trapped in such a harsh, life draining environment but..." She sighed. "I guess I was wrong."

The Elite Four member looked at Ash. "And what's even worse is how that revelation came to us by you being put in such a perilous position Ash and for that, I do apologize. I know from experience what it feels like to be in the presence of that sinister being and even as a grown adult, well versed in the ways of Pokémon and being quite skilled even back then, I was frightened when I saw it. I can only imagine what it had to have been like for you young one and such a thought fills me with greater sorrow and remorse than you know.

Especially since as Fuji said, it was apparently showing a strong interest in you personally. I cannot imagine such a thing. Even on the two occasions I battled with it, the creature's interest were not so much focused on me as it was the challenge I posed to it at the time. What you went through is... beyond imagining."

Fuji nodded sorrowfully. "Yes Ash I do apologize as well. No one should go through what it is you went through and I feel as though it is partially my fault. People who passed through this way over the recent years that I met would sometimes claim to have strange feelings, urges and desires upon entering this part of town. Almost like another voice in the back of their mind was whispering to them to do things they would never do normally and even have moments when they felt as though their minds were not their own for a short time.

I would always dismiss the claims however as mere paranoia that was stemming from nothing more than weary travelers venturing into a deserted town they were not familiar with and as such, filled their heads with fear and slight delusions. In all truth, I just don't think I wanted to entertain the possibility that the evil creature Agatha and I sealed away would ever have any chance of returning to cause chaos again. My fears never held any ground either because each person that told me these stories of how they would feel strange and influenced when they first arrived here would always end up being fine just a short time later with no more odd experiences happening to them. This only further led to my conclusion that all of these individuals were simply suffering from travel exhaustion and the trepidation of traveling through a relative ghost town."

The old man's already morose looking eyes became that much more regretful as they stared at Ash. "You were the first and only person to talk about such extreme situations and events happening to you while here. I most certainly have never encountered anyone before you that underwent a full on possession and led to such a horrifying outcome either. After I saved you from the catacombs and saw the creature behind that door for the first time in many years, there was no doubt in my mind that it was still a very real threat and hellbent on getting free. Much to my utter dismay and dread."

Sighing dejectedly, he put his teacup down. "I apologize for the very long winded story but it was the best I could do to get you to understand the relation between myself and what happened to you Ash. I truly do not know if my actions in the past, the bad karma that followed me here to Lavender Town and led to so many bad things happening, is what drew that maliciously evil creature here but to me it only makes sense. Something that seems to feed on bad and negative emotions such as fear, anger, hate and sadness like it does would go anywhere it felt a strong abundance of such emotions residing. Arceus knows this town was full of it after Team Rocket came to the tower that day so long ago.

It is because of all of this that I blame myself so much. It was also directly because of myself that the creature was imprisoned for so many years. I felt that if I didn't tell you my full story to go along with the explanation of how I was involved with all that has happened around here then it would make no sense to you. Hopefully now with everything I have told you, it makes a little more sense."

Ash remained silent for several minutes after the older man finished speaking, simply sharing in a companionable silence with his friends as they all digested what was just told to them. Eventually, Ash spoke up, "Really Mr. Fuji you... you really don't need to apologize. Nothing that happened to me was your fault and I don't think you're to blame for anything Haunter did to this town either. Everything always takes place for a reason so it was gonna happen one way or another. If anything, I just feel terrible for everything that's happened to you over the years. Losing your wife, kid, friends and Pokémon... it's just... beyond words."

Fuji smiled sadly. "I'm an old man Ash, I've had many years to make peace with my past and now I just look forward to the day when I can go and join my family in the next life."

"I think for now though..." Agatha began after she intervened politely. "You have something you were going to tell us correct Ash?"

The boy simply nodded and refocused his mind on the subject at hand as he centered his thoughts and tried to plan out the best way to tell them what he needed to. "Well to start... I need you both to understand one thing. The one thing I speak of being that I cannot tell you exactly how I know what I do but that what I am about to say is one hundred percent the truth, no matter how crazy it may seem. I realize that by the end of this, you probably won't believe me but I have to try anyway. I just request that you both keep an open mind, please."

Fuji and Agatha looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds before looking back at Ash and nodding for him to begin. The boy took a breath then and launched into his story, "Alright, the first thing you need to know is..."

And so, for the next hour and a half, Ash went into a detailed explanation of everything Arceus told him about what Fuji and Agatha were both dubbing as 'The Creature' and 'The Monster'. Even though he had already told them both that 'it' was really a Haunter and not the faceless creature they thought it to be, he took the time to go into greater detail of just exactly what separated Haunter from others in it's species.

Basically explaining that unlike other Pokémon of the same species, this one was pretty much a massively oversized, very old and very powerful Haunter that had a terrible past more than enough to equal Fuji's own pound for pound. Perhaps even slightly more so depending on how one looked at it.

Both of the older adult's eyes nearly bugged out and their jaws dropped when Ash told them about what Haunter was like, the first reaction being total disbelief before slowly changing to surprise and then just settling on dumb shock. Agatha herself could hardly believe that a Ghost-Type Pokémon (or any Pokémon for that matter) could be so cruel and evil but as Ash told his story, the both of them were slowly starting to come around until they actually found themselves believing him.

What was more, as Ash delved deeper and deeper into Haunter's tragic past, Agatha and Fuji started to feel something for their old enemy that they never in a million years thought they would... pity. They could both understand being angry at the world for the hell it put you through sometimes and knowing how dark in the head both of them had become in the harshest of periods back in their youth, it was easier for them now to understand Haunter somewhat instead of just blindly hating it.

The two older adults could defintely see how a Pokémon that had lived for so many years, who could sense and feel emotions at that, and who had been hurt and betrayed so many times by so many humans, would eventually grow to hate virtually everything. After all, if something only ever knew hate and scorn, could it possibly be expected to know love and compassion just because it should on principle?

The world around you helps to shape who you are and if this... 'Haunter', really experienced so much hate, rejection and abuse in it's lifetime then it would be totally understandable as to why it became what it did. Especially since it was just a Pokémon who's level of mental comprehension and emotional processing abilities wasn't nearly as complex or advanced as a human's.

Still, while they could understand Ash's obvious pity and perhaps even compassion for this, 'Pokémon gone dark', they didn't see how any of what he was telling them would make a difference in the situation. Let alone how he knew any of what he did, which was something the two of them respected that he couldn't tell.

When Ash finally finished painting a proverbial picture of Haunter's life for his audience- omitting that he learned it all from Arceus of course- he simply sat there and waited for Fuji or Agatha to be the first to speak on the matter.

When someone finally did, it proved to be Agatha. "I already said it but I still just can't believe that the monster we locked away was a Pokémon. It never appeared to be anything close to resembling any Pokémon I had ever seen before so I just... I just can't believe it..."

Fuji shook his head and rested his face in his hands. "So much pain, so much anger and so much hate... for so long I thought it was just an evil plague that descended upon this town like a dark curse but to think that it would really turn out to be something so... so... lost and in suffering is..."

He shook his head again after going silent for a few moments. "If anyone knows how to feel hatred and have vengeful thoughts against those who did terrible things to them or those they care about then it would most definitely be me but... I never would have imagined the reason for the monst-" Fuji caught himself about to say something that he now knew wasn't true and fixed himself before continuing," -for Haunter's wicked actions would be because it itself had been treated so terribly by humans. The thought never so much as crossed my mind because of how angry I was for all the terrible things it did. I used to hate it, feel pure distaste for it but now I... I feel..."

"Pity..." Was the simple word Agatha used to speak what Fuji had been trying to but was unable to say.

Fuji just nodded as the old woman hung her head. "I myself was guilty for feeling such harsh emotions about something I did not understand. I only focused on the bad things it did, never once did I think of why. To think that any Pokémon could live a life filled with so much pain, betrayal and suffering is..."

She wiped a small tear that fell from her eye in that moment. "It's heartbreaking..."

Ash could see that Fuji and Agatha were now in a position that would hopefully make them listen to what he had to tell them and that's why he decided to act quickly. "Mr. Fuji... Agatha... now that you know why Haunter is how it is, I think you can both understand more now when I say that I do not feel any other emotion for it than compassion, pity and a desire to help it. Even after what it did to me, nearly sucking out my soul in a desire to break free from it's prison, I... I can't feel anything else. I know if it were one of my Pokémon or people I hold dear that had underwent the same horrible treatment as Haunter did then I myself would struggle with not wanting revenge for them. Especially if one of them were taken from me."

Fuji looked at Ash skeptically. "Yes I can understand your sentiments now quite well young man but you still haven't told us why Haunter needs you in order to free itself nor how you have come across such detailed information."

Ash nervously grasped at his knees as he replied, "Mr. Fuji please I... I can't tell you how I know what I do. I honestly wish I could but I can't and I need you both to just trust and respect me on this... please."

Both adults just looked at Ash closely for a few moments without speaking before Fuji finally nodded. "Very well. We all have our secrets and I can respect the desire to keep them to yourself. In fact, if it would have been just ten years earlier, I would not have told you my story as I just did Ash. If you want to keep this personal and to yourself, I understand."

Agatha however seemed a little suspicious. "What did you mean when you said that you wanted to... 'help it'? I cannot imagine anyone being able to do such a thing for something as lost to it's own hatred as Haunter is. How could you ever hope to succeed in helping it young man?"

Ash looked back and forth between them both and knew that now was the time to go for broke. He had to lay it all out on the table for them and inform Fuji and Agatha of his plan... well at least, his 'hopeful' plan. All he could do was hope that they would agree and be on his side because of not, he wasn't delusional. Attempting to get into Pokémon Tower, which was already against the law since it had been closed off to the public, was bad enough but four minors doing a such a thing? Even worse.

Ash may have been young but he wasn't naive and since he was a bit of a realist and had more maturity for his age than most, he wouldn't put it past Fuji or Agatha to potentially call the police to make sure he and his friends couldn't put themselves in any danger.

Taking a deep breath, Ash exhaled slowly and began somewhat hesitantly. "Look... I know that what I'm about to say is going to sound crazy... insane even, but I need you both to please hear me out and try to think with an open mind about what I'm about to say."

Exhaling again, he continued. "I feel a... a strong sense of duty and responsibility to help Haunter through the dark void of hatred it's been living for so long. No Pokémon, no living thing period, deserves to live in such a way and Haunter is no exception. My friends and I have been talking and well..."

Ash looked at each of his friends in turn, all whom gave him a nod of support in return. Facing forward again, he said with complete seriousness in his voice, "We want to enter Pokémon Tower so I can face Haunter and do all I can to help take away it's pain."

Both elders merely looked at Ash like he had sprouted Pokéballs for ears before glancing at one another. When Fuji looked at Ash again, he chuckled. "You're kidding my boy! I know you are, trying to pass something so ludicrous off to myself and Agatha as a practical joke!" He laughed aloud. "I will admit you had me for a second!"

However, Ash remained completely silent and stone faced as he stared at them. Fuji eventually stopped laughing and then looked at Ash oddly before his eyes slowly widened. "You... you weren't kidding... were you?"

Ash just shook his head, unable to really think of anything else to say at the time. Agatha, on the other hand, had plenty to say. Shooting up from her seat, the old woman practically shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING YOUNG MAN?! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT POKÉMON IS AND NOW YOU SAY THAT YOU WANT TO GO AND ENCOUNTER IT FACE TO FACE?! JUST SO YOU CAN TRY TO HELP A CREATURE THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETELY LOST TO IT'S OWN RAGE AND DESPAIR FOR ARCEUS ONLY KNOWS HOW LONG?! WELL I REFUSE TO LET YOU DO SUCH A THING! YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO GET YOURSELF INTO!"

Everyone else looked startled by Agatha's outburst but Fuji just spoke calmly to her, "Agatha please, just sit down and then we can-"

The woman rounded on him next, "Don't you start Fuji! You know just as well as I the devastation that Haunter caused when it was free last time! You know how dangerous and powerful it was! Don't you dare even try to tell me that you're considering Ash's crazy idea!"

Fuji held his hands up placatingly. "Agatha please, just listen to me. No I'm not saying that I am automatically on board with what Ash is suggesting but I'm also not going to shut him down without even hearing what it is he has to say. You and I both know that ever since he and his friends came into town just yesterday, strange things has been happening that we never would have expected. Haunter is being more active now that it has been since we sealed it away and I'm starting to worry that maybe it's full strength is returning to it."

He sighed heavily. "Think about it Agatha. If that Pokémon were to get free now with the same hatred driven mindset it has always had, compiled with the fury of what we did to it, think of what it could do? It could potentially destroy the entire town. Wouldn't it be better if there was someway to tame it's rage so that if it truly does get free, none of us will not be in any danger?"

Fuji pointed at Ash. "More strange, unexplainable circumstances has surrounded that boy than I have seen these long years ever since he came here and you know what I speak of. He's special and we both saw it in that battle I had with him. If anyone could have any hope at all of finally putting a stop to all this then... am I truly the only one that believes Ash could be that one?"

Agatha looked at Fuji as though he had lost his mind. "Fuji! Listen to yourself! He's a BOY not a warrior! It's too dangerous!"

Before any arguing could begin between the two, Ash spoke up, "Both of you please... I didn't expect either of you to be okay with what I just said and honestly, I knew you were going to react this way. I understand why you're worried about me because you've seen the true destructive capabilities Haunter possesses. I know you're just concerned and worried for me and while I appreciate that I..."

He trailed off and then looked down for a few moments before speaking once more. "We all love Pokémon. Everyone here in this room and we would do anything for any of our own. You both know what it's like to lose a friend in a Pokémon and you've both experienced what it's like to go through the darkest periods of your lives. You know what it's like to feel anger, to feel hatred and to feel like the world has turned it's back on you."

A look of sympathy and sorrow came over his face. "I know Haunter has done a lot of bad things and I know it's hurt several people, I'm not making any excuses for it. I understand why you both feel so resentful and angry towards it and I know you think it can't be helped and that Haunter will just kill anyone who tries to help it but... I can't believe that. I have to believe that Haunter still has good inside of it. That somewhere deep down the hopeful, bright and happy Pokémon it once was is still there."

He shrugged lightly. "No I can't promise that I'll stay safe and it won't hurt me. It's a Pokémon that I believe no one has ever really encountered before but I still want to... no I NEED to at least try. Yes I may be just a kid. A young, naive and stupid kid but I still know what's right and I KNOW that doing this for Haunter is right."

He then looks up at the two adults again with unwavering determination in his eyes. "I would love to have your support but even if you don't, I'm still going to try and help Haunter one way or another. With or without your permission."

Fuji and Agatha just looked at Ash in shock for several moments before the former finally broke out into a small smile. "Now that... that is the kind of determination and spirit I admire young man. Well said, very well said indeed."

Agatha was about to respond back heatedly but Ash cut her off. "Agatha, let me ask you a question... when you started out with the dream of becoming one of the Elite Four, wasn't there people telling you that it was too dangerous and outlandish of a dream to have? Too much of a risk to take? Saying that you would never succeed in your goals no matter how hard you tried? Wasn't there people like that in your life on your way up to the top?"

Agatha seemed slightly thrown off by his question but answered it nonetheless, "Well of course there was! I don't know how many people put me down and called me stupid for the dreams I had of someday joining the Elite Four. However that is a completely different matter from the situation we're facing now!"

Ash shook his head. "No Agatha it's not. My goal and my current dream is to help save Haunter from itself and show to it that there is still good left in this world. I want to do whatever I can in my power to help it but you refuse to even accept the thought of me doing so out of fear."

Agatha placed her hands on her hips. "And have you even thought about what would happen in the very likely event that you die Ash? What of your Pokémon, your friends, your family? What becomes of them then? Moreover, what about Sam Oak? I've known that man for almost our entire lives and I know for a fact that he rarely accepts someone not of his family into his life as much as he has you, nor has he ever taken on any apprentices before yourself. What do you think it would do to him if you were killed doing something so insane?"

Ash looked down and nodded. "Yeah you're right Agatha... I could potentially die but I honestly don't believe I will. As for my Pokémon and my friends, they are all behind me one hundred percent. I know Professor Oak would be proud of me as well because I'm standing up for what I believe in. He taught me that in the first place. Sometimes I think you have to do what seems insane and that other people don't understand just so you can do what is right."

Agatha looked at the steely resolve in Ash's eyes and just sighed before shaking her head. Remaining quiet for several long moments, she eventually just chuckles wryly. "Oh I can definitely see Oak's influence and teachings within you young man. I don't know how many crazy, life threatening things he did when we were younger just to do what he thought was right."

Looking down as she almost appeared to be having an intense internal debate with herself, she finally looked back at Ash and gave in. "Very well young man. If your heart is stuck on this then... I will support you however I can."

Fuji smiled at Agatha's relenting to help Ash and then spoke himself, "Truthfully... I don't know if this is the right thing to do Ash but either way, if you feel so strongly about this, I as well will do what I can to help you. Who knows... maybe going on a little faith for once will be good for us all."

Ash looked at Fuji and Agatha in shock, as though he couldn't believe they had actually agreed not only to allow him to do what he was suggesting but also were willing to help him do something that could and would most likely be very dangerous. His shock eventually giving into gratitude however, Ash smiled at them and nodded. "Thank you both very much... you have no idea how much this means to me."

Misty shook her head and sank back in her chair. "Wow I can't believe we're actually gonna do this..."

That very same comment made by the redhead suddenly brought Fuji to a point in which he had to make. "Now if you don't mind me asking Ash, exactly HOW do you plan on going about succeeding in this goal of yours?"

Ash appeared thoughtful himself before crossing his arms. "Honestly? I don't know exactly how I'm going to go about getting to Haunter but I do know that it's going to require all of us fighting our way to it. Three other Ghost Pokémon; a Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, are always around the lead Haunter's chamber prison. I think they serve it in some way and if that's true then we'll have to fight to get through them. They'll probably think we're trying to hurt their master and won't let us get past them without a fight. As for Haunter itself... well we'll definitely have to fight once we get inside the sealing room with it."

He put a hand to his chin then. "I was thinking that a few of us could stay outside the chamber and fight off Haunter's three servants to help even up the score a little. Meanwhile, myself and two others will lock ourselves in with Haunter and do battle with it if we have to. The two people with me will serve as a distraction with their Pokémon while myself and my own Pokémon will try to reach Haunter so I can try to communicate with it."

Fuji nodded in understanding of the rather sound strategy and even though Ash didn't volunteer to say anything else on the matter, he had a theory on how the boy was going to try to help Haunter and he was almost willing to bet that it had something to do with the strange light he had witnessed surrounding Ash down in the catacombs of the tower. He never say anything to Agatha about it and he hadn't told Ash what he'd seen since he wasn't sure at the time if the boy had even known himself about the unsual phenomena or not but with the way things were shaping up to be, he was starting to think that Ash did know about the strange light that had come from him and saved them both from Haunter.

Agatha nodded her head to Ash's layout of his plan but had to add her own input. "That does sound like a good plan of attack young man but the question now is, who goes with you in and who stays outside?"

Ash answered immediately, "I want Mr. Fuji going in with me definitely since he has a working knowledge of how the seal chamber works. He also has those Light Tags which will be a big help potentially. If he doesn't mind going on with me that is."

Fuji shook his head when Ash looked his way. "I'm glad you want me along Ash and I'll gladly go with you and do what I can to help."

"Yeah but who else goes with you two then," Brock wondered aloud. "Personally I'd rather stay outside since I think I'll be more of use out there than inside the chamber."

Misty looked at Giselle and Giselle at Misty before the former just smiled and gestured towards Ash. "You go in with him Giselle. You're his girlfriend and I know if you don't go then you'll spend the whole time he's in there worrying about him to the point where you'll be useless to us." She then smiled a little sheepishly. "No offence by the way..."

Giselle smiled in return, appreciating what Misty was doing, before replying, "Yes I do suppose that's true Misty, thank you." She grinned in a falsely superiorly way then before saying in a joking manner, "Besides... you'd just get in my way more than anything else if I stayed with the rest of you!"

Misty growled and pointed at the other girl as Giselle's taunting jest did it's job perfectly. "Listen here you make up wearing, dolled up little-" However Brock was quick to intervene as he got in-between the two girls with his arms outstretched. "Alright you two don't start now!"

Shaking his head in exasperation at his two female friend's antics while Fuji and Agatha merely watched on amused, Ash sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was just about to get back on track but Agatha beat him to it by asking, "Now what I want to know is how you plan on getting into that sealing chamber in the first place. If I recall correctly, it's locked up tight with no way to get inside unless you break the sealing formula, which is why we trapped Haunter in there in the first place."

Ash was pensive for a few seconds before replying, "Well... I think that Haunter will actually help me get inside. When I was lured to the tower last night, I can faintly remember having my energy sucked out of my body and into the door that's keeping Haunter from escaping. I think that somehow my life force holds the key in breaking the seal formula and that means if I make contact with the door again, Haunter will start drawing on my energy once more to break the seal. Once the door opens enough, one of you will have to break the connection by pulling me away from the door and then, just before it closes, we'll slip inside."

Fuji nodded slowly. "That sounds like a sound plan, not very safe mind you but then again, nothing about any of this is safe." He stood up after saying that and looked at the clock. "If we're going to do this then I recommend doing it tonight where we can move under the cover of darkness. We don't want anyone seeing us breaking into the tower if we can avoid it. Especially since we'll have Agatha with us and being that she's a member of the Elite Four, she has a reputation to protect."

Ash seemed content with the suggestion. "Yeah that sounds good to me." Standing up himself, he stretched out, still feeling a little bit fatigued. "I'm going to get some more sleep before tonight, I think that'd be a good idea for everyone.

Agatha agreed with him immediately. "Yes we all should get some sleep. Tonight will test us in more ways than one and we need to be as prepared and rested as we can be."

Giselle suddenly grabbed onto Ash's arm. "Before you go Ash, I think you should go and see your Pokémon in the gym. They were really worried about you." She then appeared slightly nervous before looking down and shuffling her feet a little. "Also I... I hope you're not upset Ash but while you were unconscious, I used your Pokédex to send both of your Butterfree back to the lab. They looked like they just wanted some alone time together so I sent them back, knowing how you did it since I watched you use the Pokédex for Pokémon transfer a few times."

She ran a hand through her long brownish dark hair while looking at him again shyly. "They were really worried about you but I told them that you were going to be fine and that I would make sure you called back home to the lab in order to let them know you were okay as soon as you woke up. I also selected Gastly's I.D. from your Pokédex and had him sent over in return early this morning when I did it since I knew he would probably want to know what happened to you and then see you once you woke up."

Giselle pointed to Ash's Cross-Transceiver that he had been recently keeping on his side then. "Professor Oak called you just a short time after I sent your Butterfree back and was really amazed by the pink one. He wanted to know where and how you caught her since he said he's never seen an all pink Butterfree before but I told him that you weren't feeling very well and would call him as soon you were better. He was okay with it and wanted me to tell you that he hopes you get better soon, especially since he said that he's apparently still waiting for you to tell him all about Gastly and how you captured him as well."

A look of guilt and worry passed over her pretty face at that moment to replace the one of slight amusement she had at seeing Ash comically pale upon remembering that he hadn't told his mentor anything of Gastly yet, before she looked down once more. "I hope you're not mad at me for what I did Ash..."

The young man in question merely tipped Giselle's chin up so she could look at him and then smiled at her. "I'm not upset at all Giselle. In fact I'm grateful for what you did and handling all of that. If my Butterfree wanted some alone time just to get to know each other better then I'm glad you sent them back home so they could. I'm also thankful you thought to have Gastly sent over since I probably would have done the same too. I have a feeling I'll be needing him later tonight anyway."

The girl just blushed faintly and smiled a little at Ash's praise as she nodded in acceptance of his gratitude, glad he wasn't mad at her, and laid her head on his arm while still smiling softly. Ash gave her a soft squeeze and kissed the top of her head before looking at everyone else once they separated. Rubbing the back of his neck, he gave the others a slight smile before nodding to them. "Okay... I guess I'll be seeing you all in a couple of hours or so. Hope everyone gets a good rest and sleeps well."

Fuji and the others all stood up from their chairs after he said that and then said goodnight to each other before adjourning for the much needed rest they would all be needing very soon. The decision being quickly made that Fuji and Agatha would room together while Ash and his friends stayed in the guest bedroom that he had awoken in earlier.

Once he was alone in the living room and Giselle had left his side, Ash made his way across the room to the door that lead into the gym and stepped inside. As soon as he entered, he was greeted to the sight of his Pokémon all working and training together. Smiling at the show of camaraderie and teamwork they were displaying currently, he watched them for a few moments more before yelling, "Hey guys take five!"

The Pokémon stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction they heard the voice. As soon as his Pokémon caught sight of him, all of them cried out excitedly and took off for Ash as fast as possible.

Knowing what would happen if he stayed standing up, Ash quickly got down on the ground just as his Pokémon reached him and all jumped onto him at once. Laughing at their excitement and happiness of seeing him, Ash just chuckled and took turns hugging each of them as they cooed, chirped and made various other sounds to vocalize just how happy they were to see him okay.

"Hey guys how ya been doing since last evening?" He asked and then received another chorus of calls from his Pokémon as a reply. The boy smiled then and nodded his head. "Good I'm really glad to hear everything is going alright. I'm also glad you kept up on your training today for me, that was a very mature and commendable thing you did. I apologize that I worried you all so much but it was totally unexpected what happened to me and everything afterwards just sort of spun out of control."

Ash then went on to explain to his Pokémon everything that had happened to him since the night before. Their eyes and faces took on shocked, amazed and sometimes even angry expressions as he told certain details of what happened to him and once he finally explained the part about his plan to go and help Haunter, utter disbelief could be seen etched onto their faces.

Luckily enough for Ash, Gastly was one to voice his and the other Pokémon's concerns since he was the only one that could actually virbally communicate in a way that could be understood with his shared trainer. "Not that I don't agree with you for wanting to help a Pokémon who has experienced so much misfortune, but why are you so willing to risk your life to help someone who has already tried to take it Ash?

Miss Giselle informed me of what happened after that annoying old professor who constantly follows me around trying to study me back at your home sent me here this morning and I would greatly desire to know exactly why you would want to do such a thing. Especially after your life was put into the kind of peril it was by this same 'Pokémon' you claim to want to help so much.

Gastly's face became one of rare seriousness in that moment. "I'm all for helping a fellow Ghost Pokémon but this Haunter sounds to me to be completely homicidal and almost primally feral in behavior. I admit to being rather unkind and over extreme to the many people I played tricks on over the years back at Maiden's Peak but that's all they ever were. Tricks. I never became physically aggressive or hurt a single person in all the many years I lived on that peak. This Haunter you speak of appears to be the complete opposite. It sounds to me as though it enjoys tormenting and even killing anyone it can. Dangerous business putting yourself in the same room with it if you ask me young one..."

Ash's other Pokémon all nodded in agreement and this caused their trainer to sigh. "Look you guys, I understand how you feel and I even agree with Gastly. Yes Haunter is very dangerous right now and yes it does take joy in doing harm to other people but you have to also understand where it's coming from. Haunter was given a gift by Arceus that turned into a terrible curse and caused it to undergo more pain, betrayal and torment over it's many years of living than any of us can imagine. Haunter's best friend, a kind old lady that I truly believed it loved, was murdered and burned alive by people that wanted Haunter gone just because they didn't understand it. All Haunter has almost ever known was hurt and resentment, how can we expect it to behave any differently than it does now to everyone else?"

He sat back then and looked up at the ceiling with a calm expression on his face. "Imagine this... how would you guys feel if I was killed in the same way that the woman Haunter cared for was? Wouldn't you feel anger and hatred and want revenge against them?"

Almost instantly, each of his Pokémon began shouting vehemently in what he could tell was a mixture of absolute certainty and raw fury. Holding his hand up, he silenced his Pokémon with a nod. "Okay now you see? You all feel no differently about what you'd do if something happened to me than what Haunter did when it's only human friend- ever- was taken from it. Can't you understand where Haunter is coming from now? See it's point of view?

The boy turned his attention to Gastly. "Tell me this Gastly, if Artiana would have been murdered brutally instead of dying peacefully of old age, how do you think you would have handled it? Do you think you would have been understanding and laid back about it or do you think you would have become angry and vengeful? If someone who was like a mother to you would have been viciously killed... do you not think that yours and Haunter's fates would have been similar?"

Gastly looked at Ash and appeared lost for words for a few moments until finally hanging his head and nodding. "I... I suppose you are right Ash. If Artiana would have been taken from me I most likely would have become a very different Pokémon than who you see before you now. I apologize, I was being insensitive to the pain of another. If you really believe that we can help Haunter then I will support you however I am able."

One by one, each of Ash's other Pokémon nodded with looks of shame on their faces. Smiling gently, Ash shook his head. "Hey now guys don't be upset at yourselves, it's normal to feel that way about something that seems nothing but bad or evil. I'm not mad at you, I'm just glad you understand now and are willing to help me. Thank you for coming around, it makes me even more proud of you all than I am already."

His Pokémon all crowded around him and hugged their trainer once more and he smiled brightly, returning the big group hug, before standing back up and looking at them seriously with his hands on his hips. "Alright now listen up everyone, tonight is going to be the toughest and most intense challenge we've taken on so far. I don't know yet which of you I'll end up using for this but whoever it is, you'll need to be prepared and ready for whatever comes your way. Do you understand?"

Receiving a chorus of firm calls in reply, he nodded in understanding. "Alright then. I'm heading off to bed now for a few hours so I can get some sleep and I suggest you guys do the same." He pulled out their Pokéballs and then pointed them at each of his companions. "You okay with that?"

The six of them all called out their consent immediately and he returned them. Afterwards, he left the gym and headed up to the guest room where Brock and the girls were already preparing for bed. He and the older teen decided to take the floor in their sleeping bags so Misty and Giselle could share the bed, a decision that was finalized only after he and Brock firmly stated that they would have it no other way.

Once he had settled down into his own sleeping bag a short time later with Pikachu curled up inside of it with him, Ash said a quick prayer to Arceus that she would watch over them all before shutting his eyes. Letting his worries for the intense night of certain danger and peril that lie ahead fade into his subconscious as a restless slumber took him.

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Night had fallen over the town of Lavender and people all throughout the town were just beginning to turn into their homes and retire to bed for the night. The time was just a little past midnight and on this particular night, the moon was out in all of it's full and bright glory. Adding an air of mystique and suspense to the night of great tribulation that was about to take place in just a short time ahead.

Ash, flanked by his friends as well as Fuji and Agatha, was currently making his way through the abandoned portion of Lavender Town towards Pokémon Tower. Heading out to face a challenge and a foe far above himself, which was set to change not only his outlook on life as he knew it but also fundamentally flip everything Ash thought he knew about how life was supposed to be upside down on it's head.

As hard as he tried, the young Ketchum could only fall in and out of twilight sleep the entire time he had been lying down. So on edge was his nerves and stressed out was his mind for the dangerous mission he had assigned himself to. Wheels were in motion and his plan was already beginning to take form so Ash knew there was no backing out now. He had to see this entire thing through to the end but it still didn't help matters any to calm his nerves.

Looking back at his friends, he could see the same trepidation he felt being reflected upon their visages and looking further back still, he could even see Fuji and Agatha with serious, completely focused expressions on their faces. Pikachu himself also looked to be unshakably focused on the task at hand as his eyes had not left the direction the tower was in ever since they left Fuji's home.

While Ash walked down one of the main streets that led to Pokémon Tower, only partially noticing the grass growing up through the cracks of the pavement, he had time to really think about what was going to happen and only pray that this what Arceus wanted him to do and would be by their side the entire time because otherwise... things were not going to end pretty for he and his companions.

After what seemed like hours but was really only fifteen minutes, Ash finally found himself looking up at the daunting monolith that was Pokémon Tower. Stretching high up into the dark night sky like a cruel trickster just waiting to invite unsuspecting victims into it's house of cruel tricks and games.

Looking back at the people with him, Ash took a deep breath and nodded before facing the door in front of him. Reaching out with both hands, Ash removed the broken chains from the handles and pushed the door open, glad the lock had been broken the night before when he first came here.

As the doors swung open and revealed the eery interior of the ground floor within, Ash took a moment to look at his surroundings. Checking out the walls, ceiling and everything else nearby just to make sure Gastly, Haunter or Gengar wasn't waiting to ambush them as soon as they stepped inside.

Realizing that he wouldn't know until he was actually in the building, Ash walked inside followed slowly by the others. As he adjusted to the dim surroundings around him, he was able to take in just how much of a disarray the tower had fallen into. The marble floors were cracked and dull in places, the walls and high ceiling far above were faded and also cracked in some places. Dust had accumulated on practically everything in the massive room over the many years with no one to keep things clean so that almost all of it was now covered in a hazy sheen of grime and filth. The memorial headstones that were scattered throughout the ground floor were nearly completely faded so no distinguishable writing or markings could hardly be seen on them at all and a few were even missing some chunks out of their surfaces.

As Ash and his friends took in the run down appearance of the tower's main floor, Agatha and Fuji just remained silent as they quietly observed everything around them, lost in thought while remembering what the tower used to look like long before it's current desolate, dilapidated appearance took over.

Ash wandered towards the middle of the room and looked down. The sight that greeted him was one of which sent both a shiver up his spine and also caused a feeling of great sorrow to permeate within him. What he saw while looking down was what appeared to be very faint, yet still clearly visible markings of blood stains on the floor below his feet. The dull red streaks had obviously been scrubbed and cleaned on as much as whoever did it possibly could but Ash could still see it. Especially with the way the moon was shining down on the spot from one of the large windows above and caused it to become quite visible to the naked eye.

Knowing all about the people that had been killed at this very spot years ago by Team Rocket because of the story Fuji told, Ash slowly backed away as the shiver he felt remained on the back of his neck in the form of raised hairs. Looking back, he could see that Fuji was purposefully looking away, obviously not wanting to look at the area and be reminded of the day so much had been taken from him.

Not remembering much about the night he was here since he had been pretty much completely entranced, Ash asked the older man, "Mr. Fuji, which way are we supposed to go in order to get to where we were last night?"

Fuji seemed fortunate for the chance to focus on something else and quickly answered Ash as he walked over to his side, "We go that way young man..." He pointed towards the far end of the room where the archway that lead down into the catacombs was located. "It's quite dark down there so just let me get one of my Light Tags out so we'll be able to see and-"

Ash stopped him. "No that's okay Mr. Fuji, I've got a Pokémon on me now that will provide all the light we need."

The old man just nodded and stood back while Ash grabbed a Pokéball from his side and threw it to the ground. Out of the ball burst forth Charmander in a bright sparkle of lights as he called out energetically, "Charmander Char!"

Fuji smiled. "Ahh yes, I remember that feisty little Charmander from our battle Ash. Excellent choice as well, it's tail flame should be more than enough to light the way for us all."

Ash nodded and looked down at his Pokémon. "We need you to be our light source buddy, think you can handle that?"

Charmander threw his arms out and sounded off with in an affirmative, "Charmander!" Before turning around and walking across the expansive ground floor with Ash and the others following right behind him.

Upon reaching the top of the stone steps that lead down into the dark catacombs below, Charmander increased the intensity of his tail flame until it was burning a bright orange and red color. Ash gave a nod of his head and then the Fire-Type began descending down the steps carefully.

The group of humans followed Charmander down the long flight of stone steps as the path took them deeper and deeper into the dark recesses of the earth. As they continued on, each of them were able to tell they were venturing further below the surface from the way the air became somewhat thinner, more musty smelling, damp and even cold due to the temperature drop being below ground caused.

The more they walked, the more the stone walls and floor around them started to show a much greater change in appearance. The walls looked wet from the dampness of the moisture in the air and the ground below them looked similar only with the added effect of wet smacking sounds being heard when they took a step on the stone floor. There was even what almost seemed to be a silent 'heavy' feeling in the space around them that could only be felt when one went underground where all was deathly quiet and secluded away from the ever bustling, ever lively surface world.

Feeling the air chill her bare arms, Misty shivered and spoke up while grabbing at her arms, "Brrrr! How could anything stand to live in someplace like this?! It's freezing down here!"

Agatha snorted. "When you're made of shadows and darkness with a black heart, the cold just doesn't chill you like some would think dear," The older woman said callously.

Brock himself felt a slight shiver run down his spine. "Man I don't know why but I feel like... almost like an ominous presence is making itself known the further we go. It's almost like these shadows are..."

"Coming alive?" Ash interrupted.

Brock simply nodded. "Yeah, yeah that's right. It's really creepy..."

They all fell into silence then and continued on through the dark tunnel they were following, Fuji occasionally giving Ash directions on which way to go when they came across a junction or fork in the winding, twisting path of the dank, eery catacombs.

As they went further and further into the bowls of the earth beneath the tower, a definite presence started to clearly make itself known by the way the shadows and darkness around them appeared to come alive and shift at different points. Some of the group would see things move out of the corner of their eyes while others still thought that they could feel something brushing up against or touching them every now and again. Though everyone was feeling it and wondering the same thing, Giselle fell victim to it the most as she saw something move in the shadows of a tunnel opposite the one they were following.

Jumping in fright, she screamed and grabbed onto Ash's arm. "Over there!" The brunette cried out, causing everyone to spin around and look in the direction she was pointing. Charmander quickly swiveled around and fired off a spout of flames in the direction his trainer's girlfriend saw the movement at in order to illuminate the area. When he did, all they could see was the yawning expanse of darkness stretching on for what seemed liked forever in the tunnel Giselle was pointing towards and nothing else.

The others turned to look at her then and she just continued to point while sputtering, "B-B-But... But I saw something move! Right there, I swear!"

Fuji nodded sagely. "Do not fear that we think you are crazy miss Giselle, you most likely did indeed see something." He looked into the shadows around them with his eyes set into a piercing and ever vigilant gaze. "Haunter's servants probably already know we're here and are just waiting to spring an attck on us." He then looked back at everyone. "Be on your guard, all of you..."

Seeing his friends nod in understanding, Ash turned back around with Giselle closer to him this time and started moving forward once more, now much more cautious and aware than he had been even before. Watching for any sign at all of quick movement from the shadows which would give away the intentions of a potential attacker. Even Pikachu was on high alert.

After a few more minutes of walking in total silence and traveling the same way Ash had come the previous night, they eventually came to a steel door that blocked their venture from continuing. Ash was about to say something until Fuji came up beside of him and nodded towards the metal barrier. "This door leads to the main chamber right outside of Haunter's sealing room. Once we enter it, I think we can all expect to encounter the three Ghost Pokémon that serves their master so diligently. As soon as they see us, battle will most likely be unavoidable and we all must be ready for that."

He looked down at Ash then. "I guess your plan will begin the moment we enter this chamber so if they do show up then you just get to the other steel door at the end of the room and do whatever you have to in order to get inside. If we're already engaged in a battle by that time then I will get away as fast as I can to come and join you."

Agatha spoke aloud suddenly, "For those that remain behind, stay close to me at all times. My Pokémon will be more than a match for anything we encounter in there, do you understand?"

Misty, Brock, Giselle and Ash nodded with the latter answering for them all. "Yeah Agatha, I understand. As soon as we get in, I'll head for the door," Ash confirmed.

Agatha nodded and then Fuji slowly pushed the door open. As it opened with a loud groaning noise, the group of humans walked into the large chamber room that separated them from Haunter's own sealed up prison. Looking around at the place he and Ash had nearly met their ends the night before, Fuji had to suppress a shiver. He then shifted his gaze ahead across the chamber and saw the steel door that held Haunter inside the room he and Agatha had trapped it inside of so many years ago.

Ash himself also had a very uneasy feeling settle over his stomach since, even though he couldn't remember everything that had happened, he did have just enough memories of the night before to put him on edge and send a shiver down his own spine.

Seeing the door Fuji mentioned up ahead, Ash started walking towards it but as soon as he took one step forward, a ball of dark energy came hurdling out of the shadows at him from across the chamber.

Ash saw it just in time and managed to shout a warning to everyone before jumping to the side just as the ball of energy hit the ground he had just been standing at and exploded, causing the room to shake and a cloud of smoke to shoot up into the air.

Ash looked up from where he was now laying on the ground and saw three spectral forms emerge from the shadows. The shadowy figures eventually came into full form and Ash was able to see the wickedly grinning faces of Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, all floating slowly towards them with the manic smiles of malice still plastered across their faces.

Everyone stood up quickly as Agatha called out, "Get ready, they're sure to attack any moment now!"

Ash and the others hurriedly got into ready positions just as the three Ghost-Types floated in front of the door keeping their master at bay to block the way. Before anyone could say or do anything, Gastly's eyes glowed red before a beam of red energy shot straight at them from it's now scarlet eyes.

Since Ash already had two of his Pokémon out, he shouted, "Pikachu Thunderbolt, stop that attack!"

Pikachu hopped from his shoulder and began sparking with electricity before crying out, "PIKACHUUUU!" And releasing a powerful bolt straight at the beam of energy.

Both attacks collided in mid-air and fought for dominance for a few moments before exploding into a cloud of smoke that covered the room.

As everyone struggled to see through the smoke, multiple balls of energy shot out of the hazy cloud straight at them, glowing with dark intent. Agatha quickly took action and threw a Pokéball up into the air, "My friend, I need your assistance! Stop those Shadow Balls!"

Out of the Elite Four member's Pokéball burst forth none other than her infamous and legendary Gengar, who took to the battle with not so much as a second of hesitance. Showing just how experienced and battle hardened it truly was.

Without a command, Gengar stood firmly rooted to the ground as it's eyes glowed red and hands came out in front of it. Out of nowhere, several balls of energy started to form in front of Gengar that were small at first but quickly expanded in size. As soon as they were about the size of basketballs, Gengar unleashed them and sent it's salvo flying straight at the opposing Shadow Balls coming for them.

Gengar's Shadow Balls not only impacted and beat out the other three Ghost-Pokémon's own but they actually cut right through them and continued on towards the enemy Pokémon. The smoke had cleared by now and Gastly, Haunter and Gengar were now completely visible.

Seeing the balls of energy coming towards them, the three ghostly beings quickly scattered as the Shadow Balls struck the wall behind them and caused several small explosions to rock the room.

Not giving a second for a breather, they quickly separated and went towards Ash and the others at different angles. Misty and Brock saw Gastly and Haunter coming for them both respectively and were quick to call out their own Pokémon.

"Starmie/Onyx! We need you!"

The giant Rock-Snake Pokémon and Misty's own star shaped Starmie appeared in bright bursts of light and were ready for action almost immediately. Misty commanded first, "Starmie use Water Gun on Gastly!" While Brock followed with, "Onyx use Rock Throw!"

Both Pokémon quickly executed their individual attacks, however, the two spectral Pokémon were fast to react. Haunter stopped and sent a beam of Night Shade energy at the large rock Onyx had thrown at it while Gastly just fazed out of existence and appeared several feet away from the jet of water intent on hitting it.

Meanwhile, Gengar appeared out of the ground in front of Ash with a Shadow Ball already poised to strike at his stomach. Ash went to move back and try to give a command to Pikachu or Charmander but before he could, a large rock came flying through the air and struck Gengar in the side, sending the fully evolved Pokémon hurdling back several feet away.

Ash turned around in surprise and saw Giselle standing behind her Graveller as the Rock-Type straightened up from tossing the rock. Ash smiled at her and nodded, silently thanking her for the save, to which she just waved and beamed at him in return.

The moment was ruined the next moment though when Gengar, Haunter and Gastly regrouped together and then shot twin beams of red Night Shade out of their eyes in a wide sweeping arc, intent on cutting through Ash and the others in one fell swoop.

Agatha stepped up quickly and commanded her Gengar like the professional she was, "Gengar, I want you to use Curse Implosion now!"

Nodding at it's trainer's command, Gengar leaned forward and started to strain it's body as it's eyes glowed red. Slowly, a dark black ball of energy began to form at Gengar's stomach before then expanding and wrapping around the Pokémon like a shield.

Grunting in effort with a low, "Geeeeengaaaaarrrrr..." The black shell of energy expanded at rapid speed until it was formed a large dome that eventually extended all around Gengar, the humans and their Pokémon. If one was looking from the outside they would just see a massive cocoon of black energy surrounding everyone inside of it just as the multiple beams of Night Shade made contact with it.

The moment this happened, the dome started to pulse and shift as it kept the beams of energy from penetrating it. The three wild Ghost-Type's narrowed their eyes and added more power to their individual Night Shade attacks and this caused Gengar to grunt in effort as it added even more power to the dome in order to keep it up.

Ash and his friends watched on in awe at the power of an Elite Four Pokémon just as Agatha called out, "Now Gengar, release your power!"

Snapping it's eyes open, Gengar suddenly pulled the dome inward until was just big enough to still cover Onix's large body. The three Ghost-Pokémon grinned thinking that they had won as their Night Shade attacks started to gain more ground but that only lasted for a second until Gengar thrust it's arms out to the side and cried loudly, "GENGAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

Like a bomb had went off, the dome of black energy suddenly exploded outward and pushed the beams of Night Shade back. Gastly, Haunter and Gengar went wide eyed in fear as they tried to keep the wall of energy from reaching them by combating against it with their Night Shade attacks but in the end, even the power of three wild Pokémon was no match for the hardened might of one trained by an Elite Four.

Before they could even hope to get away, the dome of energy broke through the lances of Night Shade, shattering them into nothing as it made contact with them and then exploded with a force so great, the entire chamber rocked viciously and the ceiling shook.

Ash and the others covered their eyes from the smoke that immediately filled the room and waited out the devastation until the shaking finally stopped. When they could finally see again, all of them were surprised when they found themselves unable to spot the three minions of Haunter anywhere in the entire chamber.

Looking back at Agatha, Ash asked in bewilderment, "W-What happened to them?"

The older woman just shook her head as she walked up to check on her Gengar. "They're not gone if that's what your asking. They'll be back, trust me. That's why you need to get through that door as fast as possible."

Even though Ash wanted to ask more, he just nodded his head. "Yeah. you're right." Looking down at his two Pokémon, he nodded towards the end of the chamber. "Come on guys, let's go!"

His Pokémon following close behind along with everyone else, Ash ran across the room and up the steps to the platform that the steel door rested upon. Examining the strange seal markings on it, he looked back at Fuji. "How do I open it?"

The man just nodded towards the door. "When I found you the other night you were all but glued to the door with your energy being siphoned into it. I imagine that if you just touch it then it'll probably do the same thing and start to open up. I'll warn you though, it will most likely be painful."

Ash looked at the door and then down at his hands before answering with a voice full of determination, "We've come too far to turn back now..." Glancing back up at the door while his friends and Pokémon watched on nervously, Ash took a deep breath before placing his hands upon the cold metal of the door.

As soon as he did, Ash felt a painful, tugging sensation as his entire body was suddenly pulled tightly against the metal. He could literally feel his very life energy getting absorbed into the door as the seals engraved into it started to glow blue and made a dull, metallic ringing sound.

Ash's friends, Pokémon and the two adults watched on worriedly as the boy started to writhe and groan in pain. Ash could feel his energy beginning to wain considerably the longer he stayed stuck to the steel door and it was only after several long minutes of suffering did it finally start to budge.

As it did, Fuji and Agatha both motioned for everyone else to stand back and be ready for anything that may happen next. Giselle, Misty and Brock looked on fearfully for their friend as Ash started to groan in pain but just as Giselle made to take a step forward, a deadly beam of red energy swiped down at her feet and cut a deep swath in the floor below them.

Giselle flew back through the air with a shriek of surprise while everyone else was temporarily stunned as they stumbled back. Out of the shadows came Gastly and it's two cousins, eyes glowing with a vengeance as they returned to deal with the intruders that had violated their inner sanctity.

Agatha and everyone else quickly took fighting positions with their Pokémon as the three ghosts charged them. Starmie, Graveller and Onix launched a tri-attack of water and earth at them but the combined might of three Night Shades quickly caused a stalemate to become the outcome. Agatha ran to join the fray, ordering her Gengar to use a Shadow Ball. Just as Fuji was about to join in though, she stopped him with an outstretched hand. "No! You need to stay here and be ready to enter that chamber with Ash, we've got this!"

The older man nodded and then watched as her Gengar became involved in a three on one Shadow Ball fight with the opposing Ghost-Types. Quickly shaking out of his stupor, he ran over to Ash just as he noticed the door finally opening enough to slip through.

Not wanting to give the beastly creature inside enough time to register what was going on and then make it's escape, Fuji ran up to Ash and grabbed ahold of the nearly limp boy before yanking as hard as he could. Seeing his struggle, Pikachu and Charmander jumped in and grabbed each of their trainers legs as they strained to pull him free from the door but even then it still wasn't enough.

"Graveller dodge and use Rock Tomb!" Giselle shouted as her Pokémon jumped out of the way of an incoming Lick attack by Gastly and then quickly picked up several large rocks which it hurtled at the Ghost-Type one after the other.

Looking to the side, Giselle could see Fuji and Ash's Pokémon struggling to free him from the energy draining door, which was rapidly opening now. Seeing that they were struggling greatly, Giselle acted almost without thinking and then commanded her Pokémon to follow her before taking off across the chamber.

Giselle ran straight through the heart of the battle that had now practically consumed the entire chamber. Ducking under multiple blasts of water and massive boulders that were being hurled and shot through the air respectively by Starmie and Onix as they battled it out against Haunter and Gastly, who were proving to be more than a match for them. She also had to side step, roll and jump out of the way of the wayward Shadow Balls and Night Shade attacks that were raining down from high above by both Gengar as they fought viciously.

Agatha's Gengar may have been more powerful but the other one had anger and determination on it's side, which allowed it to fight on a somewhat even kilter with the more experienced Ghost-Type.

Giselle was almost to the door when two Shadow Balls misfired by their casters came flying through the air at her. Giselle stopped mid-run and tried to get out of the way but she was too close to the incoming balls of energy to do anything. However, just before she could be hit with the two powerful attacks, Graveller suddenly lunged forward and jumped in front of her, putting it's arms out as it made to protect it's trainer.

Giselle covered her arms over her face as she prepared for the end or at the very least horrible pain but instead, she heard a loud grunting sound followed by a large explosion. Looking ahead, she was stunned to see her Graveller standing- or now wobbling actually- in front of her with it's arm out. Her shock still resonating within her, she didn't snap out of it until her Pokémon dropped to the ground on one knee with burn marks all over it.

Crying out it's name, Giselle quickly ran to Graveller and dropped to her knees as she put her arms around the Rock-Type. "Graveller! Are you okay?!"

The Pokémon just looked at it's trainer and gave a pained smile before holding up a single thumb and nodding. "G-Graveller... Grav..."

Feeling her eyes tear up at her Pokémon's dedication to protect her, she smiled and replied, "You saved me Graveller, thank you. I can never repay you for that, you deserve a good rest, please go back into your Pokéball for now."

However, Graveller shook it's head/body and then pointed towards the end of the chamber where Fuji was still struggling to help Ash's Pokémon get him unstuck from the door.

Giselle followed her Pokémon's gaze and then looked back at Graveller, seeing the determination in it's will to not give up. "You want to help Ash don't you?"

The rocky Pokémon just nodded and stood up shakily before regaining it's footing. "Grav, Grav, Graveller!"

Giselle just smiled and let a fire of her own enter her eyes before standing up. "Okay, let's go!" She and her Pokémon then took off towards the steel door again and managed to reach Ash in mere seconds. Stopping beside Fuji, she asked urgently, "What's wrong?!"

Fuji grunted in effort as he yanked on Ash again before replying, "I can't get him away from this blasted thing! The door is opening up too and we have to stop it before it opens any more!"

Giselle nodded in understanding before joining them in trying to free Ash. She grabbed at his back and pulled with all her might but she couldn't even budge him. After several tugs, she pulled away and huffed. "Shit it's not working! We need more power! We need..." She then looked at her Graveller and an idea formed in her head.

Looking at Fuji, she quickly instructed, "Let Ash go! All three of you, I've got a plan!"

Fuji and Ash's Pokémon looked at Giselle for all of a few seconds before deciding to trust her since their method was obviously not working at all. Stepping away, Giselle pointed at Ash and then commanded, "Graveller, get a running start and then rush into Ash!"

The Rock-Type quickly complied and then backed up before charging towards Ash. Just before he reached him, Graveller jumped into the air and collided into the boy. The force being just enough to dislodge Ash from the energy stealing door and to the ground below.

Giselle, Pikachu and Charmander ran to his side but Fuji wasted no time and glanced at the door. Already starting to see it close due to the loss of it's energy source, he ran over to them and knelt down to grab hold of Ash, not really giving any mind at the moment on exactly why Haunter hadn't attempted to escape yet. "We need to get inside now before that door closes!"

Giselle quickly nodded in agreement and helped the old man get Ash up before making their way towards the quickly closing door as fast as they could. Seeing the metallic door closing much faster than she thought it would, Giselle looked down at Pikachu and Charmander. "Hey you two, use your attacks to keep that door open please!"

The two small Pokémon quickly nodded and then ran ahead before stopping and launching their attacks at the door, a bolt of electricity and strong spout of flame being the weapons of choice as they cried out, "CHUUU/CHARRRR!"

Both attacks collided with the door and stalled it's forward movement, though with obvious great effort. Giselle and Fuji had all the time they needed though and managed to make it to the door just in time.

The brunette hurriedly called back, "Okay guys that's enough come on!"

Pikachu and Charmander promptly cut off their attacks and then ran ahead to catch up. Fuji and Giselle jumped through the small opening still presented to them, followed right behind by Pikachu and Charmander. The former's tail just managing to clear the door before it slammed shut... concealing the five of them inside one of the most dangerous places anyone could ever find themselves in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Darkness. That was all any of them could see as the door slammed shut behind them and bathed the room in shadows. Giselle and Fuji were kneeling on the cold stone floor below them with Ash supported betwexnst the two of them. The boy in question was still panting heavily as he tried to regain the stamina lost to him by the energy seals on the door that had been draining him for all he was worth.

Giselle looked around and took in the new and rather large room they found themselves in. Even though it was dark, she was still able to see that the massive chamber was cylindrical in shape with several stone pillar-like pedestals scattered all throughout the room. The walls, floor and very high ceiling was made of stone as well and as she looked down at the floor below her, she was able to see what appeared to be small symbols of different kinds etched into the hard surface. She couldn't make any of them out but she had a feeling that they must have been of importance in some way. Most likely the seals Fuji himself had mentioned that were meant to steal away the energy of whomever was locked inside the room permanently.

Looking back down at Ash again, she gently rubbed his back. "Ash? Are you okay?"

The black haired boy nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Y-Yeah... yeah I'm fine I just... I just need to catch my breath for a minute..." He then looked up and took in his surroundings. "Are we... are we in?"

Fuji nodded and answered his question, "Yes my boy we are. This is the sealing room Agatha and I trapped Haunter inside of." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Though... I don't know where the creature could possibly be hiding in this sealed off room nor why it didn't try to escape when the door was opening up..."

Giselle stood up and looked around some more. "Well it has to be around here somewhere. You said it was extremely aggressive Mr. Fuji so it should be here right? Or do you think maybe the seals in this room has drained it's energy to the point where it's in maybe... I don't know... like a comatose state or something?"

Fuji grunted and stood up as well. "No... no young miss I highly doubt that. Black Fog is a creature of immense power and even powerful seals like these- seals made from the energy leeching properties of some of the strongest Grass-Type Pokémon that were around back in the time when these rooms were created from what I've heard and read- would not be enough render it powerless. Let alone kill it. No..." He then looked from side to side. "It's around here somewhere, I know it..."

Ash slowly stood up, Pikachu and Charmander helping to brace him by his legs, before leaning against one of the stone pedestals and looking around. "This doesn't make any sense, I thought as soon as we entered this room Haunter would have-"

Suddenly and without any warning, the room darkened even more as the air temperature dropped several degrees. The only three humans in the room started to feel the hairs on the back of their necks stand up as chill bumps appeared on their arms. A thick, ominous feeling descended upon the room and this instantly put Pikachu and Charmander on alert, the former jumping up onto a nearby pedestal as he squatted down low and began sparking his cheeks.

Ash looked towards his Pokémon just as all of them were suddenly pressed down upon by some invisible force, the might of which was nearly enough to drop them to their knees. Ash could hear Fuji gasp as he tried to look up, "It's... it's here..."

When Ash finally managed to raise his head enough to glance ahead again, he saw, to his amazement and wonder, a black swirling vortex of shadows start to form against the wall at the far end of the chamber. As he looked on, the dark energy slowly began to expand and move outwards until it nearly consumed the entire wall behind it and covered a space almost ten feet in front of it.

Each of their eyes became glued to the ominous spectacle in front of them as, with a haunting, deep and low rumbling humming sound, the shadows slowly started to condense and take shape into an actual form.

When the shape shifting had finally completed a short time later, the three of them were now staring at a massive, thick, almost completely black cloud of shadows that were swirling ever so slowly at the very front of the chamber. The dark energy which was making up the shadows seemed to have a mind of it's own as it twisted and turned within itself, the murky haze trailing out over the chamber room and covering everything it touched in total darkness.

As he stared upon it, Ash then see two large, glowing red eyes open up within the shadows of the fog as it gazed piercingly, orbs glowing with malevolence, right at he and the others. Ash knew what he was looking at but Fuji gave voice to it first as he said in a mere ghost of a whisper.

"Black Fog..."

Pikachu started to growl under his breath as his cheeks sparked more, the little Pokémon being able to feel the evil intentions the creature in front of it was now emitting in powerfully rolling waves. All directed at the humans whom were now standing in it's presence.

Ash heard his Pokémon growl and promptly held his hand out. "Pikachu, stand down!"

Pikachu looked a little reluctant to do so at first but finally nodded and obeyed his trainer just as Black Fog's eyes finally found themselves settled on Fuji. Even though the years had changed him, Haunter could still recognize the human that had imprisoned it and as soon as it did, the creature let out a loud, screeching sound as the room shook with the fury of it's anger.

Fuji, for his part, didn't even flinch as he calmly spoke, "Black Fog... it has been many years hasn't it? I see the time has done little to curb your hatred and malice."

Haunter's eyes narrowed until they could almost see the hate shining within the red orbs that it called eyes. Ash, not wanting anything to get out of control any sooner than it had to, stepped forward and called out to it, "Haunter!"

Giselle and Fuji saw Haunter's eyes widen at having it's naturally given name called out so boldly almost immediately. The red eyes quickly shifted onto Ash and as it did, it's eyes further widened in surprise at seeing the object of it's recent obsession and potential freedom standing a mere short distance away.

Ash narrowed his eyes at the corrupted Pokémon and took a second to take in the sight of the truly magnificent but also horrifying looking creature that had been shunned and cast aside by so many over the years. What Arceus had told him of Haunter's intimidating and overpowering appearance was proven to be nothing less than absolutely true as never before in his young career as a Pokémon Trainer had Ash yet seen anything so... incredible for lack of a better word.

Haunter may have been be a Pokémon yes but like Ash's giant Dragonite and Tentacruel, it was an unfortunate freak of it's species amongst the entire Pokémon world... to an extreme degree.

Ash took a single step forward before speaking in a level tone, "You know who I am don't you Haunter?" The Pokémon's red eyes just narrowed at him in response, a hungry gleam in it's eyes as the desire to suck out Ash's very life essence in order to free itself could be seen shining in it's red pupils.

Ash held a hand out at it then as he made a very bold, very risky statement. "I know that you want me! I know you want to use me to free yourself from this place so you can continue the destruction and chaos you caused so many innocent people in the past but I'm not letting you! I'm here to tell you now that today, I am going to do everything in my power possible to stop this anger you feel and put an end to this cycle of hatred you constantly live in. Today... I am setting you free!"

Haunter's eyes blazed malevolently at Ash and he knew in that moment that simple words wasn't going to get through to it. Not that he expected something so grandiose and maybe even a little corny sounding would reach the darkness shrouded Pokémon. Haunter was, for all intents and purposes, completely wild and untamed. An unpredictable force of raw power that had long since lost itself to it's baser instincts. A creature that would attack first and not think about what it did later.

That statement was proven to be true as well for the very next moment... Haunter attacked.

Ash and Fuji saw it coming first, the former rushing at Giselle with his tired legs as he pushed her to the ground. Fuji ducked behind a stone pedestal while Pikachu and Charmander both ran and hid behind another one. All of it was done just in the nick of time too because at the very next moment, several beam-like charges of dark energy came erupting from the shadows surrounding Haunter as they made a deadly beeline straight for their targets.

Ash and Giselle held their hands over their heads as the attacks impacted with the ground, walls and stone pedestals around them, loud explosions rocking the room as they hit with devastating force. Ash quickly rolled he and Giselle to a nearby pillar that hadn't been destroyed yet and tried to look through the smoke to see where Fuji and his Pokémon were.

After a few seconds he was finally able to see them, hunkered down behind their own stone barriers, visibly on edge but still safe thankfully. After several more moments of the black beams of energy being released throughout the room, everything went silent. Ash poked his head up from his hiding spot and looked at Haunter just as the Pokémon gave a loud roaring/shrieking sound and the shadows around it expanded and fluctuated outward.

Calling out to to his companions, Ash jumped up in a flash, "We need to act now! If we don't start fighting back we're dead!"

The call to action did it's just job as Fuji and Giselle quickly complied. Pikachu and Charmander ran to Ash's side on his gesture just as the only other two humans in the room stood up along with him and pulled out their Pokéballs.

In two flashes of light, Fuji's Misdreavus and Giselle's Graveller were called out in combat ready battle stances as they awaited their trainer's commands. Ash knew they didn't have much time so he made a fast command, "Remember that this is all about distraction! Do whatever you can to divert Haunter's attention so I can get close to it!"

Giselle and Fuji nodded before ordering their Pokémon to attack Haunter. Ash only looked long enough to see Graveller take off rolling towards Haunter and Misdreavus flying towards it while charging a Shadow Ball in front of it's small body.

Turning away then, Ash motioned for his Pokémon to follow him as he started to run towards Haunter while hiding behind the stone pedestals scattered throughout the chamber as he did so. Being extremely careful and with his eyes locked onto Haunter's massive shadowed form, he kept pressing forward, hoping and praying that Fuji and Giselle could handle the situation for now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Misdreavus fired off a Shadow Ball at the wall of shadows in front of it but only succeeded in causing a minor annoyance as the ball of energy exploded on impact. Graveller rolled towards the darkness and just as he came upon it, Giselle shouted, "Graveller use Rock Throw!"

Coming out of it's roll, Graveller dug it's hands into the ground and then jumped up with a large chunk of the floor in it's arms. Chucking it at the cascade of swirling shadows keeping Haunter disguised, the rock flew straight and true at speeds that would definitely leave a nasty mark on anything it hit.

However, like a hand extending to swat a meddlesome insect, a tendril of dark energy suddenly emerged from the shadows and slapped the chunk of floor straight down into the ground where it shattered into pieces.

Several more tendrils shot out of the darkness and sped towards Misdreavus after that. Fuji yelled out to his Pokémon upon seeing the danger, "Misdreavus don't let them touch you! Use your speed to dodge and fire as many Shadow Balls as you can to stay ahead!"

The small Ghost-Type tried to listin to it's trainer and began moving around in the air as fast as it could, zig-zagging and swerving in and out of the shadow tendrils as they attempted to snatch Misdreavus into it's hold. Fuji's Pokémon was quickly being overwhelmed by the seemingly never ending swarm of tentacles coming for it though and for each one it destroyed with a Shadow Ball, two more would seemingly take it's place. All the while, Haunter just watched the chase take place with it's red eyes glowing in sick amusement.

Meanwhile, Giselle was trying to keep her Graveller from being hit by the strange blasts of shadow-type energy waves being hurled at it from the large mass of blackness dominating the front (or back, depending how you looked at it) of the chamber.

Giselle knew her already tired Pokémon was beginning to wear down and being that Graveller wasn't meant for speed, it was only a matter of time before the never ending barrage of energy waves connected with it.

In fact, it was at the exact same time as Giselle prepared to give her Pokémon another command that Haunter gained the upper hand. Becoming flat out overwhelmed by the power of the foe they were facing, Misdreavus was suddenly trapped by a group of shadow tendrils and then started getting beat ruthlessly between them until one of the arms finally smacked her away towards Fuji.

At the same moment, Graveller tripped up just as it was about to hurl another slab of floor at the veil of shadows. This was all Haunter needed and with a well timed energy pulse, Graveller was struck head on by the powerful darkness and sent sprawling across the chamber. Both it and Misdreavus both gave pained grunts of 'Grav/Dreavus!" As they finally came to a stop on the cold stone floor.

Giselle and Fuji both ran out to their Pokémon quickly and helped them as Giselle looked at Haunter with fearful eyes. "W-What kind of attacks are those?!"

Fuji grit his teeth and just shook his head. "Nothing that any normal Pokémon should be able to use, that's all I know. I don't even think it can be described as a conventional type of energy source that we know of. Whatever power Haunter uses that makes up it's very existence is beyond any of us. At this point I now see that the seals in this room have only repressed Haunter's power enough to keep it trapped, not weaken it any true way. We can't hope to beat it..."

Fuji looked at Giselle with steely eyes. "But we have to at least buy Ash the time he needs." He drew two more Pokéballs from his side. "We'll need to pull out all the stops for this battle young miss, are you ready?"

Giselle just looked in the direction Ash had vanished before looking back at the old man and nodding, holding up her one remaining Pokéball. "I'm with you Mr. Fuji!"

The bald man smiled at her as both of their Pokémon finally stood/levitated back up. "Good, then let's give this beast all we have!"

Those words of encouragement said, he called out Duskull and his own Haunter, which joined their partner Misdreavus in a battle ready formation. Giselle took point next and called out her Marowak. She knew her first Pokémon's Ground-Type moves would be of no effect against an otherworldly Ghost-Type such as Haunter but at the most, she was hoping it would at least offer a much needed extra hand and be able to support her weary Graveller.

Fuji spoke again once all of their available Pokémon was out in play, "As I'm sure you know Ms. Giselle, a common theory is that Ghost-Type Pokémon attacks will not be effective against their own kind but as I'm also sure you have already learned, this is not entirely true. Damage can be inflicted, though the amount in which is dealt is usually always so minuscule, trainers almost never have a Ghost-Type against Ghost-Type battle. It would take far too long for either side to cause enough damage using their naturally bestowed spectral powers to warrant a sensible match-up. However..."

Fuji's eyes narrowed at the monstrous Ghost-Type they were currently facing down. "Some Ghost-Types, such as Agatha's Gengar and this Haunter before us now, are so powerful that their attacks can seriously effect those of their same species. It is my hope that by using all three of my own Ghost-Types that maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to fight against Black Fog a little more effectively... hopefully."

Giselle just let out a breath and got ready. "Yeah... that's gonna be a BIG maybe..."

Just as Fuji and the brunette were about to command all of their Pokémon to attack at one time, Haunter made another drastic change to the playing field in order to take any possible advantage they had away from them.

Fuji and Giselle could only watch in confusion as the shadows around Haunter started to broil and shift and it's eyes glowed even brighter with power practically emanating from them. A smokey haze slowly surrounded the shadows around Haunter before extending outwards. Then, to their utter shock and amazement, both humans watched as the shadows all around them... from the floor, ceiling and walls, started to actually come to life.

Before their very eyes, several ghostly figures, resembling walking shadows to a degree, began emerging from not only the shroud of shadows covering Haunter but also every other area in the chamber that was hidden by darkness. The spectral forms that were slowly manifesting themselves in incredibly large numbers didn't really have any defining characteristics at all. No face, no true body shape and no voice. They neither resembled people nor Pokémon and instead looked to be just... blank puppets. Faceless dolls of darkness brought to life to serve their master as they floated eerily in the air... slowly closing upon their opponents.

To say an icy chill went up the spines of Giselle, Fuji and even their Pokémon would have been a total understatement. The paranormal display of dark power being displayed before them suddenly made them all feel as though they were just extremely small, insignificant insects compared to this ancient creature of pure power that levitated before them.

Mustering all the courage they had though, Fuji and Giselle pointed at the battalion of faceless shadow puppets in front of them and shouted to their Pokémon, "All of you, attack now!"

Fuji and Giselle's Pokémon, regardless of the fear they were feeling at the moment, nodded to their trainer's words and charged towards the incoming wave of dark beings with loud battle cries.

XXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash and his Pokémon saw the creation of the shadow beings from their position behind a stone pillar near the back of the room and instantly felt the same feeling of fear and trepidation that their friends were. Once again, Ash found himself in awe of Haunter's abilities and started to see just what Arceus was saying when she told him of the unimaginable danger he was going to find himself in if he decided to encounter the dangerous Pokémon.

He could hear Giselle and Fuji call out the rest of their Pokémon into the seemingly one sided battle and then just moments later saw those same Pokémon take off in a charge towards a large group of shadow ghouls that were steadily making their way towards them.

Ash continued to watch silently for a few moments as his friend's Pokémon collided with their enemies and commenced into a vicious battle with the unnerving shadow beings. As Ash heard his girlfriend and Fuji shout fast commands to their Pokémon, he watched the puppet-like creatures intently in order to find out just how they fought.

To his amazement though, the ghouls didn't or simply wasn't by choice, doing much if any fighting back at all. Their movements were extremely slow and because of this, the viciously attacking Pokémon they were doing battle against were tearing through them one after the other.

However, what they apparently lacked in power, the ghouls made up for in their ability to reproduce and increase in number. For each one destroyed, two more seemed to take it's place and this very cycle continued as though to be endless.

Knowing that he couldn't waste anymore time, Ash gestured for his two Pokémon to follow him and then started moving towards Haunter again. He didn't get far though because as he came closer, several of the shadow ghouls slowly arose from the ground and stared at him with blank, glowing red eyes.

Gritting his teeth, Ash came to a stop as Pikachu and Charmander jumped in front of him, ready for battle. Seeing the numbers they were up against, Ash knew he needed help and pulled out another Pokéball.

Calling Gastly out into the fight, he looked up to him quickly. "Gastly, I need you to help me get through these things. They may not seem like much but don't underestimate them, they multiply like crazy!"

The Gastly from Maiden's Peak assessed the situation and just nodded before settling into formation with Pikachu and Charmander. "Let's see what they can do then," He answered with his trademark grin in place.

Ash raised his hand then and commanded, "Pikachu Thunderbolt, Charmander Flamethrower, Gastly Night Shade!" As soon as those words left his lips, his Pokémon sprung into action.

Pikachu released a powerful bolt of electricity, Charmander let loose a hot jet of flames and Gastly's eyes glowed red before a bright beam of similar colored energy shot out of them. All three attacks blasted through the air and impacted with the shadowy specters in front of them, tearing right through the ghoulish foes and impacting the wall far behind them.

Ash quickly took off running the very next moment since he was afraid Haunter would find a lock on his position before he could get close enough. On he ran, as fast as he could towards his objective, no longer bothering to hide. Along the way, several more ghouls started to appear which his three Pokémon quickly attacked and took care of.

However, as Ash drew closer and closer towards Haunter, who was currently being preoccupied with sending it's servants out to fight Giselle and Fuji's Pokémon, the ghouls became increasingly more prevalent number and actually started to show aggression. They had no sort of energy based attacks but Ash could see them starting to fly faster through the air before zooming down at him with their hands extended, obviously meaning to do him harm of some kind.

For his part though, Ash had some extremely persistent protectors who stayed on his six at all times. Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly formed a sort of circle around Ash and lashed out at anything that came even close to him. Something he was thankful for since the ghoul's aggressiveness wasn't the only thing that was changing. He could see them starting to actually physically change until he noticed shadowy claws and sharp teeth become added to their forms. Leaving no more doubt in his mind that they were now most definitely dangerous.

Ash was almost upon Haunter, just mere feet away from the shroud of shadows that surrounded it. Just as he was about to try and enter into the dark void though, a much larger than normal ghoul came charging at him through the air with a deadly gleam in it's eyes, shadow claws extended as it came for him.

Ash stopped and held his hands up in front of him just as Pikachu came jumping in front of him while shouting, "CHUUU!" And launching a bolt of lightning at the incoming enemy which struck it head on and caused it's eyes to bug out before it exploded in a haze of darkness.

Nodding his thanks to Pikachu, Ash ran towards the shadows and just before he reached them he extended his right hand and focused on the mark Arceus had bestowed upon him. Recalling that he just needing to focus on making it appear, Ash scrunched his brow up tightly and grunted with effort just as he passed through the veil of darkness.

The only thing Ash knew from that moment on was the feeling of blackness overtaking his vision, the surpised expression of Haunter's red eyes as it turned it's attention inward to look at the intruder within it's domain and the sudden bright light that accompanied the intricate Star Mark as it appeared on his palm.

After that... he fell into nothingness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Floating. That was the sensation Ash felt when he awoke. Well, 'awoke' wasn't really the right word. He felt the same feeling he did all the other times things when this odd and very strange experience happened to him. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was indeed floating and not only that, but he was also floating in the exact same strange place that he had every time he accidentally activated his Star Mark in the past.

The only difference between those times before and now though was that he actually knew what was going on and- given how Arceus always teleported him to her own little 'dimensional plain' when she needed to speak with him- his sharp mind made the instant connection that whenever the Star Mark activated, he and the Pokémon he was being connected to were apparently getting transported in an out of body experience to a small pocket dimension similar to the ones that Arceus routinely used.

Looking at the colorful realm around him then, Ash took a moment to admire the usual multitude of bright, wispy colors floating throughout the abnormal space before fixing his gaze forward. What drew his attention so quickly was the sight of a large mass of swirling black shadows stretching far above him just a short distance away with glowing red eyes staring piercingly at him from within the dark shroud.

Ash knew instantly who he was looking at and had undefinable confirmation then and there that the connection had been successful. Taking a second to look Haunter over, Ash could just make out an even darker shade of pitch black energy enveloping the already darkness covered Pokémon. From what Arceus told him of the different colors of energy he would see when he was sent into this pocket dimension created by the Star Mark, he was finally able to tell what they meant. He knew that the colors represented what particular emotion the Pokémon in question was experiencing and he also knew that red was the aura he would see when they were really mad.

What he was seeing now though was an aura color that he remembered Arceus telling him was the worst of all. An energy signature that a Pokémon would become consumed by only when all of their hope, compassion, love and happiness had been ripped away... being replaced by only darkness, hatred and pure desolation. He could still hear her telling him that Pokémon in this state of aura control was all but beyond hope, completely consumed by their pain and hate. By looking at Haunter's pitch black aura, he could now for the first time clearly see just how lost to darkness this poor, broken and miserable Pokémon really was.

Though... instead of feeling hopelessness (call him crazy) Ash instead felt an even stronger sense of desire and need to help Haunter become free of it's long repressive bonds of loneliness and sorrow. To help show it the light and bring a new sense of being and life to it's existence.

Feeling his determination strengthen even more so now than almost any other time before, Ash spoke to Haunter in a loud, clear and firm voice telepathically, reaching out with his emotions towards the Pokémon all the while. "Haunter I-"

Those were the only words he managed to mentally get out however because at the exact same second that his flow of positive emotions came in contact with the wall of black energy surrounding Haunter, he then felt an extremely powerful repulsion of resistance that broke through his own emotions and came hurdling at him like a speeding Pidgeot.

As soon as the dense concentration of negative, resilient emotions hit Ash, he felt everything go black around him followed by the sensation of being sucked backwards. Then, everything went black again...

XXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash came to as he suddenly found himself being flung through the air across the chamber before hitting one of the large stone pillars, gasping in shock and pain as he did and then falling down to the ground afterwards. Around him, his three Pokémon who were close to the shadows surrounding Haunter when Ash made the connection, had been tossed through the air as well and landed in a heap beside him.

Giselle and Fuji saw what happened and quickly ran to his side while Ash struggled to get up. "Ash!" Giselle shouted fearfully as she reached his side and knelt down next to him. "What happened?! Are you okay?"

The boy just grunted in pain and shifted around a little. "Yeah... yeah I'm fine... are my Pokémon alright?"

Giselle glanced behind her and saw Fuji looking Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly over. They all looked fine, only a little shaken up from the sudden shock of being flung through the air like rag dolls.

Looking back at Ash, she nodded and started to look him over as well. "They're fine Ash... Arceus what happened?"

He sat up fully and took a few deep breaths before answering her, "I made connection with Haunter but I underestimated the strength and intensity of the hatred and pain inside of it. It was like... like a giant wall made of solid steel that was so thick and impenetrable I could even tap at it before I was expelled from the connection. It was insane..."

He stood up fully then, slowly, as he looked forward and saw the shadows surrounding Haunter starting to expand as the Pokémon's eyes glowed redder with even more malice and fury. In a quick outward thrust, the shadows around it seemed to develop a will of their own before exploding outwards in multiple dark energy blasts, the likes of which struck each of Giselle and Fuji's Pokémon and sent them tumbling back across the chamber.

Ash and his two companions watched with worry and fear as the Pokémon cried out in pain upon getting struck head on with the powerful attacks. They tumbled across the room, cratering the floor and smashing through multiple stone pedestals before coming to a stop near Ash and the others. Giselle and Fuji quickly ran to their Pokémon's sides and started checking them over fretfully while Ash leaned against the pillar behind him and looked towards Haunter again.

It was easy to tell from the way Haunter's eyes were narrowed in rage, the way the shadows around it were furiously swirling about and also from how the number of shadow ghouls protecting their master seemed to multiply greatly, that Ash's attempt at reaching Haunter had only angered the Pokémon all that much more.

Clenching his fists in frustration, Ash shook his head. "Damn! This isn't gonna work, we need to try something else..." He looked down at his own Pokémon, who still looked ready to do whatever he commanded at a moment's notice, and then at Giselle and Fuji.

Their Pokémon seemed much more worse for wear than his after getting hit by those powerful energy blasts but he knew they would keep going if their trainers wanted them to do so. Stepping forward, he said calmly, "Listen you two, this is getting a lot more dangerous than I originally thought. You don't have to do anything more, your Pokémon are hurt and I'm sorry for that. I'm going to try something else but neither of you need to help me any further, I'm sorry for bringing this upon you... maybe Agatha was right and this really was a dumb idea..."

Silence reigned for several seconds until Ash felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Fuji smiling down at him. "Ash, I can't tell you how today will turn out. Maybe we will succeed and maybe we won't but whatever happens, I want you to know that this was not a dumb idea. Your compassion and feelings of mercy for Haunter is a good thing which I doubt anyone else, even myself before today, would have shown. Yes things seem bleak right now but things will always seem the darkest before the dawn. Know that I am with you right now through whatever happens."

Giselle took Ash's right hand and smiled warmly at him. "So am I Ash. I'm not going to abandon you. That Pokémon, not creature or monster, needs our help and someone to show it some love. I'll help you do that however I can because I'm with you no matter what."

As soon as those words were said, Giselle and Fuji's Pokémon all came to stand around them and smiled (or at least kindly looked at him for those that couldn't make the proper facial movements to smile like the Ghost-Types) in a reassuring manner. Ash's own Pokémon joined in and looked at their trainer with belief and determination radiating in their eyes.

Ash for his part felt incredibly touched by everyone's sentiments and smiled gratefully at them. "Thank you... all of you. I've said it before but without the people..." He leaned down to rub Charmander and Pikachu's heads while smiling at Gastly. "And Pokémon that care for me and always stand by my side... there's no way I would ever succeed in anything I do."

Turning to look down the chamber at Haunter again, Ash and everyone else stared at the powerful Pokémon with a look in their eyes that clearly spoke of their unwavering intent to do what they came to do. "Haunter!" Ash shouted loudly. "You see this?"

He gestured to his companions and the Pokémon that were gathered around him in a supportive circle. "You've never truly known this, what I have right here beside me. The hope, the love and the compassion of those who care about and love you. The ones who would give their lives for you and do anything you ever needed. You only had a small taste of what this was like years ago but it was taken from you... wasn't it?"

Haunter's veiled visage scrunched up dangerously as Ash continued. "I know what happened to you Haunter... I know the pain you have endured and been forced to live with all of these many years. I know the gift turned curse you were given and I also know about the one and only human you ever loved being taken away from you so ruthlessly..."

At this point, Ash and the others could actually start to see the outline of a gaping maw filled with what looked like pointed teeth appearing underneath the red eyes of Haunter. An angry, hissing sound emitted from within the shadows as Ash's words not only surprised but also enraged Haunter.

"You've become lost and twisted by your fear and hatred and that's why I'm here. To take away your pain and show you the beauty in life again. To end this cycle of hatred you have carried and show you the light! I'm here to help you and I'm not giving up until I do!"

That was the final word Ash managed to get out of his mouth before Haunter finally snapped and lost all control of itself. Letting loose a primal sounding wail, several beams of dark energy shot out of the shadow veil and arced through the air towards the humans. At the same time, many of the shadow ghouls also began flying towards Ash and the others.

Quick to take evasive action, Ash yelled out, "MOVE!" And then took off running to the side just as one of the beams impacted the ground where he had just stood and exploded. This became the main tactic of escape used by all of them as Ash, Fuji, Giselle and their Pokémon ran and hid at every turn they could while each blast of energy would hit a target and destroy it. Rocking the entire chamber with the sounds of explosion and destruction.

As they ran and were trying to seek shelter, the puppet shadow creatures Haunter had created also tried to swarm them in large groups at some of the most unexpected moments. A group of three went for Giselle, who was already preoccupied with four others that were attacking her and her Pokémon. Ash saw this and shouted at his Pokémon, "Pikachu, Charmander, stop those three!"

The Electric and Fire-Type ran forward and jumped in front of the ghouls, who instantly started to attack them. Pikachu jumped and hopped from side to see and front to front back as one of the creatures tried to strike him with it's claws. Charmander was doing the same with his own enemy while the third one was preparing to take either Pikachu or Charmander by surprise.

Gastly saw this however and flew at the remaining ghoul before releasing a Shadow Ball at it, which struck the intended target head on and forced it to explode into nothing. Just then, Pikachu flipped in the air and brought an Iron Tail down on it's own ghoul and Charmander unleashed a powerful Dragon Rage at his, both attacks taking out their foes in seconds.

One thing that none of them were ready for though was the wayward dark energy blast that came zeroing in on them before Ash could even make an attempt to warn them. The next moment, the blast hit the ground in front of Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly and launched them into the air as they cried out in pain.

Ash ran forward after having taken cover from the blast and slid to his Pokémon's side to see Pikachu and Charmander with burn and scuff marks covering their bodies while Gastly tried desperately to keep himself from falling to the ground. "Pikachu, Charmander, Gastly, are you okay?!" He shouted in worry as they shook from the pain their bodies now felt

Pikachu and Charmander just nodded as they slowly stood back up and Gastly eventually righted itself in the air. Ash heard commotion going on around him and looked to see Giselle and Fuji getting pushed back towards him with their own Pokémon, who were being rapidly overcome by the large numbers of vicious shadow ghouls fighting them.

Ash stood up and got back to back with the two of them just as Fuji commanded his Duskull to use a rapid fire Shadow Ball on a thick line of ghouls that were closing in on them. Knowing that they needed to do something else since they were never going to be able to beat the nearly endless supply of shadow ghouls that were being created by Haunter's seemingly limitless energy, he spoke aloud to all of them.

"Guys, we need to switch things up! There's no way we're gonna win this way!" A shadow ghoul then came charging at Ash but Gastly flew forward and met it head on with a Shadow Ball poised to destroy it, which he did. The unique Ghost-Type then called on some of his own reserves of powerful Ghost/Psychic-Type energy as his eyes began glowing bright blue.

Determined to do what he could for his trainer, Gastly charged forward cloaked in a shroud of blue energy before engaging dozens of the shadow ghouls at one time, cutting a swath through them with his powerful mixture of Ghost and Psychic moves.

Ash felt pride and gratitude for his Pokémon but he knew Gastly would only be able to keep up such draining, all out combat for a limited amount of time. Fuji finally spoke after having witnessed Gastly's actions himself, "I know Ash, I'm seeing that myself! They're going to keep coming until Haunter stops creating them, that's the only way this will stop!"

"But the only way to do that-" Giselle began before stopping to have Graveller toss a broken piece of a stone pedestal at a group of ghouls. "Is to get Ash close enough to Haunter to make a connection again and hope he can actually reach it this time! Way easier said than done!"

Ash, feeling desperate, looked ahead to the far end of the chamber where Haunter was at and saw nothing but a sea of ghouls in their way. Coming to a sudden, possibly insane conclusion, he shouted loudly over the sounds of battle, "I think I've got an idea! Call all of your Pokémon back to us!"

Giselle looked at him like he had lost his mind. "What?! Ash are you crazy!"

He just shook his head. "Listen to me! Fighting them separately like this we're powerless and will lose but together, I think we stand a chance. If we can make a push forward with all of our Pokémon fighting together then maybe we can reach Haunter so I can try to make another connection!"

Fuji answered almost immediately, "That sounds like the best plan we have right now, let's do it!"

Giselle just shook her own head in disbelief but agreed. "Alright fine, we'll try it!"

Ash held his hand up. "On my go, call our Pokémon in! After that, we'll immediately have them start putting all of their power into going forward!" The other two nodded and waited until just the right moment to put Ash's strategy into action.

During a small pause in the number of attacks being fired off, Ash called out, "Go! Pikachu, Charmander, Gastly, to me!" Fuji and Giselle did the same for their own Pokémon and even though confusion was clearly seen on all of their faces, they did as commanded and quickly fell back to their trainer's sides.

As soon as they were all gathered together in a group, Ash took point and pointed towards Haunter before shouting again, "I want you all to put every bit of power you have into pushing forward towards Haunter! Right now!"

Giselle addressed her own Pokémon. "The same with you two Graveller and Marowak, go help Ash's Pokémon!"

Fuji quickly followed suit, "Alright my friends, I want you three to give it one final push! Help our friends, fight together with them as a team!"

Like dominos falling into place, the three sets of Pokémon obeyed their trainers and formed a single, strong line and then exploded forward with attacks blazing as Ash, Giselle and Fuji called out, "NOW!"

The shadow ghouls weren't prepared for the sudden unified front of so many Pokémon fighting together in almost perfect tandom and because of this, as the valiantly fighting Pokémon pushed forward with all of their might, a path started to cut itself slowly towards Hauner as ghoul after ghoul was destroyed by the all out assault.

Ash could tell Haunter was surprised at the sudden turn of events by the way it started making more and more of it's puppets at rapid speeds. Seeing that they were almost there, Ash gave a final burst of encouragement to their Pokémon, "Come on you guys I know you can do it! We're almost there, I need you to fight and give it everything you've got! Don't give up now or ever! COME ON! GIVE IT EVERY BIT OF POWER YOU CAN!"

With Giselle and Fuji shouting their own words of encouragement to their Pokémon, it proved to be the final push they needed as, with Gastly's glowing blue form leading the way and Pikachu and Charmander at his sides, the powerful force of Pokémon made a final shove forward. Unleashing all of their most powerful attacks at one time which joined together in a huge, brightly glowing, incredible combination beam of raw energy, Ash and the others watched in fascination as the mega-powerful attack slammed into the final line of ghouls and blew them into oblivion in an explosion which rocked the entire massive room.

Seeing a small opening in the virtual sea of shadow ghouls after the cloud of smoke began to fade, Ash didn't even need to wait for the shove and shouts of Giselle and Fuji yelling, "NOW ASH!" Before he was running towards Haunter at a full out sprint.

Time seemed to slow down as Ash ran, pumping his arms and breathing heavily as adrenaline coursed through him. Some of the ghouls tried to attack him but Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly trailed behind Ash, lighting up the area around him with the varying types of light from their individual attacks.

Ash could hear the cries of effort being given off by his Pokémon as they protected him with every bit of energy they had left in their bodies. He could feel the debree and pieces of rubble spraying on him and hitting his face as the attacks of his Pokémon tore through their enemies and impacted with the ground. He could even practically hear the blood rushing in his ears as the adrenaline spiking through his body screamed at him to run and not stop.

He paid no mind to any of it though. Ash's eyes remained locked on Haunter's own glowing red ones. It didn't matter if every ghoul in the chamber converged on him at one time, he had the thousand yard stare focused on his goal and he wasn't stopping until he reached it.

Knowing it was in trouble, Haunter fired an energy blast at Ash which zoomed right towards him in a shroud of dark malevolence. Ash saw it but refused to slow down and then, just before it could hit him, Gastly flew in front of him and channeled all of his energy into forming a blue shield of energy in front of them which the blast hit instead.

Unfortunately, Gastly underestimated the power of the attack and therefor was taken by suprise as the energy blast belonging to Haunter and the shield of his own energy finally came to a head and exploded, Gastly getting shot backwards across the room as a result of said explosion.

Ash himself was right behind Gastly when it happened and because of this, he was lifted off his feet and launched up into the air by the force of the explosion. Luckily enough for him though, he was sent airborne towards, instead of away, from Haunter and took advantage of the unexpected stroke of good fortune.

Extending his arms forward, Ash flew like an arrow towards the now wide eyed Haunter and- with a look of pure grit and ferocious intent upon his face- shouted loudly, "NYAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Before breaking through into the shroud of shadows, his right hand glowing brightly as the connection he was determined to make thankfully took hold.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash opened his eyes just seconds after his world went black and was greeted to the sight that he had been hoping he would see when he came to once more. Which was that he was now suspended yet again in the dimensional realm of the Star Mark.

Looking forward, his eyes landed upon Haunter and, learning from his earlier failure, didn't play around or waste any time as he sent a powerful burst of strong emotions straight at the darkness engulfed Pokémon.

"I'm not letting you kick me out so easily this time Haunter!" Ash shouted in his mind across the telepathic link to the much larger being across from him. "I want to help you Haunter, why won't you let me?!"

He could feel Haunter countering his charge of positive emotions with a blast of harsh, negative ones but unlike before, Ash was prepared and steeled himself before pushing right back with another burst of compassionate feelings. "What are you so afraid of huh?! Are you so terrified of opening yourself up to others again that you hide yourself away behind this cloud of darkness and hate, bringing pain and misery to anyone you can?!"

Haunter's eyes glowed with malice as the black aura around it became stronger and more focused. Ash wasn't fazed though and remained calm as he continued to feed a constant stream of positive feelings, happy emotions and calming sensations at Haunter to combat it's fierce attempts at severing the connection. Little by little, he kept hammering away at the seemingly impenetrable wall of hate and darkness Haunter hid itself behind. He further strengthened his efforts by telepathically calling out to the corrupted Ghost-Type again.

"Is this honestly the way you want to be? I know who you are Haunter and I know what you were meant to do. Arceus gave you a gift that you tried to use to help people but all you ever got in return was pain as you witnessed evil actions and bad things being done between people and Pokémon your entire life. You started to lose your hope and became desolate and bitter until you met that kind old woman who showed you love and compassion for the first time in your life."

At those words, Ash felt the strongest wave of anger and ferocity yet as Haunter tried to break the connection with all it's might but Ash merely grit his teeth and held on, staying strong as he kept trying to connect with Haunter's heart. To his great suprise though, even as Haunter lashed out at him with fierce fury and malicious intent, he could detect the faintest... very slightest hint... of a falter in the Pokémon's emotions and the black aura surrounding it. Knowing that he had struck a chord somewhere deep within Haunter's most repressed memories and hidden feelings, he pressed on.

"She loved you Haunter and do you know what I think? I think you loved her as well. For the first time in your life you were actually happy but all of that changed when those humans from that town took her from you didn't it? When they thought you were a monster and came to her demanding that she hand you over. But she didn't did she? She didn't because her love for you was greater than any fear she felt at what those people, the true monsters, would do to her."

Sensing yet another falter, this time a little stronger, buried within the depths of the powerful waves of anger and hatred Haunter was pushing back at Ash with, the boy capitalized on it and shoved back hard with a staggering wave of compassion and sympathy... all for Haunter itself and the terrible things it had been forced to endure. Ash was at this point pouring his heart out to the Pokémon as he tried to reach it's heart and share all the kindness and pity he held for it.

"They killed her Haunter, in one of the worst ways imaginable and you lost all sense of self at that time. You became lost to your anger, your rage and the soul shattering sorrow at losing someone you cared so much for. You had all but tied your very existence and happiness to that old woman and when you lost her to such an act of blind ignorance and foolishness from people who understood nothing about you, everything you were became nothing more than a faded memory. It wasn't just the loss of her but also the culmination of every bad, horrible thing you saw over the years that finally overflowed to a point that you just couldn't handle it anymore. You lost your way and then you actually became the monster that everyone believed you to be."

Ash's eyes glistened with the raw emotions he was currently feeling. The sorrow, the sympathy and even some anger he himself felt at the humans who made Haunter the way it was now, boiling over the surface. "You gave into your hate then didn't you? You took your vengeance out on those people even though you knew, as much as they deserved it, she would have never wanted you to give into such darkness. But you did and afterwards, instead of feeling better, all you felt was the gaping wound of sadness and sorrow for the loss of your friend and companion. You felt no better, taking all of those lives and wiping out that town did no good for you. On top of everything else, you then felt guilt and disgust at yourself for doing what you knew she would have disapproved so greatly of. After that day you lived in shame by believing that if she were still alive, she would be disgusted by what you had become."

Ash felt yet another wave of anger wash over him but this time, he could clearly detect other emotions within the swirling cloud of shadows besides just hate and malice. He couldn't tell exactly what they were yet but he was going to find out and just kept pushing forward with all the love and strength he had in his heart.

"Because of how you felt Haunter, because of the disgust you felt with yourself, you completely lost your way. With no one left in your life to give you purpose you allowed yourself to become swallowed up by the anger, the hate, the bitterness and the self loathing you felt. You became what you are now as a way to live with the shattered and broken pieces of your soul that once made you who you were. Over the years you have killed, tortured and stolen the very souls of people, even innocent people, because of who you have allowed yourself to become."

Ash pointed a finger at the mass of shadows before him. "That old woman would be ashamed of you and who you are now Haunter but it is not too late to change! You still live and breath and due to that, you have every ability possible to atone for the things you have done and change for the better Haunter! This isn't how you have to be, you don't have to be alone and live inside of your fear and desolation anymore! There's a whole world full of happiness, love and compassion that you know nothing about and that's why I came here! Even though you tried to kill me and take my life force to free yourself I still came here and put mine, my Pokémon and my friend's lives in danger because I believe in you! I believe deep within my heart that you can be saved from this darkness because I know... I KNOW that no Pokémon is truly evil at heart!"

Ash leaned forward and all but shouted through the mental connection as his heart hammered itself at Haunter, doing everything it could to connect with the other much more fragile and grief stricken one. "Aren't you tired of this Haunter?! Are you not sick of being this way?! Do you not loath this feeling of never ending pain and loneliness that you live with every single day?! No one wants to live in the darkness Haunter and despite those shadows you surround yourself with, I know you don't either!"

It was like a climactic finish was being drawn to as Haunter's eyes remained locked onto Ash. It was still trying to push back against him as the black aura and the shadows of it's despair desperately tried to hang on. For the first time in more years than it could possibly count, Haunter was starting to lose control of itself and it's own emotions. Feelings, memories and sensations it hadn't felt in so long began rushing to the surface as they warred with the darkness and hatred that had come to encompass Haunter's very being.

Ash could feel all of this happening through the connection and became lost himself to the moment of what was happening. He could feel the conflict beginning to arise within Haunter as, to his amazement, the black aura surrounding the Pokémon started to war heatedly with the wispy red colorings of a new energy that was now trying to overcome it. Even the shadows around Haunter began to fluctuate wildly and shift as some great internal struggle was beginning to take place inside of the veil of darkness.

Ash's eyes started to glow a bright white color as the good, calm, peaceful aura of clear white around him began to pulsate and glow, desperately wanting to rid the black aura around Haunter away from the dimensional plain they were currently within. Wanting to completely destroy it once and for all if possible. As was the nature between the two polar opposite emotional energy auras of black and white.

Ash, who by now was himself becoming possessed by the pure energy around him, grew rapidly obsessed and developed a hunger for seeing the blackness repressing Haunter being gone for good. Because he could see the dark, negative energy battling and struggling to remain even as a new color of aura tried to take hold, Ash felt like a predator to prey as he built up the greatest amount of compassionate feelings he had yet so far in preparation for the last push. The final attempt at reaching Haunter's heart and making the connection which would free it from the all consuming, soul destroying black aura that had ruled it's life for so long.

Just as Ash felt Haunter's internal struggle reach it's climax- the red eyes of the Pokémon squinting in pain as the black aura around it tried with all of it's might to wrestle control back from the red one that was so viciously attempting to gain dominance- he released all of his built up positive emotions in an overwhelming flood straight at Haunter. A white vortex of pure energy being pushed at the powerful Ghost-Type like a tidal wave as Ash screamed, "Haunter... FREE YOURSELF OF THOSE SHADOWS NOW!"

A loud, high pitched wailing sound could be heard the next instant as Haunter's red eyes snapped open fully and a white flashbang of energy completely consumed everything around them both. Ash felt himself being jerked out of the connection then while still hearing the loud wailing scream echoing within his mind even as everything went totally black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

"Ahhh!" Ash cried out as he was sent spinning out of the shadows and through the chamber while on the floor, his back getting rubbed raw by the hard stone beneath due to the sheer speeds he was traveling at.

Eventually his harsh tumble on the ground came to an end as he rebounded off of a smashed stone pedestal and flew through the air before hitting the ground again and letting out a loud huff that sounded more like a sharp gasp of pain than anything else.

Rolling over onto his side after regaining the breath that had been stolen from him, Ash looked around with eyes that were still a little blurry from the unexpected nasty tumble and saw Fuji, Giselle and all of their Pokémon standing in place with their eyes locked onto something that was apparently giving them an extremely unexpected shock if the expressions on their faces was anything to go by.

Turning around until he was laying on his back, Ash's own eyes widened at what he saw. The reason for all of the dumbfounded amazement was due to Haunter itself, or more accurately, the shroud of shadows that were covering it.

The dark shadows were currently twisting and writhing in a way that almost resembled anger around the Pokémon they concealed. Life seemed to have been bestowed upon them, bringing the darkness to life, as they bubbled and swirled viciously in a dangerously unstable way.

Ash slowly got to his feet as he saw Haunter struggle within the darkness. He could tell the Pokémon was fighting by the way it's red eyes would squint and even occasionally open wide in an expression that looked like immense pain. Though he couldn't see it's full form, Ash could just imagine that Haunter's entire body was most likely convulsing in pure agony by the expression he could see in it's eyes.

Just as he finally regained his footing, the boy had to clamp his hands over his ears and cringe as a loud, shrill wailing sound that resembled that of a hundred people screaming, started to resonate through the shadows and filled the chamber in a frequency that sounded like it could bust eardrums and shatter glass.

Fuji, Giselle and the Pokémon all mimicked Ash and covered their own ears as best as they could as the wailing grew louder and louder. Through his own now squinted eyes, Ash could see the unstable shadows around Haunter building up to an insanely large mass while still churning violently in uncontrolled fury.

Somehow, he just knew that Haunter was not in control of what was currently happening to it and, due to the terror inducing sight of the out of control darkness coming alive before his very eyes, Ash had a sinking feeling in his gut that something bad was about to happen. A suspicion that was proven correct the very next moment when he saw the shadows around Haunter begin to pulse and contract in and out rapidly, like a heart pumping much too quickly to be safe.

Listening to his instincts, Ash turned around and started running towards the others while waving his hand and shouting, "Get cover now everybody!"

Not needing to ask questions since they were apparently feeling the same endangering sixth sense as him, Giselle, Fuji and the Pokémon all ran for cover behind the nearest stone pillars they could find that wasn't broken and then braced for the impact of whatever destructive force was about to be unleashed.

Ash himself ran towards one of the larger pillars in the room and didn't even break stride as he scooped up Pikachu and Charmander and kept running, Gastly following right above him.

The four of them had just managed to jump behind their chosen barrier of protection as the proverbial 'keg' finally exploded.

Ash and everyone else felt their bodies getting sucked forward like a vacuum was pulling them in, only to be stopped by the pillars they were sheltering behind. Then, no sooner did the suction feeling stopped and loud ringing sound mixed with Haunter's own ghostly wailing reached an ear splitting apex. Giving no sign or signal beforehand, an earth shattering explosion rocked the entire chamber as well as the tower itself, the aftershocks of which were felt all throughout the town outside. A blinding light accompanied the eruption as the sealing room was all but reduced to utter rubble and ruin.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Outside of the sealing chamber, Agatha, Misty and Brock were still fighting Gastly, Haunter and Gengar when they heard and felt the massive explosion that rocked the entire tower to it's very foundations.

The younger two of the three fell completely to the ground because of the explosion right as they were engaged in a double battle with Gastly and Haunter. Agatha managed to stay up but stumbled back into one of the pillars near the door that lead into the sealing chamber Ash the others were currently in.

As the intense shaking and aftershocks of the explosion rumbled wildly throughout the catacombs and effectively ceased the fighting between Onix, Starmie, Agatha's Gengar and Haunter's three ghostly servants, Misty looked around while still on the ground and yelled over the loud noise, "What's happening?!"

Brock tried to stand up but was forced back to his knees by the shaking. "It's probably coming from in there!" The teen responded as he pointed to the sealing chamber.

When the shaking finally came to an end, Agatha saw their three ghostly opponents just staring towards the room Brock had just mentioned. Narrowing her eyes questioningly, her suspicion quickly turned to worry as fear could be seen lighting itself within the eyes of the three Ghost-Types before they hastily retreated back into the shadows of the large chamber room and vanished through the walls.

Agatha felt a bad sensation like a heavy rock sinking into her stomach as she saw this and promptly turned to Ash's friends before shouting, "We need to get in that room now!"

Running towards the sealed up door as fast as her aged body could take her, Misty and Brock looked at each other with shared expressions of confusion etched onto their faces but decided to just follow Agatha's lead after hearing the urgency in her voice. Returning their Pokémon since the danger seemed to have passed for the moment, they got up and ran to join her just as the older woman started to have her Gengar attack the door with a barrage of different attacks.

"Agatha's what's going on?!" Brock questioned in total bewilderment as he and Misty arrived at her side.

Agatha refused to take her eyes off the door as she simply answered in a grave tone, "I don't know but I have a feeling that something of great importance just happened and I want to be there in case they need our help. More power Gengar!"

As the high-level Ghost-Type turned up the power in the Night Shade it was using to try and blast the door down, Misty clenched her hands together tightly and gazed at the barrier separating them from the others. Her eyes wavered with the intensity of the worry and anxiety she was currently feeling for one person who was inside in particular as she said in all but a whisper.

"Ash..."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

A thick haze of smoke and the smell of sulfur was the only thing left behind after the mega explosion finally passed and the aftershocks caused by the mini-earthquake slowly abated.

Ash brought his face back up from where it had been buried within the front of his tracksuit and the first thing he did was try and clear his vision so he could see through the white fog of smoke swirling through the air. Looking down, he could just see Pikachu's bright yellow fur and Charmander's tail flame from where the two Pokémon were cradled safely in his arms and just to his side, he could just make out the wispy spectral energy embers that made up Gastly's body.

Coughing as he breathed in the dust and thick smoke that had been kicked up, he managed to wheeze, "G-Giselle... M-Mr. Fuji!" He coughed again. "Are you both alright?!"

He could hear shuffling on both sides of him just a few feet away before the voice of Giselle responded back, "Y-Yeah... yeah I'm fine Ash! Me and my Pokémon are a little..." She coughed herself. "Shaken up but we're alright!"

Fuji's voice came from the opposite direction, though it sounded much more wheezy. "We're okay young man don't worry about us... are you okay?"

Ash replied, "Yeah we're fine. I don't know exactly what happened but everything's fine here." He looked down at his Pokémon. "Right guys?"

Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly nodded in response, the former two climbing out of his arms as Gastly raised himself back into the air slowly. "What was that fool of a Pokémon thinking?! It just destroyed itself!"

Ash stood up and looked around the chamber as visibility started returning slightly, the chalky-like smoke escaping through several holes that had been punched into the walls around the stone room due to the explosion. Fuji and Giselle could also finally be seen as they stood up from behind the now destroyed pillars they had been hiding behind, the two of them and their Pokémon appearing to be fine while they regained their bearings.

Ash slowly scanned the chamber and was taken aback by the pure devastation that had been wrought caused by the blast. Almost all of the stone pillars were now nothing more than hunks of rubble on the ground, the ceiling was chipped and cracked in places, the floor was cratered in several places and the walls had holes in them. Some small and others quite large.

Unable to see the shadow shrouded visage of Haunter near the front of the chamber even now that the smoke had all but totally cleared, Ash felt a sinking feeling of despair and guilt drop upon him like a mass of heavy rocks as he reached out to lean on the partially destroyed pillar in front of him. His head dropped and his shoulders sagged, saying in a voice that revealed the immense feeling of failure he was experiencing at that moment, "I failed it... I couldn't help Haunter... it's gone..."

Giselle walked over to Ash and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Ash it's not-" She was suddenly cut off though by Fuji pointing and shouting, "Look!"

Ash and Giselle both whipped their heads around to stare at the front of the room where Fuji was pointing and their eyes almost bugged out at what they saw. Giselle due to her shock and Ash for multiple reasons. The first was shock, the second disbelief and the third was a sense of relief that he hadn't failed after all.

As they watched, a small, black glowing circle which was in the same spot as Haunter had been in before the explosion started to expand and grow until it was steadily increasing in size and shape. With Ash and everyone else's attention completely ensnared, the black circle grew until it was almost triple the size it started out as.

The odd object then began filling in at it's center until a pool of black swirling energy could be seen inside of the circle like a large wall mirror. The object just continued to grow and grow until after only a few minutes, the entire thing was the size, both height and width wise, of the shadow veil that had surrounded Haunter.

Ash felt like he wasn't going to drop over from the sheer shock of it all when, the very next moment, the now very large portal of black energy started to shape and take form. With breath held and not a single soul blinking for fear of missing the spectacle before their very eyes, the shapeless mass of energy slowly took form into the appearance of an actual creature... one in which all Pokémon Trainers in the chamber was eventually able to recognize.

Once the slow transformation had ended, in place of the shapeless energy was now the massive... massive form of a truly incredible, awe inspiring and imposing Pokémon. A Pokémon which, even though it's general appearance differed greatly from that of the others in it's species, could be clearly identified with no doubt whatsoever. Especially for Ash, who had already seen what this particular Pokémon looked like in the memories Arceus had shown him. The very appearance it once wore before the veil of shadows consumed and concealed it away, hiding the Pokémon behind an eternal mask of darkness.

Ash could only find one word able to leave his lips as he stared upon the true appearance of the stricken and cursed being before him. "Haunter..."

And indeed it was. Words could truly not describe the monstrous, overwhelming appearance of the mighty Ghost-Type now fully revealed to all of their eyes in it's impressive, finally unveiled glory.

Ash, for his part, could only stare in total awe at the immense size and unrivaled dark majesty that was Haunter, no longer hidden away behind the shadows that had concealed it for so many countless years. To him, seeing the legendary Ghost-Type titan revealed before his very eyes was like nothing Arceus' own mental images of it could have ever done justice.

In all truth, while Haunter had the same coloring of any normal Haunter, that was where the similarities ended. Not only was it multiple times the size of any normal Haunter but it's physical appearance also differed a bit from it's kin. This being due to the slightly... 'spikier' look that the Pokémon's still somewhat gaseous body possessed. This meaning that Haunter's entire large body was raised up on end at certain places that quite strikingly resembled purple spikes sticking out of it. Even at the top of it's head, which ironically enough almost resembled horns. Also, unlike normal Haunter that just had black slits for eyes, Black Fog actually had whole pupils which were dark red.

Ash's stupor while staring at Haunter was broken when he heard Giselle and Fuji speak, the former being first. "That... that thing is huge! It's like a Haunter on steroids!"

Fuji merely shook his head in awe as he whispered breathlessly, "By Arceus I never would have known... incredible..."

Everything was strangely quiet and peaceful for a short time as Ash and the others simply stared at Haunter while the Pokémon in question looked itself over slowly. Even though Ash wasn't connected to it right now, he could still feel the warring, unsettled emotions tearing through Haunter's very being as it struggled to come to grips with the rush of new emotions and feelings that were now that it had locked away for years.

The boy could feel Haunter's borderline panic at being revealed to the outside world for the first time in so long and it was this that started to worry Ash. He knew just how dangerous and unpredictable a confused, conflicted and scared Pokémon could be and, given all of the many unsettled emotions he just knew was going through Haunter's head right now, he began to fear that it would lash out negatively in it's uncertainty.

Damn to hell all of his gut feelings because he was proven to be right the next instant.

Haunter, who was visibly beginning to lose it's composure, started thrashing around as he it gripped at it's head. Ash didn't exactly know how but he could tell that the Pokémon was still battling fiercely with itself in some kind of internal struggle that was no doubt due to it's release from the constricting grip of the darkness that held it for so long. Simply put, Haunter was on an emotional and mental overload at present and was unable to deal with it all at one time.

Ash stepped forward then and called out to the suffering Pokémon, "Haunter listen to me! You have to calm your mind down! You're going through too much at one time and you're not used to this! Just calm down a little and let me help you, I can-"

He was unable to get anything else out as Haunter's body started to glow with an outline of purple energy before a large ball of black energy, which looked more like a mega Shadow Ball, began forming in it's hands.

Screeching loudly, Haunter launched the ball of powerful, condensed energy straight at the group of trainers and their Pokémon. Ash was the one in the direct line of fire and he was quick to jump out of the way of danger just before it hit the spot he had been it and exploded.

Ash, as well as the others, were completely taken by surprise at the sheer power of the attack as the aftershock of the energy ball was enough to launch them all off their feet and a few yards back.

Ash grunted as he stood up slowly only to see Haunter continuing to thrash around wildly as it gripped at it's head. Holding his arm, Ash yelled, "Guys watch out, Haunter's out of control! Move!"

Just as he said that, another large ball of dark energy was sent careening at them and forced them all to flee once more. This became much worse as Haunter started firing off rapid Shadow Balls all around the room at different locations, randomly hitting and destroying anything they came into contact with.

None of them had a chance to catch their breaths before Haunter started on yet another barrage of devasting attacks. This time though, it's eyes glowed red before Haunter unleashed a massive beam of Night Shade that it used to sweep all across the room.

Ash and the others were forced to drop to the ground and stay low as the beams passed over their heads. Looking up a little, Ash yelled again, "I need to get to Haunter and establish another connection with it in order to calm it down, we're gonna have to fight back!"

Fuji nodded from where he was sitting against a tall pile of rubble, his Pokémon sheltering around him. "We'll have to do it together Ash! None of our Pokémon can take Haunter on by themselves!"

Giselle shouted over to them from her own position behind a large unbroken pillar with her own Pokémon, "Just give us a signal!"

Ash nodded and then looked up from his hiding place just long enough to see that Haunter had temporarily stopped attacking and was now just thrashing back and forth wildly. Looking down at his Pokémon, he gave them the signal before getting ready. Mentally counting down, he gestured with his hands towards Fuji and Giselle before jumping up and shouting, "Now!"

In almost perfect unison, they all shot up with their Pokémon and shouted a command to each of them. The eight Pokémon quickly charged forwards and stopped in the center of the room before unleashing electricity, fire, rocks and ghostly energy at the much larger Pokémon.

Haunter's eyes snapped open at the last minute though and when they did, it's eyes were shone to be glowing a bright, angry red. Just before the attacks could make contact, Haunter raised an arm and caused a bubble of what, shockingly enough, appeared to be psychic energy around it.

All of the attacks hit the barrier of energy and then rebounded off of it, surging right back towards the Pokémon whom created them. The attacks were propelled at blurring speeds and this meant that none of the trained Pokémon had any chance to react before they were struck with their own attacks and sent rocketing back across the room, mutiple cries of pain being heard in the process.

Ash ran out to check on his Pokémon and upon seeing that they were okay, pointed towards Haunter again and ordered them to attack separately in hopes of confusing it. Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly took off towards Haunter again with Gastly going first.

Closing with it, Gastly began moving in multiple directions as he fired mutiple Shadow Balls at Haunter. The more powerful of the two Ghost-Types just raised it's right arm however and let all of the energy balls slam into it harmlessly before forming a much larger Shadow Ball in the same hand, which it fired at Gastly.

Gastly had no chance to react and was struck with the energy ball, getting blasted back across the chamber afterwards. Charmander was running frontways at Haunter, expelling a strong blast of flames to which Haunter merely intercepted them with a powerful beam of Night Shade that blasted through the fire and blew Charmander away.

Pikachu and Giselle's Graveller ran side by side with Marowak sneaking up on Haunter from the side, providing support since none of it's attacks would actually effect the Ghost-Type.

Ash's Pokémon jumped on top of Graveller and then sprung off of it while unleashing a bolt of electricity at the massive Pokémon. Graveller just stayed where it was and stomped it's foot into the ground and popped several large chunks of rubble into it's hands which it chucked at Haunter, one after the other.

Haunter's eyes glowed the next moment and Pikachu's electric bolt stopped in mid-air before redirecting itself back at the incoming rocks hurdling towards the Ghost-Type. The powerful bolt of electric energy smashed through every chunk of rock before impacting with Graveller. Since it was one of Pikachu's electric attacks and he could implement Focus Lightning into them, which enabled his Electric-Type attacks able to cause damage to both Rock and Ground Pokémon, Graveller cried out in intense pain as the bolt shocked through it like a drill was digging down into it's rocky surface.

Haunter then extended it's right arm until it was nearly ten times the size of usual and swung it down at Pikachu, who was far too small to hope to dodge something so large and was hit head on by the powerful swing. The Electric-Type was then flung across the room and smashed into the far wall hard enough to crater it before falling to the ground.

As painful as it clearly looked to be though, Pikachu was visibly pissed off as his face scrunched up in anger and he growled under his breath, his cheeks sparking while he tried to get back up.

Meanwhile, Fuji's three Ghost-Types were closing in on Haunter with their own attacks readied for use. Just as Haunter turned his attention to them though, Marowak jumped out from behind a pile of rubble and started wacking rocks at the Pokémon with his bone club.

Haunter just looked down at the small, puny projectiles coming at it and extended it's left arm at them, which expanded similar to a rubber band and smashed through the rocks like a hammer. The hand further continued on towards Marowak who jumped out of the way. Just as it landed through, one of Haunter's fingers extended and quite literally flicked the Ground-Type away towards Giselle, who ran after her Pokémon.

This provided all the distraction Fuji's Pokémon needed though as they quickly formed a circle around Haunter and then launched a tri-Night Shade at it. Surprisingly enough, the attacks actually hit Haunter and lit the Pokémon up in a bright red glow of powerful ghostly energy.

However, to everyone observing's great shock, instead of Haunter recoiling in pain like they expected, it merely shifted it's glowing red gaze fiercely upon the three Pokémon attacking it and then opened it's mouth in a vicious grin. Ash knew something bad was about to happen but before he could warn Fuji to call his Pokémon back, Haunter started to cringe inward on itself with it's hands in front of it's body.

At first, a few of them thought that Haunter was finally starting to feel the effects of the triple Night Shade all hitting it at once but then a blue pulsing aura started to form around Haunter that was visible even through the red glow of the Night Shade. Looking up at it's opponents then, the unstable and out of mind Pokémon expanded it's body outwards and unleashed what was revealed to be a massive amount of psychic power which spread outward like a dome and competely broke through the beams of energy attempting to subdue it.

The rapidly moving dome of pure power quickly swept Fuji's Pokémon up in it before doing the same thing to some of the other Pokémon that were nearby like Graveller, Charmander and Gastly. The trainers of said Pokémon could only watch in fear as their Pokémon were electrocuted, burned and internally tortured by the brutal burst of energy.

After several agonizingly slow minutes of complete punishment, the energy dome finally exploded and sent the Pokémon caught in it to all different directions of the chamber. Giselle ran in a panic towards her Graveller while Fuji went to collect his own Pokémon. Ash made to run for his own Pokémon but, to even his surprise, Charmander and Gastly started trying to get back up.

Stopping in his tracks, Ash watched as his two burned, scratched and bruise covered Pokémon fought to get up. Pikachu limped his way out from behind a large pile of rubble with his eyes all  
but boring an angry hole into Haunter.

Ash stood there not knowing exactly how to precede as his battered Pokémon formed a line with each other and prepared to take on Haunter once more. Looking at them worriedly, he asked, "Are you guys sure you want to keep on? You've really taken a beating."

His Pokémon just looked at him, all of them with a fierce expression on their faces and a fire in their eyes as they nodded. Gastly looked back at Haunter and narrowed his eyes. "I'm done playing around, it's time to get serious!"

Pikachu and Charmander both nodded their affirmation as they took fighting positions beside of Gastly. Feeling emboldened by his Pokémon's dedication and spirit, Ash nodded and clenched his fists, "Alright then fight as hard as you can! Show Haunter what you can do!"

The three of them just gave a return nod and then took off at Haunter in unison. The large Ghost-Type merely looked at them with vague amusement as Gastly spun in the air before poofing into existence a cannon, which he used to shoot at the other Ghost Pokémon.

Pikachu ran towards Haunter as the Ghost-Type batted away the cannon ball fired at it and as he did this, Charmander was getting rocketed through the air by Gastly, who had conjured up a slingshot illusion and shot the Fire-Type out of it.

The two smaller Pokémon rapidly closed with Haunter while Gastly made several illusionary copies of himself that he had swarm Haunter alongside of his teammates. The multiple clones of Gastly all started firing round after round of powerful Shadow Balls at the powerful Pokémon while others used Night Shade, Confuse Ray and Curse. Even though Gastly was a Ghost-Type like Haunter, he was luckily powerful enough that his attacks would hopefully have at least some damaging effect on the other Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Charmander and Pikachu also closed in on Haunter and released jets of flame and bolts of thunder, respectively, at it which joined in with Gastly's own barrage of attacks.

Haunter seemed to be almost taunting them as it stayed in one place and waited patiently for the right moment to swat the attacks away in order to prove that they were nothing against it's might. However, Haunter wasn't planning on Fuji having snuck up on it though and as the older man jumped up from behind a pile of broken pillars and shouted, "Haunter look here!" The Ghost-Type turned it's head for a split second just to see a glowing white object now hurdling at it.

Eyes widening, Haunter wasn't prepared for the Light Tag Fuji that had been thrown at it and held it's arms up to block it's vision from the bright light. That was all the distraction Gastly, Charmander and Pikachu's attacks needed to collide with the unaware Pokémon and as soon as they did, the large Ghost-Type was pushed backwards as it cringed. A loud explosion rocked the room as the attacks exploded, completely concealing Haunter behind a layer of smoke.

Ash and the others waited afterwards with baited breath for the smoke to clear, feeling confident that such a powerful barrage of attacks had to do at least something to it. Unfortunately though, all of those hopes were squashed to nothing when the smoke finally cleared and showed a still very much okay and now very angry Haunter glaring at them all with it's glowing red eyes.

Wailing in fury, Haunter raised it's hands out in front of it as two large balls of purple energy formed in it's palms. Before any of the Pokémon or humans could even blink, Haunter unleashed several energy beams from the energy balls which headed straight at Ash's Pokémon.

"Get out of there!" Ash yelled as his Pokémon began running/flying, weaving and dodging from as many of the energy beams as they could. Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly were doing a valiant job at avoiding the powerful beams of energy for a time before eventually, they were simply overcome.

A particularly numerous salvo of energy beams rained down upon the overwhelmed Pokémon and began peppering them with blast after blast of body shaking, extremely excruciating electric-like shocks, hardly none missing their marks.

The savage barrage lasted for almost two minutes before it finally ended and Ash's three Pokémon were launched back across the chamber towards him, coming to a stop finally with bruises and marks all over their bodies as they convulsed in pain.

Ash quickly ran out to his Pokémon who, even after all that, were still trying to get back up and fight. "No guys stay down!" Ash commanded as he slid to a stop next to their downed forms. "Stop  
being so stubborn you three! You're extremely injured and exhausted right now, let me try some other way of reaching Haunter because fighting it clearly isn't working!"

Gastly started mumbling lowly about 'never giving up' while Pikachu just shook his head stubbornly and kept attempting to push himself back up, Charmander mimicking him.

Ash grew frustrated and was just about to say something else when, suddenly, a loud banging sound was heard from the other end of the chamber. Turning his head around, Ash and the others looked back towards the door where the banging was coming from.

Confused, Ash went to stand up and walk to where the sound was coming from before, like a Hyper Beam colliding with the ground, the entire front half of the chamber around the door exploded into thousands of pieces.

Ash, Giselle and Fuji all covered their faces as chunks of stone and other debree flew across the room at high speeds. When the smoke and dust cleared away, they saw Agatha, Brock and Misty standing in the middle of the now gaping hole with their Pokémon gathered around them.

The three newly arrived trainers looked around the sealing chamber and were astounded by the sight of it's all but completely destroyed state. When their eyes landed upon Haunter at the far end of the room, Brock and Misty's faces dropped while Agatha's eyes narrowed.

"I-Is that Haunter?" Misty asked with her voice shaking.

"That's the biggest Ghost-Type I've ever seen!" Brock exclaimed in shock.

Agatha remained silent however until her gaze fell upon Ash, the others and their exhausted, beaten up Pokémon lying on the ground. "Fuji, are you all alright?!" She shouted.

Seeing his old friend, Fuji lowered his arm from his face and smiled tiredly as he responded back, "I've been better Agatha, I've been better. I think we all have..."

Finally being able to see their friends, Misty and Brock ran towards them as fast as they could. "Guys are you okay?!" Brock asked urgently as he reached their side.

Misty stopped beside of Giselle, who was closet to Ash, and dropped down to her knees next to the two of them. "Giselle, Ash, what happened here?!" She demanded as she looked Ash's rather battered form over.

The boy just coughed and shook his head. "Ah you know Misty... pissed off a really old, really powerful Ghost Pokémon, fought it with our own Pokémon, been getting our asses kicked and survived through a few explosions... nothing new really."

Giselle just sighed at Ash's sarcastic attempt at humor before turning her attention to Misty. "Believe it or not Misty, this is the calmest it's been and Haunter isn't nearly as bad as it was." She looked at the oversized Ghost-Type then and shook her head slowly. "I've never seen a Ghost Pokémon with so much power though... it's beyond incredible..."

Ash coughed again. "What happened outside Misty, did you manage to chase away those other three Pokémon?"

Misty stopped checking Ash over and answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "I don't know really, after that explosion that shook the entire tower, the three of them just disappeared. I think they could sense something had happened and ran for it. Brock and I fought Gastly and Haunter with our Pokémon while Agatha took on Gengar with her own. They were a lot stronger than we anticipated though and gave us a good fight. Agatha and her Gengar were almost scary, I've never seen someone battle like that. If Elite Four are that strong then I'm glad I've never faced one," She stated the last part rather firmly and with a slight shiver of recollection.

Ash struggled to get up as he grunted. "I've gotta reach Haunter... gotta calm it down..."

Giselle and Misty looked on as he continued trying to force himself up with his Pokémon mirroring their trainer. "Ash stop you need to rest, you're gonna hurt yourself!" Misty told him in a loud voice, worrying for her secret crush.

Giselle simply shook her head sadly. "He won't listen Misty... none of them. He's determined to do whatever he can for Haunter and his Pokémon will do anything he does."

Misty pointed towards Haunter, who was currently staying still, observing the new arrivals with narrowed eyes while ready to go off again at any moment. "Look at it! Look at all Ash has already done for it! Fuji said Haunter was consumed by darkness and shadows before, it's not now so Ash has done what he set out to do!"

The boy in question grunted again as he got to his feet. "No... I haven't. I may have helped take the darkness away from it but Haunter is still angry and confused. If I don't see this all the way through then it'll just slide right back into the same desolation and despair that it was before."

Ash panted a little as Pikachu and Charmander struggled to their feet. The boy was just about to give a command to his exhausted Pokémon when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Agatha looking at him with a straight faced and serious expression upon her aged visage.

"Let me handle it from here Ash. If you need someone to battle Haunter and keep it distracted so you can get to it again then let me do it." She walked out into the middle of the room then without waiting for a reply and locked her eyes with that of Haunter's own blazing red ones, whom was now looking at her sharply in return.

"I am a member of the Elite Four and as such, I have a duty to this region. To fight and defend all those who live here, be they Pokémon or people, no matter what cost. You children have done more today than I would have ever thought possible and for that..." She looked back at Ash and smiled. "You have my respect."

She faced forward again as her Gengar suddenly appeared in front of her and stared challengingly at Haunter. "Now it's time for us to do our part!"

Fuji and Brock walked over to Ash and the girls as the older man spoke wearily, "Agatha, be careful. You know what happened the last time we fought that thing. Do not underestimate it."

The woman in question glanced back at Fuji. "I'll be fine, don't you worry about me. We are far stronger than we were all those years ago." Agatha walked up then until she was in line with her Pokémon, banging her cane down on the floor before saying in a loud, firm voice, "Your battle is with me now Haunter, face us!"

The powerful Ghost-Type turned it's eyes to Agatha and then stretched itself out to it's full, imposing size before wailing/screeching loudly at them. Agatha just remained calm and took a few deep breaths before exhaling a final time. "So it begins..."

She quickly looked at her Gengar, who seemed just as collected and poised as she was. Shifting her vision again, she could see that everyone else had fallen back a bit to give them room enough to battle, Ash and his Pokémon just a little bit closer so he could make a dash for Haunter when the time was right.

Unfortunately for her, Haunter took the momentary lapse in her concentration to raise it's hands and fire two massive Shadow Bals at them.

Agatha's reaction time however was instantaneous as she hurriedly called out to her Pokémon, "Gengar be quick!"

At speeds that left the others in dizzy shock, Gengar quickly fazed out of existence and reappeared just a few feet away from the first giant Shadow Ball which hit the ground and exploded. The second energy ball Gengar focused on and just stood in place, waiting patiently until the deadly attack was right upon it. Then, raising it's hands up, Gengar quickly charged and launched a powerful but much smaller Shadow Ball at the larger one on Agatha's command.

Both attacks met in mid-air and, despite the size difference, the power was almost even as they collapsed in on one another and exploded, sending pieces of rubble and smoke flying in every direction.

Agatha capitalized on the moment then by commanding, "Gengar press forward and use Curse!"

Gengar flew forward through the smoke cloud as it's eyes glowed red and a similar colored veil of energy rose up around it. Haunter was not even slightly deterred though as it's own eyes shone an even brighter red before a beam of Night Shade shot from them and through the air.

Gengar managed to see the twin laser-like beams just as it emerged on the other side of the smoke cloud and quickly dodged to the side with instincts and reflexes that were honed from years of training and battling.

It's energy stored up, Gengar cried out it's name as a powerful burst of red ghostly energy raced across the short distance separating it from Haunter. However, since Haunter's own Night Shade attack was on a collision course with Gengar, both attacks met in mid-air and commenced in yet another duel for supremacy between two very powerful Pokémon.

Ash, his friends and Fuji watched on in amazement as the two beams of energy grew larger and brighter from the extra power both Pokémon were pumping into them.

For Agatha, this was a repeat performance of the last time she and Gengar battled Haunter and due to that, she was quick to take action. "Gengar use rapid Shadow Ball and strike the area around Haunter!"

While still mainting the power of Curse, Gengar raised it's hands and made small shadowy balls of energy in each one that it quickly unleashed at Haunter. Several more energy balls followed the former two and every single one of them all went towards Haunter.

Instead of hitting it though, the balls of energy struck the ground, walls and ceiling around Haunter, which caused the Pokémon's attention to become temporarily distracted. This was all Gengar needed to force more power through it's body, which made Curse stronger as it started to overcome Haunter's Night Shade.

The latter Pokémon didn't have enough time to react before Gengar's Curse attack cut completely through Night Shade and impacted with it's massive form, lighting Haunter up in red as both it and Gengar started to convulse and cry out in pain. Curse was an attack that afflicted both Pokémon but Agatha knew that having Gengar give up half of it's energy to likewise weaken Haunter would only be as effective as possible if she did it while Gengar was still relatively healthy and full of stamina.

The strategy seemed to pay off as once Curse ended and Gengar dropped to the ground on it's knees in order to recover from the intense pain it was currently feeling, Haunter itself seemed to real back in equal pain as it screeched and cried out in pain.

As much as she hated to push her Pokémon in such a state, Agatha knew they needed to climax on the rare advantage they now had by ordering Gengar to get close and use a full power Dark Pulse on the weakened Haunter.

Even though it was now clearly drained and tired from using Curse, Gengar nodded and then jumped towards Haunter until it was just a short distance away. It's body glowing darkly, Gengar grunted in effort before throwing it's hands out as a powerful burst of black energy exploded forth from it's body and raced across the ground towards Haunter, ripping up and cratering the already destroyed chamber floor underneath it all the way.

Ash and the others watched with baited breath as the dark pulse of energy collided with Haunter, whom was unprepared for it, and exploded on impact. Another loud shrieking sound emitted from Haunter as it was apparently very damaged by the attack.

Agatha watched intently whilst Gengar stooped over and breathed heavily, the energy expenditure and exhaustion it was feeling from having been battling almost all night long finally catching up to it's slightly aged self.

As the smoke swirled around the chamber, everyone was almost certain that Haunter had been seriously damaged by such a powerful two-part combination attack but... as visibility returned to normal again... they were all proven on just how wrong they were.

Even though Haunter was soon revealed as having been definitely damaged and drained from enduring such powerful attacks from an Elite Four Pokémon, the Ghost-Type's rage and fury had clearly been underestimated.

When the smoke cleared, Haunter's now burned and scuffed up form was slightly hunched over while it's eyes were locked dead on Gengar. It's eyes were burning with a malicious rage which only became stronger the more it's anger consumed it.

Opening it's mouth, Haunter let out a loud shriek which startled even Agatha and Gengar with the sheer ferocity and primal rage of it.

Ash almost instantly had a bad feeling form in his stomach as he shouted to Agatha, "Agatha get Gengar out of there! It's too tired to fight and I think Haunter is about to go off again!"

Being the seasoned professional she was though, Agatha was far ahead of Ash as she raised Gengar's Pokéball and prepared to return her Pokémon, not wanting Gengar to get injured in the exhausted state it was now in. "Gengar retur-"

However, that was all she managed to say before Haunter disappeared in the blink of an eye, completely astounding everyone with the totally unexpected and never before seen ability of seemingly instant invisibility it had just displayed.

Having no time to react, Agatha was taken by surprise as well as Gengar, when Haunter reappeared out of the floor in front of the much smaller Pokémon.

Before anyone could move or blink, a large glowing ball of dark energy formed in front of both of Haunter's outstretched hands before, with an enraged scream of rage, it pushed the Shadow Ball down onto Gengar's unprepared self.

Even all of Agatha's many years of experience could not help her take action in time as her Pokémon was drilled down into the ground by Haunter's massive Shadow Ball, displaying power no one thought it would still possess in such vast quantities after being weakened by Gengar's Curse.

Agatha's Gengar cried in pain over the hum of the viciously churning ball of energy as it was pushed father and farther down into the cold stone ground. Haunter only stopped the Shadow Ball just before it's eyes charged up and then unleashed an equally as powerful Night Shade down onto it's stunned and suffering final evolutionary form.

Agatha, who was far from locking up in panic, tried to run as many different scenarios in as short a time as possible to help get Genger out of the situation it was currently in but Haunter had thoroughly taken them both by surprise in their moment of rest and now they were paying for it.

The older woman was just about to call another of her Pokémon out to help Gengar before, in a flash, Ash ran past her and made a beeline towards Haunter. Eyes widenening as his friends and Fuji yelled for him to stop, Agatha reached out and shouted, "Ash no! Stop!"

It was too little too late though because at that same moment, Pikachu came jumping past her and hurdled into the air, his tail turning to steel before he brought it down towards Haunter's head.

The currently blinded by rage Pokémon was too preoccupied with torturing Gengar with Night Shade to sense the attack coming for it and thus, was taken by total suprise when Pikachu's now iron hard tail slammed down onto it's massive head with a loud cry of, "PIKA!"

Haunter felt it's whole body rattle with an enormous shaking sensation as it fell backwards giving a shriek of pain, Night Shade finally being cut off and giving Gengar a much needed reprieve as it just laid in the crater it was now in and trembled in pain.

Pikachu flipped back and landed between Haunter and Gengar, using his own battle ravaged body as a barrier between the two Ghost-Types just as Ash jumped up on top of a nearly destroyed stone pillar and lunged at Haunter.

A look of pure, unrestrained fire and desperation was alight in Ash's eyes as he sailed towards the Pokémon with his right hand outstretched, the palm of which was already starting to glow as the Star Mark appeared.

"HAUNTER! ENOUGH!" Ash shouted as the ancient Ghost-Type looked up at him through eyes that were still blurry from the surprise Iron Tail Pikachu had used on it.

The ghostly Pokémon's eyes widened in shock when it finally regained it's wits just before Ash fully impacted with it's body. The entire chamber was then bathed in a bright white light just before Ash and Haunter entered into the Star Mark's dimension for the third time that night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

When Ash opened his eyes and found himself once again floating in the suspended state of the Star Mark's odd pocket dimension, the first thing he noticed about both he and Haunter was just how much of a serious toll the entire night had taken on them both.

He himself felt like he had went ten rounds with a whole group of champion Fighting-Types (which is something he should know about since he did have experience with such things) and his entire body felt completely and utterly exhausted. Of course, he had been involved in two extremely stressful days so it wasn't really a suprise to him but still... even while not in his actual body, he could feel the exhaustion his mind was projecting over his 'astral self' and it was definitely taking a tiring toll.

Looking across from him at the much larger and very imposing form of Haunter, Ash could also see with much clarity that the Ghost-Type was feeling just as tired as he was. The way Haunter was slightly bent forward as it's body expanded outward and inward with the obvious signs of heavy respiration as well as the look of fatigue in eyes, showed Ash that the Pokémon was feeling the effects of the harsh night almost the exact same as him.

Briefly, Ash wondered if maybe entering the Star Mark state pulled on both the wielder and Pokémon's energy stores and if that were the case, it would make sense why he and Haunter were appearing so tired. They had already entered the pocket dimension three times in one night and for some reason, Ash just had a feeling that doing so was not only unsafe but also abnormal. Well... more abnormal than being in a strange dimension cause by an already abnormal hand mark could be at any rate.

Turning his tired mind towards the present though, Ash tried to move himself forward as he spoke to Haunter through their current mental link in an equally as exhausted sounding voice, "Haunter... please... please just calm down and let yourself feel peace. Please, don't you feel what this is doing to us? Is it worth it? Is going through all this exhaustion, pain and torment worth holding onto the anger and hatred in your heart? Is it!" He finished with a shout.

Haunter obviously couldn't reply to Ash but the way the bright red energy surrounding it pulsed angrily- which had replaced the former dark black aura and shadows that had been shrouding it before- he could tell Haunter was trying to retort back to him in a violent way. Something Ash didn't mind since it at least seemed as though Haunter no longer had the energy to forcefully expel the connection like before.

Managing to make himself float forward a little bit for the first ever time since he had first entered into the strange 'Star State' with Pikachu sometime ago, Ash reached for Haunter as he spoke again, "Why? What do you have to gain by holding onto these grudges and keeping so much hate inside Haunter? Tell me, what! The people that really deserved your wrath you killed long ago so what is left for you to be this way? Why do you want to hurt people and cause so much pain? Do you think your old human friend would have wanted this for you? She would be ashamed of you and you know it!"

Ash saw the red aura around Haunter pulse again and swirl madly around but he ignored it, opting to move forward just a little more. Something he found to be very difficult since moving in what he was now calling the 'Star State' felt like moving legs made of iron through an ocean of sand up to your kneecaps.

"Is that how you live everyday Haunter? By lying to yourself and living in denial about you are and what you've done? Do you really tell yourself that the kind old woman who cared for you would have ever wanted you to live this way? If that's how you truly believe then you are lost in more ways than you think!"

Ash gestured at the mighty Ghost-Type with his hands. "Look at yourself Haunter! Look at what you've already done! You've freed yourself from the darkness and shadows that plagued and haunted you for numerous years! I may have helped you realize what you had become but you were the one that wanted it bad enough to change yourself. Is that it? Are you now going to resign your existence to being angry and bitter when you are so close to having peace and freeing yourself completely from the hatred that controls you?!"

Ash could see the glowing in Haunter's red eyes slowly start to fade as the violent red aura around the Pokémon very slightly began to flicker and pulse faintly, indecision and doubt beginning to reveal itself within the powerful creature's almost unreadable body language.

Ash could see his words were starting to have an effect so he pushed some of his own positive and pure energy towards Haunter in an effort to help sooth and reach the Pokémon sooner. Feeling even more fatigue overcome him as he pushed so much emotional energy at the Ghost-Type, Ash had to focus and steel himself to keep from falling unconscious and breaking the connection.

"Haunter... can't you see the life you are missing out on? There is so much more to this life, so much more beauty and great things to see and do than you have ever known. People and Pokémon truly can live in peace and harmony together if they just try and you know what, they do it all the time. I know you're angry and feel unbearable sadness for what happened to you and the human you cared for but dwelling on it and handling everything with hatred and misery will never help you overcome the past. Dealing hatred with more hatred will never solve anything Haunter and all you'll accomplish by doing so is spreading more pain and hurt to a world that doesn't need anymore..."

Pushing even more of his energy at Haunter as he focused as much compassionate warmth and caring feelings as he could into them, Ash continued to speak mentally while simultaneously fighting off the desire to collapse, "You have to believe it Haunter... you have to give this world another chance and stop living in the shadows of anger and grief. You are a great Pokémon with so much potential and promise but you have to want it. You have to want to change yourself and be better. Not for me... not for the old woman and not for anyone else... for you..."

The boy shook his head as white spots attempted to fill his vision. He could just barely see through his slightly fading sight, Haunter as it looked at Ash intently. It's eyes were now a normal, non-glowing red and the crimson aura around it had also ceased the fluctuating, twisting and flaring motions around Haunter that it had been. Instead, the aura was now unmoving. Stagnant. Strangely calm as though the proverbial raging sea was just beginning to settle, leaving only the murky, muddy waters left to churn and wroth in still unpredictable patterns.

Ash could swear that he could also see a faint yellow aura trying to force it's way through that of the much greater red one around Haunter but at the moment, he just couldn't be sure. Instead, he spoke again in words that took much more effort to get out than before, "You can... you can fight it Haunter... you... you can fight it..."

Haunter, for it's part, was still having an internal struggle with itself. Though the words Ash spoke to it made much sense and kept trying to smash through the unbreakable barrier it had built around it's heart and inner emotions, the memories and pain it still felt at losing it's one human friend the way it had rang like a bell in it's head and caused a massive internal struggle which raged on even now.

Eventually, the harsh debate within Haunter was enough to cause one final jolt of intense negative energy which, in his current state, Ash was unable to stand against and caused the connection to break once more. Sending the both of them back to the battle destroyed sealing chamber below Pokémon Tower.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash was once again flung through the air as the connection between he and Haunter finally broke. Propelled at the same fast speeds as he had been the other two times, Ash was this time caught in a tight hold by Brock and Fuji, who had been waiting to catch Ash when he reappeared from the bright light dome that had been covering he and Haunter from sight while they were connected.

Obviously surprised at being caught by two sets of hands instead of hitting something hard again like before, Ash looked up with his eyes all but bloodshot into the concerned faces of Brock and Fuji. "How..." He was forced to wet his dry mouth a little before continuing, "How did you catch me?"

Fuji nodded towards Giselle, she and Misty quickly running over to join them. "You can thank your lady friend for that young man. She knew from watching the violent way you were shot out of that bright light every time your connection with Haunter was severed that it would probably happen again. She had myself and Brock get into the position she figured you would probably appear from so we could keep you from enduring another hard hit."

Ash looked at Giselle as she knelt down and touched his cheek, her heart breaking at the sight of his exhausted, beaten looking self. "Ash... you look exhausted..."

Misty crouched beside of him as well. "You need to rest, your body can't take much more Ash and you were already tired from last night when Fuji saved you."

Brock patted his shoulder. "You've had practically no time to recover man, you're gonna hurt yourself if you're not careful."

Ash still attempted to sit all the way up as he shook his head to  
clear it of the fluffy, flighty feeling he was experiencing currently. "Pikachu... my Pokémon... ah!" He quickly grabbed at his side where a large bruise had unknowingly formed when he was thrown into one of the stone pillars earlier in the night. "Agatha... Gengar..."

Giselle broke off his strangled speech with a light push to his chest in order to get him to lay back against the stone slab behind him. "They're okay Ash, all of them. Your Pokémon are right here, by your side, you just can't see them because of how tired and heavy your eyes are right now. Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly, they're okay."

Ash then felt two small hands on his thighs, hearing Pikachu and Charmander both speak to him worriedly a few seconds later, "Pikachu, Pika Pikachu," The Electric-Type called softly to his trainer while gently nudging Ash's leg with his nose.

"Charmander Char Char," Charmander also spoke in an equally as soft and concerned voice as he looked at his trainer's unhealthily exhausted features.

Ash then felt a cold yet oddly comforting presence at his shoulder before Gastly's unique, almost operatic voice spoke to him, "You must rest Ash, we are fine. I can sense your energy levels and they are dangerously low currently."

At ease knowing that his Pokémon, though also tired and equally roughed up as he was, were okay, he grunted in pain before asking, "W-What about Agatha?"

Fuji was the one to reply in order to calm his mind, "She's fine Ash, she and Gengar. Remember, they're both members of the most elite team of Pokémon and trainer in the entire region, they know how to take care of themselves. Gengar is tired and a little banged up but both it and Agatha are ready to go again at a moment's notice."

Fuji looked ahead and frowned. "That light bubble that surrounded you and Haunter still isn't gone yet and we can't see Haunter because of it. She and Gengar are standing by prepared in case it comes out attacking again."

Ash's eyes finally opened fully as he forced himself to take in his surroundings clearly. Once the swimming and blurriness finally began to pass from his eyes, he was able to see everything around him with no more blurriness.

His eyes first landed upon Giselle and Misty, who were kneeling in front of him with looks of concern on their faces and then to his Pokémon. He could see Pikachu and Charmander on either side of his legs, also looking at him with concern. The two of them were rather beat up and worn down looking, just as all of them were, but they were still okay.

He couldn't see them but he knew Gastly, Fuji and Brock were just behind him. Looking forward past the girls, Ash saw Agatha standing with her Gengar a few feet away, both of them with their backs turned to him. He could see some rips and dirt on Agatha's purple dress but, looking at himself and also Misty and Giselle, could tell they looked pretty much the same.

Gengar appeared a little worse for the wear but, true to it's fierce-some reputation and very experienced ways, looked as though it could fight again at a moment's notice, regardless of the harsh beating it had suffered at Haunter's hands or it's older age.

Looking past those two, Ash finally spotted what Fuji had been talking about and saw that he was indeed correct, a large dome of pure white light was expanded across half of the chamber and seeing it made Ash's eyes widen. "Is... is that what it looks like when I connect with Haunter?"

Fuji nodded. "Yes. Both times you came in contact with Haunter, you were immediately veiled in that same dome of light. The only difference is that every time before now, it would disappear the moment you came hurdling out of it. Now it's staying up and we have no idea why."

Ash looked from Fuji, back to the dome of light and then scrunched his face up in thought. "But... why would-" His words were suddenly cut off as, the very next instant, the light dome started to flicker and shudder before it commenced to glowing even brighter. The light became so bright that they all had to cover their eyes and then, just as the light reached it's appex, it simply vanished without a single trace or warning.

Opening his eyes and uncovering them afterwards, Ash looked ahead again where the light dome once was and now saw, finally, Haunter floating in the air in the almost exact center of the chamber. The Pokémon looked to be a little scuffed up with singe marks here and there on it's body but all in all, it appeared to be the least damaged out of any of them.

Haunter was clearly very tired however as a few beads of sweat could be seen trickling down it's body. Knowing that Ghost-Types couldn't perspire however, Ash figured that what looked like water in the form of sweat was actually just a physical representation of Haunter's massive energy expenditure that it had been suffering with throughout the entire night. Most likely the 'water' was just crystallized forms of the ghostly energy that Haunter needed to simply keep itself levitating in a state of such exhaustion, let alone battle.

Which was all something Professor Oak had explained to Ash about himself since many people would become confused when they saw a Ghost-Type 'perspire'.

Haunter not only appeared to be 'sweating' in exhaustion but the look on it's face showed the fatigue the Pokémon was feeling. The way it's eyes were slightly narrowed and the look of effort Haunter seemed to be excuding just to keep it's massive form up proved that the night had definitely taken it's toll on it, as well as the Star Mark connections Ash had forced upon it.

Ash and Haunter's eyes locked onto each other and in that moment, Ash could see the conflict and turmoil still battling it out within the Pokémon's eyes. It wasn't as bad as before but he could still see it there and he knew his goal hadn't yet been achieved.

Ash knew furthermore that what he was about to do would probably result in him putting his life in imminent danger or at the very least his physical well-being but he wasn't going to back down. Not now when he had come so far to help Haunter. It was his idea to do all of this and he knew he had to see it through to the end no matter what.

Giselle and the others had their eyes on Haunter as they watched anxiously for what the Pokémon was going to potentially do. Agatha readied herself and her Gengar did the same, fully expecting the need to go into action once more if the volatile Pokémon before them went into another rage. Which, even though they were not looking forward to fighting such a powerhouse again, Agatha and Gengar knew they had a duty to protect everyone in not just that room but also all of the town in case Haunter tried to escape now that the sealing chamber was in ruins.

What no one, not even Haunter itself was expecting however, was for Ash to struggle to his feet on very wobbly legs. His friends saw this and right away tried to stop him. "No Ash what are you doing?!" Brock shouted as he tried to get Ash to sit back down.

"You can't keep going like this!" Giselle scolded in an admonishing tone of voice as she and Misty reached for his arms.

Ash just shook them all off however and shouted back, "No I have to do this!" Everyone stopped after his outburst and just stared at him, causing Ash to sigh before continuing in a quieter, though no less intense tone, "Please listen to me you guys... I have to finish this. I started this, I was the one that made the decision to help Haunter and I was the one that gave it hope."

He gestured towards Haunter with a tilt of his head. "I know you all don't see it and still think Haunter is just waiting to destroy us all and be free but I'm telling you... there is good in it and now, for the first time ever, also a sense of hope. I was the one connected to Haunter's heart and I could feel it... I could actually FEEL the hope and desire to change forming deep down inside of it. All Haunter wants truthfully is to have peace in it's life and for someone to care for it. I know it's true because I could see it in Haunter's eyes and feel it coming out through it's emotions."

He shook his head slightly and finally stood up completely while fully adjusting to his surroundings. Looking back up then, he focused his eyes on Haunter and spoke in a voice thick with emotion, "All Haunter wants is love... to feel wanted and no longer be alone. It just wants someone to be there for it and help to take away the pain in it's life but it's too scared to know how right now. I have to help it. I have to show Haunter how beautiful life can be."

Surprising all of them then, Ash suddenly broke off into a run and started a mad, all out dash for Haunter while crying out, "Our destinies are now intertwined through the connections we've made and I won't give up on it!"

"Ash come back!" Giselle and Misty both screamed at the same time, horrified for his safety. Even though they understood what Ash's motivation was to risk so much for Haunter, it did little to ease or take away the fear they felt at having something horrible happen to him.

Brock and Fuji watched on in disbelief just before Pikachu, Charmander and Gastly, inspired by their trainer's heart and determination, took off running after as quickly as their banged up bodies would allow them to.

Agatha turned her head and stared in fascination as Ash blazed past her, not even bothering to try and stop him, so taken aback was she by the boy's sheer spirit and determination to do what he felt was right. Even Gengar itself seemed more than a little surprised as well at Ash's vigor and heart.

The boy could see Haunter looking at him as he ran and Ash was also able to see a mixture of surprise, unease and even a bit of fear in it's eyes as he rapidly attempted to close the distance between them.

What he wasn't expecting though, which he probably should have, was the way Haunter would handle such confusion and fear. Which was with aggression. Before he could process what was happening, Haunter opened it's huge maw and formed a large Shadow Ball in it that it quickly fired at Ash.

The boy saw the blazing ball of dark energy coming at him and just as he went to stop, a jet of powerful orange flames came rushing over his head before colliding with the ball of energy and exploding in a mixture of shadowy darkness and cherry red heat.

Ash looked back and saw his three Pokémon following closely behind him with Charmander closing his mouth after having just expelled the Flamethrower that stopped the Shadow Ball.

Smiling at them, Ash ran faster towards Haunter while at the same time, the powerful Ghost-Type grew more and more nervous and held it's hands up before launching multiple Shadow Balls at them.

Pikachu used Agility and quickly jumped up into the air, landing in front of Ash as the small Electric-Type started running in zig-zag patterns towards Haunter. Seeing the many balls of energy coming towards him, Pikachu's whole body glowed faintly yellow before he started shooting several bolts of electricity that impacted with the individual balls of darkness and destroyed them in a bright explosion of arcing voltage and wispy shadows.

Ash drew even closer to Haunter and the Pokémon visibly began to lose it's composure as it's eyes glowed red and fired off a massive twin beam of Night Shade at the young trainer.

However, Gastly was fast and came to a stop high up in the air before his eyes glowed blue. In a poof of smoke, a solid wall of steel erected itself up between Ash and Haunter's attack, Night Shade slamming into the defensive barrier and drilling into it mercilessly in an attempt to smash through and reach it's intended target.

Gastly grunted as his weakened self tried to maintain the illusion. "Move faster Ash and get out of the way! Illusions are never as powerful as a real attack and I'm not going to be able to hold this much longer!"

Ash quickly nodded and pushed his tired body to run faster. He just managed to get past the steel wall and ghostly beam of energy drilling against it when Gastly finally lost the strength to keep it up. The wall disappeared in a burst of smoke and the powerful Ghost-Type move sped forward to hit the only thing it still could... which was Gastly.

Ash heard his Pokémon cry out in pain and stopped just long enough to turn around and see Gastly getting forced back across the chamber before impacting with a pile of debree on the floor and going still, Giselle quickly running to his side.

Ash turned around again in time to catch sight of Haunter's eyes glowing red again. Although, unlike every other time so far, Night Shade wasn't what came from it's eyes. Instead, reddish colored rings of what Ash recognized to be Hypnosis energy came floating towards him at an alarmingly fast pace.

Like every attack Haunter had it it's disposal, they were all  
massively oversized and this also rung true for Hypnosis, who's rings were twice if not three times the size of normal ones.

Ash's eyes widened since he knew he couldn't dodge such a widespread attack but instead of being hit with the sleep inducing rings and falling into blissful unconsciousness like he thought would happen, Ash was instead knocked out of the way and landed a few feet away to the side after he felt something small and compact slam into his side.

Looking up from the ground, Ash saw that it was Pikachu who had pushed him out of the way just before the rings of Hypnosis could reach him. The attack was not only much bigger than normal but also much more effective because the very next instant, Pikachu went from fully awake to sprawled totally on the ground and out cold like a light.

Ash's worry for his Pokémon only doubled when Haunter's whole body glowed red and then a spectral, energy made construct of the Pokémon appeared from within it and went flying at Pikachu immediately afterwards.

Ash knew exactly what attack Haunter was using and desperately tried to scramble to his feet and run for Pikachu. He was far too slow though for that in that next second, Haunter's deadly doppelgänger reached Pikachu and then melded itself inside of the sleeping Pokémon.

What was quickly revealed to be none other than the attack Dream Eater worked quickly on Pikachu after that. Surrounding the small Pokémon in a red haze of energy that turned into sparks of red electricity, the malevolent fake of Haunter quite literally sapped Pikachu's energy from him in vast quantities within mere moments.

Finally on his feet, though unsteady, Ash felt immense worry since not only would such an attack be very damaging to Pikachu but also, if all of that energy managed to feed itself back into Haunter then the Ghost-Type would essentially have a large portion of it's power restored to it.

Taking immediate action, Ash ran for Pikachu and then dove himself into the red cloud of energy draining fog that was around his Pokémon. Feeling the oppressive, heavy feeling of Dream Eater weighing down on him even though he wasn't asleep, Ash quickly developed a much greater respect for his Pokémon if that was what they felt every time they were hit with an opponent's attack.

Scooping Pikachu up into his arms, Ash ran out of the red haze, enraging Haunter since it had not yet finished siphoning off the energy from the Electric-Type that it was going to use to restore it's strength.

Opening it's mouth again immediately afterwards, Haunter formed and then released yet another abnormally large Shadow Ball at Ash, it's anger and rage giving fuel to it's attack.

Ash looked over his shoulder and saw the Shadow Ball closing upon him. Closing his eyes, he knelt down and turned away while cradling the still fast asleep Pikachu in his arms. The boy was bracing for impact but instead of receiving it, he instead heard a loud call of 'Charrrr!" Before feeling a strong and very powerful heat at his back.

Looking over his shoulder again, Ash saw Charmander standing behing him while bravely battling the immense Shadow Ball with an equally as impressive jet of extremely hot looking flames which came roaring out from his wide open mouth.

Ash and everyone else in the chamber looked on in amazement and fascination as Charmander battled the ball of huge energy in an attempt to keep his trainer safe. Something that brought a smile of pride and adoration to Ash's face as he watched his Pokémon fight as hard as he could to keep he and Pikachu safe.

Watching Charmander now, the way he stood illuminated by the flames of his own attack, arms stretched out to the sides with his eyes clenched tightly shut and sweat pouring down his body as he struggled to put every ounce of power he had into the Flamethrower he had going, made Ash realize just how special Charmander truly was as well as how powerful he was deep down inside.

Ash honestly couldn't help but wish Charmander's old trainer Damian could see his 'useless' Pokémon now because, at the angle he was standing, Charmander looked everything like a total winner and one of a kind Pokémon to him.

The precious moment of fickle reflection was unfortunately ruined the next moment however when a combination of Haunter forcing more power into it's attack and Charmander running out of the energy needed to keep it's Flamethrower going finally overwhelmed the small Pokémon's brave resistance.

The giant Shadow Ball quickly pushed straight through the fire and slammed into the ground directly in front of the three of them, launching Ash and his two Pokémon across the room like simple pebbles. The entire chamber shaking once more from the force of the explosion in a very violent manner.

Giselle, Misty and the others shouted in fear for Ash as they saw him and Charmander getting tossed up into the air and then watched helplessly as they both slammed down onto the ground seconds later.

Giselle and Misty tried to run out to them but were stopped by Fuji and Brock. "Giselle stop!" Brock struggled against her as she tried to get free from his grasp. "Haunter might attack you too! Just stay here for now!"

Hearing Brock and knowing he was right, Misty stopped fighting against Fuji which prompted him to let her go. Instead, she just yelled across the room, "Ash are you okay?!" Ash!"

Agatha herself appeared to be extremely frustrated and antsy because she desperately wanted to go and help Ash but was also afraid that if she made any sudden movements, especially with her Gengar, then Haunter might go off again and attack. Which would have been very bad since in their currently downed state, Ash and his Pokémon could get easily caught in the crossfire and become seriously injured or even killed.

When the smoke settled eventually some distance away, Ash was seen laying on his stomach with Pikachu curled protectively into him. Charmander was just a few feet away laying on his own stomach with cuts, fresh marks and bruises covering the now very dirty Pokémon's body.

Ash slowly shifted around while groaning before opening his eyes and looking down. Seeing that Pikachu was still fast asleep, he then looked to where Charmander was laying on the ground a few feet away, appearing to be very beat up and more than just a little bit exhausted

Dropping his head back to the ground, Ash's eyes fluttered as he whispered quietly to himself, "I'm sorry Haunter... but I just can't do this... I'm too tired... I can't even move..." A feeling of great despair and failure settled over him as Ash closed his eyes tightly. "I... I failed..."

Tears began prickling at the corners of his eyes as the feelings of total defeat and regret washed over him. Quiet sobs started to slowly wrack his body as he just laid there, feeling utterly helpless. That was until, however, he heard soft, unsteady footsteps coming towards him.

Opening his teary eyes, Ash saw to his astonishment, Charmander moving towards him in slow, wobbly strides. One of his eyes were closed and a cut ran down his side but Charmander's face never wavered as he stared dead at Ash with a look of unwavering strength and unshakable determination on his face.

Ash continued to watch Charmander walk towards him without even blinking until the Pokémon was standing at the side of his face. Looking up, he was about to say something until Charmander cut him off with a shout and started waving his arms around furiously.

"Charmander! Charmander Charmander Char! Char Charmander Char!" The Fire-Type spoke fiercely as he stared down at his trainer. "Char Char! Charmander Char!"

Ash just looked at his Pokémon as he went off on what he somehow knew was a heated, no nonsense speech of some kind. He really didn't get what Charmander was saying until he saw his Pokémon point at Haunter and then back at him, almost as if he was trying to tell Ash to do something.

After watching the same gestures a few times, Ash finally got what Charmander was saying and replied to him, "You're... you're trying to tell me not to give up and to keep going aren't you Charmander? You're telling me to not stop until I've done what I came to do... is that it?"

Charmander just nodded and held his fists up to his chest. Ash smiled sadly and replied, "But I can't even move right now Charmander, I'm too-" That was all he managed to say as he suddenly felt a stinging sensation erupt on his face.

His whole head turning, Ash's cheek burned like a hot iron had just struck it. Looking back at Charmander, he saw the Fire-Type standing with his tail extended outward. Realizing that his own Pokémon had just slapped him, Ash was about to say something before Charmander went off on another slew of intensive, loud and unintelligible sounds. "Charmander Char! Char Charmander Char Char Charmander! Charmander Char, Char Charmander!"

Ash just listened to his Pokémon go on and on and even though he couldn't hear what Charmander was really saying, he understood the meaning behind it. He could tell that Charmander was basically telling him, 'How dare you even think about giving up Ash! You've never taught us to give up before and now you're just gonna lay there and do nothing?! I don't think so! You started this and now you have to end it! You wanted to help Haunter so get up and do it! We're behind you all the way just like we always are so don't you dare give in now! Stand up and fight!'

Being able to in some way know what Charmander was telling him without speaking human tongue gave rise to a fire being rekindled in Ash's gut again. The self belief and inner strength that his Pokémon was trying to inspire within him made Ash feel both miserable and furious about himself for even thinking of giving up in that moment.

It was just like Charmander was trying to tell him, Ash started this. He was the one who wanted to help Haunter and he had put a lot of people and Pokémon at risk by doing so. Because of that, he owed it to not just them or Haunter but also himself to see it through.

His eyes hardening with resolve once more, Ash nodded to Charmander's words as he laid Pikachu down and slowly started to get to his feet. "You're right Charmander... I can't give up now... I won't give up now! We've come too far now to quit and I can't let that happen..."

Standing fully up, he turned around and looked at Haunter while clenching his fists. "I made a promise and now I'm gonna keep  
it!"

Charmander just looked at his trainer proudly before nodding his own head and looking back at Haunter again, his tail flame blazing brightly as he prepared himself to give his all for his trainer and human friend.

Leaving Pikachu where he was, Ash called out loudly with a cry of firm resolve, Charmander doing the same, before the two of them rushed forward again towards Haunter with everything they possibly had to give being all laid out on the table in that time. Every last shred of willpower and stamina they had being pushed into one final assault.

Obviously taken by surprise at Ash's continued relentless persistence, Haunter watched in surprise as Ash and Charmander ran towards it with all haste. Feeling the pressure of being backed in a corner, the ghostly Pokémon started using practically every attack it had at it's disposal to stop the impending charge of the two coming for it.

Ash could see a virtual volley of Shadow Balls coming his way along with a thick beam of Night Shade cutting through the middle of them all but instead of slowing down, he merely put his trust and connected his heart, in a sense, to Charmander.

His faith wasn't wasted either because at that same moment, Charmander ran in front of him and opened his mouth as a roaring jet of flames came spewing forth and swept across the chamber, coming into contact with and destroying every single Shadow Ball it came in contact with.

As Haunter's Night Shade drew closer to them, Charmander stopped and built up the energy in his body quickly before, with his body shaking in effort, he opened his mouth again and released a powerful purplish/blue blast of Dragon Rage which collided together with Night Shade and began a battle of dominance which quickly ended in a dual explosion.

Haunter was now clearly doing whatever it could in order to keep itself away from any further contact as rings of red, sleep causing energy came forth from it's eyes and headed towards Ash. The boy could see this coming however and quickly commanded Charmander to get in front of him and use Smoke Screen.

His Pokémon did so with no hesitation and hastily expelled a cloud of inky black smoke from his mouth which quickly coalesced around the two of them and hid Ash and himself from view. The rings of hypnosis entered into the smoke cloud but unfortunately for Haunter, their aim wasn't true as Ash and Charmander came running out of the smoke the next moment at a totally different direction than Hypnosis had entered.

Seeing that they were within just a few small yards of Haunter, Ash smirked to himself that they were going to make it. What he wasn't prepared for though was Haunter making a final move out of almost complete desperation.

Before he or Charmander could fully react, Haunter's massive body started to glow bright red as a powerful looking aura surrounded it's form. Scrunching it's body up in intense concentration and effort, Haunter's eyes pulsed with equally as bright red energy and it's mouth opened as the Ghost-Type began emitting a loud screeching sound.

Ash promptly stopped and put his hand out to stop Charmander as well while looking at Haunter in confusion. The Ghost Pokémon continued to struggle and focus it's power as the shroud of red energy around it commenced to growing and expanding.

It was only then that Ash finally understood what Haunter was doing and his eyes widened at the realization. Turning around, he looked down at Charmander and started madly gesturing to the way they just came from. "Run Charmander! It's about to use Curse!"

He turned out to be right on the money too because at that very next moment, just when Ash and Charmander started running away in the opposite direction as fast as they could, Haunter finally let loose with Curse and did so in a way that was very unusual. Meaning that instead of needing to have a target to latch onto and steal energy away from, the massively enhanced and mega-powered Curse acted like a bomb.

The red energy around Haunter formed into a rotating sphere just below it and then impacted into the ground below like a humongous hammer clobbering the earth. As the energy Haunter had been building up for who know's how long finally exploded, Ash and Charmander jumped for it and hit the ground for cover while the others all took shelter behind a few scattered piles of rubble and whatever else they could find.

The attack that had been made much more powerful than usual thanks to Haunter's far larger than normal size, like Dragonite and Tentacruel, completely annihilated everything around it's blast radius and turned it all to ashes. Quite literally, everything even close to Haunter was now nothing more than fine powder and smoke. Crushed into nothing by the might of ghostly energy which had been somehow effectively turned into raw destructive power by Haunter when it unleashed Curse.

As the smoke and shaking finally stopped and cleared off respectively, Ash looked up from his arms while still laying flat on his stomach and tried to see ahead. Charmander as well uncovered his own head from beside of Ash and used his keener eyes to peer further than that of what his trainer could.

Both of them were able to finally see Haunter at just about the same time as everyone far behind them was and when they gazed upon the titanically large Ghost-Type, a collective gasp escaped from everyone at practically the same time.

What shocked the humans and even their Pokémon so much was the sight of Haunter. Instead of looking like the scary, dangerous and monstrous Pokémon they had all become accustom to seeing, now they were looking at something which just appeared... grotesque, for lack of a better word.

Haunter's entire body was ballooned out to epic proportions until it resembled a massively over inflated beach ball and it only just kept getting bigger and bigger. It's eyes were also all but bulged out of their sockets and it's mouth was open unnaturally wide like it was trying to filter feed.

Ash stood up and looked at Haunter with a mixture of befuddlement and slight disgust as he said aloud, "What the hell is Haunter doing?!"

Giselle, Misty, Brock and even Fuji seemed at a loss but Agatha, who had been watching everything happen from the sidelines in case she and Gengar needed to intervene at some point, widened her eyes as her several years of battling experience told her exactly what it was Haunter was doing and not only did it astound her but it also scared her.

Cupping her hands over her mouth, she shouted, "Ash!" And when the boy turned to look at her, Agatha continued almost frantically, "Ash get back here! We have to leave now! All of us!"

His face must have shown his question but Agatha yelled again, "I don't know how but Haunter is about to use Self-Destruct and that's why it's expanding! It's gathering all of it's energy into one focal point and then it's going to explode and destroy itself, probably taking the entire tower with it!"

Ash's friends and Fuji all looked at Agatha with varying degrees of shock as the older man gave voice to it all, "What! How is that possible?! Self-Destruct doesn't kill a Pokémon, it just renders them into a temporarily unconscious state from the massive energy depletion the power for the attack calls for!"

Agatha quickly returned her Gengar as she shook her head. "Not this time! I can tell by the way Haunter's body is expanding that it is drawing on every available ounce of energy that it has in order to destroy itself! For what reason I do not know but I do know that it's about to commit suicide and if we don't leave now then we're all dead!"

Ash was about to respond until they suddenly heard struggling from outside of the chamber. Turning to look, he and everyone else was surpised to see the three wild Ghost Pokémon that had served as Haunter's servants getting pulled in from the anti-chamber quickly, struggling all the way as they were sucked in like a vacuum towards Haunter's gaping mouth.

In sick fascination, Ash and the others watched as Gastly, Haunter and Gengar were swallowed up into the bigger Haunter's maw and disappeared into nothing, subsequently causing Haunter's body to expand that much more.

Giselle gasped. "W-Were they a part of Haunter?!"

Fuji nodded slowly. "I-I think so... they must have been constructs of energy that Haunter somehow was able to create in order to guard it and the tower while it was trapped in here... even while it was sealed..."

Brock shook his head, squinty eyes never leaving Haunter's growing body. "Amazing, that's incredible!"

Agatha quickly hurried out to grab the still sleeping Pikachu into her arms and then ran back towards the others much faster than a person her age should have been able to, like Fuji, as she started to rush them all, "Yes, yes it's facinating now everyone return your Pokémon now, we have to go!"

Her words seemed to snap the others out of their individual stupors as they began hurriedly returning their Pokémon. The Elite Four member then started ushering them all quickly towards he exit until just she, Giselle and Fuji were in the rear. Turning around at what remained of the door, which was now just a huge gaping hole, once everyone was through, Giselle shouted back at Ash, "Come on we have to go Ash! Hurry!"

He didn't even register her words though. Ash just remained rooted to the floor as he stared up at Haunter with his eyes locked onto the soon to explode Pokémon. He heard Giselle scream at him again but he still didn't reply or even turn around.

"Ugh!" Giselle groaned in frustration. "What's wrong with him?!"

Gastly, who had managed to recover a little by this point and was up and floating again, looked out at his trainer with a calculating and thoughtful expression on his face. Realizing rather quickly what Ash was thinking, Gastly started to curse, "Damn that boy and his recklessness!"

He quickly looked at Brock and Fuji, "One of you go get him now!"

Agatha caught onto what the talking Ghost-Type was alluding to immediately, being the intelligent and wizened person she was. Fuji seemed to understand as well but Agatha voiced it before he could, calling to Ash with authority in her voice, "You get back here right now young man, don't you even think about it!"

"Ash it's not worth it!" Fuji yelled desperately.

It was only then that Ash turned around and said, much to his friend's confusion, Gastly's frustration and the older adult's horror, "It is to me!"

Looking down at Charmander, he said quickly to his confused Pokémon, "Charmander go with them right now!"

With no further words, he took off running at Haunter as Agatha and his friends screamed after him, Fuji and Gastly watching on in helpless dismay knowing that there was now nothing they could do to stop him.

Giselle tried to run after him but Brock yet again had to detain her, "No Giselle don't!"

"Let me go Brock! Let me go!" She yelled at the older boy as she fought against him. "I need to help him!"

Misty made to run as well but Agatha just held her hand out. "Don't you dare! This is bad enough as it is!" Knowing she wouldn't make it past the serious looking older woman, the younger female reluctantly was forced to back down.

"Ash!" Giselle screamed once more. "Ash please no!"

All their pleas fell on deaf ears though as Ash sprinted towards the now morbidly inflated Haunter. Breathing in and out extremely hard as he pumped his arms as fast as they could go, Ash shouted, "Haunter! I'm not letting you go so don't even think about it! I know what you're trying to do and it's not gonna happen!"

The boy didn't even bother looking behind him- so preoccupied was he in his dead set goal of reaching Haunter- but if he did then he would have seen Charmander faithfully running behind him. Choosing to rather risk his life and be there for his trainer than go back to safety.

Unbeknownst to either of them though, Fuji was watching the both of them now intently. Not bothering to worry or panic for the moment, the older man just watched the two of them with his eyes particularly trained on Charmander. A look of deep thought and contemplation was on his face as he wondered in his mind, 'Such a bond exists between that boy and his Charmander that I don't even think they are fully aware of just how deep it is. I've watched that little Fire-Type closely ever since I first saw it in our battle and the level of sheer dedication and loyalty it has to Ash is truly astonishing. It is clear to see that he can bring out the best in his Pokémon but I wonder if maybe just maybe he could help bring out that young Charmander's full potential if I..."

His thoughts were suddenly cut off by Giselle pointing ahead and screaming again, "He's not going to make it!"

Fuji came back to the present and cleared his head before focusing on what Giselle was yelling about. As he did, he saw that Haunter was starting to rise high up into the air while it's bloated form began to pulse and fluctuate wildly. It was only in that moment that he realized a simple, undeniable and also very harsh truth.

That said truth being that Haunter was now too high up in the air for Ash to reach and form a connection with it through whatever means he utilized to do so. With that sudden slap of cold undeniability in his face, Fuji felt his stomach drop and could only imagine the despair Ash must have been starting to feel as well in that same moment.

Little did he know however that Ash was far from giving into despair. Even as hopeless as it might have been, the boy still charged Haunter, intent on finding some way to do what he knew had to be done for his, Haunter's and everyone else's sakes.

Fortunately enough for him though, luck, Arceus or perhaps even the small Fire-Type running behind him seemed to be on Ash's side because just as the boy started to run out of ideas on how to reach Haunter so high up in the air, Charmander suddenly stopped and built up a powerful Dragon Rage within his body that he opened his mouth and then released with a roar of 'CHARRRRRMAAAAANDEEEEEER!"

The powerful Dragon-Type move exploded outwards with incredible force, utilizing some of the last of Charmander's energy as it was aimed right at Ash.

The others saw this and Misty panicked as she screamed, "It's gonna hit Ash!"

However, to her and everyone else's surprise, the burst of draconian energy ended up hitting the ground right below Ash, the force of which caused an explosion that rocketed the boy straight up into the air and, coincidentally enough, towards Haunter itself.

Quickly recovering from his shock of suddenly being airborne, Ash took the fortunate last minute strategy of his Pokémon gratefully and looked up at Haunter as he extended his arms out. "HAUNTEEEEEER! YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS!" He yelled as the Star Mark appeared on his right palm once again.

Haunter was too far immersed in it's nearing self destruction to see Ash flying towards it and then, with a cry of sheer ferocious intent, the young trainer came in full contact with the Pokémon. His right hand landing on Haunter's bloated body just before the room yet again exploded in a burst of white light.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Ash opened his eyes and for the fourth time found himself floating within the dimension unique to the Star Mark. Looking up directly in front of him, Ash's whole face seemed to drop to one of exasperation and frustration.

The reason being that Ash could no longer see Haunter like he could the last two times he was in the connected state with it. This time he was looking at a cocoon of swirling dark mist. Not the thick dark shadows of evil from before but more like just a black... dark mist. A black mist of energy.

Ash didn't know what he was going to encounter on the other side of the veil but he did know that he had to find out so, with his mind made up, Ash started forcing himself forward across the weightless, anti-gravity space of swirling, multicolored energies.

The effort to make himself move forward was not only awkward since he was floating but it was also extremely difficult to do so. Like he had hundred pound weights strapped to his legs that was only letting him move a small amount at a time.

Gritting his teeth and grunting inside in frustration, Ash continued to move forward like he was making his way across a hundred meter stretch. After what seemed like hours but was really only minutes, he finally found himself standing in front of the cloud of dark mist, looking up at it like it was an impassible fortress.

Taking a deep breath, Ash put his hands out and let them make contact with the dark mist, finding that they passed through unimpeded into a cold, almost chillingly empty void beyond. Confusing him a bit and more than worrying the young trainer since he didn't know what he would encounter on the other side of the mist, Ash knew deep down that he had to do it if for none other than Haunter's sake. He had come too far and now wasn't the time to back down.

Steeling himself, Ash allowed his body to pass through the dark mist and into the blurry, obscure and eery domain beyond it. As soon as he did, Ash found his eyes almost immediately having to readjust themselves to the extremely dim light within the veil of shadows.

Keeping his arms in front of him, Ash slowly made his way through the thick darkness for several moments before he was eventually able to make out a shape some distance away. Squinting his eyes, Ash continued onward with great effort until he found himself finally breaking out of the mist and into a small circular clearing within the dome of darkness.

To Ash's great shock and utter confusion, what he saw floating in the middle of the space was something he didn't expect. At the most, he was fully prepared to see Haunter in all of it's gigantic size or perhaps the bloated shape it was taking on outside of their connection in the real world.

However, instead of either of those things, he actually saw a normal sized Haunter. Whom still looked the same as Black Fog with it's own unique physical characteristics that differed from others of it's species but now, it was actually the same size as Fuji's own Haunter.

Taking in the way Haunter's head was dropped low and an almost palpable air of depression and sadness hung around it like a suffocating aura, Ash knew the Pokémon was in a very bad place right now. As he looked around and took in his surroundings a little more, he started to wonder if maybe the cloud of dark mist, Haunter's current size and the depressive aura around it was actually a visual representation within their connection of the inner turmoil Haunter was feeling at the moment.

He knew that Haunter wasn't always gigantic from what Arceus told him nor was it always able to wield the unnatural 'shadow powers' it had demonstrated at the beginning of the night while still controlled by the darkness that had been surrounding it then. If that was the case then maybe, just maybe, what he was seeing now was really Haunter's original form before everything bad had happened to it.

Feeling his heart go out to Haunter even more so now than it already was due to the suffering Pokémon's decision to basically kill itself, Ash slowly moved forward and spoke in a soft voice, "Haunter?"

He received no reply or even acknowledgement that it heard him but he continued to try. "Haunter... please listen to me. Out of everything you have ever done before, I'm begging you to please listen to me." He put his arms out imploringly. "Or at the very least look at me... please."

Haunter still didn't look at Ash but he could tell by the way it's body shifted some that it was at least listening. "Haunter what can I say to stop this? What could I ever possibly do to take away the pain and the horrible memories of the life you've lived?"

He looks down. "Honestly I... I came here tonight thinking that I could change you. Thinking that I could make all the difference and do what even Arceus thought wasn't possible. She was the one that told me about you y'know. She knows you're angry with her for thinking that she took your human friend from you all those years ago and for all of the bad things that's happened in your life."

He could see Haunter bristle a little at his words. "To tell the truth though... I don't blame you." This obviously surprised the Pokémon as it's head shot up and it's red eyed looked directly at the boy.

Not seeing it however, Ash kept talking. "I can't say that I would personally blame Arceus if the same kinds of horrible things happened to me and the ones I loved but for you... I think I can understand. From the moment you were born, you were thrust into a world you didn't understand, with abilities you didn't have a choice in and around people who would never understand you."

Ash shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I know what it's like to carry such a heavy burden of being different and to have a great destiny. To do things you never had a choice in and wield abilities that aren't normal. Arceus says I'm her chosen one and that I'm meant to bring peace to the world but... but sometimes I have to wonder if I even can. If she picked the right person or even if I can handle it. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I just... I just want to break! I just want to give up and go home but then I..."

He finally looked up at Haunter, his eyes locking onto his own. "Then I think about the people and Pokémon I love and care for and how I want to protect and keep them safe. I think about the Pokémon with me now and how I want to fulfill my promise of making them as strong as they can ever be and help them achieve whatever dreams they may have. I think about how I want to make my mom, Professor Oak and everyone else back home proud of me... how I want to make myself proud of me."

Ash's eyes soften then as he smiled at Haunter. "I also think about all of the Pokémon I've been able to help along with my friends and my Pokémon since I started my journey and left home. All the hearts of loneliness I've helped heal and the hope I've been able to help give back to Pokémon and even people that lost their own long ago."

Ash's smile remained as he said next, "I think... of the ones like you Haunter."

This clearly shocked the very old, yet longevity blessed (some would say cursed) Ghost-Type as it's eyes widened at the boy's proclamation. Ash tilited his head a little and chuckled. "It's funny how things in life happen and how they take completely unexpected turns without us even noticing. Well... sometimes we don't. Other times they're really extreme and harsh turns that kick us down into the dirt where we feel like we don't want to ever get up again."

The boy sighed. "The fact is though, we can blame whoever we wish... we can get mad at anyone we want and even say it's Arceus herself's fault. In the end though... it's not. It's just life. Life can be amazing but it can also be cruel and knock us down on our asses a lot of times. When that happens we can either get mad and just hate the world and want to make everyone else feel our pain or... we can stand back up and brush ourselves off. Put a smile on our faces and keep moving forward, taking whatever life has to throw at us and never give up."

Haunter's face seemed to drop as, for the first time, Ash could clearly see guilt revealing itself within the Pokémon's eyes. Seeing this and knowing he had a chance at finally helping to turn Haunter around potentially, Ash spoke quickly again, "I know you feel guilt for what you've done to others over the many years and I also know that your past is full of more regret, shame and self loathing than I could ever imagine. Yes it's true you did bad things and yes it's true you allowed yourself to become a monster."

He smiled again. "But that's not who you are anymore. I can see it. I know that you desire to change and be different Haunter, I know you do. The only one keeping you from changing is yourself. You are allowing yourself to be so eaten up with guilt and shame that you have convinced yourself that there can be no redemption and no peace in your of life. Because of that, you've made the decision to take your own life but tell me... what will it change? What will it help?"

Haunter looked at Ash again in confusion and the boy elaborated, "Say you do this and your soul moves on to the next life. What escape from your guilt and pain will you have then? You didn't try to make anything right or atone for the mistakes that you made and the bad things you did. All you would have done is take the easy way out and became a quitter. In turn, you also leave behind those that are going to blame themselves for not being able to help you and are also going to miss you when you're gone."

Ash could see Haunter's complete disbelief that anyone would ever miss it, shown by the sardonic expression that it's surprisingly emotionally expressive red eyes were now giving him. "You don't believe that do you? You don't believe that anyone will miss you if you die right now. If that's what you truly believe then I'm sorry to tell you this Haunter but you're dead wrong. There is someone who would mourn for your loss and do you know who that would be?"

Ash then pointed at himself. "It would be me, I would."

The Ghost-Type visibly flinched back at Ash's admittance and at the same time, felt a great amount of confusion within itself. The boy floated a little closer and nodded. "I may not know you Haunter and I can't say I care for you too much yet but I can say that I do hold compassion and sympathy for you. Even though you tried to kill me a few times..." He grinned jokingly. "I still feel the same even now and all I want is to help you. I want to help take your pain and bad memories away. I want to help you get rid of those scars of betrayal you have and teach you that life is much better and much more wonderful than you have ever thought or imagined possible before."

Ash came closer yet again but this time, Haunter didn't move back, it's eyes locked on Ash with a mixture of both caution and perhaps even slight hope as it stayed in one place. "Don't you want to know what it's like to be cared for and to be happy? Don't you want to be able to count on someone other than yourself and know what compassion and even love is like Haunter?"

Almost as if in an attempt to push Ash away due to the unsure feelings and fear it was still feeling inside, Haunter pushed outward at him with a powerful force of negative emotions. Ash himself was sent reeling back from Haunter's energy pulse but his unwavering determination and the hope he had in helping Haunter allowed him to overcome his exhaustion and fight against the Pokémon's attempts to keep him at a distance.

Holding his arms out in front of him with his body bent forward, Ash fought to get to Haunter again, even as the dark mist around them both started to swirl and twist wildly. Haunter fought and struggled with everything it had to keep Ash away, terrified to let someone in again as it kept pushing more and more pulses of dark energy at him.

Ash for his part was in his own state of firm, unwavering resolve. His entire being was fixated on getting to Haunter and cementing their connection no matter how hard he was getting pushed away. Grunting with immense effort, he shoved back at Haunter with his own pulse of compassionate and caring motions that were practically bleeding from his heart. Effectively causing a duel of wills between the two of them.

A battle in which, amazingly enough, Ash was starting to win.

Moving his arms forward rapidly like he was trying to run and with his face turning red from exertion, Ash shouted at Haunter from across their mental link, "I'm not giving up Haunter! From this day on, you are going to know compassion and you will never be alone again! I AM NOT LETTING YOU DIE!"

With those final words of solid resolve spoken, Ash yelled across the link again and threw himself at Haunter, the Pokémon's eyes widening in actual fear as it expected something terrible to happen for failing to keep Ash away.

To Haunter's near heart stopping shock, instead of feeling pain or any one of the other horrible fears it had speeding through it's mind at what Ash could possibly to do it, the spectral Pokémon instead felt an immeasurable warmth spread through it's entire body. A completely foreign and long since alien sensation to the Ghost-Type, like a memory that was once there and then disappeared far out of the mind's ability to recall it long ago.

Looking down, Haunter's red eyes showed it's stunned surprise as Ash had his arms wrapped around it's body while he hugged it tightly. The boy smiled and spoke the answer for Haunter's confusion, "Do you feel this Haunter? That warmth and comfort spreading through your body right now? There's nothing wrong with it and it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you either. This is what it feels like to be cared for and to know love... to let someone else in and be there for you."

Ash hugged Haunter closer still and continued, "I promise you Haunter that if you let me... I will always be there for you and I will always care for you. I'll help you see the beauty and good in life again if you just let me in. I know it's scary and I know opening your heart after enduring so much pain is hard to do but if you can trust again... if you can just give life one more try... I swear I'll always be there by your side."

Pulling away then, Ash kept his hands on Haunter's ghostly shoulders as he smiled sincerely at it. "I will be your friend. Until the very end and you have my word."

Haunter just looked at Ash for several moments with an unblinking,  
disbelieving expression on it's face. Almost as if it was staring into Ash's very soul for any shred of dishonesty or deception, unable to believe that anyone would show it such kindess and compassion after all of the terrible things it had done to so many others before.

Ash eventually let his hands drop to his sides again as he continued to smile at Haunter and asked, "So? What do you say Haunter, will you give life... and yourself, another chance again? Will you let me be your friend?"

Time appeared to slow down as Ash waited for Haunter's decision, so deep in thought did the Pokémon seem to be. Though, after several tense minutes of complete stillness, Ash looked around and saw the dark mist around them begin to fade until, gradually, the pocket dimension of multi-colored aura energies they were in came into full view again.

Ash looked back at Haunter and grinned as a feeling of barely contained excitement and accomplishment began forming in his gut. "Is that a yes Haunter?"

The Ghost-Type in question merely looked at Ash in silence for several more moments, taking in observance everything about the human before it that Ash had shown himself to be over the course of the night. To Haunter, from the moment he first felt Ash's energy he knew the boy was a different kind of human but what kind for certain was definitely a mystery to it.

For so long Haunter had truly blamed Arceus and the world around it for all of the misfortunes and tragedies it had seen, underwent and also witnessed others go through that it had tried to help or simply even just observed over the many long years that it had lived. After it's one and only human friend had been brutally taken from it, Haunter knew that it had shut it's heart off to others and became brutal and cruel to everyone it came across afterwards.

Ash had been right. Haunter had truly begun to believe that there was no good left in the world after so many desolate years passed by and it had further resigned itself to the darkness that came to control and dominate it's very existence. Haunter felt guilt for what it had done to so many innocent people but it also felt as though redemption was so far beyond it's grasp that there was no point in trying to change or find something else to believe in anymore.

Then Ash came along. A simple human that only had his courage, friends, determination and belief that Haunter was not beyond saving to go on. Through all the odds and after all that happened, even after it tried to kill Ash, his friends and their Pokémon time and time again, the boy was still hell bound to help bring the light to it's poor and wretched soul.

Looking at Ash now after all that had happened during the long night, Haunter could not help but see some of the same kindess and compassion in the boy that it had seen in it's old human friend from so long ago. It was in that same moment that Haunter felt something... a warmth. Like a spark of heat being ignited within it's long cold heart that Haunter hadn't felt for years.

It was then, and only then, that Haunter realized what it was feeling. More specifically, what it was feeling for the human in front of it. And that emotion, that feeling... was caring. Haunter found itself actually feeling a level of affection and ever so slow growing compassion for the human that had risked and given so much for it when he never even had to in the first place.

Ash had been asking if Haunter could feel the warmth spreading inside of it and now... now Haunter actually believed that it could. For the first time in longer than it could remember, the Ghost-Type was actually feeling hope and perhaps even the tiniest bit of happiness growing up inside of it's formerly darkened, evil self.

It was at the end of all of this inner monologue and thought that Haunter finally made it's decision with firm resolution and allowed the sight of a small, contained, yet no less very welcome smile appear on it's once malicious looking face.

Ash's own smile only increased ten fold as he nodded and put his hands on his hips. "It's not gonna be easy Haunter and I know that you are still going to battle with the darkness of your past. Living a life like you have for so long isn't going to change over night and I know that, I think you do too. But together..."

He extended his right hand out to the Pokémon then. "Together we can do it. I know we can."

Haunter just gave Ash another small, silent nod of it's head with a smile accompanying it. The smile felt very foreign on the ghostly Pokémon's face, no doubt from having gone so long without giving one, but Haunter still decidedly liked the feeling of doing something other than angrily scowling all of the time.

As Ash took the chance to look Haunter over, he started seeing the yellow aura around it begin to slowly morph and change. This surpised Ash since for one, this was the first time he had even bothered to really check out Haunter's emotional aura level during their current connection. Mostly due to the fact that he had been too preoccupied with simply reaching the Ghost-Type when they re-entered the Star State to give thought to anything else.

When their third connection had failed, Ash recalled seeing Haunter's aura slowly starting to change from red, which meant angry, to what he thought was yellow, which meant cautious and unsure. He turned out to be right since the aura he was seeing around Haunter currently was indeed yellow but now, it was changing once more before his very own eyes.

Ash found himself hoping that this particular aura shift would be to white like his since that would mean Haunter was finally calm and at peace. Arceus must have been watching and saw fit to bless him in that moment because, to his utter joy, he was just able to see the wavering yellow energy around the Ghost Pokémon shifting into that of the tranquil, serene and calm white one that he had been so longing to see.

Unfortunately, Ash was only able to bask in the fact that he had managed to succeed in bringing a Pokémon all the way down from the dreaded and 'inescapable' black aura to the pure white one that matched his, for a very small fraction of unfortunate part of the situation being the sudden wave of extreme fatigue and overwhelming exhaustion Ash felt slam into him all at one time.

Grabbing his head, Ash grunted through the telepathic mind link and doubled over, only the fact that he couldn't actually fall while floating in the Star State being what kept him up.

As pure fatigue overcame the boy and his vision started to swim in his eyes, Haunter looked down worriedly at the human he was growing to care for.

Feeling Haunter's worry, Ash looked up at the Pokémon from his nearly totally bent over position and gave a weak, almost squinty eyed smile. He brought a trembling hand up and tried to put his thumb out as he said in a near whisper of a voice through the mind-link, "It's... It's okay Haunter I'm... I'm fi-"

That was the last word Ash managed to utter mentally before darkness suddenly swallowed up his vision. The last thing he saw before the blackness of unconsciousness claimed him was Haunter's aura turning to a snowy, vibrant white and the final sensation he felt was the combination of Haunter hurrying to his side and the violent tug that signaled the end of their connection just before the Star State broke entirely.

XXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Giselle and the others had spent the entire time Ash and Haunter were connected through the Star Mark anxiously awaiting to see what would happen at the end of it all. So far though they were only treated to the frustrating sight of the bright dome of light that blocked their vision from being able to see what was currently happening within.

It was while they were waiting that the shaking started. It was mild and not too noticeable at first but gradually it became more and more pronounced until practically the entire chamber and what felt by extension like the entire tower itself was starting to quake off of it's foundations.

The ceiling up above began to tremble and then actual chunks of it, small and then much bigger, started raining down on them from above. This caused all of them to run and take shelter wherever they could in the chamber to avoid the large pieces of rubble falling hazardously from above.

"What's going on?!" Misty yelled from where she was hiding behind a few broken down pillars which had formed a sort of cross-shaped barrier over one another.

Fuji shouted back from his own spot behind some rubble nearby, "It's the structure of the tower! It's old and given all the abuse it's taken over the years plus everything that's happened down here tonight, I think the entire infrastructure is starting to collapse! I was afraid this might happen at some point in the future but not right now! We need to get out as soon as possible in case it does collapse or otherwise we'll all be crushed and buried alive down here!"

"Not without Ash we can't!" Giselle yelled back.

Agatha looked towards the dome of light from where she was near the exit. "Well then they'd better hurry up whatever it is they're doing in there or it'll be too late!"

As if on cue and right as more chunks started to fall down from above, the light dome began flickering and fading out until in a flash, it was gone altogether. Brock was the first one to get a clear sight on what could be seen after the light vanished and he announced it while pointing, "Hey guys look there! It's Ash and Haunter looks normal again!"

As each of them gazed upward to see for themselves what Brock was saying, they saw Ash floating face up in the air high above near the ceiling, his arms and legs dangling limply by his sides with his head thrown back.

Haunter was now indeed completely back to normal, no longer bloated or expanding in order to self-destruct. It was still the same giant size that it had been the entire night though, proving that the smaller form the powerful Ghost-Type took during it and Ash's final Star Mark connection was truly just a physical representation of the uncertainty and vulnerability it had been feeling during those particular moments. It's true size, at least now days, was the immense, all encompassing, awe inspiring one they were looking at now.

Seeing Haunter no longer poised to explode and with an almost visible air of calm about it that none of them had seen it portray so far, led to a relieved sense of joy that Ash had apparently finally succeeded in taming Haunter's enraged spirit. However, it also led to a feeling of panic and terror for everyone at the sight of Ash hanging limply in the air.

Giselle shouted Ash's name along with his friends, Fuji and Agatha, while his Pokémon (including Pikachu who had woken up a few minutes earlier) all called out to him as well in great worry for their trainer and friend.

As they all watched on while feeling a dreaded sense of hopelessness at the situation, Haunter's eyes glowed a faint blue and then the same bluish glow that had been around Ash the entire time but had been too dull for any of them to see, started to become much more pronounced around him.

Then, with great care and careful concentration, Haunter started to lower Ash down to the floor below until he came to rest on the hard, broken stone ground.

Giselle and Pikachu were almost moving on air, such was how fast they got up and were now running towards Ash at a frantic pace. Fate was not to bestow reunion amongst them so soon however because at that exact same moment, Fuji was also up and running to intercept Giselle as a large chunk of ceiling broke free and came hurdling down towards her and Pikachu.

His old body moving faster than it had in years, Fuji quickly pulled Giselle out of the way just as she looked up and saw the massive chunk of rubble coming towards her.

The two of them fell to the side just as Pikachu flipped out of the way and the huge lump of stone smashed into the ground. Letting her go and getting to his knees, Fuji watched along with Giselle as several more large pieces of ceiling started to come loose and fall like ballistic missiles to the chamber floor below.

Fuji helped Giselle up and then the two of them, plus Pikachu, ran back to the others just as the bombardment of debree started to rain down on them ruthlessly.

Agatha stood up fully and put her arm over her head as she shouted, "We have to get Ash and get out of here now!"

Brock however was already up and prepared to make a sprint for his friend when, to his and everyone else's horror, a massive chunk of ceiling nearly thirty feet long and across busted free from the ceiling and fell to the ground as if it were a meteor. It then smashed down in the almost exact center of the chamber seconds later but on it's side, causing the ground to split apart as the hard and very durable chunk of thick stone cut a swath down into the earth and formed a giant wall of rock which practically divided the room into two separate sections.

Brock was stopped dead in his tracks by the mammoth boulder that had fallen and it was only made worse by the tons of smaller but no less considerable sized chunks of solid black stone that rained down in a shower and joined their huge cousin below in creating a large wall of rubble and rock that only kept getting higher and higher.

To top it all off, everything had fallen in such a way that the chamber was now essentially cut completely in half, blocking off Brock and the others from Ash and Haunter. And it was only getting worse as several large rocks now began falling onto their own side.

Misty, Giselle and Ash's Pokémon screamed and called out in sheer terror for Ash's safety as the sudden harsh turn of fate took them all by a cruel, twisted surprise.

Brock and Fuji were all but rooted to the ground in dumbfounded shock at what had just happened but their wits quickly came rushing back to them when Misty and Giselle both went running towards the wall of boulder and pillar sized ceiling debree separating them from Ash.

Brock was quick to reach out and grab Giselle as Fuji did the same to Misty, both of them holding the now desperately struggling girls back as they struggled to get free while screaming Ash's name over and over again.

Neither male had any words of comfort or reassurance to offer the girls though because they themselves were still reeling from the shock of what had just happened. For them, the realization brutally struck home that they had just lost their opportunity to get Ash back and save him from the cave-in that was almost guaranteed to happen any moment now.

Once all of the massive chunks of ceiling started to fall and then made a virtually impassable barrier with their mass and size, the chance of just running in and retrieving him was gone. They couldn't try and scale the wall of rubble to get to him or send any of their Pokémon to do it for them either because the ceiling was still practically falling down on their heads. Every second spent in the chamber was just one more very real chance that they would all be crush or buried alive.

This was the same harsh, terrible truth Agatha quickly came to herself and called for her to make the hardest decision that she had ever... ever had to make in her entire life up to now. A decision in which she knew would haunt her until the day she died.

Tears gathering in her eyes even as the usually calloused and tough woman raised her head, Agatha yelled out, "Bring them in and call back your Pokémon! We have to go now or we won't get the chance to later!"

Brock and Fuji turned their heads and looked back at Agatha like she had just told them to murder their Pokémon and forsake their families but, knowing the threat of being crushed to death was very real as they looked around and saw all of the deadly pieces of ceiling crashing down all around them, they knew that there was no other option. As much as they would have given anything in the world to make it not true what they had to do, both Brock and Fuji knew that they had to listen to Agatha.

His heart shattering even as he started pulling Misty backwards towards the exit, Fuji felt tears prickle at his eyes as the girl screamed and fought against him viciously, vehemently protesting against the decided course of action.

Brock, for his part, just looked at the wall of rubble separating them from Ash with an inconsolable feeling of despair and hopelessness consuming his being for failing his closest friend. Tears fell down his own face slowly as he whispered in a broken voice, "I'm so sorry Ash..." Before tugging on Giselle as he turned around to follow Fuji.

The brunette's eyes widened at what Brock was doing and she screamed loudly at him while beating on his chest. "Brock stop! Let me go! We can't leave him!"

Brock continued to struggle against her as he tried to talk some sense into her, "Giselle if we don't leave now then we're all gonna die and Ash wouldn't want that!"

Paying no heed to her older friend's words, Giselle continued to scream and curse at him as she all but bit and clawed at the teen to let her go.

Pikachu and Charmander however were not so easily swayed as they ran up to the wall of fallen ceiling and started attacking it ruthlessly with fire and electricity respectively. The worry they were feeling for their trainer had quickly turned to all out maniacal panic as they poured every ounce of their remaining energy into moving the huge barrier in their way which simply refused to move, not caring if they killed themselves from over exhaustion or not.

"CHUUUU!" Pikachu cried loudly as he released his most powerful Focus Lightning enhanced Thunderbolt at the seemingly immovable wall of rocks, only succeeding in smashing apart a few of the smaller boulders but not nearly enough to make a difference.

Charmander kept blasting every rock he could see with Flamethrower and Dragon Rage while Gastly stayed back with his head bowed low. Being the intelligent Pokémon that he was, Gastly knew there was little to no chance of saving Ash and with that heartbreaking revelation settling in, he also knew that his trainer would want them to live. Not die and waste their lives in a fruitless attempt to rescue him.

Knowing what he had to do since his fellow Pokémon would never willingly leave, he floated forward and used his psychic energy to paralyze and lift Pikachu and Charmander into the air.

The two smaller Pokémon desperately fought and struggled against the power Gastly was using to make them immobile but it was for naught. Tears started to stream down their faces as they cried out for Ash and even Gastly's own eyes dripped with tears as he started to float back towards the exit with his teammates in tow.

For the three of them it wasn't just the loss of Ash that was weighing heavily on their minds but also the fact that the other Pokémon, their teammates and friends, whom he still had with him in their Pokéballs were going to perish just the same as he was. And that thought alone tore at Gastly, Pikachu and Charmander's hearts like no other.

Agatha stood by the exit ushering everyone through and once Gastly went by her, she looked and saw that Brock and Fuji were struggling to hold onto Giselle and Misty. Taking a page from Gastly's book, she called out to her Gengar again and had it use it's own ghostly power to immobilize and lift the two struggling girls up into the air.

Having their hands free finally, Fuji and Brock returned their own Pokémon and then beckoned for Misty and Giselle's to follow them before turning and running out into the much larger anti-chamber outside.

Agatha watched her Pokémon carry off Misty and Giselle, both of whom were still shouting loudly, before turning back and looking at the collapsing room around her. Zeroing her eyes in on where she knew Ash was beyond the wall of debree, the old woman let her eyes fill with tears of sorrow before saying quietly, "Arceus please forgive us, forgive me..."

Turning away, she took off after the others as fast as her aged body could go and caught up with them quickly. The group of humans and Pokémon made their way out of the catacombs as fast as they possibly could while avoiding falling chunks of ceiling and collapsing walls at every turn.

Eventually they managed to break through from the quickly crumbling stairwell that lead up from the catacombs and rushed out into the ground floor of the tower. They could see the pale light of the moon shining just outside of the still wide open door and to the group of frenzied and adrenaline rushed trainers, it was like a beacon of hope that if they could just reach it, their night of terror would finally be over.

Finally, after a final burst of intense speed, the five of them plus the Pokémon managed to make it to the exit just as the largest part of the ceiling above the ground floor broke free from it's once secure position and fell down before smashing into and destroying half of the entire entrance hall.

On the outside, Brock and the others were forced to jump ahead just as the smoke and flying pieces of rubble from the destruction of the ground floor came shooting out of the door and effectively blocked it off.

Fuji got up and looked up at the tower just as the entire structure started to shake and rattle. Knowing what was about to happen, the old man's eyes widened as he pointed up while yelling, "Everyone get clear! The tower's gonna fall!"

Agatha scrambled to her feet and yelled at Gengar to get Misty and Giselle away just as Gastly did the same for Pikachu and Charmander. Brock quickly got Misty and Giselle's Pokémon together and then started to run along with everyone else in a mad dash across the cobblestone walkway that lead to and from the tower.

While they all ran frantically to get out of the way of the collapsing tower, the monumental structure started to groan and shake even more as cracks appeared all along it's outside surface. Sounds of extremely loud crashing and breaking could be heard coming from inside of the tower as a clear indicator that it was quite literally falling apart from the inside out.

When they had finally reached a safe distance a few dozen yards away, Fuji turned around along with everyone else and looked up at the tower just as it's pointed roof spire caved in on itself and started a downward domino effect. In essence, the entire tower began collapsing inward like a heavy rock being dropped into a tube full of feather light cotton balls.

Floor after floor of the iconic tower dropped down and crushed into each level of itself. The almost deafening roar of stone being smashed apart and broken to pieces and glass shattering accompanied the terrible but morbidly fascinating sight of such an incredibly large manmade structure toppling like a house of cards.

When the destruction of Lavender Town's most legendary symbol finally came to an end, Fuji and the others just gazed upon the huge dust cloud that was now covering the area in which the ancient tower once stood. Even though it was still nighttime, almost dawn, the massive smoke cloud could still be seen even against the dark night sky.

However, in that particular moment, everyone gathered presently was in too much of a state of sorrow and all consuming grief to give any thought to the fall of the tower.

Fuji, Agatha and Brock's heads were dropped low as they tried to come to grips with the life they had just lost so tragically while Gastly and Gengar finally released the ones they had been holding in the grip of their ghostly powers.

As soon as Misty, Giselle, Pikachu and Charmander were free, the former two just dropped to their knees with looks of complete despair and catatonic shock on their faces. Neither of the two young ladies were in the shape or sort of any kind to make so much as a noise, so overwhelmed were they by the unbearable catastrophe that had just so unexpectedly claimed the life of the person they cared equally as deeply for.

Pikachu and Charmander however took off running towards the now ruined tower in a vain attempt at saving the life of their beloved trainer. Brock knew, just as well as Agatha and Fuji, that nothing anyone said could get through to them at the moment so they just let them go. No one even made an attempt to try and comfort Giselle or Misty because none of them had the ability to do anything other than just stand there and drown in the feelings of failure and agony that they were feeling in varying degrees.

Agatha was perhaps the worst of all of them in that moment since it was her decision to leave. Even though it ultimately saved their lives since staying would have meant every single one of them would have died in the end, it still didn't take away the pain or immeasurable pain she was feeling right now.

No one spoke... no one made a single sound. Sometimes in the wake of a terrible tragedy people would flock together and let their heart bleeding pain become known to the world through loud wails, sobs and virtual rivers and pools of tears but then sometimes... sometimes the pain and the shock was just so great that any rational thought of expressing ones grief in an acceptedly normal way was completely and totally thrown out the window.

This was... unequivocally... one of those times.

While their human counterparts wallowed in their newfound despair, sorrow and self loathing, Pikachu and Charmander arrived at the edge of what was once Pokémon Tower but was now nothing more than an immense pile of rubble and ruin. A few large stone pieces and chunks of stairwells were the only things now left of the once great tower and the cloud of dust in the air gave a very distinct smell to the occasion. An aroma of which was not pleasant at all and basically resembled the smell that would have been released if someone brought a sledgehammer down and cracked open a piece of sandstone or any other rock that busted apart easily and then bent down to sniff the chalky dust released from them.

Looking around wildly for any sign of Ash, Pikachu sniffed the ground madly while Charmander ran from rock to rock and tried to lift them up so he could see if Ash was under any of them.

After several moments of heartbreakingly hopeless searching, Pikachu finally started calling out in a grief stricken voice along with Charmander as they tried to somehow reach their trainer. Several minutes of this went by with obviously no chance of getting Ash to respond and finally, Pikachu and Charmander both dropped their heads as tears fell from their eyes in earnest.

It was a time of total despair and unrivaled sorrow for all of them that seemed to be in no way coming even near to a close. In fact, when the earth around the tower started to rumble and move, shaking the small loose rocks amongst the pile of rubble that made up what was once Pokémon Tower, no one even noticed it at first.

Pikachu and Charmander were the first to realize something was happening and their heads shot up just as they were able to sense a strange energy rising up from what felt like below them.

Brock, Fuji, Agatha and the girls only noticed what was happening when the earth started to tremble in a very pronounced way. Looking at each other in confusion, they then turned their attention towards the ruins of the tower just as something incredible happened.

Like gravity had been relieved just in that particular area, the large slabs of rock and concrete making up the ruins of the tower began lifting up into the air slowly but surely until after just a few moments, the sky was full of the suspended rubble as it just levitated in place, completely denying all laws of reality and physiques to the amazment of everyone watching.

"W-What's happening?" Misty stuttered as she looked up at the extremely unusual spectacle taking place before her very eyes.

Before anyone could answer her, a large potion of the ground where the tower once stood started to cave in and drop away, leaving a massive hole in the center of it. Then, to the further astonishment of all watching, a large black and purple sphere began rising up out of the hole in the ground.

The black ball of swirling energy spun and rotated around in the air as it emitted a strange humming sound. Wearily looking up at the unnatural object, Pikachu and Charmander stepped back slowly as the sphere lowered itself to the ground just a few yards away from the ruins of the tower and then came to a stop.

Brock and the others all looked on with more than a little caution that was quickly replaced with total shock and awe as the large orb of circular energy begun to fade away until, amazingly enough, Haunter could be seen scrunched up inside of it.

The faces of everyone fell to slack jawed disbelief as Haunter slowly unfurled itself and then stretched out to it's true, extremely impressive, height. It's body expanding out and upward until the Pokémon formerly of pain and misery finally stopped enlarging.

Raising high up into the air, Haunter opened it's eyes and let it's red orbs slowly scan it's surroundings while the Ghost-Type breathed in the first bit of fresh, outside air that it had been allowed to take in for many, many years.

Giselle tried to make sense of the situation as she pointed up at Haunter and sputtered, "H-How... w-why? W-What's going on?"

Looking down at the humans and Pokémon gathered below it, Haunter fixed them with an impassive gaze before it steadily lowered itself down to their level.

Fuji and Agatha were instantly on alert as Haunter came to rest just a short distance away. "I don't know how you survived," Agatha began as she stepped forward protectively in front of the kids. "But if you're here to cause trouble then we won't hesitate to fight back!"

Gengar got in front of Agatha with a look on it's face that said it would attack at the slightest given signal. However, instead of looking worried or even registering her statement, Haunter just continued to look at them all intently for a few moments.

Eventually, Misty's temper took over as she stepped forward and shouted at the Ghost-Type, "Haven't you caused us enough torment Haunter?! Haven't you taken enough from us?! Why do you want to continue hurting us after you've already taken someone we all cared for and..." Tears formed in her eyes. "Loved so much..."

She shouted yet again, "Tell me why!"

Instead of answering her, Haunter just opened it's mouth widely before reaching it's hands up towards it's mouth. Everyone quickly went into instant alertness at Haunter's actions. Pikachu, Charmander, Misty and Giselle's Pokémon included.

Completely flooring all of them and sending Misty and Giselle into a near anxiety attack though, Haunter's mouth expanded more and more until suddenly, shoes could be seen appearing from with it's gaping maw.

Fuji's eyes, along with everyone else's except for Brock, widened almost comically as legs, a torso and then the familiar face and unruly hair of Ash Ketchum slowly appeared from within Haunter's mouth.

Levitating slowly out of the Ghost-Type's spectral body, Ash floated down and then came to a rest in Haunter's now cradled arms. Still unconscious, the boy was carried over to his friends and Pokémon in a surprisingly very gentle manner by Haunter. Whom seemed to be carrying the young Pokémon Trainer with a care and tenderness completely unlike it's fierce-some and dark appearance would suggest.

The Ghost Pokémon slowly reached out and laid Ash down on the ground while the others merely looked on without saying a word. Too consumed by their own shock to even register or let sink in what had just happened. Well... at least until it DID finally sink in and Pikachu and Charmander went running towards their trainer while crying out in sheer ecstatic happiness.

Eventually, Gastly, Brock, Misty and Giselle all overcame their own shock and then rushed towards Ash as well while calling out his name. As the lot of them crowded around the previously thought to be dead boy, each of them began looking him over urgently to see if anything was wrong with him. Meanwhile, Fuji and Agatha were still in a state of disbelief and had yet to find their words.

Sitting Ash up to cradle him in her arms, Giselle looked him over still with teary eyes as she said while almost not believing her eyes, "He's... he's okay..." The girl looked up at everyone else. "He's really okay!" She then hugged the unconscious boy tightly to her body as Misty reached out and gently moved Ash's hair from his face. "It's a miracle..." She whispered reverently with a soft smile on her face.

Brock, happy as he was that Ash was alive, erred on the side of uncertainty while Pikachu and Charmander, as well as Gastly, joined in on rejoicing that their trainer was okay.

Looking down at Ash, he shook his head. "How is this possible?"

Fuji stepped forward finally and knelt down to examine Ash. "He looks fine all things considered. No serious injuries or wounds that I can see... this just doesn't make sense. You're right Brock, this is a most unsual and unlikely miracle indeed."

Agatha finally got her wits about her again as she looked up at Haunter and asked suspiciously while leaning on her cain, "What did you do Black Fog?"

She wasn't expecting the Pokémon to give her any kind of reply until suddenly, the Pokémon's eyes glowed blue as several rings of similar colored energy came forth from them and started to encase the small group of people and Pokémon in a blue dome of energy.

Looking around in surprise and bewilderment, Agatha and the others watched as the blue aura changed and shifted around them before scenes then started to play inside of the strange blue energy dome encasing the lot of them. Almost like a constantly revolving and all encompassing television screen since the images being revealed to them were actually playing on the blue energy waves themselves like reflections upon water.

The first scene was that of Ash and Haunter getting trapped behind the wall of fallen ceiling chunks down in the chamber before the tower collapsed. Fuji and the others looked on as boulder after boulder fell down around Haunter and the Ghost-Type was forced to avoid and dodge as many as it could.

A few hunks of rubble fell towards Ash but Haunter was quick to intercept and destroy them with it's ghostly attacks and physical strength, effectively defending the unconscious boy however it could. Then, at one point, they watched as a particularly large section of ceiling went to fall and crush the two of them but Haunter was quick to action.

In a very impressive display of pure power and control over it's own strength and abilities, Haunter used it's power to construct a dome of black energy around it and Ash which quickly morphed into that of a sphere. The same sphere that they all saw appear from under the tower just moments beforehand.

Then just before the ball of energy totally covered Haunter up, whom was starting to scrunch and condense itself up to fit inside, the Pokémon quickly scooped Ash up and dropped the boy into it's open mouth where he was then swallowed and dropped into a safe place within Haunter's massive being. Basically, Ash had been being kept alive and well within a pocket, a protective cocoon if you will, of Haunter's very own internal energy which it had forced oxygen into so Ash could breath.

The question now answered as to how Ash and Haunter survived being crushed to death by the collapse of the tower- being that the boy had been being kept secure inside of Haunter while the black sphere of energy was what had kept both of them safe- the ghostly Pokémon then answered the unspoken question for how they got out of the fallen tower.

Eyes still locked onto the images that were being displayed within the vortex of energy swirling around them, the humans and Pokémon alike continued to watch as the scene shifted to one of almost total darkness. It took them awhile to figure why everything was now dark and totally quiet around them but then the entire dome of energy started to shake and pulse as suddenly, the darkness was replaced with a strange purplish, blue light.

Smashing, buzzing and crushing sounds were then heard before the entire mass of energy around them began moving in, what appeared to be, an upward motion. It took awhile before they realized that they weren't the ones moving, it was actually the images they were witnessing that were.

The dull purple/blue glow continued to pulse and cast colored shadows around them while the smashing sounds in the background and the upward raising motion continued on. When moonlight finally burst through into the scenes they were watching and the black sphere rose high up into the sky until it was overlooking the entirety of Lavender Town, as well as the landscape around it, into the distance and, weirdly enough, the images of themselves standing far below on the ground, they finally understood what they had been seeing.

Haunter had somehow been showing them through some strange form of energy based memory communication that it had been the one to save Ash and bring them both to the surface. The darkness they first saw was what the sealing chamber far below now looked like once the tower and everything else had caved in. Now it was nothing but a solid space chocked full of mammoth boulders with no room for even a Rattata to squeeze through.

The black sphere of energy Haunter wrapped around itself and Ash before the chamber fell in is what had kept them safe from being crush to death. The breaking, smashing, ascending sounds they heard was what the protective black sphere had been emitting as it rose up through the ground of the now collapsed tower and smashed apart every rock and piece of rubble that it encountered along it's way in the process.

The moonlight they had witnessed and the feeling of being able to look down over all of Labender Town and the surrounding area is what Haunter had been seeing from within the dome after it had finally busted through to the surface.

With the images no longer playing anymore, the blue vortex of energy faded and dropped from around them until the small group of humans and Pokémon were now staring up at the impassive face of Haunter once more. All of them were stunned into silence at the revelation that the one who had attempted to kill them all night long was now the very reason they had to thank for Ash's life being spared. Without Haunter, their friend, admired young man, trainer, boyfriend and love interest (respectively for each individual of course) would have been lost to the world.

Eventually, Giselle stood up and walked towards Haunter slowly as she spoke in a gentle voice, "Haunter... you... you saved Ash?"

The abnormally large Ghost-Type just nodded to her question and then a smile formed across Giselle's face, tears freely streaming down her face, before she lunged forward and hugged the bottom of the Pokémon's huge body. "Thank you! Thank you Haunter! I can never repay or thank you enough for saving him but... thank you..."

Giselle repeated her chants of 'thank you's' to Haunter while crying freely and even though this clearly took the now wide eyed Pokémon by suprise, it didn't attempt to move or push her away. Giselle's actions were mirrored by Misty, who also went up to the ghostly Pokémon and hugged it with her own tears of joy running down her cheeks.

"Thank you so much Haunter, you have no idea what this means to us..." The reddish, orange haired girl murmured tearfully as the joy she felt at not losing the boy who had come to mean so much to her mixed with that of the immeasurable gratitude she now felt towards the Pokémon responsible for keeping him alive.

Brock just smiled and nodded at Haunter in his own way of saying thank you and then shook his head in disbelief at the insane, yet very welcome turn of events the night had just underwent. Fuji on the other hand was still just a little bit too stunned at what had happened to say anything so he just stood there and watched the moment play out silently.

Agatha however decided to voice what she was thinking and stepped forward a little bit before clearing her throat. Not exactly sure where to begin, the seasoned Elite Four member looked up and addressed the Ghost-Type in a slightly hesitant tone just as Misty and Giselle finished hugging it and backed away.

"Haunter I..." She trailed off and thought for a few moments. "I was convinced that you were an evil, twisted Pokémon that only took joy in hurting others. For so long I detested you even though you were locked away under that tower but... but looking back on it now I guess that perhaps I... I guess that perhaps I wasn't looking at things the way I should have."

The old woman looked down at Ash and smiled faintly. "It took a boy decades my junior and with experience in Pokémon and life in general not even close to the equivalent of my own to make me learn a valuable lesson that I think I had forgotten... or maybe even never learned."

She slowly walked up to the unconscious boy a few feet away and looked down at his peacefully resting visage. "This boy taught me that no matter what something may appear to be at face value... even through the first few actions it may commit... it doesn't mean you have the right to judge them and condemn their souls to eternal damnation and desolation."

Agatha then looked back up at Haunter again, who was watching her intently, and said in an apologetic voice, "Fuji and myself locked you away because we were scared. We feared what you could do and from that one lone act we saw you perform the day when Pokémon Tower caught fire, we were convinced that no matter what, you were a dark and evil creature that needed to be stopped. Not once did we stop to think about trying to learn more about you and instead opted to lock you away in the darkness and forsake all attempts at redemption or compassion."

Shame crossed Agatha's face. "I regret that now. I wish we would have shown you at least some manner of kindness but we did not. It took a boy stepping far out of his own league and putting himself into a life threatening situation for Fuji and myself to see just how thoughtless we were originally. I may have made the call to leave the chamber earlier but when we thought Ash had died I... I couldn't even..."

She stopped and took a minute to compose herself, wiping a few stray tears away from her eyes before looking back up at Haunter again and smiling. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry and that I am also so very grateful for saving Ash the way you did. I am more overjoyed than you can possibly imagine that I will not have to carry the burden of this young man's death on my conscious for the rest of my life. Thank you..."

Fuji followed his old friend's suit and bowed his head. "Yes thank you Haunter... I think you have now officially started on the path of redemption by saving the life of the one who believed in you and risked so much for your own life."

Haunter, obviously surprised at so many people being kind to it and thanking it at one time, just nodded it's head slowly but maintained a stoic facade regardless.

Brock spoke up then and got everyone's attention, "As great as this moment is you guys, dawn will be on us soon and we need to get Ash back to the house so he can rest. He's been through a lot and we might even have to check him over for any injuries we can't see right now."

Giselle looked at him oddly. "Injuries we can't see? You mean like-" It hit her like a ton of bricks what Brock meant after a few moments of thought and her face instantly reddened like a beet afterwards. "Oh... yeah that..."

Misty went over to her tired and battered looking Pokémon and then patted her Starmie gently. "We really need to get our Pokémon taken care of and rested too, it's been a long night."

Agatha nodded. "Yes a very good idea. Fuji can you-" However she was cut off by the kindly old man before she could say anything else as he simply held a hand up. "Of course I will Agatha, no need to even ask." Walking over to Ash then, he leaned down and lifted the boy up onto his back, grunting as he did so. "Ooph! Dear Arceus this boy is solid as a Golem!"

Brock moved to help him but the old man just shook his head. "I'm alright Brock, don't you worry. We need to focus on getting home right now, by tomorrow I foresee the town being in an uproar over what happened to the tower."

Misty suddenly stopped them all before anyone could do anything else. "Wait! What about Haunter?"

The others turned around and looked up at the massive Ghost-Type thoughtfully. "Hmmm..." Brock mused thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin in thought. "That's a good question. Haunter is essentially homeless now with the destruction of the tower."

Giselle snorted. "I don't think it'd want to stay there even if the tower was still up and standing. It was dark, cold, drafty and I think Haunter spent way too much time there as it is already."

Everyone else nodded in agreement to Giselle's words and then thought about it for a few more minutes until Fuji ventured forth curiously but also hesitantly. "Well... I suppose Haunter could stay in the gym back home if it wanted to, after all there is plenty of room."

Agatha nodded to Fuji's suggestion. "Yes that could work indeed I would wager."

Fuji looked back up at Haunter. "What do you say Haunter? Would you like to come and stay with us at my home? There's plenty of room and you won't be noticed by anyone." He then decided to sweeten the deal a little. "You'll be right near Ash the whole time and once he wakes up, you can even see him again."

Those words, especially the part about being near Ash, seemed to have won Haunter over because it simply gave another nod of it's large head and then went still again.

The old man smiled. "Very good then." He turned to the others while adjusting the unconscious young Ketchum on his back. "Let's go everyone, before this area starts seeing a heavy amount of traffic in the form of curious townspeople."

Everyone else agreed and then once Giselle, Misty and Agatha returned their Pokémon, they set out for Fuji's home. Pikachu on Giselle's shoulder and Charmander in her arms since they apparently felt the most comfortable with her out of everyone else while Ash was out of commission.

Haunter took one last look at the ruins of the tower which had been the bane of it's existence for so long and then focused outward on the horizon where the light of a new day was just starting to rise over the distant mountains.

Looking back towards the group of humans as they made their way back to Fuji's home then, Haunter began to follow them. More than a little curious and with a fair amount of hope at what this new phase in it's life would end up leading to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

It was the warm streams of daylight shining down upon his face which awoke Ash from his slumber. Opening his eyes, the raven haired boy blinked a few times as his dizzy brain tried to adjust to just exactly where he was.

Turning his head, Ash rolled around onto his back and hissed in pain as he did so. Glancing up, he saw nothing but a dark wooden ceiling above him and when he finally looked down, he saw that he was wrapped in some warm blankets on a very comfortable bed.

At that realization, Ash suddenly was able to put two and two together and figured that he must have been back in the room that he and his friends had all shared together the night before when they had stayed with Fuji.

His mind swimming, Ash turned his attention from figuring out where he was to trying to remember what had happened to him. It took some time and more than a little pounding within his head due to a headache which he felt throbbing at the base of his skull, but eventually he was able to recall the last memory he had before falling unconscious. Which was right after Haunter had calmed down completely during their fourth Star State connection and he then passed out due to the total exhaustion he finally fell victim to.

Everything else was a blank afterwards and desperately wanting to know what happened to Haunter, his Pokémon and his friends after he fell unconscious, Ash forced himself into a sitting position. Something that was very complicated to do since his entire body felt tired, sore and achey all over.

Once he was up though, the boy rested back against the headboard and looked around the room, getting visual confirmation that yes, he was definitely in the guest bedroom at Fuji's home once more. What took him by surprise however was the sight of his friends and Pikachu all in the room, sleeping, in almost identical positions as they had been in when he woke up the last time in this near exact same situation.

Pikachu was at his feet near the end of the bed, Giselle was asleep beside of him on a chair with her head down while Misty was resting on the window seat, head leaning against the glass, and Brock was in his sleeping bag on the floor. Which was the only difference from last time since before, both he and Misty had been sleeping on the window seat.

Almost in an exact copy of the way things happened the day before as well, Pikachu felt the bed shift when Ash moved and his eyes opened almost right away. Looking up the bed and seeing his trainer awake, Pikachu bolted up and jumped at Ash while crying out, "Pika Pi!"

Ash was taken by surprise at Pikachu's sudden quick movement but caught his Pokémon and hugged him close while smiling warmly, "Hey buddy I was worried about you!"

"Pika Pika! Pikachu Pi!" The little yellow Pokémon cried again happily as he nuzzled his face into Ash's chest.

While the boy continued to smile and reassured his Pokémon that everything was okay, the commotion they were making awoke the others in the room. As soon as Giselle, Misty and Brock opened their eyes and saw Ash awake, they immediately shot up and ran over to him while practically shouting.

"Ash you're awake!" Misty exclaimed excitedly as she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. Not one to be outdone though, Giselle quickly got up on the bed and took Ash's face in her hands after Misty freed him from the strangle hold she had on him.

With no further ado, the brunette quickly leaned down and claimed the young trainer's lips with her own as their mouths became reacquainted with one another yet again after such a near permanent loss of connection between them due to Ash's near death.

Surpised at first due to Misty's vicious hug and then Giselle throwing herself at him, Ash quickly recovered from his shock and wrapped his arms around her before returning the passionate kiss she was gifting him with.

Giselle's right hand quickly came up and gripped onto Ash's unruly black hair as she continued to kiss him fiercely. Brock and even Misty just looked on with smiles on their faces at the sweet moment between the two, the particular circumstance of it not being enough to weird them out. Misty for her part understood and for once wasn't jealous of Giselle since, even though she was very worried and then distraught about Ash when they thought he had died, she could only imagine what Giselle, as his girlfriend, must have been feeling at the same time.

After all, even though she strongly believed her own feelings matched her female friend and self-made rival's own for their shared love interest, Misty also knew the very close bond that Ash and Giselle had growing between them. And after having such a bond nearly shattered, she didn't want to intervene and mess up the very tender moment they were currently sharing.

When Ash and Giselle finally broke apart, she laid her forehead against his and whispered breathlessly, "I was so afraid that I nearly lost you Ash... thank Arceus... thank Arceus..."

Ash kept his arms wrapped around Giselle and hugged her while murmuring comforting words to her, "I know Giselle but I'm okay... I promise... everything is fine now..."

When she finally released Ash and then curled up beside of him with her head rested on his shoulder, their kiss saying more than words really ever could, Brock took that moment to give his own well wishes. "You had us worried like crazy Ash... I thought we would never see you again man."

Ash looked at the older boy oddly. "Why would that have been?"

His friends looked at each other, knowing that Ash had no clue they had left him when they thought there was no hope to save him down in the chamber. Each of them seemed very uncomfortable with how to tell him what happened and eventually, Giselle decided to do it.

"W-Well Ash... you see... when the chamber was caving in, we all knew we had to get out. After you and Haunter came out of that connection thing you were in, you were unconscious and fell to the ground with Haunter helping to levitate you down so you didn't get hurt. Brock and Mr. Fuji tried to get to you in time to save you but the ceiling started to collapse twice as fast and blocked you off from us. There was no way we could get to you..."

Misty picked up from there. "That's why Brock said we almost lost you. We had to leave with-" She paused for a minute and had to clear her throat to keep from breaking down at the sheer thought of  
it. "Without you..."

Ash's eyes widened, not caring that they had left them since he understood why they did so right away. No, his shock came from instantly having several questions, urgent questions, that he needed answered and demanded for as he commenced to speaking hurriedly, "What happened to Charmander and Gastly? Are they okay? What about all of the other Pokémon? Are Mr. Fuji and Agatha alright? What about Haunter, and how did I get out?"

Before anyone else could respond, the door suddenly opened and in came Fuji and Agatha. As soon as they saw him, Fuji smiled slightly and nodded towards the boy. "I thought we heard some commotion coming from in here, how are we feeling young man?"

Ash was about to answer but he was unable to as Agatha quickly rushed over to the bed and bent down, wrapping Ash up in a grandmotherly hug and thoroughly surprising him that someone as famous as her, a member of the Elite Four no less, was doing such a thing.

The old woman squeezed Ash tightly before pulling back enough to look at him with tears in her eyes. "Oh thank Arceus you are okay dear boy! I was worried sick about you!" She hugged him again and started to frantically apologize, "I am so sorry I made the decision to leave you Ash, I was merely acting in what I thought was the best interest of everyone! I thought of every possible way to get to you but I could not foresee one single attempt that would do so without burying us all alive down in that chamber..."

Pulling away a little bit, she looked at Ash again with a few tears now rolling down her cheeks. "Can you ever forgive this foolish old woman for doing something so terrible? I wouldn't blame you the slightest if you didn't!

Ash was still very surpised at Agatha's sudden display of affection and the tearful, frantic apologies she was offering him so it took a few minutes for his brain to catch up with what was happening. When it did though, he finally was able to reply to her and just shook his head.

"I'm not upset or mad at you at all Agatha, I understand why you all did what you did. I know that none of you would have left me unless it seemed absolutely hopeless and beyond the realm of possibility to rescue me. If anything, I'm just thankful that you got my friends and Pokémon out safely and didn't allow anything bad to happen to them. I'm grateful to you Agatha, not mad."

The old woman gave a small, warm smile at Ash after he said that while just shaking her head and placing her hands gently on his cheeks like a mother would do. "You really are a remarkable young man Ash, that much is for certain. I can see Samuel Oak in you the more and more I'm around you, even though I know you aren't related. I don't feel as though I deserve your gratitude or praise but I do still appreciate it more than you can ever know. Thank you dear boy."

Ash just smiled at her and nodded before looking at his friends and Fuji. "That goes for all of you guys, please don't feel bad for what you did. The entire chamber was coming down around us from the way I'm hearing it and you had to leave. I know that none of you would abandon me if there was even a slight chance at rescuing me so it must have been a really, really bad situation. I'm not upset at all so please don't blame yourselves okay, none of you."

Misty and Giselle both sat next to Ash and hugged either side of him while Brock smiled a little and nodded at his words. Fuji also gave a small smile at the boy's forgiving nature and then walked over to the chair next to the bed that Giselle had recently vacated. Taking a seat, he leaned on a cain that he had been using ever since the night before down in the chamber. His body still having not recovered yet from the intense exertion his aged self had went through.

"I also thank you for your words of forgiveness Ash. I was feeling just as guilty as everyone else so to hear you say such a thing not only places my mind at ease somewhat but it makes me respect you that much more as person and as a Pokémon Trainer," Fuji consented with a slight bow of gratitude to the boy in question.

Ash stretched his legs out, wincing a little at the soreness in them, before asking, "How long have I been out for?"

Yet again, Fuji answered almost immediately, "I'll answer that and your other questions Ash. You were out for a full day, that being all of yesterday, and woke up just a little after noon on today, which is Friday. All of our Pokémon is fine, each and every one. Myself and Agatha are doing just fine except for the occasional little aches and pains we've been feeling but, then again, it is to be expected." The old man smile amusedly. "We're not as young as we once were."

Agatha, who was sitting at the end of the bed, merely rubbed at her knees as she replied whimsically, "No... unfortunately no we are not."

Fuji smiled at his friend's statement before looking back at Ash. "As for how Haunter is doing and exactly how you survived... well... both are interchangeably related as a matter of fact."

Ash tilted his head to the side curiously and Fuji elaborated. He started off into as quick of an explanation as he could of the events which transpired after they managed to flee the tower, doing his best to tell about the mind boggling events that led up to Ash's miraculous survival.

It was easy to see Ash's surprise and flat out shock as Fuji, helped along by the others, told the rather long tale as best as he could. His eyes completely bulged when he found out that not just the sealing chamber but the entire tower had collapsed but Fuji merely held his hand up and told him that he would explain that particular portion of the story shortly.

By the time it was all said and done, Ash was just sitting there in stunned silence. Hardly believing how close he came to almost dying as well as the extreme lengths Haunter went to in order to save him. After several moments though, a small smile crossed his face as he asked quietly, "So... I succeeded in helping Haunter after all..."

Fuji nodded while crossing his arms. "Oh you did much more than that my boy." Seeing Ash look at him in puzzlement, the old man smiled again before explaining, "Haunter is doing more than okay. Right now it's down in the gym where it's been staying since it came back with us. All of your Pokémon have been making every attempt to make it feel welcome and after a short time, your friend's Pokémon all followed their example and started doing the same. It's safe to say that I believe Haunter is now quite comfortable here. It took awhile but it's finally beginning to relax and loosen up a little. Slowly but surely."

Ash smiled fondly, proud of his Pokémon doing such a thing without being asked. "But how is Haunter though? And Charmander and Gastly for that matter? I know they were all really exhausted and beat up, at least in the case of my Pokémon. Pikachu I can see is fine but I'm still worried about the others."

"We got all of our Pokémon, including yours, taken to the Pokémon Center bright and early the very next morning Ash," Brock spoke up from the other side of the bed across from Fuji and Agatha. He then grinned perversely. "Nurse Joy was nice, real nice!"

As Brock's mouth slightly hung open and his face began turning red with a blush at the memory of the Lavender Town Nurse Joy, everyone else watched him with beads of sweat running down the back of their heads. The more... 'into' the memories Brock became, Misty's hand started reaching towards his ear while twitching.

All it took was Brock uttering one, "Oh Nurse Joy!" Before said hand promptly latched onto his ear and then yanked the teen down to the floor where he was pulled towards the door by an irritated Misty. "No one wants to hear your perverted little fantasies Brock you big creepo!"

She then pulled the struggling, yelping Brock out of the room and shut the door before the pleas for mercy and shouts of pain from the former Pewter City Gym Leader filled the rest of the house as Misty commenced to giving him a good, well deserved pounding. At least... well deserved in her mind.

Everyone in the room looked towards the door before Ash, Giselle and Pikachu hung and shook their heads in exasperated frustration at Brock's never ending perverted antics. Fuji meanwhile just chuckled amusedly while Agatha raised an eyebrow and shook her own head slightly. "That young man has some serious issues regarding the opposite sex," She stated rather bluntly.

Ash and Giselle simply sighed before speaking in unison along with Pikachu, "We know/Pika..."

Fuji chuckled again before he heard Ash ask, "So what about Haunter? How did you all manage to help it?"

The old man leaned on his cane a little more until his chin was resting on his clasped together hands and then answered, "The Nurse Joy here in town is a very kind and helpful woman, just like most of her unusually numerous kin. She's heard the stories of Black Fog like almost everyone else here has but she was not so harsh in judgement as most would be. When we took the Pokémon to the center that morning for treatment, Agatha and I explained to her the situation of what had happened the night before."

He smiled a little amusedly. "Well, at least we did once your friend Brock finished making a rather sad attempt at wooing the poor nurse." Fuji chuckled again before continuing, "The entire town was already in a buzz as to what happened to the tower so Joy was partially aware of the fact that something had happened. We omitted many parts of the story obviously but the general outline of events was revealed to her."

He then smiled genuinely. "She was clearly quite suprised at first at the tale we told her but being that she has known me ever since she first came to take over the center many years ago, Nurse Joy had grown to trust me and knew I wouldn't lie to her. Without even asking outright, she volunteered to come here and look Haunter over after hearing our story and when she did, she confirmed several things for us."

The older man sat back in his chair and sighed. "The first being that Haunter was completely fine aside from being exhausted. It had no wounds that wouldn't heal on their own despite the large scale battle we waged against it. Surprisingly enough, once we informed Haunter of why Nurse Joy was here, it didn't put up a fight and was very well behaved when she checked it over."

Ash intervened at that point, "But what else did she find out about it?"

"Aside from the fact that Haunter is much, much larger than not only any Ghost-Type I've ever seen but any other Pokémon in general?" Agatha offered in response to his question and ended in a somewhat questioning note herself. "Many things really. She was able to tell from the simple tests she performed without any heavy equipment that Haunter is far, far from an ordinary Pokémon. Biologically it is made up very differently from any other Ghost-Type in specific. Generally it's body functions much the same as any other Ghost Pokémon, which it would have to in order make it a member of that particular species. Everything after that though is supposedly a mystery."

Ash looked quite confused at her final words and Fuji elaborated, "The differences lie not only in Haunter's mass and obvious supercharged physical capabilities and attacks but also in how it operates on a regular day to day bases. We learned for instance that Haunter can apparently go an abnormally long time without food or sleep and it also has a unique sensitivity to sunlight. Something attained most likely from years of living in darkness no doubt. In time it may fade but it's hard to tell. Joy could only tell so much without actually doing a full on exam back at the Center and even then, she's a healthcare professional, not a Pokémon professor or scientist."

Ash nodded and then sat up a little more. "Well I really do appreciate you doing all that for Haunter. What about the tower though? How did people handle it?"

Fuji just chuckled again and shook his head. "About how you'd expect. With shock, panic, fear and in some cases, even joy. That tower had become a black mark on the town for many, many years so several people were glad to see it topple. The only thing almost the entire town has in common concerning yesterday's events is wondering exactly what happened. Everyone felt the massive earthquake that rocked the entire tower earlier in the night during our battle against Haunter and the three Ghost-Types it had created as it's bodyguards. Even more townspeople recalled seeing the bright pillar of light shoot up into the sky the night before when I rescued you from Haunter's clutches down in the catacombs."

He sighed in exasperation. "So essentially, half the town seems to be divided into those that believe it was a simple act of nature which took the form of a random earthquake rocking through the area and being the cause for the tower's fall but then others see it as some act of divine intervention. A great act of the powers that be finally smiting a dark monument which was nothing more than a memorial for pain, suffering and tragic events of the past."

Fuji shrugged. "But whoever believes what really doesn't matter because the fact does remain that even though Pokémon Tower's origins started out noble and true, being a resting place and memorial ground for the souls of departed Pokémon and the humans who cared for them in having a place to pay their respects, it did not remain that way. For whatever reason... fate, destiny, the divine or whatever you may believe in, something chose to make that tower the pinnacle for a series of unforgettable tragedies that it simply couldn't bounce back from.

Truth be told, the only reason the tower was never taken down years before now was largely due to the community itself. Lavender Town is somewhat known for being rather spooky and ominous because of not only Pokémon Tower itself but also because that in all of Kanto, one of the best places to find Ghost-Types is in the forests and other nearby areas around this town. Occasionally you'll even hear of one or a group of them moving into a local building here in town that's been abandoned and then making it their home. I know for a fact that many places here in this abandoned part of town serve as home to several Ghost Pokémon but no one ever bothers to clear them out. In fact, it never happens unless they come to harbor somewhere within the main part of the town itself where people actually live."

Once more Fuji sighed. "It is a sad thing truly but once you've been labeled for so long as something unpleasant, you slowly start to believe it over time. Because outsiders have given this town the reputation of being spooky, creepy and all around 'ghostly' in origin, the people living here have almost come to play the part. Many that live here are very superstitious and because of this, years ago when the last accident surrounding the tower occurred and everyone left this part of town, no one wanted to vote to have it taken down for fear of reprisals at the hands of whatever 'Great Evil' came to live within it.

Now that the tower has finally fallen however, many of those same superstitious believers are taking it as a good omen and a sign that the dark cloud which hovered over this town for many years because of Pokémon Tower has finally passed. Even now I hear that the town council is deciding on what course of action to take now that the tower is no more. Some are saying to make it into a memorial sight while others are trying to vote to get it rebuilt."

Fuji smiled yet again. "Whatever happens though, I do believe things here in Lavender Town are going to get much better. Even for all of the rumors and theories going around about what might happen to the sight of where the tower once stood, one thing is for almost certain. Nearly the entire town seems to be unanimous on deciding to finally start cleaning up, repairing and even bringing this particular part of town back to life. Which would be wonderful, if it does happen, for our local economy. After all, getting use and making profit from both sides of a town works far better than when only using one."

Fuji then looked at Ash and grinned. "I suppose that for just this once, the local train of superstition seems to be right. For all the years Haunter was locked under that tower stewing in it's own hatred and misery, this town suffered and was a shadow of it's former self. Now that Haunter has been freed of it's pain and given a new form of peace in it's life, the unofficial object of this town's oppression in the form of the tower has since crumbled down and now everyone has hope again."

He pointed a finger at Ash. "And unknowingly my boy, they have you to thank for it."

Ash just shook his head. "No they don't. It was a combined effort of all of us working together to help Haunter, it wasn't me by myself. If I would have been alone I'd be dead right now and who knows about Haunter."

Giselle smiled softly and reached for his hand. "We have helped you Ash and been there for support, both phsyical and emotional when you needed it, but you were the one that freed Haunter. You were the one that risked your life time and time again to establish a connection with it's heart and help take away Haunter's pain. None of us would have been able to do that Ash, it was all you for that part. When we were ready to give up, you kept pushing forward and you didn't stop. You had hope for Haunter and you weren't going to give up on it. Rather you want to admit it or not, you are the reason, souly, for Haunter finally having hope again and the chance at a new life."

Giselle continued to smile at Ash as she kept going with her speech, "I think that in some ways, the two of you are intertwined now. Just looking at Haunter and how it acts when your name is spoken, not to mention how worried about you I know it's been, makes me honestly believe that you two really did connect your hearts somehow and now, Haunter is tied to you. It's like Fuji said, because of the light and release from darkness you brought to Haunter, the town is now free of the unknowing oppression and negativity it's rage and anger brought. This town really does have another shot at life again, just like Haunter, and it is because you were willing to stand up and be there for something that everyone else gave up on a long time ago."

Fuji nodded and then stroked his chin. "Wise words for one so young and she is right Ash. In some odd way, you, Haunter and this town are now connected in a very unique way and I'm sure it isn't a coincidence. Lavender Town was the cradle for Haunter's refuge for so long and due to that, it was forced into a form of desolation and despair by the dark shadows it's malice brought down upon us all the day of the fateful fire in Pokémon Tower. And after the town had already been blackened and stained by Team Rocket's act of cruelty and evil years prior."

The kind old man looked up at the ceiling with a fond, thoughtful expression on his face. "But then you came and pulled those same dark curtains back and allowed the light to shine over the town once more with the toppling of the tower and the redemption of Haunter's soul. In fact, I would wager to say that had you failed and left with us the other night when the tower was collapsing and Haunter would have succeeded in killing itself, I believe that would have been the final nail in the proverbial coffin that could have forever sealed Lavender Town's dark fate that had been ruling it for so long."

Ash smiled politely and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah well I don't know about all that, I'm just glad that everything turned out for the best in the end. Is there any way I can go and see Haunter and my Pokémon now?"

Fuji shrugged again before replying, "That's up to you Ash, how are you feeling?"

The boy stretched his legs and arms out a little and nodded. "I'm okay. A little sore and tired still but I'm good enough to get up and move a bit." He looked down at that point, noticing he was only in his boxers and black undershirt. "Where are my clothes?"

Giselle quickly got off the bed and ran over to the dresser in the corner of the room and took his tracksuit off the top of it before running back over to the bed. "Here you go Ash. We washed them up for you and Agatha even re-patched the cuts and tears in the material."

Ash looked at Agatha as he took his clothes from Giselle and smiled widely. "Hey thanks so much for fixing my clothes Agatha!"

The older woman just smiled and waved him off. "Oh Ash you don't have to thank me, I was happy to do it for you. If they need anymore repairs, just let me know."

The boy got up off the bed and pulled his tracksuit on before looking himself over in the mirror that was attached to the back of the door. "Wow this thing looks good as new, you did great!"

She smiled again and nodded. "You're very welcome young man, very welcome indeed."

Fuji took that time to stand up and stretch. "Well... what do you say all say we go down and let Ash have a much anticipated reunion between he, the rest of his Pokémon and Haunter?"

Ash finished putting his shoes on and then headed towards the door before anyone could answer Fuji's question. "I'm ready, lets go!" He then opened up the door and headed out onto the elevated walkway that was suspended above the ground level of the house.

Fuji, Giselle and Agatha followed him with Pikachu jumping up onto his shoulder and when they were almost to the stairs that lead down to the living room, they all saw Misty sitting on top of Brock while twisting his arm. The teen boy was yelping in pain as Misty shouted, "Learned your lesson yet Brock?!" While physically torturing him.

Ash stopped and shook his head in amusement before sighing and placing his hands on his hips. "Misty... please let Brock up, we're going to see Haunter and the other Pokémon now."

Misty almost immediately stopped torturing Brock and stood up before appearing next to Ash's side with a big, sweet smile on her face seemingly the very next moment. "Sure thing Ash!"

Chuckling, Ash lead Giselle and Misty down the stairs with Agatha in tow while Fuji brought up the rear. The old man stopped just long enough to see Brock laying there on the top step with a little bit of drool hanging limply from his mouth while comically groaning in pain.

"Ugh..." He mumbled in a daze. "How does Ash do that... It's not fair!"

Fuji merely chuckled and responded simply, "Learn the ways to a woman's heart young man, learn the ways." He then followed the others down the steps without another word while Brock peeled his beaten and mangled self up from the ground.

Once Ash reached the door to the gym, he opened it up and stepped inside. As soon as he walked in, he saw all of his Pokémon plus Misty, Giselle and Brock's gathered around the middle of the large hanger-like gym where Haunter, in all of it's massive glory, was hovering as they talked to it.

Ash smiled at the sight and called out, "Hey you guys talking about anything good?!"

Almost instantly, all of his Pokémon turned around and as soon as they saw him, the entire group got up and rushed towards their trainer as fast possible while making an uproarious chorus of varied calls at him. A scene of which was identical to the other day when they all did the same thing after he awoke from the unconscious state Haunter had caused him.

Also just like that day, Ash was smart enough to lay down on the ground just as his Pokémon converged upon him so that they wouldn't trample him to death. A decision that turned out to be very wise as they all jumped on him at one time and caused the air to be forcibly expelled from his lungs.

"H-Hey guys... I m-missed you all too!" He huffed and then started greeting each one while hugging them close and grinning once he regained his breath. "How've you all been? Everything going okay?"

His Pokémon all began talking to him hurriedly in their own unique ways of speech and even though Ash couldn't understand any of them except for Gastly, he treasured the gift of getting to hear his Pokémon's voices after having such a close brush with death. The feeling of having them all surround him was one of which he couldn't replace and just sat there, happily listening to them rattle on while sitting close to him.

"We were all very worried about you Ash," Gastly said in his usual sophisticated, somewhat operatic tone. "For a time none of us knew what was going to happen until your friends came down and informed us that you just needed a long rest. I can tell you that I have never been so relieved in all the years of my long life once I found out that you were safe."

Ash smiled and nodded to Gastly. "I'm really glad to still be here too Gastly and it's all thanks to you guys-" He gestured at the Ghost-Type and then looked down and smiled at Pikachu and Charmander. "My friends and even Haunter. If not for everything you all did to keep me safe down in that chamber and then Haunter itself saving me when the tower collapsed, I wouldn't be here right now."

He then looked back down at Charmander again and gently rubbed his Pokémon on the head. "I owe you an especially big thank you Charmander. If it wasn't for you sticking by my side there at the end when Pikachu was forced asleep and Gastly was stilled stunned from one of Haunter's attacks, I never would have been able to get to it at the end and finally heal it's soul. So for that... thank you."

The Fire-Type just did a mimicry of his trainer and rubbed the back of his head while smiling modestly. Ash chuckled fondly at him and then looked at all of his Pokémon. "Listen everybody, I really want to say thank you for being here for Haunter and making it feel welcome while I've been out of it. I heard that you guys really went out of your to make Haunter feel accepted and after everything it's been through, I'm sure it really appreciated all the kindness."

He nodded to Brock, Misty and Giselle's Pokémon a little ways away. "You guys too, thank you for making Haunter feel welcomed as well."

His friend's Pokémon gave a return nod to the boy they had all come to respect and then Gastly got his attention again. "You know Ash, Haunter has been very anxious to see you again. Why don't you go and talk to it for awhile?"

Ash stood up. "Yeah good idea, I will." He then walked across the gym to where Haunter was at and stood before the truly impressive and immensely large Ghost-Type. Now that he wasn't in a situation where he was scrambling to try and achieve something before Haunter could kill he and everyone else, Ash finally was able to stand back and get a good look at Haunter.

Truthfully, the Pokémon in question was very a unique one. Not just with it's great size either but also how it actually looked different from other Haunter. The red eyes, spiky looking points all over it's body and the much larger frame Haunter possessed was what truly set it apart from others of it's species and physically made it look much different than say, Fuji's Haunter.

Seeing the very old Pokémon looking down at him, Ash smiled and waved up at it. "Heya Haunter how's everything going?! You look good!"

The ancient Ghost-Type didn't say anything but inclined it's head to Ash's statement with what appeared to be it's own version of a small smile on it's unfortunately permanent wicked looking face. The boy scratched at his arm and then said a little hesitantly, "You know Haunter I... I really owe you a big time thank you. If it wasn't for you saving me there the other night, I'd probably be buried along with everything else under what used to be Pokémon Tower right now and well... you went through a lot to save me and I just wanted to say thank you."

Yet again Haunter nodded and then made a gesturing motion at Ash's body with it's hands. Eventually catching on to what Haunter was trying to ask after a few moments of thought, Ash finally realized that he was being asked if he was doing okay now.

Smiling widely, he gave a simple thumbs up before replying, "Now don't you worry about me Haunter, I'm doing totally fine now. A little tired and beaten up but that's okay. I'm fine though, I promise!"

He could see what he thought was relief come across Haunter's face at those words and then sat himself down before going off into what would become an hour long conversation of sorts using mostly body language to communicate with the stoic Pokémon.

Even though he never replied with any kind of speech, Poké or otherwise, Ash knew that Haunter was listening to what he had to say intently and would actually answer him in it's own way. Being it through nods of the head or gestures with it's hands . Sometimes Haunter would even just give him a look which Ash knew meant he was giving him the answer to his question or a reply without outright speaking to him.

Ash did this for quite some time with his Pokémon all sitting around him, as well as with his friend's own, before Giselle opened up the door of the gym right on the turn of eight o'clock and called out, "Ash dinner!"

The boy turned around and waved at his girlfriend. "Coming Giselle!" He then looked back at Haunter. "I gotta go but all the Pokémon are gonna stay and keep you company for now. I'll be back so we can talk some more okay Haunter? Like tonight if you'd like."

The large Pokémon simply nodded to Ash and gave it's own odd, creepy, yet still unique smile to him. The boy stood up and then said goodbye to his Pokémon before he, Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur went back into the living quarters of the house for supper.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Half an hour later after Ash and Brock made the Pokémon their food and then served a dish each to the ones in the gym, including Agatha and Fuji's who were given permission to try both boy's unique recipes, they helped the others set the table in the kitchen/living room combination before settling down for a very delicious looking meal prepared by Brock, Fuji and Agatha. A meal of which consisted of brown rice, broiled potatoes, tossed salad, thin wheat bread rolls and soft boiled Pidgey eggs. Oolong and jade tea coming in right after as the refreshing warm beverages of choice to wash down such a fulfilling meal.

As they all sat together and ate, Ash swallowed a mouthful of food and then exclaimed praisingly, "Mmmm! The food is delicious, you guys did awesome preparing it!"

Agatha smiled at him and replied gratefully, "Why thank you Ash. I didn't do too much though, the real praise goes to Fuji and Brock. The old brain here has always been the better cook out of the two of us. My 'finer' cooking knowledge has been sadly limited over the years due to all of the constant traveling I've always done. Never really stayed in one place for too long to have a chance to learn."

Fuji chuckled and looked over at his friend. "Now, now Agatha, you're just sore that Luanne taught me all of her talented tricks of the trade when in the kitchen instead of you whenever you came over. Oh and you're very welcome Ash," He finished with a smile at the younger male.

Agatha simply huffed and sipped her tea as Brock looked at Fuji with interest. "So your wife was a good cook?"

Fuji nodded as he poured himself a cup of tea. "Oh yes, most definitely. Before she became a Tower Keeper, Luanne traveled the region and worked at some of the finest culinary establishments in Kanto, all while working under some of the greatest chefs of the time. I don't know if you've ever heard of it before Brock but she even worked for a time at the Golden Magikarp as the sous chef."

No sooner did the words leave Fuji's lips and Brock practically had his mouth hanging open. "Are you kidding me Mr. Fuji?! Of course I've heard of the Golden Magikarp! My mother was a famous cook herself and had her own line of cooking recipe and instruction videos that she did for years when I was younger! She was invited to go and become the head chef at the Golden Magikarp but by then she was already married to my father and had become a mother. She was forced to pass up on the opportunity but I've always dreamed of visiting that restaurant!"

Fuji smiled and tipped his teacup to Brock. "Quite an accomplishment your mother made if she was being offered such a prestigious position. Very impressive indeed."

Ash suddenly waved his hands in the air for a halt. "Wait a minute Brock... you said that your mom had her own cooking instructional videos? What was her name?"

Brock appeared a little confused at the question but answered anyway, "Lisa, Lisa Stone. She did her own series of cooking shows for years, all the way up until she died of cervical cancer."

Ash sat back in his chair and seemed happily suprised. "Brock, my mom couldn't cook a thing when she and my father first got together. She had to learn from these cooking videos that was taught by a woman named Lisa Stone!"

Brock also looked suprised for a few moments but then smiled. "Hey what do you know? I was really impressed by your mom's cooking ability and wanted her to teach me what she knew if she ever got the chance but it turns out that her and my own mom were more alike than I thought. Who would have guessed Mrs. Ketchum learned to get so good at cooking from my mother?" He crossed his arms and chuckled. "Small world."

Ash grinned and pointed between them both. "I guess you and me were always meant to be friends huh Brock?"

The older boy merely smiled and nodded. "You know Ash, I think you're right."

Suddenly, Misty spoke up in an irritated voice, "Will someone please tell me what the Golden Magikarp is?!"

Everyone except for Ash looked at the orange haired girl like she was more than a little flighty in the head. Brock especially seemed shocked as he raised an eyebrow. "Seriously Misty? You've never heard of the Golden Magikarp?"

Ash spoke up as Misty shook her head, "Neither have I."

The teen looked at them both, stunned, for a moment before leaning forward on the table and explaining, "Well the Golden Magikarp is basically the most famous restaurant in all of Kanto and is located in Celadon City. It's the full five star experience and everything. Complete with indoor theater, live shows that are performed regularly, a rooftop pool and lounge, five floors of the most stunning atmospheric eating conditions you've ever seen and the menu is super extensive. Not only can you get some of the most famous dishes found anywhere here in Kanto at this particular restaurant but you can also get exotic dishes prepared for you that comes from far away regions like Sinnoh, Unova and even Kalos."

Ash leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms while whistling. "Wow... sounds fancy."

Giselle nodded and took a sip of her tea. "Yeah and not to mention extremely expensive. And I mean like... really expensive. Only the wealthiest and most high class people in society eat there. Even celebrities and other famous figures from here and other regions go to the Golden Magikarp. My family eats there pretty often and it really is a very nice place."

Brock looked at Giselle like she had just slapped his face and called him homosexual when she said that she had already been to the Golden Magikarp and multiple times at that apparently. Said brunette looked over at Misty without noticing that Brock was simply staring at her with wide eyes. "So you've really never heard of the Golden Magikarp before Misty?"

The slightly taller female glared slightly at Giselle even though the other girl didn't mean to intentionally rub her family's good fortune in anyone's faces. "No I haven't for your information. Some of us don't come from super wealthy families that can afford to send their daughters to snobbish technical schools and eat all the time at five star restaurants either."

Giselle glared back at Misty since she could hear the subtly barbed comments the younger girl was making but just before they could get into one of their nasty rounds, Fuji spoke up to diffuse the tension, "Yes I've only been there once myself and everything miss Giselle and Brock talks about concerning it is most definitely true. The Golden Magikarp is the nicest place you'll ever go to eat at here in Kanto and unlike many other high rise eating establishments that charge unbelievable prices for small portions of food that is only somewhat adequate, the Golden Magikarp more than lives up to it's reputation of being the best. Their food is far beyond incredible. I remember it from the time I went there with Agatha as her guest at a celebratory dinner for the Elite Four."

Agatha smiled fondly and held her teacup close to her mouth. "Ah yes I remember that night well. It was right after little Lori managed to get into the Elite Four and we all went out to celebrate her success. Which was well earned considering how hard we all were on her during the trials, especially Lance. But... then again, he was the same way with me so I wasn't really all that surpised at her rough treatment I suppose."

Misty's head seemed to turn on a swivel as she looked at Agatha with big eyes, her near fight with Giselle all but totally forgotten. "Wait did you just say Lori? As in... Lorelei of the Elite Four? Water Mistress and Ice-Type master of Kanto? THAT Lorelei?!"

Agatha looked at Misty and chuckled amusedly. "I see you are a fan of hers and yes, that's exactly who I am talking about."

The youngest Waterflower sister seemed to form stars in her eyes as she nodded rapidly. "Of course I am! She's my biggest inspiration, even more so than Wallace the Champion of the Hoenn region! They're both big time Water Pokémon masters but Lorelei is my favorite! She always seems so cool and collected any time she battles on TV and the way she commands her Water and Ice-Type Pokémon is just... it's just incredible! Being how my dream is to become a Water Pokémon master too, Lorelei is my greatest idol!"

Agatha chuckled again and took another sip of her tea. "Well I can tell you that you picked the right person to idolize Misty. Lorelei is a very kind, sweet and fiercely intelligent woman who loves Pokémon a great deal. She's definitely a genius when it comes to raising Water and Ice-Types and is always a great thrill to battle against or even to watch battle from the sidelines. I've known her ever since she was just a young lady first getting into the League as the youngest member of our Elite Four and I quickly took her under my wing so to speak. We developed a very close bond over time and now she's like the daughter I never had."

The older woman winked at Misty. "I guarantee she would love to meet someone as spirited about Water-Types as you Misty. In fact, you even remind me of her a little bit when she was younger."

While Misty and Agatha chatted away about Lorelei, Brock turned his attention back to Fuji. "Hey umm... Mr. Fuji? I was just wondering... if you don't mind and depending on how long we're here for that is... would you maybe consider teaching me some of the ways that you cook? You're really good, way better than me, and I would be honored to learn from you."

Fuji just laughed and reached out to pat Brock's shoulder since he was sitting right next to him. "Well I think you give me a little too much credit and not enough for yourself young man but I would be honored and happy to work with you!"

Brock smiled widely and bowed his head to Fuji. "Thank you Mr. Fuji, I really appreciate it. I hope I do get a chance to learn from you."

After that, the table descended into small chatter amongst everyone for a little while before Agatha suddenly spoke up, addressing Ash." I must say young man that I am very impressed by yourself and Brock's cooking abilities when it comes to Pokémon food. When you two went to feed all the Pokémon I didn't think my own would eat the mix you made since they are always so picky but I was wrong."

Fuji nodded. "Yes mine are rather picky as well but they ate your food with no issues, I am quite impressed."

Ash and Brock just shrugged and laughed modestly before the younger of the two answered, "Yeah well, Brock is better than me I think. My mom taught me how to make food for my Pokémon and I've been working to get better at it ever since."

"I don't know about that Ash," Brock intervened. "I may be the better when it come to making human food but I'd say we're about equal when it comes to Pokémon. You're really good at it and I wouldn't short yourself out."

Misty and Giselle both nodded in agreement while simply humming their agreement since their mouths were full. Ash scratched his cheek with one finger and smiled. "Ah well I appreciate it Brock, thanks." He looked over then at Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur, who were still eating their own food a little ways away from the table. "I just like knowing that I can make food my Pokémon enjoy, that's all."

Agatha glanced at where Ash was looking for a moment before speaking to the boy once more, "I must also say that I am very impressed with how you raise your Pokémon young man. There are ways in which to tell for each species of Pokémon just how healthy they are and for yours I can easily tell it. Pikachu's coat is very glossy and sleek and the electric sacs on it's cheek are a vibrant red. Squirtle's shell looks to be very firm and wall taken care of without a crack to be seen, which is a sign of very good health in it's species. Charmander's tail flame is one of the healthiest and brightest that I have ever seen on one of it's kind so that says all I need to know concerning it and as for your Bulbasaur, the bulb on it's back appears to be very healthy, full of vitality and also a very good size. You should be proud."

Ash just leaned over one side of his chair and continued to look at his Pokémon before replying, "Thanks Agatha, that means a lot coming from you. I do my best for Pokémon and that's all I can do." The boy smiled a little in reminiscence then. "I remember the morning I first left for my journey and I was the very first one at Professor Oak's lab. He gave me the top pick between Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur but my heart was so set on this little Pichu I met in the forests surrounding the ranch years earlier, I just couldn't pick any of them."

Ash's eyes turned to land on Pikachu where he smiled a little more. "It turns out that the Professor had just captured a Pikachu earlier that morning and when I asked to see it, Pikachu recognized me and I recognized him as the Pichu I saw as a kid years before. He was really angry and ill tempered at first since Professor Oak had succeeded in capturing him in order to keep him from chewing on the electric lines for the lab and that was why he was afraid to let me have Pikachu in the first place. He was worried that it was too much for a beginner trainer to handle. But... after Pikachu recognized who I was and we caught up a little, he decided to willingly come along with me. We've been together ever since that day now almost six months ago."

Ash laughed before shaking his head. "I never would have imagined that I'd end up with all three Kanto starters anyway. It kind of blows my mind when I think about it and makes me realize just how lucky I am."

He then reached for another soft boiled egg while Agatha smiled fondly at his little story and puts one on his plate before looking at it for a minute. He then looked up at Agatha again and grinned a little cheesily. "To be honest, I'm just really hoping that eventually this little mind block I have with eating meat will eventually go away. I still make myself eat it but taking this Pidgey egg for instance, I have such a hard time now that I've become a trainer and have my own Pokémon, eating any kind of food made out of one. Before I became a trainer I never thought too much about it but now that I've been raising my own Pokémon, it just seems so... I don't know... wrong somehow. Especially since one of my first Pokémon was a Pidgey."

Agatha actually gave a little chuckle, as well as Fuji, before taking a sip of her tea. "No Ash you don't need to feel bad about that at all, it just means you're normal and have a heart. Now if you would have said instead that you had no troubles eating Pokémon meat after becoming a trainer, I would have questioned the state of your head."

She set her cup down and pointed at him as she smiles. "What you're feeling right now is completely normal young man. When I first started out as a Pokémon Trainer I was so conflicted about eating anything made out of Pokémon that I became a vegetarian. Unfortunately, living a life as physically exerting as the one a trainer lives while on the road is not one for a vegetarian and I quickly had to rethink things if I didn't want to run myself into the ground from lack of energy."

She then leaned forward on her elbows and laced her fingers together. "I eventually had to come to realize something. And that was this... everything and everyone in this life has a place in the cycle of life and nature. We all live for a particular purpose, no matter what it may end up being, and we are all meant to die in a particular way suited for each individual. People and Pokémon come and then they go, ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Yes certain species of Pokémon are farmed as food for humans and even other Pokémon but it's not done as an evil act by heartless people... for the most part anyway.

Arceus made humans and Pokémon to coexist yes but also to help each other live and prosper. Without the species of Pokémon we have that serve as a large source of our food, many people all over the world would starve. Including the certain types of Pokémon that depend on a large protein source in their diet which only comes  
from meat for their nourishment needs, instead of pure vegetation. If all Pokémon consumption stopped tomorrow then not only would people suffer but many types of Pokémon that are carnivorous would starve and perish as well. Add onto that, the Pokémon species who were being used as livestock would start to overpopulate and grow too large for their chosen home environments to sustain them. They eventually would also start to go hungry from lack of findable food and even develop sicknesses and diseases due to said overpopulation."

Agatha smiled warmly at Ash and the other young trainers at the table. "So you see? Life and everything in it has a circle that it has to follow, from birth to death. If people or Pokémon try to interfere and mess with nature then the same world that nourishes us would eventually start to suffer and wither until nothing remained. Eventually killing any and everything on this planet in the process. It's a harsh and dramatic example I know but no less true. We are all a part of this world and even the slightest bit of interference towards the natural order of things could cause chaos."

Agatha then gestured at Ash. "Tell me young man, is your Pidgey healthy, happy and growing strong?"

The boy smiled brightly at the mention of one of his Pokémon and nodded right away. "Yeah she's doing really well and is actually already a Pidgeot. She's really strong and fast too!"

The old woman smiled and had to refrain from chuckling again at Ash's almost constant infectious enthusiasm. "Well then you see Ash? Your Pidgey wasn't meant to be one of the ones who is bred for livestock. Instead she was born in the wild and her destiny has led her to a talented young trainer that will help make her stronger and happier than she could ever hope to be by herself. Not every Pokémon in a species that can be used for produce will be and many of them go on to live happy, fulfilled lives in other ways. Either with a Pokémon Trainer, human friend of some kind or maybe even find happiness on their own."

Fuji then spoke up and addressed Ash and his friends, "What Agatha is saying essentially is not to feel bad for playing your own roles in the circle of life. We don't eat Pokémon because we're malicious or bad people, we do it because it's how we survive and is also how Arceus meant for things to be. Everything has a purpose, everything lives and everything dies. It's just nature."

The young group of trainers appeared thoughtful for a few moments before, one by one, they all nodded in understanding and acceptance. "You know, that actually does make a lot of sense," Ash conceded as he looked at Fuji and Agatha. "I never honestly thought of all that to such a degree or put it in such a way before. You're right though, both of you. People and Pokémon are all a part of life and just like everything else that lives, we also have a way in which we have to die and a purpose for why we do so. It doesn't do me or anyone else any good to feel bad about or try to change what is naturally done by nature."

Brock, Misty and Giselle seemed to agree with his words as he smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you both for explaining all of that in such a way and helping it to make sense to me. I truly never thought of it in that way but after hearing it put so sensibly and intelligently, I actually do feel a lot better now about it all. Thank you again, I truly do appreciate it."

Agatha got up as she prepared to take the now empty dishes to the sink. "Anytime young man, it was my pleasure. If I can help offer even a little bit of advice or help to a young trainer reaching for the stars then I am happy to do so." She gestured to the table. "Now what say we all pitch in and help clean up the dishes and kitchen hmm?"

"Yeah I'll help!" Giselle volunteered as she hopped up.

"Me too," Misty chimed in as she grabbed her own plate and cup and headed to the sink.

"Well I helped cook so I should help clean up afterwards too," Brock said with a chuckle as he got up and pushed his chair in.

Ash however simply nodded, "Yeah I'll help too but first I would like to ask you a question if you wouldn't mind Mr. Fuji."

The older man just inclined his head to Ash and waved with his left hand in a welcoming gesture. "Please do Ash."

The boy took a few moments to make sure he would be asking in the nicest way possible before beginning, "Well Mr. Fuji it's just... Haunter is so new to all of this and it hasn't had a chance to fully accustom to life away from the darkness and shadows of the tower yet. I would really like to have some more time with it so I can get to know Haunter better and maybe even help it adjust to life out here in the real world again. Of course I would also like to see the town a little more and maybe even learn what I can from you and Agatha during the time we're here so... so I was wondering if maybe you would mind if we stayed for perhaps another week with you here?"

Ash held his hands up. "We'll help however we can and I'll even pay you so that we're not just a burden on you, that's no issue. If you just don't want us staying then that's fine too and we'll find somewhere else to room while we're here, like the Pokémon Center. I just thought that I would ask if you would mind or anything since-"

Fuji stopped him with a raised hand. "Ash, you and your friends are more than welcome to stay with me for as long as you wish to. I'm very happy for the company and you all are great sources of it at that. I also will take no payment of any kind from any of you. You either stay with me free of charge or not at all."

Ash looked at his friends and then went over to ask, "Hey... would you guys be okay if we stayed here for another week or so? Solidad's contest in Saffron isn't for awhile yet so we'll still have more than enough time to get there I think."

Misty shook her head. "I'd love to stay Ash, maybe Agatha can tell me a little more about Lorelei while we're here!"

Giselle snickered at Misty but answered her boyfriend, "I'd also like to stay Ash, maybe we could go and see the town together just us while we're at it."

Brock was instantly on board. "Hey I'm definitely okay with staying for awhile longer! Hopefully Mr. Fuji can teach me some of his great cooking secrets and recipes while we're here."

Ash turned back to Fuji once his friends gave their consent and nodded. "We'll stay Mr. Fuji and thank you, this is very gracious and kind of you. We all greatly appreciate it," He finished as each of them gave a respectful bow to the older man.

Fuji gave his own bright smile and held a thumbs up. "Okay then, it sounds like I'll be having some great company to count on for the next few days!"

After that, the group of friends went to help Fuji and Agatha clean up the kitchen before settling down for a quiet evening of fellowship and conversation that was both stimulating and also very humorous at certain points. Especially whenever Misty and Giselle would nearly get into one of their loud, over the top shouting matches.

All in all though, the evening was a good one and in Ash's opinion, the perfect way to end a very stressful and intense two days. While surrounded by his friends, Pokémon and a warm and friendly atmosphere, Ash couldn't help but sit back and reflect on just what the next week would hold for him and the others.

And he wasn't disappointed either.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

The following week passed by in a figurative blur for Ash and his friends. Just as he had hoped, the week turned out to be very eventful, very successful and a learning experience for all of them. Not only had he been spending every day getting to know Haunter better and talking with the Ghost-Type at every chance he had but he had also been, believe it or not, training with Agatha during that same time.

It had all started when she walked in on he and his Pokémon training together in the gym during the physical improvement and integrated training portion of their workout session. She watched them for a time and then observed as Ash started to run them through the paces with move training, attack and defensive maneuvering, speed, strength and agility drills, battle tactics and strategy, partner and all out sparring and even the special skills portion of their regimen.

Which was basically where Ash would break them down into working on utilizing their abilities and even special techniques he was helping them to create, all while in practice battle. There was a quite a few other smaller areas of focus Ash put emphasis on but those were the ones in which he put the most focus to and really drilled his Pokémon on.

And of course, even though he was just coming off of a close brush with death and had minor injuries, he refused to let his Pokémon train alone and was right out on the floor doing his own intense workout right beside of them. Something Agatha had found quite impressive.

Something she also found to be rather impressive was the intelligent, well structured and properly integrated ways in which Ash went about training his Pokémon. Each one was done systematically and with special focus and detailed attention for not only each Pokémon's unique type differences but also the little things that made them unique and special as individuals.

Agatha was at first surpised and almost a little worried at the over the top intensity Ash trained he and his Pokémon at and found his methods to be in some ways almost, well, brutal. Especially after he would roll over from a set of elevated chair pike push-ups covered in sweat and then shout at his Pokémon to do more, go faster and be stronger. Even as the Pokémon themselves were gasping for air, sweating in some cases and nearly on the verge of what appeared to be collapse in others.

However, after their training was finally done, she saw a complete change in Ash from militaristic, brutal coach to kind, caring young trainer that loved his Pokémon. Meaning that he would go to each one and check them over for serious wounds, patch up any cuts they had and then rehydrate and wipe the sweat off of them with care and patience after training was complete.

Seeing such a thing made Agatha feel more at ease that he wasn't just some slave driver trainer like so many other young and even older Pokémon Trainers she knew of. He actually cared for them and it showed in his actions when he would dote over them after their workouts were finished. The fact that he even trained with them was something that made her smile since she personally believed that the best way to bring out a Pokémon's true potential was to train with them and give it your all. If they see you going for it intently then they'll be more inclined to follow your example versus if you were a lazy bum of a trainer who only sat around on your rump and barked out orders all day.

Mankey see as Mankey do like they say after all.

In fact, watching Ash train reminded her of her old friend Sam Oak when he was a young man training his own Pokémon. He was also very structured, intelligent, diverse and precise when training, just as Ash was. Something she could yet again see coming out of the boy as proof that Oak really was his teacher and mentor.

Still though, Ash may have been similar to Oak in some ways when he trained but the very harsh intensity he added to it gave the boy his own special flare and spice to he and his Pokémon's training regimen. The way he went from harsh trainer to a loving one during and after training respectively was what really made his style unique in her eyes.

Unbeknownst to her however, Ash had known that she was watching him train and for that reason alone, he had purposefully not had his Pokémon go too in-depth with their tactical, strategical or special techniques training since, call him paranoid, Ash didn't want Agatha seeing all of their techniques and secret methods to their battling style. It's not that he didn't trust her but in Ash's mind, someday he would be battling her and he didn't want the much more experienced trainer having any first hand knowledge or insight into their true battling abilities if he could help it.

What did surprise him though was when Agatha approached him after he was finished training and asked him if he would like to train and learn under her for the time in which they were all together at Fuji's for. Obviously, being offered an opportunity of training from a member of the Elite Four was way too good of a chance to pass up so he took her up on her offer right away.

Over the week, Agatha didn't so much work with Ash and his Pokémon on firsthand battling and physical training as she did battling and general Pokémon theory, in-depth type explanations, stories she shared of some of her more intense battling experiences as well as those she witnessed of others, how to handle the extreme pressure of performing in front of a stadium full of people during the Pokémon League conference tournaments, as well as little known tricks, tips and strategies she had developed over the years that were unique to her.

What was really beneficial about the whole situation though was how when Agatha was instructing Ash one on one, she would have all of her own Pokémon gather Ash's together and then get them to share advice, impart valuable knowledge and instruct the much younger and more inexperienced Pokémon on many different things that was only learned and encountered through years of experience and a life full of intensive battling.

Ash, just like his Pokémon, took in all that the highly respected and seasoned professionals had to offer them just like a sponge, soaking in every bit of information given to them. Especially the parts on how to handle pressure at crowded matches during the Pokémon League since that was one thing that Ash had no clue on how to train his Pokémon, or even himself for that matter, to handle such things since they had never been in such an atmosphere so full of pressure before.

Agatha, however, made it very simple for them in theory. She simply explained that when you stepped onto that field during a League Conference or any other major event taking place in front of a large crowd, you simply had to focus and center your mind on the here and now. You had to zone out everything that was going on around you and have your attention focused on nothing but the battle ahead, your Pokémon and the way in which your opponents were battling so you could find a way to exploit their weaknesses and then strike hard at them.

She told Ash that when battling in such conditions, the trainer and their Pokémon had to be able to tune out the crowd, the announcer and even the cameras if the particular event was being televised like the Indigo Conference was. No amount of noise or fanfare could distract you because if you let it, your battle was as good as over. Especially if you were battling against an opponent that was very skilled and did know how to tune out the crowd.

Agatha further went on to explain one of the main reasons why first time newbies and even trainers that had a few years of experience under their belts hardly ever went on to make it very far in a League Tournament or other similar types of events. The reason basically being that nerves would choke them and then the distraction would kill them. Something she had seen more times than she could count and was even a victim of a few times in her youth.

The advice she offered Ash against such potentially crippling issues was to go into a quiet, preferably dark place with his Pokémon and then for all of them to shut their eyes and go completely quiet. All the way up until they were told to enter into the field, they should be doing nothing but focusing their minds on the battle ahead and reflecting on everything that got them up to that point. All of the training they did, all of the hurdles they had overcome to get there and most importantly, what gotten them to that moment in their lives. What their reasons were for doing what they were doing essentially.

Of course, it was as Agatha said... all of the most sound advice in the world would be useless if you couldn't put it into effect yourself and on the day when actually stepping out into a crowded stadium for the first time, it would be much harder to actually put such advice to practice than it was to merely hear it. A strong mind and a strong mind alone would be what would allow them to overcome the pressures of a professional, packed, televised event of any kind and then give them the ability to come out as the winners at the end of the day.

Accepting fanfare, making the crowd happy and wanting to enjoy the moment, especially if it was your first time, was important but when ego and vanity got it in the way, it could be just as dangerous as choking from stage fright and nerves. Concentration on nothing but the here and now would always be a trainer's best friend and if nothing else, that was really what Agatha drilled into Ash over and over again. As well as what her own Pokémon told to his.

It was very safe to say that by the end of the week, Ash's head was spinning from all of the things Agatha told and taught him but he also felt as though everything he had been instructed in over the week would serve he and his Pokémon invaluably in the coming trials and hardships they would encounter on their journey together. Some of her lessons were far from easy to remember and get right when she tested him on it but Ash felt beyond grateful to her for taking such time to work with them and showing so much of an interest in their success as both trainer and Pokémon.

Something that Ash had also been taught over the course of the week was just how truly skilled and powerful Agatha and her Pokémon were. Sure he had seen Agatha battle against Haunter down below the tower but that wasn't really a fair measure of power. She and Gengar had been battling all night long beforehand against the three Ghost-Types that Haunter had created to guard it so when they finally did face off against Haunter itself, Gengar was already fatigued from so much endless battling.

When Fuji and Agatha had a small practice battle for fun however, Ash and his friends saw clearly the might of the Elite Four when it only took Agatha and Gengar no more than ten minutes to defeat Fuji's Pokémon, all three of them. Ash would know as well, he actually timed the fight and stopped counting when Fuji's Duskull was sent hurdling into the ground by one of Gengar's insanely powerful Shadow Balls and never even made an attempt to get up.

For Ash it was almost surreal watching the way Agatha and her Pokémon battled and worked together. The way she commanded them and her Pokémon obeyed her flawlessly in turn, like they were of one mind, was simply awe inspiring for all of them but especially to Ash more so of everyone. Who, out of his three human friends, definitely was the most fascinated and in love with Pokémon battling by far.

In hindsight, he really wasn't all that surpised when he actually thought about. Agatha and her Pokémon had been battling together and facing some of the toughest challengers and Pokémon imaginable for countless more years than he had even been alive so the fact that their prowess in battle fascinated him wasn't all that shocking. If anything, seeing Agatha battle against Fuji just made Ash yearn to become strong enough with his own Pokémon to battle against her and the rest of the Elite Four someday.

At the current time, Ash knew he wasn't even close to a match for her. He and his Pokémon were too inexperienced and undertrained and he was mature and smart enough to admit it. Lying to himself and trying to act like he was greater than he was would have been just plain stupid. Shooting ones mouth off about being great and powerful when you didn't yet have the full ability to back it up just made you look like a moron and Ash realized this.

In all truth, it was Ash being humble and honest with himself about he and his Pokémon not being ready to face someone like Agatha yet that saved him from making a real ass of himself and demanding a battle of her like most loudmouthed, wet behind the ears trainers would do do. If he battled her, Ash was able to almost play in his mind how one sided it would be and knew that he and his team would be utterly destroyed and humiliated.

That was why, after watching Agatha battle, he resolved to train him and his Pokémon even harder and get even more experience. To learn all they could and capitalize on everything Agatha showed and taught him so that when he did eventually battle her, she would be the one who was stunned by their battling ability, teamwork and power instead of the other way around.

Also something Ash had to admit was that he had grown rather close to the kind, yet stern when needed, old woman. Even though Agatha took some time to teach Brock, Misty and Giselle a few things whenever they seemed interested as well, she and Ash were nearly inseparable during the week. Only not spending time together and training when Ash was with Haunter or Giselle- such as when they both went out for an evening alone to see the town- and that was about it.

If he was honest with himself, Ash almost felt a form of attachment to her as a grandmother figure begin to form after the more and more time went by that he was around her. He never knew what it was like to have a grandmother but if he could have ever chosen one for himself, he would have picked Agatha as his. That was just how easy it was to like the kind, wizened and warm hearted older woman.

In fact, when Agatha left the day before so she could go and handle a few League matters that suddenly popped up, Ash had a rather hard time saying goodbye, even though he tried not to show it. Agatha apparently could see this too because right before she left, she gave him a warm smile and told him that she would be anxiously watching his career from then on out before, to his surpise, she gave him a grandmotherly hug.

Of course, Agatha hadn't been the only one that Ash had been getting closer to and learning to know better either. He and Fuji had taken to sitting down in the living room/kitchen during the evening after the day was done and then just talking over a cup of tea until the late hours of night.

Ash had found that, like Agatha, Fuji was a very interesting and experienced older person that had many things to share, teach and tell stories about that were almost as numerous as Agatha's, simply about different things. What Fuji lacked in all of the Pokémon care and battling knowledge Agatha had, he made up for by knowing just about everything else there was to, generally at least, know about.

The fact that Fuji was a scientist and a well educated person spoke to Ash since he himself was a studious young man that loved to study all he could about anything he had the opportunity to learn about. This meant that most of their converstations were spent with Ash and Fuji just talking about anything that came to mind as well as, for the largest part, him listening to the likable old man tell story after stimulating story about his youth and the things that he had experienced.

With so much that had happened over the course of a few simple days, Ash felt much more learned and knowledgable than he had prior to coming to Lavender Town and it was really all because of Fuji and Agatha. Two people he could say with certainty that he now greatly respected and thought quite a lot of due to their kindess and willingness to impart what they knew to he and his friends.

Alas, all good things must come to an end though (at least that's what most say) and today was the day in which Ash and the others were due to leave Lavender Town and continue on their way to Saffron City.

The mood amongst he and his friends was a mixture of both excitement to be traveling again as well as a slight downcast air overshadowing it. The feeling of being down was mostly centered around Ash since today was the day in which he would no longer see Haunter anymore. A Pokémon in which he had come to grow quite close to over the long week of quality time they had been spending together.

Coming downstairs from the room that he and his friends had been sharing over the week, Ash saw Misty and Giselle waiting for him by the staircase that lead up to the elevated balcony of Fuji's home where his and the guest bedrooms were located.

Smiling at the two girls, Ash walked up to them and then wrapped his arm around Giselle's waist before leading the three of them down to the living area with Pikachu perched firmly upon his shoulder. When they finally reached the bottom landing, they saw Fuji and Brock standing together talking near the bar at the kitchen.

Once they saw them, Fuji smiled and waved. "All packed up and ready to go?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah we're ready. I just need to go and say goodbye to Haunter before we go."

The old man smiled and replied in an understanding voice since he knew how hard it was on the boy to be leaving Haunter, "I promise that Haunter will be well taken care of here Ash. It can stay as long as it wants to and whenever it's ready to leave and go off into the world again, it will be free to do so."

Ash rubbed the back of his head and gave a small smile in return. "Thanks Mr. Fuji, for everything. You've been very kind to us and I don't just mean by risking your life alongside of us when we were trying to help Haunter. I do really appreciate the faith and belief you put in me by allowing us to do what we did but I also am very grateful for how hospitable and welcoming you were to all of us. Opening your home to us, feeding us, teaching us such valuable things that I know we'll remember for years to come... I'm just really thankful for everything you did."

Fuji merely chuckled a little and shook his head. "No Ash I was happy to do it. You are a group of very talented young people with a bright future ahead of you all and I was more than confidant of putting my faith into you. To each of you. You kids showed great promise, strength and friendship, between both yourselves and your Pokémon, down in that chamber against Haunter. You even succeeded in doing something Agatha and myself never did, which was bring hope back to a tortured soul that had none. You should all be very proud of yourselves and your Pokémon. Remember to always be there for each other, care for one another, treat your Pokémon right and don't be afraid to face each new challenge life brings along. Do this and I know each of you will go far and achieve your individual goals."

Ash and the others smiled thankfully at Fuji but before any of them could say anything, the old man's eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. "Oh-ho! I almost forgot!" He then shuffled over to the couch and grabbed a small, sealed up cardboard box that he carried over to the kitchen table and placed atop it.

Looking at Ash and the others with an anxiously excited gleam in his eyes, he nodded towards the box. "I wanted to give you kids something special to show my admiration for you and also as a symbol of my hope that you'll all succeed in achieving your dreams and perhaps even remember old Mr. Fuji now and again as you go forth in life."

Gesturing them all forward, Fuji waited until the young trainers were gathered around next to him before unsealing the box. Once it was open, he reached inside and then pulled out a medium sized book with a blue cover that had the picture of a fancy looking dish of food on the front of it.

Turning to Brock, Fuji held the aged looking book out to him. "Brock, if I learned one thing about you while we cooked together all this week is that you are a very determined young lad who is dedicated to his friends. You have exceptional talent in the kitchen and it is for that reason that I want you to please take this cookbook. It belonged to my wife but I think you can benefit from it more than me. I've already memorized everything there is to know in that book since learning to cook the food we would always shared together helped me cope and heal after she passed."

Brock took the book into his hands and just looked at it before bowing to Fuji and saying in a voice full of gratitude, "Thank you Mr. Fuji, this is an honor to recieve something so special from you and I promise I will care for it."

The old man smiled at him and then reached back into the box again before pulling out a small, silver looking bell which he presented to Giselle. "Giselle my dear, in the short time I have known you, I have come to see that you are the voice of love and reason within this group. You are always willing to help bring peace and comfort to your friends instead of watching them suffer. This is known as a Sooth Bell and it's comforting chime when held or attached to a Pokémon will make even the most unsettled and frustrated of them experience a sense of calm and peace that will subside and placate whatever tide of negative emotions it is they may be feeling."

He winked at her then. "Perhaps you can use it on yourself and Misty here when you go to get into one of those verbal jousts you seem so fond of eh?"

Misty huffed while Giselle just blushed in embarrassment and took the bell with a nod. "Thank you Mr. Fuji, I really appreciate this gift and... and thank you again for what you did for Ash. It means a lot to me."

Fuji chuckled fondly and patted Giselle's shoulder as he nodded to her in a sign of acceptance of her gratitude. Turning to Misty then, he spoke to her kindly, "Misty, you have proven yourself to be a very brash, confidant young woman that, even though you may let that temper get the best of you sometimes..." Misty herself blushed at that. "You are still fiercely dedicated and loyal to your friends through whatever possible end and that, is a very commendable trait my dear. You can be as ferocious and powerful as a raging sea when aggressive but then act as calm and serene as a gently flowing stream when at peace and your emotions are in check."

He turned around and started searching through the box again. "It is for this reason that I believe this will suit you perfectly..." Withdrawing his hand from the box then, he holds up a beautiful pendant on a silver chain that had the clearest, purest looking water contained within the teardrop shaped pendant.

"This is a unique and very rare object known as the Mystic Water Pendant and inside it holds purified water from one of the lakes in a very sacred forest far away in the Johto region. A forest that is said to be guarded by what locals of the area call 'The Voice of The Forest' and is also a place where the mythical Pokémon Suicune is said to run across the lake's surfaces within that very forest and purifies them with each step it takes until they shine a vibrant, beautiful bright blue. Almost as if the stars themselves were dropped down into the lakes to make them emanate with a glorious celestial light."

Fuji delivers the pendant into Misty's almost shaking hands as he continues, "These particular pendants are said to increase the power, energy and even vitality of Water-Type Pokémon and for someone like yourself who has such aspirations of being a Water Pokémon Master, I believe this is the perfect item to help you along with that goal."

Pointing to the pendant again, he went on to say something that he knew would make Misty's mind all but overload with excitement. "That pendant was actually given to me by Lorelei herself you know..." The orange haired girl's eyes widened as she stared at the object in her hands like it was a sacred, holy item. Fuji repressed a chuckle as Misty looked at him and said with obvious excitement in her voice, "Seriously?! Lorelei gave you this? This was hers!"

Fuji nodded before beginning to tell the story that he could see all of them were interested in hearing. "You see, being friends with Agatha, I've already told you all how I have met each member of the Elite Four and even Lance himself. Lorelei lives in Indigo City where she can be close to the League whenever she's needed but what most people do not know is that she also has a secondary home that she uses as a form of retreat whenever she needs to get away from it all.

This particular home of hers is actually located on an island that is part of a chain of islands located some ways away across the ocean from the Cinnabar Island chain. This island she goes to occasionally was actually the one she grew up on and houses a very small community situated right outside of a glacial mountain. Something which is not only extremely rare since cold enviroments usually do not exist on islands so far south but also, the mountain itself is only glacial in appearance on the inside, not the outside."

Fuji then shakes his head to get back on track. "The biggest problem with having a small town situated so close to a freezing cold mountain is that very often when the sporadic winds so famous to an island's ecosystem starts to churn up, it would blow the extremely cold temperatures down from the mountain into the town and make life for the locals very difficult. I heard of this unfortunate problem from Agatha and traveled to the island myself to see what could be done since, being a scientist who studied many subjects over the years in my free time, I was rather learned in the trades of weather temperature patterns and regulation.

Just being on the island for a short time, I could see the torture of living in such a place where temperatures dropped and fluctuated so frequently. I questioned why the community never installed any form of heating and cooling system to the homes and businesses of the town and my response from Lorelei was that since the island they called home played victim to a very rare cold anomaly I had never heard of before, electricity was something they were not fortunate in having.

Apparently, something about the mountain being located on the island blocked any kind of electromagnetic waves from across the sea and due to this, no matter how hard they tried, the people could never get a fully functional source of electricity to run on the island. They also had no room for a large substation in their tiny community so that was out of the question for them as well. After she told me that, my mind automatically went to thinking for some solution to their problem and I eventually managed to come up with one."

Fuji then started to make gestures with his hands as he explained the idea he came up with to help the islanders. "Essentially I came to the conclusion that if you can't get a constant, mechanically reliable source of electricity on an island that focused electro waves couldn't for some reason reach, why not make your own source of it? To this end I devised the idea of creating generators which would be placed in every home and business on the island. These generators would be capable of running the simpler electricity based luxuries such as lighting, heating and cooling systems, warm water regulators and other simple things we use each day like fridges, ovens and wash machines.

I had connections with an individual who ran his own heating and cooling company outside of Cinnabar Island, the same company of which actually did the entire temperature regulation system for the research center Isaac and I had built on the island years earlier. Being that the man and I were friends and he owed me a favor, we struck up a deal and had his company make the generators needed at a highly discounted price that the island community could afford.

Once the machines were built, I then developed the idea of making a small, comfortable containment house and then using Electric-Type Pokémon to power all of the generators through main electric lines that would lead from the 'Power House', as we came to call it, into each home and business that contained a generator and into the machines themselves.

We simply buried the electric lines underground and then ran them up under each business and home on the island in order to connect them to every generator which had a pre-designated place inside of whatever room that was chosen for them to be in. This was how we connected them to the main power source. After that was done, we- and when I say we I mean Lorelei and myself who was helping me with the project- knew that we couldn't have organic Pokémon dependent on people being the sole sources of energy for the Power House and that's why we sent out a favor to the main Kanto power plant near Cerulean City to send us out as many inorganic Electric-Types as they could spare.

Being how that particular area is practically infested with Electric Pokémon, they did us a grand kindess and sent out a large number of Voltorb, Electrode, Magnemite and Magneton that we could use to help charge the town's new generators from inside the Power House. The Pokémon adapted very well and due to the free, peaceful lives they were offered to live within the small electric station, they happily accepted the deal and worked together to charge and power up the station whenever it was needed.

I had also created a sort of electricity recycling machine, almost like a big generator in itself, which I installed inside of the Power House and it's purpose was to hold a vast amount of electrical energy provided by the Pokémon that it would then use to power the small community. When it grew close to empty, the Pokémon living there would be alerted by the people who maintained the Power House that I had personally trained in the operation of the building. The Electric Pokémon would then refuel the machine with their own electricity, a job that was simple since there were so many of them, and then the process restarted over again."

Fuji looked up to the ceiling and smiled a little in fond memory. "If my old memory serves me right it took about three months to finish the project but once it was done, Lorelei's home island never had to worry about power again." He then pointed to the pendant Misty held in her hand. "Lorelei gave me that as a thank you for what I did and being that I knew how extremely rare they are, the token of appreciation was more than enough to suffice for something I did out of sheer kindess. Even then she and the community still tried to pay me, separately, to which I politely denied."

A thoughtful expression spread across the old man's face. "You know it's funny but Lorelei never really told me where she got that pendant. The only thing she did say is that she recieved it from a kind older woman she met while traveling in Johto who lived near the forest that housed the lakes in which that very pendant supposedly came from and that was it."

Misty felt tears well up in her eyes as she hugged the pendant close to her chest and then looked up at Fuji with a teary smile. "T-Thank you for this gift Mr. Fuji... I promise I will always treasure it."

He gave Misty a grandfatherly smile and nodded before turning to look at Ash. When he did, he brought his fists up to his sides while looking down at the boy. A sort of twinkle was evident in his eyes as he said in a slightly mysterious tone, "Now the question is... what could I possibly give to such a talented young man who already has everything that he could possibly need to succeed in all of his life's endeavors?"

Fuji shifted his eyes knowingly to Pikachu and all of Ash's friends as a small smile slowly parted his lips. "Well, to answer my own question, that might be a difficult thing to do but..." He then leaned down and tapped the side of his nose while winking at Ash. "I think I might know just the thing."

Turning back to the box he had been pulling all of the unique items from, Fuji fished around a little bit before pulling out a small spherical object wrapped up in a cream colored cloth.

Unifying the knot keeping the cloth tied together, Fuji slowly pulled the covering away to reveal what was very clearly a Pokéball. The only difference being that it didn't look like an ordinary Pokéball that could be bought at any old PokéMart down the street.

This ball was a Pokéball in particular that boasted a much more beautiful and elegant appearance than most others did. It sported a shiny black base coloring almost the shade of night with red stripes around the top and bottom of it, gold lines bordering the red stripes and there was also a solid gold stripe that wrapped around the front of the ball and emblazoned itself in particular upon the release button of the device.

Holding the strange, yet eye catching Pokéball out to Ash, Fuji explained, "You might already know what it's called Ash but in case you don't, this is known as a Luxury Ball. A Pokéball in which is much more comfortable and enjoyable to be inside of than a regular Pokéball, mostly because the way it's made allows the Pokémon housed within it to feel great comfort and peace whilst inside. It's said to make Pokémon become more friendly towards their trainers but I couldn't answer that one way or another. All I know is that these Pokéballs are quite rare and that my brother Blaine actually gave me this one."

Reaching out, Ash took the Pokéball into his hands and looked it over for a few moments before looking at Fuji again and smiling. "Wow Mr. Fuji thanks a lot, this is great!"

The older man chuckled and shook his head. "That's not all my lad, I have another gift for you. First however, why don't you call that Charmander of yours out here?"

Ash blinked a little bit in confusion but did as told, putting the Luxury Ball away before pulling Charmander's Pokéball out from his belt since the Fire-Type had slept with he and Pikachu last night instead of down in the gym like his other Pokémon did out of choice to keep Haunter company. Whom of which he had already went downstairs early that morning and returned to their Pokéballs so they would be ready to go when it was time for them all to leave.

"Charmander come on out, Fuji wants to see you," Ash said to the ball as he released his Pokémon and Charmander came forth in a bright burst of light. "Charmander Char!" He exclaimed happily as he stretched out his body.

Ash knelt down and fondly patted his Pokémon's head with a smile on his face that was returned by Charmander. Fuji watched them both with a strange, though not creepy smile on his weathered face before turning back to the box and searching through it again.

Once he found what it was he was looking for, the older man reemerged from the box holding something behind his back. Focusing his attention on Ash again, who was now standing up holding Charmander in his arms, Fuji addressed them both. "Ash, in all my years of training my own Pokémon and accepting the challenges of many different trainers that has passed through my gym's doors, I can honestly say that not one has impressed me or gained my respect like you have. You have a way of bonding with your Pokémon and bringing out the best in them as I have never seen before and to me, that is an incredible gift."

He gestured at Charmander then. "When I watched you battle with this young Charmander during our gym match and then down in the chamber against Haunter, I could tell that even for who you are as a person, yourself and Charmander has a very special bond together that I believe is only truly shared as well between you and Pikachu."

Fuji moved forward and began rubbing Charmander's head gently, to which the Pokémon happily cooed. "This little one is already an exceptionally powerful Pokémon, even for it's species and especially at it's current size and evolutionary stage. I am sure I don't have to tell you just what kind of a powerhouse you are going to have on your hands once Charmnder fully evolves Ash but I know that with your loving care and determined personality, you are going to be able to bring out it's full potential like no one else can.

Fire-Types are some of the hardest Pokémon to raise because, just like they element they are linked with, they can be as fierce and destructive as a raging inferno but also as mysterious and subtle as a gently burning flame." He smiled at Ash then. "A mystery that I am confident you will unlock in order to bring the best out of every Fire Pokémon you ever take under your guidance Ash. Something that many, many trainers of Fire-Type Pokémon are never able to truly do and is also the very reason for why I want to bestow upon you both..."

He then produces a small, silver, rectangular shaped case which he opens and reveals something inside that confused his friends but caused Ash's eyes to all but bulge out of their sockets. Fuji smiled at the reaction from the boy as he finished his earlier sentence, "...With this."

The young Ketchum placed Charmander on the counter and then pointed at what was inside of the case with a shaky finger. "T-That's... Mr. Fuji this is..."

Misty quickly grew impatient however and asked loudly, "Is what?! What are we looking at! What is it?!"

Fuji turned the case so they all could see what was inside and answered her, "These Misty..." He then pointed to two perfectly rounded, smooth looking stones resting inside of the case on a black velvet covering. One stone was much bigger than the other but they were both equally as beatiful and awe-inspiring due to their coloring. One side of each stone was a deep, magnificent blue while the other side of them was colored a bright, vibrant orange/red. Each color was separated evenly down the middle of both stones and in the center of the junction between the opposing colors was the symbol for fire, which was a mixture of both colors in itself.

"These..." Fuji said in a tone that was meant to build suspense and was definitely doing it's job. "Are Mega-Stones."

As soon as Fuji said this, everyone minus Ash (who was still in a state of shock) shouted at once, "MEGA-STONES?!"

Brock pointed at the stones within the case, his hand also shaky almost as though anyone who's hand got close to them would lose all control of it's motors functions. "I-I've heard of Mega-Stones before but I've never actually seen one... this is amazing!"

Giselle tilted her head to the side. "But... I thought Mega-Stones could only be found in Kalos?"

Ash finally managed to shake off his shock as he looked right at Fuji and asked with a voice laced full of surprise and disbelief, "How... how did you get this?"

The Lavender Town Gym Leader merely smiled and sat down on a barstool behind him. "Do you remember when I told you all the story last week of how Team Rocket sent me on an expedition with a team to Kalos years ago when I was still with them and we were looking for Mega-Stones?"

The kids nodded in unison and Fuji continued. "Well, I told you then that we never found anything but that wasn't entirely the truth. I did find something and I found these. Inside of an old inactive volcano is where I actually found the stones in raw gem form to be more accurate. We were digging around in a particular area, illegally of course, and since I was the outcast of the team just because I didn't have the same ruthless, cold mindset that they did, they were always sending me off alone into the most dangerous of places around the mountain we were digging at. Most likely hoping I would never come back again."

Fuji shook his head. "It was during the night of a bad storm. I was far way from our campsite on the other side of the mountain where the terrain was the most inhospitable and treacherous when a terrible thunderstorm with very high winds tore through the area. I tried to find shelter and as I was looking for it, I stumbled across a small cave entrance hidden behind a large wall of brush and undergrowth growing up against the mountainside.

The hole wasn't very big but since I was never a man of bulky stature it was enough for me to squeeze through. When I did I found myself staring down a dark tunnel and, being that I had nowhere else to go, curiosity got the best of me. I lit one of the emergency glow sticks I had with me and then followed the tight passage down deeply into the earth. At first I thought I would never reach the end but eventually the tunnel opened up into a huge cavernous room.

Exploring the room after I found it, I could tell almost instantly by the hardened, blackened looking rocks and very odd compostion of the terrain around me that I had stumbled into what was once the base of a volcano. The strange ground I was standing on actually being the lava that had once filled the cavern, only hardened and dried up. All of this surprised me of course since none of us knew that the mountain we were looking for Mega-Stones around was actually an inactive, extinct volcano.

Just before I prepared to leave however, the light from my glow stick illuminated something that faintly shined in the wall near the front of the cavern. When I went to inspect it, I found a beautiful gemstone sticking halfway out of the rock with a surface as dark blue as the ocean at night while the inside of the stone seemed to have a secondary layer of coloring that was bright red, almost orange, as a burning flame. Inside of the gem I saw a small stone suspended inside of it that was also a perfectly mixed color of blue and red, like the much larger stone it was trapped within.

I managed to dig it out and after I did, I stashed the gemstone away and left. The rest of the time we dug around the mountain after that, I acted as I always did. Never complaining and just going off on my own to whatever desolate patch of earth they would send me to dig through, none of them being any the wiser of what I had found and kept hidden away at all times. Of course, I knew what it was I found. I knew that I had just discovered the raw gemstone used to fashion a Mega-Stone and even though I didn't know what type it was, I was determined to find out.

It wasn't until myself and a few other members of the team were sent into a nearby town undercover for supplies did I finally get a break in identifying the stone. As per usual I had been sent off on my own and while wandering the town I came across an older gentleman's shop that claimed he was able to make Mega-Stones out of any of the precious gemstones used to fashion them if he was provided the material.

I paid him a visit as discreetly as I could and from the reaction I received from him upon showing what it was I found, I knew I had discovered something extremely rare. So rare in fact that he couldn't even tell me what it was for certain aside from obviously being a Mega-Gemstone, only what it strongly resembled."

Misty pointed at the stones. "So what kind of Mega-Stone is it?"

Fuji looked down at the two brightly colored stones in the case and gave a slight shrug. "To be honest? I am not sure and neither was the man I showed them to that day. He told me that it looked very similar to a Mega-Stone known as Charizardite, which has two variations of it that allows Charizard to Mega-Evolve into two different forms depending on the stone. However the one I found didn't exactly resemble either one."

Ash nodded his head slowly, eyes still locked on the Mega-Stones as he said distractedly, "Yeah I know what Charizardite is. Professor Oak taught me all about the Mega-Stones that are currently known when I was training under him. Charizardite X, otherwise known as the Black Fire Mega-Stone, is a dark blue stone and Charizardite Y, also called the Dragon's Fire Mega-Stone, is a bright orange/red one." He looked a little closer at the stones then. "But... but this one almost looks like a..."

He trailed off but Fuji finished what he was going to say for him, "A combination of both?" Ash nodded and the old man inclined his head slightly to the side. "Yes that's exactly what the older gentleman I spoke to told me as well. He said that somehow, which he was unsure of, it looked as though both forms of Charizardite somehow managed to grow and form together until they combined into one stone. No doubt an extremely unsual occurrence that rarely, if ever again, happens.

Once he finished examining it, the man offered to make the stone into an official Mega-Stone for me for free since I had showed him such a valuable, unique and priceless treasure and I agreed to it. I told him I was on a time crunch and he assured me it would be done in three days. Which, subsequently, was the only remaining time I had left in Kalos.

I left the stone with him then and came three days later for it before my team left, saying that I needed to stock up on supplies for the trip back home. He had made good on his word and had the stone ready and fashioned for me by the time I came to pick it up. The larger stone was made from the outter portion of the gemstone while the smaller one was left the way it was and just fine detailed a little. I made the man swear to never tell anyone of what he saw for a few hundred credits and he promptly swore to it. After that I came back home and hid the stones hidden away from everyone, never showing a single soul before you kids except for my wife and Agatha."

Ash looked at the stones a bit longer before glancing back at Fuji again with a confused expression on his face. "You know, I'm really grateful you showed us all this Mr. Fuji but... why did you?"

The old man smiled warmly and held the case out to Ash. "Because I am giving you this Mega-Stone Ash. I want you to use it someday in order to bring out the full potential and power of that little Charmander of yours and possibly even bring forth the strongest form of your bond together as trainer and Pokémon that can ever be established."

Ash looked at the stones dumbly before looking at Fuji once again with wide eyes. "B-But... but Mr. Fuji I... I can't accept this it's too much!"

The old man shook his head. "No Ash it isn't. You've done more than enough to prove to me that if anyone could ever use this Mega-Stone to bring out the full potential of their Pokémon, it would definitely be you. I have faith you in Ash and that is why I'm giving this to you."

Ash just stared at Fuji for several long moments until, finally, he conceded and took the case from the elderly man's hands. Charmander looked at the stones curiously as Ash held them and Fuji took that time to speak again, "Ash, I'm sure you've already been told this by Professor Oak but I'm going to go ahead and tell you again just to be sure. Something that the gentleman who made this Mega-Stone told me himself and also something I learned from studying Mega-Evolution on my own."

Fuji put his hands behind his back then as his tone became very serious. "These Mega-Stones are very powerful yes and they can bring out a Pokémon's inner potential and power like you have never seen but you also must be weary. If the bond with your Pokémon is not the strongest it can be and you don't know how to calm them down and be there as true emotional support during such a harsh and aggressive change, Mega-Evolution can also break them down into nothing."

He looked down at Charmander and gestured to the Pokémon as he gave his words of wisdom. "You see, a Mega-Stone will unlock a Pokémon's true power but it will also bring with it a terrible burden that the Pokémon will have to deal with the first time they enter Mega-Evolution. The power that the stone unlocks will also bring out their innermost most wild, ferocious and feral side as they try to become accustomed to so much raw power coursing through their bodies at one time.

If you are not able to be there for your Pokémon in that most dire of moments and your bond is not strong enough then not only could they go on a terrible rampage and hurt anyone they come across but they could also hurt themselves. Just remember to make sure your bond is as strong as it can be before attempting Mega-Evolution in the future and that your Pokémon trusts you explicitly and everything will be fine."

Fuji chuckled in amusement. "It would also probably be a good idea to do it for the first time somewhere far away from where anyone is at!"

Ash just looked down at the Mega-Stone, Charmander and then back at Fuji again. His face slowly became one of determination and confidence as he nodded his head firmly. "I will make sure Charmander and I are as close as we can possibly be before we ever try Mega-Evolution in the future. I'll also make sure I am there for him and do whatever I can to make sure he never hurts himself when and if he ever decides to Mega-Evolve. I promise you that Mr. Fuji."

The old man gave his by now famous kindly smile to the boy and chuckled fondly. "I am sure you will young man. Also remember that when the time comes and you're ready to use that stone, you'll have to get something to wear that will be able to hold the smaller stone for yourself and also something to attach to your Pokémon that will hold the larger stone on themselves. This needs to be done in order for Mega-Evolution to work but the exact method of how you begin the process is a mystery. I'm sure Professor Oak could tell you all about that though when the time comes."

Fuji rubbed at the back of his head and grinned a little bit in embarrassment. "I would give you something to put the smaller stone in, as well as a holder for the bigger one that your Pokémon would wear too but... I've just never come across anything like that before unfortunately."

Ash smiled and laughed a little as well before shaking his head. "Don't worry about it Mr. Fuji, I'll find something eventually." No sooner did he say those words and Misty and Giselle were suddenly pulling him closer as they started to look at the Mega-Stone more closely.

"Wow it's so pretty," Misty said in awe as she leaned on Ash's shoulder. "This is just incredible Ash..."

"Yeah I've never seen anything like this before," Giselle chimed in from Ash's other side. "I'm really happy for you Ash, that's one heckuva an awesome gift!"

Ash looked at them both and chuckled at their words of praise and fascination. "Thanks girls, I appreciate you not being upset at me for getting something like this."

Brock looked at Ash when he said that and appeared genuinely confused. "Why would we be upset Ash? Fuji wanted to give you that and as he said, you earned it. I for one am as happy as can be with what he gave me and even if he would have given me nothing I wouldn't have cared. You deserve that stone Ash and I think Fuji's right, you're gonna be able to do something great with it it someday."

Giselle nodded in agreement. "That's right, I believe you and Charmander will one day be able to use that Mega-Stone and really become a powerful force to be reckoned with. Not to mention I think it's really going to help form your bond much stronger together too."

"Besides," Misty said with a shrug. "What would any of us do with that stone anyway? None of us even have a Charmander to evolve into a Charizard to use it on at some point."

Ash smiled gratefully at his friends. "Thanks guys, for being so cool about it and understanding."

While he bent down and took off his backpack to place the case holding the Mega-Stone inside of it, Fuji waited patiently and once he was done, the old man held up a single finger. "We're not done quite yet Ash. I still have one more thing that I would be extremely grateful if you would take. Something even more special and valuable than that Mega-Stone in fact."

Ash appeared a little lost and raised an eyebrow. "Something more valuable than the Mega-Stone?" When Fuji nodded, Ash let out a huff. "Wow... well I mean don't really see how that would be possible but... okay, yeah I'll take whatever it is you would like for me to Mr. Fuji."

The old man looked clearly relieved and happy with Ash's answer as he turned around and gestured for them to follow him. "Alright then, please follow me if you don't mind. I've got a very special place in which I keep it."

Looking at his friends who just shrugged in return, Ash placed his backpack on again and returned Charmander before falling into step behind Fuji with his friends in tow. They followed him, surprisingly enough, into the prayer sanctuary half of the building and once they were inside, Ash stopped and looked around.

The medium sized room which looked more like a greeting/dining hall of some kind was almost totally white in color. The whole room being made up of white drywall for the walls and ceiling and the same colored tiles on the floor. The memorial stones themselves that Fuji had managed to copy as many of as he could from Lavender Tower, were all spread out amongst the holy sanctuary in neat rows which divided the room into left and right sections.

A walkway from the entrance door that the public would use extended from that side of the room, all the way to the end where Fuji was standing near the far wall. The only other color the room had being the long red rug which stretched from the main door to the front of the room. Also, to add a little color and a relaxing feel to the room Ash guessed, were incense burners and pictures of Pokémon in peaceful poses and in their natural habitats lined all along the walls of the prayer sanctuary.

After he was done assessing his surroundings, Ash walked over to where Fuji was standing near a long table of some kind that was pushed up against the wall at the very front most part of the room. A few incense burners, books and lines of wreath were spread on the table itself, which was covered in a silky white table cloth. Hanging behind the table was also a pure white tapestry with gold trimmings around the edges that took up quite a bit of wall space.

More than a little confused as to why they were there, Ash asked Fuji in a perplexed tone, "Umm... Mr. Fuji? Why exactly are we here?"

The kindly old man just clasped his hands behind his back and gave a small smile. "Because this is where I keep my most precious possession Ash. A place that I hid something where I knew no one but myself and Agatha would ever find it."

Ash raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Okay... but where? This place isn't exactly the prime location to hide anything."

Fuji chuckled before responding. "Well, before I explain to you exactly what I mean, let me ask you all a question... do you remember when I told you the story of that mother Marowak who lived in Pokémon Tower and had an egg which myself and my wife helped to take care of before that fateful day when Team Rocket came?"

A look of sadness passed over the faces of Ash and his friends but they nodded nonetheless with Ash saying in a solemn tone, "Yeah... yeah I remember."

Fuji nodded. "After the tragedy that happened that day and I awoke in the hospital, my immediate attention once I got over the initial shock and crippling grief of what had happened turned to the egg in which belonged to Marowak. I didn't know what had happened to it after that day in the tower and I was worried for it.

When I was released from the hospital sometime later, I forced myself to go back to the tower in the dead of night with Agatha along by my side. We then snuck into the tower and made our way up to the floor that held the room where Marowak had been nursing her egg. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to find anything when we were there and even if we did, I didn't have any high hopes as to what condition the egg might have been. However, what we found instead was something more than I could have ever hoped for..."

Trailing off mysteriously, Fuji smiled a little more at the looks of undisguised suspense and anxiousness Ash and his friends had on their faces to hear the rest of the story.

Walking over to one end of the table behind him, Fuji gestured at the other side. "Could one of you young men please help me move this table?"

Ash shared yet another confused glance with his friends but Brock stepped up to help Fuji regardless. Together, the two of them moved the table down a few feet on Fuji's directions before said older man motioned for them to stop and then walked up and stood in front of the now fully revealed white tapestry, of which hung all the way down to the floor.

Reaching up, Fuji took hold of the immense piece of cloth material before pulling it aside to reveal, to everyone's surprise, a door hidden behind it.

The aged gym leader stood back afterwards and gestured towards the door. "There are chambers within this sanctuary that only I am allowed entrance into and that is where I keep what I told you about Ash." He then opened the door and revealed a hallway beyond made of standard tan wood boards for the walls, ceiling and floor.

Gesturing at the hallway, he walked in first and called behind him, "Follow me and close the door if you wouldn't mind."

Ash quickly followed Fuji inside without hesitation, followed by his friends. As they entered the hallway with Brock shutting the door behind them, Ash looked around a little bit before walking after Fuji, who was already making his way steadily down the twisting, winding hallway before them.

While following the older man, Ash and the others noticed not only that they seemed to be going in a gradual downward direction- meaning that they must have been going a little ways underground- but also that there were several shut doors along the way on both sides of the hallway. None of them pressed as to what was inside of them or what Fuji did with the rooms however, they simply followed him along in silence until they eventually came to the end of the hallway where another door was located.

Taking a key out of his pocket, Fuji unlocked it and then opened the door, motioning for Ash and the others to go in first. Once they were inside, the four of them looked around and observed the somewhat large room they were in.

It had high ceilings, far spaced apart walls and everything inside was made of the same tan colored wood as the entire hallway that lead to the room. There were also four large wooden pillars inside of it which rested rather close together in a square shape in the middle of the room and stretched all the way up to the ceiling.

What really captured all of their attention the most though was the raised wooden dais in between all four pillars that had a strange machine on top of it with an electric chord extending from it and to an outlet on the far wall. The machine wasn't very big and the entire top part of it was made of clear glass with an object none of them could recognize yet resting within.

Fuji walked over to the machine and stood beside of it as Ash and his friends slowly made their way over to it as well. Once they got close enough, they were finally able to see what it was that was being contained inside of the machine and almost right away, Brock slightly stammered as he pointed to it, "Is... is that a... Mr. Fuji is that a... a Pokémon Egg?"

Fuji nodded and then gestured towards the now revealed egg with his left hand. "Yes it is Brock. An egg I've been keeping in this incubator that I made myself many, many years ago and has been in it ever since."

Giselle got a little closer to the glass and looked in on the egg to examine it closer. She could see that the egg was about medium sized and was also a sandy tan color with cream colored stripes circling around it's oval shape.

Looking up at Fuji while still bent over, she asked curiously, "Where did you get it and what kind of egg is it?"

The old man smiled and then looked down at the egg as he answered the question, "It is quite old, a little over three decades to be honest and as for where I found it... well..." He gently patted the incubator. "Kids, you're looking at Marowak's very own egg from all of those years ago in my story."

Disbelief and wide eyed shocked met Fuji's statement as everyone went silent. Misty was the first one to speak out of all of them and she did so boisterously, "What?! That's not possible! Pokémon Eggs don't last for that long, this egg has to be a dud!"

The old man smiled sadly and withdraw his hand from the machine. " Misty I... I do know that you have a point and to tell the complete truth, I've often thought myself that it was dead as well. When Agatha and I went up to the room in the tower where Marowak had her nest, we found the egg exactly where she left it. We both thought that it would surely have been long dead since it went so long without it's mother's warmth but when I touched it, I was shocked to find that it was still warm to the touch. Agatha did the same and also had no explanation for it.

I brought the egg back home with me and debated over what to do with it after that. I carried some hope that it might hatch for me being that it was still warm when we found it but no matter what I did or how long I waited, it never did. I still couldn't bring myself to get rid of it though due to it always staying warm to the touch and because of that, after I moved here and built this place, I created the incubator you see before you in which I put the egg in to keep it warm and is where it has stayed ever since."

Ash shook his head, not understanding. "But Mr. Fuji... how can any egg last this long without hatching and still be alive? That's completely against nature, how can it be possible?"

The old man looked at Ash with sad eyes as he spoke softly, "I cannot answer that Ash. All I know is that somewhere deep  
down in my heart I just feel as though this egg is still alive and is just waiting for the right time to hatch. A theory I have had for quite some is that perhaps the baby within this egg formed a strong bond with it's mother even before it was born and thus, losing her caused it to go into a state of shock which then led to it going into a form of embryonic stasis."

Fuji then shrugged his shoulders. "I know that sounds insane and goes against all types of logic, especially since I am a scientist but... well... life has proven time and time again that it is a mystery that simply cannot be solved and I've seen enough unexplainable things in my time to have good reason to throw caution and all logic to the wind occasionally and say, 'What if?' After all... it should have been impossible for Haunter's heart and spirit to be healed. That's what I originally thought but you proved me wrong Ash."

Fuji glanced back at the egg. "Maybe the love Marowak had for this egg was so strong that it gave some form of protection to it that kept it from dying without her and also kept it in a stasis for all this time. Yet again, yes I do know how insane that sounds but... but I just can't shake the feeling I have within me that this little egg still has a chance and is waiting for the proper moment to greet the world."

It was then that Fuji looked at Ash seriously and crossed his hands down in front of him. "Ash, there is a reason for why I brought you here... I believe that the reason why this egg has yet to hatch is because it is waiting for something to happen- and I don't know what- that will apparently never happen with me. You are embarking on a brave and adventure filled journey to make your dreams come true Ash and, if what I have seen from your Pokémon is anything to go by, I think you are helping all of them reach their own goals and dreams along the way. If anyone can get this egg to hatch young man, I have faith that you can be the one to make that happen."

Fuji pointed to the egg again. "Will you please Ash, if it is not too much of a burden, take this egg with you when you go? Please. As a favor for an old man who doesn't want anything bad to happen to this egg when the day comes that my wife and child come to call me home."

Ash looked down at the egg within the incubator and then at Fuji in total suprise. "Mr. Fuji are... are you sure?

He simply nodded resolutely. "I am absolutely sure Ash. Unless of cours, taking the egg would be too much trouble. Which if that is the case then I totally under-"

Ash cut him off though as he vigorously shook his head and spoke quickly, "No it's no trouble at all! I would gladly take the egg off your hands as long as you're competely sure that you're okay with it Mr. Fuji."

In response, Fuji smiled brightly and lifted the top of the incubator off before picking the egg up and handing it to Ash. "Then it's yours young man, I know you'll take great care of it."

As soon as Ash's hands made contact with the egg, he instantly felt a very unusual jolt of what felt like electricity run up his spine but instead of freaking out, he merely held the egg close to him and remained calm. Looking it over, he gently rubbed the surface of it before looking up at Fuji again and smiling widely. "I promise you that I am going to take great care if this egg Mr. Fuji, you have my word!"

Misty slid up next to him then with a mischievous grin on her face as she spoke in an equally as mischievous tone, "We're gonna have to watch so Ash doesn't accidentally make an omelette out of the egg you guys..."

The black haired boy whipped around and glared at her. "Hey Misty not funny!"

Brock chimed in then with a laugh, "I'll keep the salt away from him!"

Even Giselle giggled a little and joined the good natured teasing, "And make sure he doesn't fall down with it or try and force it to train while it's still in the egg!"

Ash looked at each of them in turn with a scandalized expression on his face before turning away and huffing. "Ah forget you guys! Making fun of me and my egg raising abilities, I'll show you!" He then bent down and looked at Pikachu, who was standing on the floor, and held the egg out to him. "We'll hatch this egg and raise the baby Pokémon inside to be the best it can be won't we buddy?!"

Pikachu just pumped his fist in the air and then laid a paw on the egg. "Pi Pikachu!" Ash smirked at his Pokémon's enthusiasm and then stood again before turning his nose up at the others. "See that you three? Pikachu believes in me!"

"Yeah but he practically worships you so that's no real surprise Ash," Giselle said with a humorous smile still on her face. At that, Ash's head dropped and he whined, "Not you too Giselle! You're supposed to be on my side..."

His friends just laughed as Giselle kissed his cheek. "I am on your side and besides, I was only teasing. I know you'll do a great job raising that egg."

Misty nodded. "Yeah Ash if anyone can do it, you can. Just try to avoid any kind of training until it's at least out of the egg and a few days old okay?" She joked with a sly smirk and wink.

"And if you need any help, we'll be here for you," Brock offered as he lightly patted Ash's shoulder.

Fuji stood by took in the display of friendly camaraderie and close friendship between the four of them and smiled to himself, knowing that he had made the right decision in who to give the egg to. "I'm sure you will take very good care of the egg Ash," He stated with a voice full of confidence. "And I am also sure that under your care, it will hatch and grow into a very strong Pokémon someday."

The boy looked at Fuji while cradling the egg close to his chest. "I really can't thank you enough for all you've done Mr. Fuji, really I can't."

Fuji unplugged the incubator and shook his head. "You don't need to but you're most welcome young man. I hope that you can use the gifts I've given you all to make your dreams come true in every way possible." Looking at his watch after saying that, Fuji tapped the surface of it. "Well it's just about noon you four, I guess it's about time you hit the road so you can cover some distance to Saffron before night falls eh?"

Ash nodded as he placed the egg carefully within his backpack and covered it with a soft piece of cloth. "Yeah it is time we get going." He then zipped up his pack and put it on his shoulders, instantly feeling the difference in weight with the heavy egg inside of it. "We don't want to waste too much time."

Fuji nodded in understanding and then led the four of them out of the secret section of the prayer sanctuary. Once they were back out in the main sanctuary hall, he closed the door and locked it behind him before he and Brock covered it back up with the tapestry and moved table in front of it once more.

After that was done, the group headed back into the living suite of the building and then headed towards the gym half so Ash could say goodbye to Haunter.

Upon entering the large gym area, Ash saw Haunter floating near the middle of the room and walked up to it while his friends and Fuji stayed back, knowing this was something he had to do by himself without them.

Once Ash was standing before the large, powerful Ghost-Type, he smiled up at it before greeting the Pokémon in a rather subdued tone of voice, "Hey Haunter. I just came to tell you that... well... that I'm leaving today and this will probably be the last time we see each other."

Haunter said nor did anything after the boy told him that and just remained silent, staring down at Ash intently as he continued, "I really don't want to go and leave you Haunter but... I have a dream that I'm chasing after and want to achieve. I can't stay here forever and I know you are anxious to see the world and live your new life for yourself so... so I guess our paths are just going in different directions you know?"

Ash then smiles warmly up at Haunter. "You really have made some changes and I've seen a definite difference in who you are over the past week. I've enjoyed every second we've been able to spend together Haunter and I know... I just know that you're going to live a great life and I'm happy for you because you deserve it after everything you've been through."

Sticking his fist up into the air, Ash grins brightly. "You're one kick-ass Pokémon and I was glad I got to know you. I'm gonna miss you Haunter and I wish you all the best in everything you do!"

Ash simply continued to look at Haunter with a smile on his face for several moments while the Ghost-Type looked down at him with it's usual impassive, unreadable expression on it's stoic face. When Ash finally got ready to turn around and wave goodbye to it, Haunter finally made a move and reached out with one of it's massive hands which it stretched out and laid in front of Ash to keep him from going anywhere.

The young Ketchum turned around and smiled sadly up at Haunter before speaking in a solemn tone, "I know Haunter, I don't want to leave you either but there's no other way, I'm sorry."

Haunter stared at Ash intently for several moments before reaching out with it's hand and pointing a massive finger at him. Ash was obviously confused because he looked down and tried to see what Haunter was pointing at.

"Hey Haunter what's up? I can't see what you're trying to show me," He said as he looked back up at the powerful Ghost-Type again.

Haunter moved it's finger downward then to Ash's belt and he finally understood what he was trying to be told when he felt the Pokéballs on his side get touched. Eyes going wide at the implication he was almost positive he now understood, Ash looked up at Haunter and said in disbelief, "Haunter... you don't... no... no way..."

His friends and Fuji came up behind him and, since Fuji had seen Haunter's little gesture, smiled knowingly at what he was almost certain Haunter was trying to say. Unbeknownst to either him or Ash though, Misty and the others were gathered together in a circle as they spoke in hushed tones.

"...Okay so I guarantee that's what is about to happen!" Giselle said in an adamant tone.

"What?!" Misty recoiled back in disbelief. "No way!"

Brock shook his head. "I don't know Misty, I can actually believe it since after all... those two have gotten quite close over the week and we all know it."

Misty looked between them both and then back at Ash and Haunter. "Well yeah but... but... how can it... and would it even-"

Giselle sighed in annoyance and gave Misty a light shove. "Come on already! Do you take the bet or not?"

Misty gave the other girl a slight glare but eventually just sighed herself and nodded. "Fine... I'm in!"

While the three of them continued to speak quietly to each other, Fuji walked up to Ash and put a hand on his shoulder while also looking up at Haunter. "You know what I think Ash? I think Haunter has developed such a bond with you that it actually has decided to come and be with you. At least... that's my guess."

Ash blinked and shook his head before asking in a voice that almost sounded as though he couldn't believe what he was saying, "Do you... honestly want to come and share in my journey with me Haunter?"

The Pokémon in question, as had become customary for it, didn't say anything and instead just settled for giving a small nod of it's head. Ash ran a hand through his hair and let out a shaky exhale while staring at the ground. "Wow... okay well I... I wasn't expecting this..."

He looked up at Haunter again and rubbed the back of his head. "Haunter I... I would be really happy if you came with me but if you do, you won't be able to see the world in the way that you may want to do it. I have to complete this first step of my journey and enter the Kanto Pokémon League before I can even think about anything else. Are you... are you seriously okay with that? You really need to be sure too because there's no going back once this happens. Becoming the Pokémon of a trainer is a way different than being free and living on your own like you've always been used to."

Haunter stared down at Ash for several long moments without making any movements or giving any form of reply until, finally, it's large finger simply tapped a Pokéball on Ash's belt again.

The boy let a smile slowly come across his face as he looked into Haunter's red eyes, understanding through the look it was giving him and the way it tapped the Pokéball that it had made it's final decision and there was no further question about the situation.

Nodding, Ash simply reached for an empty Pokéball while still smiling at Haunter. "Okay then, if you're sure this is what you want then I would be happy to have you with me."

Before he could pull a ball out though, Fuji stopped him and spoke with a small smile of his own, "Why don't you use that other Pokéball I just gave you Ash? I think it would fit Haunter much better than a standard one, especially given the type of ball it is and the harsh life Haunter has lived thus far. In my opinion, I believe a Pokéball designed for comfort and luxury would suit a Pokémon like Haunter much more than a standard one don't you think?"

Ash stared at Fuji for a short time as he tried to figure out what the older man was alluding to. Eventually though, his eyes widened as he finally understood. Reaching around to the back of his belt then, Ash pulled out the Luxury Ball he had stored there for safe keeping after Fuji had given it to him.

Looking at the unique Pokéball in his hand, he then glanced at Fuji who merely nodded in response to his unanswered question. Feeling a little bit nervous and excited all at the same time since he knew he was about to add an extremely rare and very powerful Pokémon to his growing roster of teammates, Ash glanced back up at Haunter as he enlarged the ball.

"Alright Haunter..." He reared his arm back. "It's time to join the family!"

Spinning the Pokéball in his hand, Ash then threw the Luxury Ball through the air at Haunter, who stared on at the small object hurdling at it through the air in it's usual impassive way. As soon as the ball made contact with it's target, it opened up and released a burst of bright, golden light before pulling Haunter's massive body inside of it.

The Luxury Ball fell to the ground and rolled around a few times as Haunter slowly became adjusted to it's new living space before going still, sparkles of light bursting forth from the end of the ball as it dinged to signal a successful capture.

Ash walked up to the Pokéball and picked it up with a smile on his face but before he could say anything, Giselle and Brock suddenly started whooping and shouting in glee while Misty just hung her head in sorrowful defeat.

Ash turned around and looked at his friends questioningly as he asked curiously but also somewhat hesitantly, "Uhh... do I even want to know?"

Giselle looked at Ash with a triumphant grin still on her face as she said excitedly, "Brock and I just won a bet, that's what!"

The boy looked even more confused. "A... bet?"

She just nodded enthusiastically again before explaining, "Brock and I were both betting that you would end up capturing Haunter before we left but Misty thought you would just say goodbye and leave it at that. We bet fifty credits on it and-" She got close to Misty and pointed a finger at her. "She lost! Ha!"

Misty sighed pitifully and shook her head sadly as Giselle and Brock both did the weirdest victory dance Ash had ever seen while hooping and hollering in glee.

Raising an eyebrow in amusement and giving a small chuckle along with Fuji, Ash raised the Luxury Ball up to Pikachu and smiled. "Check it out Pikachu, our newest teammate and family member! What do you think?"

The Electric-Type sniffed the ball and then smiled before looking at Ash and calling back in agreement, "Pikachu Pi!"

Fuji walked over to Ash and gave a small nod and smile to him. "It seems as though you and Haunter truly are connected now in your destinies Ash. Your paths intertwined together forever and with that being the case, I believe you both have a very interesting and bright future ahead of you."

Ash looked down at the Pokéball in his hand and smiled before nodding to himself. "You know Mr. Fuji... something tells me that you just might be right and onto something with that statement."

Turning to look at his friends then just as Giselle hopped on top of Misty for refusing to pay up on the bet, Brock getting pulled into the fray as he tried to stop them, he sighed and hung his head before putting the Luxury Ball away on his belt and looking at Fuji. "Think we should try to stop them Mr. Fuji?"

The old man looked at him and grinned slightly. "Well yes... I supposed we could..." He suddenly winked then as his grin became downright mischievous. "Or... we could just wait and see who the winner is..."

Ash shared Fuji's grin and laughed a little before turning back to watch the comical three-way brawl taking place in front of them, Pikachu as well watching with a mixture of exasperation and humor from atop his trainer's shoulder. "You know, I think I like that idea Mr. Fuji.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Almost an hour later after endulging in a delicious yet quick breakfast prepared by Mr. Fuji and Brock, Ash and his friends stood at the road that lead out of Lavender Town on the outskirts of the town and eventually hit Saffron City a few days away.

Fuji, meanwhile, stood in front of them with his hands clasped behind his back and a kind smile on his face. Ash was the first one to step forward as he extended his hand and said respectfully, "Mr. Fuji... I know I've said thank you before for everything you did for us but I just want to thank you again once more. Both for believing in me and also for giving away such precious and valuable items to us. I promise I'll always cherish them and never forget what all I learned while here."

Fuji shook Ash's hand and replied back simply, "I know you won't Ash. I definitely see a bright future for you and your Pokémon and if you never stop working together and shooting for the stars, I know you'll reach the goals you have set for yourself. Take care and I'll  
be watching for you in the Indigo Conference young man, you can bet I'll be cheering you on all the way."

Ash just smiled in return and bowed to him before stepping back as Giselle came forward. She also spoke to him in a very kind and respectful tone, "Thank you for everything you did for us all Mr. Fuji. I appreciate the gift you gave me but the best thing of all to me is how you helped keep Ash safe and alive. I can never repay that."

Fuji shook his head. "Never feel the need to thank me young miss. I merely did what I knew to be right and proper. I was very glad to have gotten to know you because in ways, you remind me of my dear Luanne. She was a sweet and caring soul like you but could also he one fierce fighter when she needed to be."

He chuckled then and looked between her and Misty with a teasing glint in his eye. "Something I happen to know that both of you young ladies possess in not just the heat of battle but also amongst yourselves... am I right?"

Both Giselle and Misty blushed in embarrassment before looking at each other and then turning away while huffing and crossing their arms.

Fuji let out a well natured bout of laughter that was shared by Ash and Brock before calming down slightly and addressing Misty. "You my dear also remind me of Luanne and not just because of the similar sometimes volatile tempers you both share either. Like her, you have an indomitable will of determination to stick by your friends and do what you know to be right. Carry that throughout your life and it will serve you right, I can promise you."

He grinned again. "And try not to do each other too much harm while traveling together hmm?"

Misty and Giselle cracked an eye open apiece at one another but quickly turned around and huffed once more as soon as they caught each other's gazes.

Fuji chuckled in amusement but also in knowing since he could tell what, or better yet, WHO they both had in common that caused them to fight more than anything else rather they knew it or not.

Walking up to Brock, he gave a kindly smile to the older boy. "The same goes for you young man. I hope you achieve whatever you have planned for yourself and can continue to improve upon those gifted culinary talents you have with the aid of that book I gave you. It served Luanne and myself very well so I know it will do the same for you."

Brock gave a polite bow to Fuji in return and nodded as his head came back up. "Thank you Mr. Fuji, I'll take care good care of it and do my best to truly deserve and honor such a gift."

After they were finally done saying their goodbyes, Ash and his friends turned around and started walking down the road while waving back at Fuji. Once they were far enough away that they really couldn't see him all that clearly anymore, Giselle turned around, stretched her arms out to the sky and announced exitedly, "Ooooh I can't wait until we get to Saffron City! It's such a great place to visit and I've always loved going there with my family!"

Ash snickered at her enthusiasm before nodding in agreement. "Yeah I'm anxious to check out the city too. My gym battle, Solidad's contest, all the sightseeing and everything else we've gotta do while there... man we're gonna be busy!"

His smile vanished for a moment though as he thought of what else he had to do while in Saffron. Remembering what that Team Rocket agent had told him back on the St. Anne before it sank, he recalled how, supposedly, the criminal organization had some big plan in mind for the company known as Silph Co. and this made him extremely curious to check out the corporation for himself and see just what Team Rocket might be interested in it for.

Of course, he was also going to keep an eye out for Team Rocket but he doubted he would see any of them. Any agents possibly scoping out Silph Co. for any kind of operation would be so well disguised due to the highly powerful and very secretive nature of their organization, anyone not a member of the crime syndicate would most likely never recognize an undercover Rocket even if they were standing right in front of them.

That very train of thought ended up leading Ash to another conclusion as well. Being that he had gotten involved with Team Rocket's affairs a few times too many now, once they discovered from most likely Jessie or James that he hadn't died on the St. Anne, he would have to be extremely careful when meddling in their affairs or otherwise, his mother and everyone else in Pallet Town could very potentially pay the price for his risk taking, meddling antics.

He was suddenly disrupted from his thoughts by Brock who tapped his shoulder and grinned at him. "How does it feel to have another rare addition to your ever growing team Ash?"

The boy finally broke from his reverie and looked at Brock before reaching to his belt and pulling out the Luxury Ball that now contained Haunter. Holding it up to the sunlight, Ash smiled at the ball as his friends and Pikachu looked along with him. "I think that it wouldn't have mattered how special Haunter was or not. I'm just glad to have another awesome addition to my family."

Misty laughed and then teased him, "Who knows Ash, maybe you'll find a giant Rattata roaming around Saffron City causing troubles that you can catch!"

Brock laughed at the joke as Giselle chimed in while Ash just glared at Misty, "If that happens maybe you can get a saddle for it and then just ride it all the way to the Pokémon League!"

At that, Ash finally snapped and made a grab for either of the two older girls. "Okay that's it! I'm gonna get you two for that joke if you think you're so funny!"

Giselle managed to swerve around him while Misty jumped to the side, causing Ash to fall off balance and comically wave his arms around in the air before falling to the ground. Pikachu however managed to jump to safety at the last minute to Brock's shoulder as his trainer face planted.

Giselle, Misty and even Brock and Pikachu couldn't help but bust out into racious laughter as Ash slowly got to his knees and wiped the dirt from his chest. Instead of being mad however, he just let out an eery, creepy chuckle combined with a freaky wide grin.

Standing up, he continued to grin as his fingers started to twitch and wiggle. "Ooohoohoohoohoohoo! Now you've done it... you ladies have just earned..." He then got into a squat position as he shouted crazily, "The tickling of a lifetime! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Misty and Giselle both gave mock screams of terror as they turned and started to run down the road as fast as they could with Ash giving chase close behind. All three had wide smiles on their faces as clear indicators of the enjoyment and fun they were having in that one carefree, happy moment and as Brock started to give frantic chase with Pikachu barely holding onto his shoulder while yelling after them to slow down, none of the four friends had any doubts in their minds that their adventures were only just beginning. Certain that many exciting new events and countless good times were just around the next corner.

Even as the group of young trainers ran down the long road to Saffron in the still somewhat early morning sun, none of them were aware of the faint outline that appeared high up in the sky of a face that belonged to none other than the creator of their entire world.

Arceus's majestic and powerful eyes stared down at the four humans sprinting on the ground far below while the rest of her face was just barely visible. Focusing her gaze on just Ash, the God Pokémon smiled to herself at the sight of happiness and joy on her Chosen-One's face and gave a humor filled chuckle deep within her throat.

"Oh my dear young one... you just continue to impress and make me more and more proud of you with each day that passes. You did the impossible and brought peace and light back to Haunter's life... something I am guilty now of thinking impossible but shall always be eternally grateful for. Maybe, just maybe, you can truly bring peace and prosperity to this world after all."

Arceus's face started to disappear while at the same time, her next and final words came out as nothing more than the barest of whispers before she completely vanished. "But only time will tell my Chosen... only time will tell..."

NKHLNKHLNKHLNKHLNKHLNKHL

_(Chapter End)_

* * *

**And that's it. Hope you all enjoyed it and if not, so sorry. As per usual, any trollish flamers or stuffy ass critiques with sticks up their asses can just go and fuck themselves or kill over as far as I'm concerned. All those who did like it on the other hand, glad to please:)**

**Before I go, I'm going to make a few quick announcements so for all those who're reading this, you're the smart ones. Trust me, the following shit is pretty important for substance if nothing else.**

**1: I promised a reader of mine called SuperGV88 or as he's known now, Cookies United, that I would recommend his stories next time I updated. That promise was made about a year ago but I never go back on my word so... there we go. Check em' out if you feel so inclined people.**

**Fair warning: I have NOT read any of his work so if anybody doesn't like his stuff, gets offended by anything he may write about or whatever the case may be, don't come bellyaching to me because as previously stated, I haven't read any of them. I'm just doing as I promised.**

**2: Salia, the pink Butterfree's trainer, is actually not an OC I created. Well... technically I suppose she is but I did base her off of an actual character in the show so, meh, take it however you see it. For anybody that remembers and has seen the 'Bye, Bye Butterfree' episode from yeeeeeears ago back during season 1 of the Indigo League, you'll probably know who I'm about to describe.**

**Salia is modeled after the girl Brock went all goo goo eyed over while up in the balloon when they were trying to find Ash's Butterfree *cough cough* pansy ass! *cough cough* ahem... excuse me, a mate. The woman in question actually had a normal colored Butterfree and nothing to do with the pink one but since she was practically a 'blank slate character' if you will and I needed a character appearance for Salia, I decided to just use her.**

**In complete honesty, all I did was change her hair from violet-ish purple to chocolate dark, revamped her outfit somewhat and gave her a personality. Anybody that wants to see who I'm talking about should go and either watch the episode or type in 'Bye, Bye Butterfree' on Google and then search through screenshots of the episode.**

**Just remember that it's in the scene where Brock flips out over her, tries to have Ash's Buttefree go after hers and then gets bashed by Misty for interfering with 'Pokémon Love Affairs' or whatever she called it.**

**3: The four new badges Ash earned in this chapter can be found on Bulbapedia in the 'Unnamed Badges' section of the article on gym badges. The Avian Badge belongs to the unnamed boy who's case is full of badges you never see in the show, the badge obtained from Devon and the one from Fuji can be seen in Gary's badge case and the one from Walt you'll find in Otoshi's badge case. You know, the guy with the Cubone that Ash and his friends helped before the Indigo Conference when Team Rocket was on a badge stealing spree? Yeah, that's him.**

**Match up the badge descriptions I gave in this chapter with the badge cases belonging to each trainer on Bulbapedia that I just mentioned and you'll find them. They're pretty impossible to miss.**

**4: For anyone that wants to see what Black Fog looks like, just go to Google Images and type in it's name. You'll eventually see a picture of it done in color by somebody. Once again I'll say, pretty damn hard to miss since it looks way different than a regular Haunter. You can also find out all about Black Fog itself in The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga chapter called 'Haunting My Dreams'.**

**There are obviously quite a few differences between my version of Black Fog and the Canon one, namely concerning both of their histories, but they're still one in the same. Black Fog is not, I repeat NOT, an OC Pokémon like some of Ash's others in this story.**

**5: All information regarding The Greatest There Was or Ever Will Be, including numbers of badges obtained, Pokémon captured, characters close to Ash and/or important to the story and just about every other valuable scrap of info needed to be known can be found on my profile now. Instead of updating all that shit in post-chapter A/N's like I used to do, I just wrote it all down on there so as to save time and clutter.**

**And yes, it will be updated when need be.**

**6:** **I am henceforth looking for a skilled Beta in which can proofread and edit my future chapters, as well as this one. I'll also be wanting that same Beta to edit and fix my previous eight chapters in order to get them up to snuff with my current work. If anyone is interested in taking me up on this offer then just send me a PM.**

**7: The sixth and final announcement I'll do so as not to make this shit any longer and boring than it already is will revolve around myself answering a question that some of my reviewers have made known to me and are curious about. Some much more crudely and asinine in practice than others but I digress...**

**So here it is. When it comes to what I accept and respond to criticism wise, it's all pretty simple to understand. The only subjects I believe anyone as a reviewer has ANY right pointing out or 'critiquing' in a story when they themselves are not the ones writing it, are three things.**

**A: Grammar. Sure, sometimes grammar in a story just sucks or needs to be improved, like mine did. If that's the case, go ahead and critique it.**

**B: Potential misinformation accidentally given in a story. Sometimes a writer might tell about or explain something related to Canon events in whatever series they're writing about that turns out being wrong. Such as the information about something in particular, the name of a character or place, what a certain power or ability does and so forth. If this is the case then go ahead and bring it up and I'll listen to you.**

**In many cases however, a writer might have purposefully changed something about whatever it might be- since this IS fanfiction- without announcing it. Such as... maybe they changed how 'this' happens or gives an extended effect for the way 'that' works. Hell, maybe they totally changed some shit all the way around just for laughs. If that's the case then they'll let you know, like I would, and then most likely make it known to everyone else in the next chapter.**

**C: Creative ideas and suggestions for the story. I'll admit, some of you have great ideas sometimes and I love hearing them so that I can possibly decide to implement them at some point. These ideas can range anywhere from Pokémon, potential funny scenes, introducing a character I may not have thought of, creating a cool ability or item that's completely original... you name it. Those types of ideas and suggestions I'm always open for.**

**HOWEVER! Those three things are where critiquing in a story STOPS for me! If you just don't like how I did something at some point in one of my chapters, disagree with the direction things took, wish to complain about how 'silly', 'ridiculous' or stupid something is that I did and/or how you just don't like or agree with it, don't even bother leaving a review because I will not pay any mind or adherence to it.**

**I do not now nor will I ever need a co-writer for this story so if anyone desires to try and change my mind about how anything in it is being done or how I'm making ANYTHING happen then save your fingers the work of typing up a review. I will not listen to you, your suggestions or pay you any mind whatsoever.**

**NEITHER WILL YOUR WORDS EFFECT THE WAY I WRITE. Remember that.**

**This is where I stand when it comes to reviewing someone's work in the realm of fanfiction so if anyone steps outside of these bounds and does what I have now expressly said that I will not tolerate or accept, do not expect any kind of reply for your review or any PM's in which you send. I know where my story is going and what I'm doing and that's all there is to it. Period, no room for discussion or argument. If something changes with the way in which I do things then it will be because I decided to do so. No one else.**

**So, all rambling aside, that's it for my long ass, boring announcements. I apologize for the wait and exceedingly long chapter but on the bright side, these monster chapters are now a thing of the past. My word processor can't take such extremely long word counts anymore without crashing so from here on out, I'm most likely going to be constricted to anywhere between 40-60K chapters.**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to the next chapter of this little piece of insanity that I so lovingly call a story. Until next time, take care everyone and long live Naruto/Kushina and Harry/Lily Evans!**

**Yeah... I'm a sick fuck, I know. Lovable as hell though:D Peace out peeps and my beautiful mon chéri's.**


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